Administrator Guide

Snapshots can occur as a scheduled event according to the Snapshot Profile, manually by creating a snapshot, or on demand by

Storage Center to move data off of Tier 1 in a Flash Optimized storage type.

Storage Profiles

Storage Profiles control how Storage Center manages volume data. For a given volume, the selected Storage Profile dictates which

disk tier accepts initial writes, as well as how data progression moves data between tiers to balance performance and cost.

Predefined Storage Profiles are the most effective way to manage data in Storage Center. The Storage Profiles available are

determined by the Storage Type.

Storage Profiles for Standard Storage Types

The table below summarizes the Storage Profiles available for Standard storage types. Each profile is described in more detail

following the table.

Name Initial Write Tier Tier (T) and RAID Levels Progression

Recommended (All Tiers) 1 Writes: T1 RAID 10 Snapshots:

RAID 5/RAID 6

Yes - to all Tiers

High Priority (Tier 1) 1 Writes: T1 RAID 10 Snapshots:

T1 RAID 5/RAID 6

Medium Priority (Tier 2) 2 Writes: T2 RAID 10 Snapshots:

T2 RAID 5/RAID 6

Low Priority (Tier 3) 3 Writes: T3 RAID 10 Snapshots:

T3 RAID 5/RAID 6

NOTE: The Recommended, High Priority, and Medium Priority profiles are not available for the Flash Optimized Storage

Type.

Recommended (All Tiers)

The Recommended Storage Profile is available only when Data Progression is licensed. Cost and performance are optimized when

all volumes use the Recommended Storage Profile. The Recommended profile allows automatic Data Progression between and

across all storage tiers based on data type and usage.

When a volume uses the Recommended Profile, all new data is written to Tier 1 RAID level 10 storage. Data Progression moves less

active data to Tier 1 RAID5/ RAID 6 or a slower tier based on how frequently the data is accessed. In this way, the most active

blocks of data remain on high-performance drives, while less active blocks automatically move to lower-cost, high-capacity SAS

drives.

Because SSDs are automatically assigned to Storage Tier 1, profiles that include Storage Tier 1 allow volumes to use SSD storage. If

you have volumes that contain data that is not accessed frequently, and do not require the performance of Tier 1 SSDs, use a

Medium or Low Priority Profile or create and apply a new profile that does not include Storage Tier 1.

High Priority (Tier 1)

The High Priority Storage Profile provides the highest performance by storing data on Tier 1. It is efficient in terms of using RAID 5

or 6, but it uses more expensive media to store the data. A volume created using the High Priority profile stores written data on

Tier 1 RAID 10. Snapshot data is stored on Tier 1 RAID 5/RAID 6. Storage Center does not migrate data to lower storage tiers unless

Tier 1 storage becomes full.

If Data Progression is not licensed, the default Storage Profile is High Priority. Without Data Progression, you must configure

volumes to use a specific tier of storage, because data will not migrate between tiers.

Medium Priority (Tier 2)

The Medium Priority Storage Profile provides a balance between performance and cost efficiency. A volume created using the

Medium Priority profile stores written data on Tier 2 RAID 10. Snapshot data is stored on Tier 2 RAID 5/RAID 6. Storage Center

does not migrate data to other storage tiers unless Tier 2 storage becomes full.

Storage Center Overview