HP StorageWorks 6000-series Virtual Library System User Guide (AH809-96049, September 2010)

3 Storage Configuration
This section describes how to configure the storage after the nodes have been configured.
Managing VLS6000–series Capacity
There are several ways to manage the capacity of your system:
• Select and configure the RAID level. See Configuring the RAID Level.
• Add an array (a new or existing array and a capacity license). See Adding Capacity by Adding
an Array.
• Upgrade disks in the array from lower capacity to higher capacity disks (for example, from 250
GB disks to 500 GB or 750 GB disks). See Adding Capacity by Upgrading Disks in the Array.
• Remove arrays. See Removing Arrays.
• Perform storage pool management tasks. See Managing Storage Pools.
• Enable device-side data compression when creating new tape drives. See “Creating Tape
Drives” on page 162.
If you have upgraded as much as possible but still need more space, you can upgrade the system to
a larger node model within your series (for example, upgrade a VLS6100 to a VLS6500 or VLS6800,
or upgrade a VLS6500 to a VLS6800). To do this, purchase a new VLS base model of the correct
type, then purchase the installation service for the new VLS plus an extra half-day for the node upgrade.
Configuring the RAID Level
All VLS6000–series systems default to a RAID 5 storage array configuration; however, VLS6000–series
with firmware version 2.0 or later can be configured as a RAID 6. The RAID 5 configuration prevents
data loss and prevents the backup window from being missed if one hard drive fails in any of the
RAID volumes; the RAID 6 configuration prevents data loss and prevents the backup window from
being missed if up to two hard drives fail in a single RAID volume.
VLS disk storage consists of one or more MSA20 disk arrays.
• A RAID5 configuration on an array with 250GB or 500GB drives has each disk array configured
into two 5+1 (5 data disks, 1 parity disk) RAID 5 volumes presented as two LUNs (one LUN per
RAID volume). See Figure 39.
• A RAID5 configuration on an array with 750 GB drives has each disk array configured into three
3+1 (3 data disks, 1 parity disk) RAID5 volumes presented as three LUNs (one LUNs per RAID
volume). See Figure 40.
• A RAID6 configuration on an array with 250GB or 500GB drives has each disk array configured
into two 4+2 (4 data disks, 2 parity disk) RAID 6 volumes presented as two LUNs (one LUN per
RAID volume). See Figure 39.
• A RAID6 configuration on an array with 750 GB drives has each disk array configured into two
4+2 (4 data disks, 2 parity disk) RAID6 volumes presented as four LUNs (two LUNs per RAID
volume). See Figure 39.
All the disk arrays are logically grouped together by default to form one storage pool.
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