User Guide

38 Traditional File Services Administration Guide
Traditional File Services Administration Guide
103-000180-001
August 30, 2001
Novell Confidential
Manual 99a38 July 17, 2001
You can purge files automatically using SET. For a general description of the
SET command, see SET in Utilities Reference.
Saving Disk Space with Block Suballocation
Use block suballocation to enhance use of disk space.
Block suballocation divides any partially used disk block into suballocation
blocks of 512 bytes. These suballocation blocks can be used by files to share
what would otherwise be unavailable space.
You can set block suballocation only when creating a traditional volume. For
instructions on setting block suballocation on traditional volumes, see
Creating a Traditional Volume in the Novell Storage Services Administration
Guide.
Enhancing Disk Response Time With Disk Striping
For a heavily used volume, you can improve disk response time by
distributing volume segments across multiple disks (disk striping). This
configuration option is called Redundant Array of Inexpensive Devices
(RAID). For background information and instructions, see Creating a RAID
Device in the Novell Storage Services Administration Guide.
If one of the disks fails, the entire volume becomes unavailable. Therefore,
you should mirror or duplex drives containing spanned volumes.
If a disk containing a spanned volume fails, the entire volume must be restored
from a backup across all segments before you can use it again.
The most effective way to distribute volume segments is to do so equally
across the disks. Do not simply fill up a disk, add another, add another, etc.