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Figure 23 VLS9X00 Partially Populated Storage Pools
The flexibility of the VLS9X00 storage pooling effectively allows the user to partition the disk arrays
to fit the user's environment. For example, if a company has four SANs, each with its own backup
application, the user can configure the storage pools so that there are two arrays per SAN. The
performance of each storage pool is independent and does not impact the performance of the
other pools.
VLS Gateway Storage Pooling
When creating and assigning storage pools, use the following information to ensure even load
balancing:
Storage pools must be manually configured onto the array LUNs.
Limit the storage pools to 256 LUNs across the VLS device.
Keep arrays with the same performance characteristics within separate pools (place one array
type in one pool and another array type in another pool).
In configurations with multiple arrays, choose to balance performance so that either the pool
comprises LUNs from every array, or each array is allocated to a separate pool.
When pooling across multiple LUNs, try to keep the same number of LUNs in each array in
the pool.
Try to keep approximately the same capacity on each LUN within a storage pool. If LUNs
have different capacities, there may be performance hot-spots when smaller LUNs are filled.
When presenting LUNs, present only the disks that you wish to use with the VLS12000 because
existing data will be destroyed during storage pool configuration.
VLS Sizing
Sizing is the art of deciding how much capacity you need and how to best use it. Understanding
capacity requirements requires you to understand the raw capacity of the VLS (in its various models),
the size and nature of your backups, and the retention periods associated with your data.
Given the complexity of sizing the correct hardware configuration to provide sufficient performance
and take into account deduplication and replication, you should always use the HP Storage Sizer
tool, available at http://www.hp.com/go/storageworks/sizer, to perform all VLS device sizing.
Outlining the Steps
Here are some basic exercises that can help you understand your capacity needs:
Identify slow SAN hosts
Compare the capacity required to hold the data that represents what is backed up from them
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If you use 'x'% of the VLS to better fit into your backup window, what will that gain you
in your backup window and is that the best use of your VLS?
You should do some backup tests to understand exactly how much the backups are sped
◦
up through the introduction of the VLS into the environment before you can make this
estimate reasonably accurately.
VLS Sizing
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