Dell PowerVault ME5 Series Storage System Deployment Guide

Set up linear storage

When you set up linear storage, you create pools. A pool is an aggregation of one or more disk groups that serves as a container for volumes. You can add or edit the storage settings after initial setup using the Maintenance > Storage panel in the PowerVault Manager

1. To manually set up storage, click Add Disk Group. The Add Disk Group panel opens.
2. In the Configuration section, choose the Protection Level (RAID) from the drop down box.
   1. Name. Enter a name for the disk group.
   2. Assigned Controller. Select either controller A or controller B, or select Auto to have the system choose where to write data for the most efficient storage.
   3. Protection Level. Select the RAID level for this disk group.
   4. Chunk Size. The amount of contiguous data that is written to a disk group member before moving to the next member of the disk group. Select from 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, or 512 KB.
   5. Online Initialization. Select to make the pool accessible before the initialization is complete.
3. In the Available Disks section, select the disks to include in the pool.
   NOTE It is recommended that disks and provisioning are balanced between Pool A and Pool B.
4. Review the Summary, and click Add Disk Group.
   After applying the configuration, the system configures the pools and spares and displays a success message when complete.
5. Click Ok.
6. Repeat these steps for Pool B.
7. In the Storage Type > Pools panel click Continue.