Storage pools overview
OneFS organizes different node types into separate node pools. In addition, you can organize these node pools into logical tiers of storage. By activating a SmartPools license, you can create file pool policies that store files in these tiers automatically, based on file-matching criteria that you specify.
Without an active SmartPools license, OneFS manages all node pools as a single pool of storage. File data and metadata is striped across the entire cluster so that data is protected, secure, and readily accessible. All files belong to the default file pool and are governed by the default file pool policy. In this mode, OneFS provides functions such as autoprovisioning, compatibilities, virtual hot spare (VHS), SSD strategies, global namespace acceleration (GNA), L3 cache, and storage tiers.
When you activate a SmartPools license, additional functions become available, including custom file pool policies and spillover management. With a SmartPools license, you can manage your data set with more granularity to improve the performance of your cluster.
The following table summarizes storage pool functions based on whether a SmartPools license is active.
Function
|
Inactive SmartPools license
|
Active SmartPools license
|
|---|---|---|
Automatic storage pool provisioning
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Node class compatibilities (node equivalency)
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
SSD capacity compatibilities
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
SSD count compatibilities
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Virtual hot spare
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
SSD strategies
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
L3 cache
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Tiers
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
GNA
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
File pool policies
|
No
|
Yes
|
Spillover management
|
No
|
Yes
|