Managing Storage Pools

Storage pools provide a logical structure for organizing vStor volumes; this section describes how to manage them.

Creating a Storage Pool

To create a storage pool manually:

1. Ensure unused disks are available.
2. Navigate to the Storage view and click the Create New Pool button to launch the New Pool dialog window.

3. Specify the pool name (must be unique).
4. Select the Pool Type, or leave auto, which is the default.
   • raid0: Assumes external disk redundancy.
   • raid5: Creates RAID5 groups for redundancy.
   • raid6: Forms RAID6 groups for enhanced redundancy.
5. Select Compression and Deduplication options.

See also.

For more information, see the ZFS Compression and Deduplication section.

6. Select the disks for the pool. The list displays only disks which are not used by any other pool.
7. Optionally, indicate the number of disks in the RAID group in the Advanced Options section.
8. Click Save.

Expanding a Storage Pool

Before expanding a pool, ensure one or more unused disks are available.

To expand a storage pool, navigate to the Disks section of the pool. select Add Disk -> Expand Pool and select the disk you want to add:

Disabling a Storage Pool

To temporarily make a storage pool inaccessible, such as for maintenance, you can disable it. When a pool is disabled, you can’t change its volumes. The only actions you can take are to edit the pool’s settings, delete it, or re-enable it.

To disable a pool:

1. Switch its status toggle to off.
   A confirmation dialog will appear.

2. Click Go offline.
   The toggle and the status indicator will switch to offline. The pool is now unavailable.

Deleting a Storage Pool

Warning!

Pool deletion is a destructive, irreversible operation. Proceed with caution.

1. Go to Storage and select the tab with the pool’s name.
2. Click the three-dot button to open the context menu and select Delete pool.

3. In the confirmation dialog, type the pool’s name to enable the Delete pool button.

4. Click the button to confirm the deletion confirmation.

See also.

For more details on best practices for backup storage, see Backup Storage: Best Practices.