Storage Classes

Storage Classes provide seamless block-storage operations for end-users, by abstracting the underlying block storage implementation details, while providing cloud-operators with a performance-predictable, linear capacity growth.

• SSD (Solid State Drive) Class:

  This class uses one or more all-flash (SSD media) VPSAs as its building blocks. It is designed for high-speed performance, offering significantly lower latency and higher IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) than HDDs.

  Suited to high, predictable performance, for example, transactional databases and real-time apps.

• HDD (Hard Disk Drive) Class:

  This class uses one or more HDD-based VPSAs as its building blocks. It is optimized for high-capacity and throughput rather than rapid random access, making it slower than SSDs due to the time needed for physical parts to move.

  A more cost-effective option, suited to scenarios for large datasets where occasional latency is acceptable, for example, backups or log processing.

The Storage Classes page shows each storage class and its current resource capacity, health, limits, and related resources.

From this page, you can:

• Review the available storage classes.

• Open a storage class to see its details.

• View the volumes, snapshots, and VPSAs linked to a storage class.

• Attach a VPSA to a storage class.

Storage Classes management

Viewing storage classes

To view the storage classes that are available in the system:

1. Select Storage Management > Storage Classes.

   The table of Storage Classes appears, showing the following fields:

   • Name

     The storage class name.

     This identifies the storage class in the list.

   • Capacities

     Note

     • Physical Capacity refers to the actual, usable space on the hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs) in a storage pool.

     • Virtual Capacity refers to the capacity provisioned (assigned) to hosts or volumes, which can be larger than the physical capacity, due to thin provisioning.

     Zadara uses Virtual Capacity to present a specific size to a server, but that volume only consumes Physical Capacity when data is actually written to it.

     • Physical Capacity - Usable

       The amount of physical storage capacity that can be used.

     • Physical Capacity - Used

       The amount of physical storage capacity that is currently in use.

     • Physical Capacity - Free

       The amount of physical storage capacity that is still available.

     • Virtual Capacity - Total

       The total virtual capacity presented by the storage class.

     • Virtual Capacity - Provisioned

       The amount of virtual capacity that is already provisioned.

     • Virtual Capacity - Free

       The amount of virtual capacity that is still available for new use.

   • Max New Volume

     The largest size allowed for a newly created volume in this storage class.

   • Available Volumes

     The number of additional volumes that can still be created.

   • VPSAs

     The number of VPSAs attached to the storage class.

   • Volume Types

     The number of volume types associated with the storage class.

   • Default

     Indicates whether this storage class is the default choice.

   • Built In

     Indicates whether this storage class is built in, and not a custom storage class.

   • State

     The current operational state of the storage class.

     Possible values:

     • Ready: Usable

     • Deleting: In the process of being removed

     • Failed: Not usable:Failed or unhealthy

   • Capacity Mode

     The current capacity handling mode for the storage class, indicating whether the storage class is operating normally or approaching a capacity-related risk.

     Possible values:

     • Normal

       Indicates that the storage class is in its normal operating condition, regarded as Healthy.

     • Degraded

       Indicates that the storage class is in a reduced-capacity condition.

     • Emergency

       Indicates that the storage class is in a serious capacity condition, regarded as Unhealthy.

   • Health State

     The current health condition of the storage class.

     Possible values:

     • Healthy

     • PartiallyFailed

     • Failed

   • Limit State

     The current limit condition of the storage class, how close the storage class is to its configured limits, and whether the VPSAs in that storage class are still within normal operating bounds.

     Possible values, in increasing levels of severity:

     • Normal

     • Alert

     • Degraded

     • Emergency

2. Select a storage class to view further details.

Viewing a storage class details

To view a storage class details:

1. Select Storage Management > Storage Classes.

   The table of Storage Classes appears.

2. Select the storage class that you want to inspect.

   The storage class detail screen appears, with the following sections:

   • Storage class details pane in the upper part of the screen.

   • The Tabs section in the lower part of the screen:

     • Storage class Volumes tab

     • Storage class Snaphots tab

     • Storage class VPSAs tab

Storage class details pane

The main details section in the upper part of the screen displays the following panes:

• Info details displaying:

  • The storage class operational State and Health State.

  • Limit State - the current limit condition for the storage class.

  • Name: The storage class name.

  • ID: The storage class unique identifier.

  • Encryption: Indicates whether encryption is enabled for the storage class.

  • Deduplication: Indicates whether deduplication is enabled for the storage class.

  • Compression: Indicates whether compression is enabled for the storage class.

  • Max. Volumes per VPSA: The maximum number of volumes allowed on each VPSA of the storage class.

  • Max New Volume: The largest size allowed for a new volume in this storage class.

• Capacity guages:

  Guages dashboard displaying Used and Free capacity for:

  • Provisioning Capacity

  • Physical Capacity

• Resources summary, providing the totals of:

  • User Volumes

  • Snapshots

  • VPSAs

  A detail tab for each type of resource is available in the lower part of the screen.

Storage class Volumes tab

The Volumes tab displays the list of volumes of this storage class, with the following columns:

• Name: The volume name.

• VPSA: The VPSA that hosts the volume.

• Owner: The ownership type indicates whether the volume is User-defined (regular volume) or System-assigned (such as a volume marked for deletion).

• Size: The provisioned size of the volume.

• Volume Type: The volume type assigned to the volume.

• Account: The name of the account that owns the volume.

• User: The username of the user associated with the volume.

• Status: The current operational status of the volume.

• Health: The current health status of the volume.

• Attached VM: The name of the VM to which the volume is attached, if any.

• Creation Date: The date and time when the volume was created.

Storage class Snaphots tab

The Snaphots tab displays a table of the storage class snaphots, and quick filters for rapid location and listing of snapshots matching selected criteria.

The list of snapshots of this storage class, are displayed with the following columns:

• Name: The snapshot name.

• Source name: The name of the source object from which the snapshot was taken.

• Source ID: The source object unique identifier.

• Created At: The date and time when the snapshot was created.

• Project: The project in which the snapshot’s source object resides.

• Account: The name of the account that owns the snapshot’s project.

• User: The username of the user that triggered the snapshot.

• Status: The current operational status of the snapshot’s storage class.

• Health: The current health status of the snapshot’s storage class.

• Protection Group: The protection group in which the snapshot’s source object is a member.

• Storage Classes: The storage classes of the snapshot’s source objects.

• VPSAs: The VPSA hosting the snapshot.

• Creation Date: The date and time when the snaphot was created.

Storage class VPSAs tab

The VPSAs tab displays the list of VPSAs of this storage class, with the following columns:

• Name

  The VPSA name.

• Nova ID

  The VPSA’s Nova identifier, which might differ from the display name.

• State: The current operational state of the VPSA.

• Physical Capacity - Usable: The amount of usable physical capacity on the VPSA.

• Physical Capacity - Used: The amount of physical capacity already in use on the VPSA.

• Physical Capacity - Free: The amount of unused physical capacity still available on the VPSA.

• Virtual Capacity - Total: The total virtual capacity available on the VPSA.

• Virtual Capacity - Provisioned: The virtual capacity already provisioned on the VPSA.

• Virtual Capacity - Free: The virtual capacity still available on the VPSA.

• Volume Count: The number of volumes currently on the VPSA.

• Version: The VPSA’s zStorage version.

• Pool Type: The VPSA’s storage pool type.

• Engine: The VPSA’s IO engine type.

• Snapshot Count: The number of snapshots on the VPSA.

• Capacity Mode: The VPSA’s current current capacity handling mode for its storage class.

Attaching a VPSA to a storage class

There may be a number of reasons for attaching a VPSA to a storage class, such as extending the storage capacity or for providing for more than the current maximum number of volumes.

To attach a VPSA to a storage class:

1. Select Storage Management > Storage Classes.

   The table of Storage Classes appears.

2. Select the storage class to which you want to attach a VPSA.

   The storage class detail screen appears.

3. In the top toolbar, select Attach VPSA.

   The Attach VPSA dialog opens.

4. In the Attach VPSA dialog, enter the required fields:

   • IP Address: The IP address of the VPSA that you want to attach.

   • Token / Temporary password: The token or temporary password used to authenticate the attach action.

     One of:

     • Token: The Access Key, available in the VPSA’s admin User Information:

       Note

       Relevant when the initial temporary password has been changed.

       1. In the VPSA UI, select the username at the top right.

          The User Information screen opens.

       2. In the Authentication section, copy the Access Key value.

     • Temporary password emailed to the admin on creation of the VPSA.

       Note

       Relevant only if this temporary password wasn’t yet changed.

   • VPSA Nova ID: The Nova ID of the VPSA that you want to attach.

5. To apply attaching the VPSA to the storage class, select Finish.

Recommended best practices

• Storage class limits are preset to provisioned capacity too, which are most likely reached first, before physical capacity is reached. Monitor your storage class total provisioned capacity and add capacity as additional VPSAs in advance, to avoid volume creation failures. The same applies to volume-count per VPSA limits. Make sure that you add capacity in the form of additional VPSAs to the storage class before you hit the limit.

• When VPSAs are added to a storage class, VSC doesn’t re-distribute the volumes across VPSAs. In case there’s a need to do that, for example, in case of a single VPSA performance/overload issue, administrators can live-redistribute volumes across VPSAs within the same storage class.

• Check the health, state, and limit indicators before you make changes.

• Use the available filters when lists become large.

• Before attaching a VPSA to a storage class, verify the IP address, token or temporary password, and VPSA Nova ID carefully.

Troubleshooting

You cannot find the storage class you need

• Use the Filter field on the main page to narrow the list.

• Check whether the page is shown in the view that you expect.

The storage class details you need are not visible

• Make sure the correct storage class row is selected.

• Open the correct tab: Volumes, Snapshots, or VPSAs.

A linked resource is difficult to locate

• Use the filter fields available on the tab.

• Review the status and health columns to identify the correct row.

A VPSA attach action does not complete as expected

• Recheck the values entered in IP Address.

• Recheck the values entered in Token / Temporary password.

• Recheck the values entered in VPSA Nova ID.

• Confirm that you selected the intended storage class before starting the attach action.