Notes on best practices

A storage array created using the best practices provides:

  • Preset configuration options calculated on a per drive enclosure basis. An enclosure can be the HPE StoreEasy Storage system and its internal drives, or an attached external drive enclosure such as the D6020.
  • Guidance to prevent arrays from being too large (based on physical drive type and RAID level) or too small. If there are multiple drive failures within the array, arrays that are too large run the risk of data loss. Arrays that are too small increase the chance of inefficient capacity utilization.

NOTE:

When creating storage arrays in the management console, select physical drives from the same drive enclosure. The available array set varies depending on the type of enclosure, the number of the same enclosure type, and the number of the same types and size of physical drives in the enclosure.

For example, if an enclosure has 24 drives and 12 drives of size 4 TB and 12 drives of size 8 TB, the recommendation is two arrays of 12 drives each.

Typically, using larger arrays simplifies storage management and namespace management, especially when using storage for file shares. However, the following factors can affect the use of larger arrays:

  • Backup strategy
    • Larger arrays require longer backup windows.

    • Multiple, smaller arrays may be more efficient for backup and recovery scenarios.

  • Performance requirements: If there are performance requirements for specific clients, segmenting groups of clients onto different arrays might be useful.

  • Drive availability: Starting with a full drive enclosure provides the most options for creating arrays. A drive enclosure with fewer drives has a smaller number of pooling options.