Manage storage pools

A storage pool is used to store storage volume files. You can configure multiple storage pools for a host.

A host supports the following types of storage pools:

• Local storage—Local file directories and logical storage volumes.

• External storage:

• IP SAN—iSCSI network storage and iSCSI shared file systems.

• FC SAN—FC network storage and FC shared file systems.

• NAS—Network file systems and Windows shared directories.

Cloud hosts access storage pools through the following objects:

• Block device—A block device does not have a file system. A cloud host can directly access the volume resources on block devices. Block devices are used in scenarios where large disk space is needed, for example, in a hospital information system.

• File—A file is a disk file in a file system. After a disk file is mounted to a cloud host, the file appears to be a physical disk. Disk files feature easy management.

For LVM logical storage volume, iSCSI network storage, and FC network storage, cloud hosts use their storage resources as block devices.

For local file directory, shared file system, and network file system, cloud hosts use their storage resources as files.

For Windows shared directory, cloud hosts can perform only read operations. As a best practice, use storage pools of this type to store operating system installation images. cloud hosts can mount the ISO installation files in the storage pools to install an operating system instead of copying the files to the local storage.

After a host is added to CVM, it has two local file directory storage pools named defaultpool and isopool by default. Storage pool defaultpool stores disk image files of cloud hosts. Storage pool isopool stores CAStools ISO files and Virtio driver files of operating systems. Operators can add storage pools of other types as needed.

Restrictions and guidelines

• iSCSI network storage and iSCSI shared file system storage pools cannot share a LUN of an iSCSI storage device.

• To ensure the availability of the storage pools, make sure user mapping mode configured on the NFS server is no_root_squash and the system has the root access.

• The FC storage devices of some vendors do not support automatic LUN scanning. If you cannot find any LUNs for an FC SAN shared file system storage pool after adding it on a host, reboot the host.

• After you suspend a FC network storage or local file directory storage pool, cloud hosts using the storage pool can still start correctly.

• When you add a storage pool on a host, for the storage pool to support automatic cloud host migration, make sure the following requirements are met:

• For a network file system storage pool, the NFS source server path and the NFS storage pool name must be the same as that on the other hosts in the same cluster.

• For an iSCSI network storage pool, the name and target must be the same as that on the other hosts in the same cluster.

• For an FC network storage pool, the migrating cloud host must use the same LUN as the FC network storage pools on the other hosts, and the FC network storage pools must have the same name.

• Hosts or clusters in the security zone cannot use the same shared file system storage pool as hosts or clusters not in the security zone.

• The I/O throughput, IOPS, and disk I/O delay areas on the path details page display information about only active paths.

Create a storage pool

1. On the top navigation bar, click Resources.

2. From the left navigation pane, select Virtualization.

3. Click the Expand icon  on the left of CloudOS, and then click the Expand icon  on the left of a cluster.

4. Click the name of a host.

5. Click the Storage tab.

6. Click Add.

7. Configure the parameters as described in "Parameters."

8. Click OK.

Edit the alias of a storage pool

1. On the top navigation bar, click Resources.

2. From the left navigation pane, select Virtualization.

3. Click the Expand icon  on the left of CloudOS, and then click the Expand icon  on the left of a cluster.

4. Click the name of a host.

5. Click the Storage tab.

6. Click More in the Actions column for a storage pool, and then select Edit.

7. Enter an alias, and then click OK.

Start a storage pool

1. On the top navigation bar, click Resources.

2. From the left navigation pane, select Virtualization.

3. Click the Expand icon  on the left of CloudOS, and then click the Expand icon  on the left of a cluster.

4. Click the name of a host.

5. Click the Storage tab.

6. Click Start in the Actions column for a storage pool.

7. In the dialog box that opens, click OK.

Suspend a storage pool

1. On the top navigation bar, click Resources.

2. From the left navigation pane, select Virtualization.

3. Click the Expand icon  on the left of CloudOS, and then click the Expand icon  on the left of a cluster.

4. Click the name of a host.

5. Click the Storage tab.

6. Click Suspend in the Actions column for a storage pool.

7. In the dialog box that opens, click OK.

Refresh a storage pool

1. On the top navigation bar, click Resources.

2. From the left navigation pane, select Virtualization.

3. Click the Expand icon  on the left of CloudOS, and then click the Expand icon  on the left of a cluster.

4. Click the name of a host.

5. Click the Storage tab.

6. Click More in the Actions column for a storage pool, and then select Refresh.

Delete a storage pool

1. On the top navigation bar, click Resources.

2. From the left navigation pane, select Virtualization.

3. Click the Expand icon  on the left of CloudOS, and then click the Expand icon  on the left of a cluster.

4. Click the name of a host.

5. Click the Storage tab.

6. Click More in the Actions column for a storage pool, and then select Delete.

7. In the dialog box that opens, click OK.

Parameters

Table-1 Parameters

Parameter		Description
Add a shared file system storage pool	Shared File System	Select a shared file system. Before adding a shared file system storage pool, add a shared file system in the host pool.
	Target Path	Local mount point of the storage pool. This parameter is not configurable. The default path is /vms/storage pool name. For example, if the storage pool name is test, the default target path is /vms/test.
	NAA	Unique identifier of a LUN.
Display storage pools and storage pool details	Total	If the storage pool is an iSCSI network storage pool that has multiple LUNs, the size of the storage pool is the total size of all LUNs of the target, including LUNs used as shared file systems and template pools.
	Allocated	Total virtual storage size that is allocated to cloud host disks. For a storage pool of the iSCSI network storage type or FC network storage type, this parameter displays the total size of block devices in the storage pool.
	Available	Available space of the storage pool.
	Path	Path information about the shared storage pool.