Planning for storage

Storage hardware devices have different capacity and performance characteristics, which determine how they can be used effectively with Tivoli Storage Manager. For general guidance on selecting the appropriate storage hardware and set up for your solution, review the following guidelines.

Database and active log

• Use a fast disk for the Tivoli Storage Manager database and active log, for example with the following characteristics:
  • High performance, 15k rpm disk with Fibre Channel or serial-attached SCSI (SAS) interface
  • Solid-state disk (SSD)
• Isolate the active log from the database unless you use SSD or flash hardware
• When you create arrays for the database, use RAID level 5

Storage pool

• You can use less expensive and slower disks for the storage pool
• The storage pool can share disks for the archive log and database backup storage
• Use RAID level 6 for storage pool arrays to add protection against double drive failures when you use large disk types