Pools

View the information that is shown about pools in file storage systems.

The internal resource for IBM Storage Scale System storage systems is called Pools. For all other file storage systems, the internal resource is called File System Pools.

For Dell EMC VNX file storage systems, a file system pool might be associated with multiple file systems. To view the file systems, right-click the pool and select View Properties. The File Systems tab shows the file systems that are associated with the file systems pool.

View the hover help for information about the values that are shown about pools in files systems.

The following additional information is provided about the values that are shown for pools:

Available Capacity (GiB)

The amount of unallocated storage capacity in the pool. Available capacity usually comprises the space that can be used for storage. However, if the pool is not formatted, the amount of overhead capacity might also be included in the calculation.

Availability: All storage systems.

Capacity (%)

The percentage of used capacity in the file system pool. Hover over the bar for a specific pool to view statistics about its used and available capacity.

For external pools that are connected to cloud services or storage providers, only the amount of used capacity is shown. Cloud services and other storage providers might include IBM Storage Protect, IBM Storage Archive, Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), or OpenStack Swift.

For external pools that are connected to vaults in IBM Cloud Object Storage, the percentage of used capacity includes active and inactive data. Space values are determined from the usable vault capacity that is associated with the cloud account and the hard quota value (if a hard quota is configured). Hover over the bar for a specific pool to view statistics about its used active space, used inactive space, and available capacity.

Active and inactive data in external pools

Active data is data that has corresponding stub files on the GPFS file system. Inactive data is data that exists in the external pool but is not accessible in the GPFS file system. Data is classified as inactive under these conditions:

When you migrate a file off a GPFS file system, its data is still visible and accessible through its stub file. When the stub file is deleted, the data in the external pool is no longer accessible and is considered inactive.
When you modify a migrated file, it's recalled from the external pool and modified locally. The previous data for the file remains in the external pool but is no longer accessible through the GPFS file system and is considered inactive.

Tip: To keep the files in sync between an external pool and a GPFS file system and clean up inactive data, you can run the IBM Storage Scale mmcloudgateway files reconcile command. For more information, see External link icon

Reconciling files between IBM Storage Scale file system and cloud storage tier.

Capacity (GiB)

(Previously known as Total Capacity) The total amount of storage space in the storage pool.

For external pools that are provided by IBM Cloud Object Storage, this value represents External Used Capacity + Available Capacity .

External Used Capacity (GiB)

The amount of used capacity on an external pool. This value includes active data and inactive data. Active data is data that has corresponding stub files on the GPFS file system. Inactive data is data that exists in the external pool but is not accessible in the GPFS file system.

Availability: External pools that are provided by IBM Cloud Object Storage.

Inactive Used Capacity

The amount of inactive used capacity on an external pool. Inactive data is data that exists in the external pool but is not accessible in the GPFS file system. Available for external pools that are provided by Cloud Object Storage only.

Availability: External pools that are provided by IBM Cloud Object Storage.

Name

The name of a pool that uniquely identifies it within a storage system. The icon that is displayed next to the name of the pool indicates the type of pool:

Icon	Type of pool	Description
	Internal	A pool that is internal to a storage system.
	External	A pool that is external to a storage system but its provider cannot be determined.
	IBM Storage Archive	A pool that is external to an IBM Storage Scale System cluster and is provided by IBM Storage Archive. Applies only to IBM Storage Scale System.
	IBM Storage Protect	A pool that is external to an IBM Storage Scale System cluster and is provided by IBM Storage Protect. Applies only to IBM Storage Scale System.
	IBM Cloud Object Storage	A pool that is external to an IBM Storage Scale System cluster and is provided by IBM Cloud Object Storage. Applies only to IBM Storage Scale System.
	Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)	A pool that is external to an IBM Storage Scale System cluster and represents cloud storage from Amazon S3. Applies only to IBM Storage Scale System.
	OpenStack Swift	A pool that is external to an IBM Storage Scale System cluster and represents cloud storage from OpenStack Swift. Applies only to IBM Storage Scale System.
	Other cloud	A pool that is external to an IBM Storage Scale System cluster and represents cloud storage from a provider that cannot be determined.

NSDs

The unique names of the Network Shared Disks (NSDs) that the pool is on.

Used Capacity

The amount of capacity in the file system pool that is being used. For external pools, used capacity includes active data only. Active data is data that has corresponding stub files on the GPFS file system.

Availability: All storage systems.