Creating service classes

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Create service classes to specify storage requirements for future provisioning requests. A service class describes attributes and capabilities of block storage or file storage resources, and typically describes particular quality of service.

Before you begin

You must have Administrator privileges to create a service class.

About this task

The IBM Spectrum Control GUI guides you through the steps to create a service class. When you provision a volume or share, you define storage requirements by specifying a service class. A block-storage service class specifies the requirements for the block-storage resource from which a new volume is allocated. A file-storage service class defines requirements for the file storage resources from which a new share is allocated.

You can associate a service class with one or more capacity pools. If you do, future provisioning requests can be satisfied only by storage resources in the specified capacity pools.

You can selectively grant users who do not have administrator privileges permission to provision storage by using the service class.

Restrictions:
  • To create a block-storage service class, you must have the IBM Spectrum Control Advanced Edition license.
  • To associate the service class with a capacity pool, one or more capacity pools must be defined in the IBM Spectrum Control database. If no capacity pool is defined, the Specify Capacity Pool page is not displayed.

Procedure

Start this task at the Service Classes page. To open the Service Classes page, select Advanced Analytics > Cloud Configuration > Work With Service Classes. To create a service class, complete the following steps:

  1. From the Service Classes page, click Create Service Class.
  2. Select the type of service class that you want to create:
    • To create a block-storage service class, click the Block icon.
    • To create a file-storage service class, click the File icon.
  3. In the Define Properties page, complete the following steps:
    1. Specify a name for the service class.
    2. Optional: Specify a service class description.
      Descriptions are displayed in the table of service classes on the Service Classes page.
    3. Specify the general attributes of the service class.
      Most of the general properties specify requirements for provisioning. Some of the general properties specify configuration instructions for the storage resources or for the volumes or shares that are provisioned from them.
      Tip: To display help information about a service class property, move the mouse pointer over the field or control. Then, move the mouse pointer over the question mark icon displayed next to the field.
  4. Optional: Specify or modify the advanced properties of the service class.
    1. From the Define Properties page, click Advanced.
    2. If you are creating a block-storage service class, and thin provisioning is enabled for the service class, specify configuration instructions for thin provisioning.
    3. If you are creating a block-storage service class, select how the multipath driver on the host is configured. For hypervisors, the multipath driver is configured only if provisioning is initiated from the vSphere Web Client extension for IBM Spectrum Control.
    4. Create custom requirements for the service class by specifying up to three custom tags. To provide the service class, storage resources must have all the same tags that are specified in the service class.
  5. Optional: In the Specify Capacity Pool page, associate the service class with one or more capacity pools.
    If capacity pools are associated with the service class, future provisioning requests that specify the service class can be satisfied only by storage resources in the capacity pools.
  6. Optional: Grant permission to individual users, who do not have administrator privileges, to provision storage by using the service class.
    By default, users must be assigned to the Administrator role to provision storage. However, you can selectively grant users who are limited to the Monitor or External Application role permission to provision by using this service class. You can also specify whether administrator approval is required to run provisioning tasks that are created by these users.
  7. Click Finish
    The new service class is listed in the table of service classes on the Service Classes page, and can be specified in future provisioning requests.