Optimizing storage tiering

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To optimize the placement of volumes on storage tiers, analyze the tiering of volumes in your storage environment.

Before you begin

Discontinued support: Storage optimization is no longer supported in IBM Spectrum Control. While the feature might still work in this release, it's recommended that you use another tool for your optimization and tiering needs, when possible. For a complete list of discontinued features, see Discontinued features in IBM Spectrum Control.
Before you analyze tiering, complete the following tasks:
  • Probe the storage virtualizers
  • Collect performance data
  • Set the tier level of the storage pools that you analyze and that you select as target pools

About this task

Image map with links to topics about analyzing storage tiering. Collecting data Collecting performance data by using IBM Spectrum Control performance monitors Setting the tier level of storage pools Analyzing tiering by servers Analyzing tiering by hypervisors Analyzing tiering by storage virtualizers Analyzing tiering by storage pools Analyzing tiering by volumes Tiering volumes by I/O density and I/O rate Tiering volumes by I/O density and I/O rate

The purpose of analyzing tiering is to tier volumes based on the I/O rate or I/O density thresholds that you set. Depending on the conditions that are set, recommendations are generated.

Storage costs can be reduced, for example, by moving volumes with low workloads from higher and more expensive tiers to lower and less expensive tiers. Storage performance can be improved and used more efficiently by moving volumes with heavy workloads to the tiers that meet the workload requirements of the volumes. When you implement the recommendations, you ensure that the volumes are placed on the tiers that best match the workload requirements of the volumes.

You can optimize the placement of volumes on storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
Restriction: You cannot optimize the placement of volumes in data reduction pools.
Learn more: For information about the components that can be used with IBM Spectrum Control 5.2 (or later), see see External link iconIBM Spectrum Control interoperability matrix.
Volumes can be moved to tiered storage pools on the same storage virtualizer, but volumes cannot be moved from one storage virtualizer pool to another storage virtualizer pool.
Optimizing volumes with service classes: Recommendations are not generated to move volumes that are assigned a service class to a destination pool that does not meet the requirements of the service class.