Volumes
View the information that is shown about volumes in block storage systems.
Go the following sections to learn about the status and space usage of the volumes:
Information about volumes
| Icon | Type of volume | Encrypted | Encryptable |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Standard |  |
 |
 |
Thin-provisioned |  |
 |
 |
Compressed |  |
 |
 |
Not visible to hosts | ||
 |
Dell EMC meta volume | ||
 |
Dell EMC private volume |
- Acknowledged
- Shows whether a user marked the status of a volume as acknowledged. An acknowledged status indicates that the status was reviewed and is either resolved or can be ignored. An acknowledged status is not used when the status of related, higher-level resources is determined.
- Auto Expand
- Shows whether a thin-provisioned volume automatically expands its allocated capacity as more of its space is used. The value is shown only for volumes on storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
- Available Capacity (GiB)
- (Previously known as Unallocated Space) The total amount of remaining space
that can be used by the volume. That is, the capacity that is not used by thin-provisioned volumes.
This value is determined by the formula, Capacity - Used Capacity.
For IBM FlashSystem A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and Volumes from SpecV Data Reduction Pools, this value is not available.
- Block Size
- The size of the data blocks that are written to disk for DS8000. The size depends on the format of the volume, which is either fixed block (FB) or count key data (CKD). For FB volumes, the block size is 512 bytes. For CKD volumes, the block size depends on the device emulation mode and model, and is equal to the number of bytes per cylinder. For example, for disk model 3390, the block size for a CKD volume is 849960 bytes.
- Capacity (GiB)
- The total amount of storage space that is committed to a volume. For thin-provisioned volumes, this value represents the provisioned capacity of the volume.
- Compressed
- Shows whether a storage volume is compressed. Availability: IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R, IBM Storage Accelerate, XIV storage systems with firmware version 11.6 or later, and resources that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
- Compression Savings (%)
- The estimated amount and percentage of capacity that is saved by using data compression.
- Copies
- The number of secondary copies (virtual disk copies) for a volume. The primary copy of a virtual disk is not counted as a mirror. This information is shown only for volumes on storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
- Copy ID
- The identifier for the volume copy. Each IBM Storage Virtualize volume has a copy ID of
0or1, even if the volume is not in a mirrored volume relationship.For mirrored volumes, the copy ID distinguishes between the primary and secondary volume copies.
- Copy Service Role
- Shows whether a volume is in a replication relationship that creates a snapshot or point-in-time
copy of the volume on a specified target volume. A volume can either be a source, target, or both a
target for one copy pair and a source for a different copy pair. In storage systems, this
relationship might be referred to as a FlashCopy,
snapshot, or point-in-time copy relationship. A volume can have one of the following properties:
- Source
- The volume is the source of the relationship.
- Target
- The volume is the target of the relationship.
- Source and Target
- The volume is a target for one copy pair and a source for a different copy pair.
- blank
- The volume is not part of any copy relationship.
- Unavailable
- Information about a copy relationship on this volume is not available.
- Deduplicated
- Shows whether a storage volume is deduplicated. Availability: IBM FlashSystem A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and resources that run IBM Storage Virtualize 8.1.3 or later.
- Easy Tier
- The Easy Tier value determines whether Easy Tier is enabled and the Easy Tier Status determines how tiering is managed. For example, Easy Tier can be configured to tier all pools, single-tier pools (pools with one class drive), or multitier pools (pools with multiple class drives).
- Enterprise HDD Capacity (GiB)
- The amount of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Enterprise hard disk drives.
- Enterprise HDD Capacity (%)
- The percentage of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Enterprise hard disk drives.
- Fast Write State
- Shows the cache state for a volume, such as empty, not empty, corrupted, and repairing. The corrupted state indicates that you must recover the volume by using one of the recovervdisk commands for the storage system. The repairing state indicates that repairs initiated by a recovervdisk command are in progress. Available only for volumes in SAN Volume Controller storage systems and Storwize family storage systems.
- File System Pool
- The name of the storage pool in which a volume is a member.
- Format
- The format of the volumes that are allocated from a pool, such as FB (fixed block) or CKD (count key data). Available only for DS8000 volumes.
- Formatted
- Shows whether a volume is formatted. Available only for volumes in storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
- Grain Size (KiB)
- The grain size with which a thin-provisioned volume was created. This value is typically 32, 64, 128, or 256 KiB. Larger grain sizes maximize performance, whereas smaller grain sizes maximize space efficiency. Grain sizes also limit the maximum provisioned capacity of the volume. Available only for volumes in storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
- Hosts
- The name of the host to which a volume is assigned. This name is the host name as defined on the storage system. If more than one host is assigned, the number of hosts is displayed. For storage systems that are managed by a CIM agent, the host name in this column might not match the configured host name on the storage system. Instead, the host name might be replaced by the WWPN of the host port or text that is generated by the CIM agent.
- I/O Group
- The name of the I/O Group to which a volume is assigned. Available only for volumes in storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
- LSS or LCU
- The logical subsystem (LSS) for fixed block volumes, or the logical control unit (LCU) for count key data volumes. Available only for DS8000 volumes.
- Nearline HDD Capacity (GiB)
- The amount of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Nearline hard disk drives.
- Nearline HDD Capacity (%)
- The percentage of volume capacity that Easy Tier placed on Nearline hard disk drives.
- Node
- For DS8000, this value represents the name of the node to which a volume is associated.
- Provisioned Capacity (%)
- (Previously known as Virtual Allocation) The percentage of the volume capacity that is written by the assigned host. The used capacity and provisioned capacity percentages are different when data reduction reduces the physical capacity that is required to store the written data.
- RAID Level
- The RAID level of a volume, such as RAID 5 and RAID 10. The RAID level affects the performance
and fault tolerance of the volume. The value
Noneindicates that the volume is on a single disk and performance or fault tolerance is not improved. - Reserved Volume Capacity
- (Previously known as Unused Space) The amount of pool capacity that is reserved but has not been used yet to store data on the thin-provisioned volume.
- Safeguarded
- Shows whether the volume is protected by the Safeguarded Copy feature in IBM Storage Virtualize and DS8000. For DS8000, the volume can be a source. For IBM Storage Virtualize, the volume can be a source or
copy. If this value is blank, the volume is not in a Safeguarded Copy relationship.
- Source
- The volume that is protected by the Safeguarded Copy feature to prevent data loss and corruption.
- Copy
- The volume that is used to store a point-in-time version of the data on the Safeguarded source volume.
- Safeguarded Capacity (GiB)
-
The capacity that is consumed by all of the Safeguarded Copies for a source volume in IBM Storage Virtualize and DS8000. This value applies only to volumes that are the source in a Safeguarded Copy relationship.
- Safeguarded Location
-
The name of the child pool where the Safeguarded Copies are kept in IBM Storage Virtualize and DS8000. To view more information about the pool, click its name. This value applies only to volumes that are the source in a Safeguarded Copy relationship.
- SCM Capacity (GiB)
- The amount of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Storage Class Memory (SCM) drives.
- SCM Capacity (%)
- The percentage of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Storage Class Memory (SCM) drives.
- Shortfall (%)
- The difference between the remaining unused volume capacity and the available capacity of the pool that the volume is in, expressed as a percentage of the remaining unused volume capacity. The shortfall represents the relative risk of running out of space for an overallocated thin-provisioned volume. If the pool has sufficient available capacity to satisfy the remaining unused volume capacity, no shortfall exists. As the remaining unused volume capacity grows, or as the available pool capacity decreases, the shortfall increases and the risk of running out of space becomes higher. If the available capacity of the pool is exhausted, the shortfall is 100% and any volumes that are not yet fully allocated have run out of space.
- Status
- The status of a volume. Statuses include Normal, Warning, Error, Unknown, Online, Offline,
Syncing, Degraded, Excluded, Unreachable. The
(Threat Detected) label is appended to existing statuses in the
Status column. For instance, if a volume's status is
Warning and ransomware threat is detected on it, the status displays as
Warning (Threat Detected). If you acknowledge the alert then the status
becomes Warning (Threat Detected) Acknowledged. Use the status to
determine the condition of the volume, and if any actions must be taken. For example, if a volume
has an Error status, take immediate action to correct the problem. Syncing status indicates that a
SAN Volume Controller or Storwize
V7000 volume is part of a mirrored pair and is in
the process of synchronizing with the primary volume. Syncing status will change when a subsequent
probe detects a status change in the volume.
For storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize, volumes that are targets in replication or remote relationships and intentionally offline are not considered in an error state. In this case, the associated storage system does not display with an error state and no alerts are generated for the offline volume.
Tip: To determine if a volume is in a FlashCopy® or remote relationship, go the details page for the storage system and click Copy Data. Then, click the Remote Relationships or FlashCopy tab.To identify FlashCopy relationships, you can also check out the FlashCopy attribute for a volume. To view the FlashCopy attribute on a list of volumes, right-click the header column and select FlashCopy to show that attribute in the list. To view more details about a replication relationship, right-click a volume, click View Properties, and click the Relationships tab.
- Storage Virtualizer
- The name of the storage virtualizer that is managing a volume. A storage virtualizer is a storage system that virtualizes storage space from internal storage or from another storage system. Examples of storage virtualizers include SAN Volume Controller and Storwize V7000. A value is shown in this column only if the volume is managed by a storage virtualizer and data is collected for the storage virtualizer.
- Storage Virtual Machine
- The storage virtual machine (SVM) to which the volume belongs. An SVM is a logical entity that
is used to serve data to clients and hosts. Availability: NetApp ONTAP 9 storage systems.
- Thin Provisioned
- Shows whether a volume is a thin-provisioned volume, and the type of thin-provisioning that is used for the volume. A thin-provisioned volume is a volume with a provisioned capacity that is different from its real capacity. Not all the storage capacity of the volume is allocated when the volume is created, but is allocated over time as needed. Thin-provisioned volumes on a DS8000 storage system can be defined as Extent Space-Efficient (ESE) or as Track Space-Efficient (TSE).
- Threat Detection Timestamp
- The time when the last ransomware threat was detected.
- Tier 0 Flash Capacity (GiB)
- The amount of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Tier 0 flash drives.
- Tier 0 Flash Capacity (%)
- The percentage of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Tier 0 flash drives.
- Tier 1 Flash Capacity (GiB)
- The amount of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Tier 1 flash, read-intensive drives.
- Tier 1 Flash Capacity (%)
- The percentage of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Tier 1 flash, read-intensive drives.
- Tier 2 Flash Capacity (GiB)
- The amount of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Tier 2 flash, high-capacity drives.
- Tier 2 Flash Capacity (%)
- The percentage of volume capacity that Easy Tier has placed on Tier 2 flash, high-capacity drives.
- Tier Distribution
- The distribution of volume extents across the Easy Tier drive classes, such as the percentage of the volume's extents on SCM drives, Tier 0, Tier 1, and Tier 2 flash drives, Enterprise hard disk drives, and Nearline hard disk drives.
- Used Capacity (%)
- (Previously known as Physical Allocation) The percentage of the capacity of the volume that is used. The space that is used by a thin-provisioned volume might be less than the capacity of the volume.
- Used Capacity (GiB)
- (Previously known as Allocated Space) The amount of space that is used by the volume. For thin-provisioned volumes, the space that is used by the volume might be less than the provisioned capacity of the volume.
- VDisk Mirror Role
- For mirrored volumes, the mirror role identifies the primary and secondary volume copies. If the
volume is not a mirrored volume, the column is blank.Availability: Volumes on storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
- Virtual Disk Type
- The type of virtual disk with which a volume was created, such as sequential, striped, image, and many. Available only for volumes in SAN Volume Controller storage systems and Storwize family storage systems that are configured with block storage.
- Virtualizer Disk
- The managed disk for the virtualizer that corresponds to a volume.
- VOLSER
- The volume serial number for DS8000 count-key-data (CKD) volumes.
Volume Groups
- A volume group is a container for managing a set of related volumes as a single object. The
volume group provides consistency across all volumes in the group.
- Volume Number
- The volume number of the volume within the LSS or LCU. Available only for DS8000 volumes.
- Warning Level (%)
- The warning level that was defined when a thin-provisioned volume was created. This value is measured either in MiB (10^20 bytes) or a percentage of the total, provisioned capacity of the volume. The storage system generates a warning if the used capacity of a volume grows enough to exceed the specified threshold. Available only for volumes in storage systems that run IBM Storage Virtualize.
- Written Capacity (GiB)
- (Previously known as Written Space) The amount of data that is written from the assigned hosts to the volume before compression or data deduplication are used to reduce the size of the data. For example, the written capacity for a volume is 40 GiB. After compression, the volume used space, which reflects the size of compressed data that is written to disk, is just 10 GiB.
- Display Name
-
In order to improve usability, a new attribute called Display Name has been introduced in the vSphere Virtual Volumes (Vvol) framework. This attribute enables users to assign user-friendly names to the virtual volumes associated with the Virtual Volume ID. Previously, users faced difficulties in identifying volumes that were created as part of the virtual infrastructure. However, with the introduction of the Display Name attribute, users can now easily locate volumes with accurately configured names in the virtualized environment.
- Virtual Volume ID
-
In a virtualized environment, each virtual volume is assigned a Virtual Volume ID, which functions as a distinctive identifier to differentiate it from other virtual volumes. The Virtual Volume ID follows the "rtc" prefix, accompanied by an alphanumeric identification. This column plays a crucial role in enabling users to accurately locate virtual volumes within the grid, allowing them to identify which volumes are indeed virtual in nature.
Moreover, the Virtual Volume ID column includes a tooltip feature, which serves as a helpful tool for users to obtain a clear understanding of what a virtual volume entails. The tooltip provides additional information or explanations regarding virtual volumes, aiding users in comprehending their purpose and characteristics.
Information about disk mappings
To view the disks that are mapped to a volume, right-click the volume and click View Properties. The Disk Mappings tab shows the hosts that contain disks to which the volume is mapped. A volume can contribute to multiple disks, although each volume is associated with a single LUN.
- Disk
- The identifier of the disk on the host, to which the volume is mapped.
- Host Type
- The type of host, such as Windows or AIX®, as defined on the storage system host connection.
- Hosts
- The name of the host, as defined on the storage system host connection.
- Pool
- The name of the pool that contains the volume from the storage system that is mapped to the disk.
- Thin Provisioned
- The type of thin-provisioning on a volume, if any. The following types might be displayed for a
volume:
- ESE
- The volume is an Extent Space-Efficient (ESE) thin-provisioned volume on a DS8000 storage system.
- No
- The volume is not a thin-provisioned volume.
- TSE
- The volume is a Track Space-Efficient (TSE) thin-provisioned volume on a DS8000 storage system.
- Yes
- The volume is a thin-provisioned volume.
- Used Volume Capacity (GiB)
- The capacity on a storage system that is taken up for this volume.
- Volume
- The name or label of the volume, if available. This value uniquely identifies the volume within the storage system.
- Volume Capacity (GiB)
- The total amount of storage space that is committed to a volume. For thin-provisioned volumes, this value represents the provisioned capacity of the volume. In an XIV or IBM Storage Accelerate, this value represents the physical ("hard") capacity of the volume, not the provisioned ("soft") capacity.
- Volume ID
- The identifier for the volume as defined on the storage system. The volume ID might be a serial number or internal ID.
Learn more about key storage values
The relationship between capacity and space values and how they are calculated is illustrated.
| Storage value | Formula | Description |
|---|---|---|
Capacity |
A |
The total amount of storage space that is committed to a volume. |
|
Used Capacity |
B |
The amount of space that is reserved for a volume. |
|
Available Capacity |
D = A − B |
The amount of space that is not allocated to the volume. |
|
Used Capacity % |
B ÷ A |
The percentage of physical space that is reserved for a volume. This value cannot be greater than 100% because it is not possible to reserve more physical space than is available. |
|
Reserved Volume Capacity |
B − C |
The amount of space that is allocated to a volume and is not yet used. The value is shown for SAN Volume Controller, Storwize family storage systems that are configured with block storage, and Storwize V7000 Unified volumes. |
Shortfall % |
((E ÷ (D + E)) × 100 E = Overprovisioned Capacity |
The percentage of the remaining unused volume capacity in a pool that is not available to be used by a volume. The higher the percentage, the more critical the shortfall of capacity. This value is available only for thin-provisioned volumes. |