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# The Provision Storage wizard

The Provisioning Storage wizard simplifies the task of provisioning storage on a specific storage system.

## Prerequisites

See Roles and associated permissions to determine the user roles that can perform this task.

There are multiple ways to open the Provision Storage wizard. Depending on the method you use, some of the following steps may not apply. For example, if you open the wizard from the Hosts view, the step on selecting a host does not apply. Or, if you open the wizard from the Provisioning Templates view, the steps on selecting the Service Level and Workload Type does not apply. For example, selecting a storage group in the Storage Groups list view and clicking Provision Storage opens the wizard on the Select Host or Host Group page because you are starting out with a storage group. For example, selecting a storage group in the Storage Groups list view and clicking Provision Storage to Host opens the wizard on the Select Host or Host Group page because you are starting out with a storage group.

When opening the wizard from the Provisioning Templates view, note the following:

- Based on the selected template, the appropriate fields (service level, workload type, size, and number of volumes) take their values from the template. If the service level is not available on the default SRP on the selected storage system, it defaults to the default service level. The default service level is Diamond for all-flash arrays, and Optimized for hybrid storage systems.
- If you create a storage group from the first page without adding it to a masking view, the storage group is associated with the template but is marked invalid. It is not in the usage count for that template) until it is added to a masking view.
- If the selected template has host I/O limits defined based on the provisioning request, the limits are set.
  - Standalone storage group: The limits are set and can be modified.
  - Cascaded storage group: The limits are set on each of the children, but the parent has no limit set.

## About this task

This topic describes provisioning storage for open systems. See Provision storage for mainframe for a description of provisioning storage for mainframe. See Provision storage for file for a description of provisioning storage for File (eNAS). Use the multiarray Provisioning Storage wizard (see The multi-array Provision Storage wizard) to simplify the task of identifying the most optimal target array and provisioning storage on that array.

This procedure explains how to use the Provision Storage wizard to provision storage systems. You can also use a subset of the steps to create a storage group, without provisioning it.

The maximum number of storage groups that are supported on a storage system is 16,384.

The maximum number of child storage groups that are supported in a cascaded configuration is 64.

To use the Provisioning Storage wizard:

## Steps

1. Select the storage system.
2. Select Storage > Storage Groups.
3. Do one of the following:
   - Select the storage group and click Create to open the Provision Storage wizard.
   - Select the storage group and click Provision to open the Provision Storage wizard (go to step 8).
4. Type a Storage Group Name name.
   Storage group names must be unique from other storage groups on the storage system and cannot exceed 64 characters. Only alphanumeric characters, underscores ( _ ), and dashes (-) are valid. Storage group names are case-insensitive.
5. If required, select an Emulation type.
6. Select a Storage Resource Pool. To create the storage group without an SRP, select None. External storage resource pools are listed below the External heading.
7. Optional: Add one or more storage groups by hovering over the area to the right of the volume capacity and selecting .
8. Optional: Create a storage group with multiple volume sizes or edit the storage group by hovering over the area to the right of the volume capacity and selecting (see Edit storage group volume details).
9. Select the Service Level to set on the storage group. Service levels specify the characteristics of the provisioned storage, including average response time, workload type, and priority. This field defaults to None if you set the Storage Resource Pool to None. Possible values are:

   Table 1. Service Levels
   Service level | Performance type | Use case
   --- | --- | ---
   Diamond (Default) | Ultra high | HPC, latency sensitive
   Platinum | Very high | Mission critical, high rate OLTP
   Gold | High | Very heavy I/O, database logs, datasets
   Silver | Price/Performance | Database datasets, virtual applications
   Bronze | Cost optimized | Backup, archive, file
   Optimized | Optimized | Places the most active data on the highest performing storage and the least active on the most cost-effective storage

10. Select the Workload Type to assign it.

    | NOTE: Workload type is not supported for CKD storage groups.

    | NOTE: Workloads are supported on storage systems running HYPERMAX OS 5977.

    Workload types are used to refine the service level (that is, narrow the latency range). Possible values are OLTP or DSS, where OLTP workload is focused on optimizing performance for small block I/O, and DSS workload is focused on optimizing performance for large block I/O. The Workload Type can also specify whether to account for any overhead associated with replication (OLTP_Rep and DSS_Rep).

11. Type the number of Volumes and select the Capacity of each.

    | NOTE: The maximum volume size that is supported on a storage system that is running HYPERMAX OS 5977 is 64 TB. It is possible to create an empty Storage Group with no volumes.

12. Select the blue text next to Snapshot Policies to associate up to four snapshot policies with a storage group and click APPLY.
13. Data reduction is enabled by default on All Flash systems running the HYPERMAX OS 5977 Q3 2016 Service Release or later when you are creating a storage group or storage container. To disable it, clear the Enable Data Reduction check box. For more information, see Understanding data reduction.
14. To create a storage group, without provisioning it, click one of the following; otherwise, click Next and go to the next step in this procedure:
    - Click Run Now to perform the operation now.
    - Expand Run Now and click Add to Job List to add this task to the job list, from which you can schedule or run the task at your convenience. For more information, see Schedule jobs and Preview jobs.
15. Specify the host or host group to use by selecting an existing host or host group, or create a host or host group. When done, click Next.
    - To create a host, click Create Host to open the Create Host dialog box. For instructions on creating a host, see Create hosts.
    - To create a host group, click Create Host Group to open the Create Host Group dialog box. For instructions on creating a host, see Create host groups.
16. Select whether to use a New or an Existing port group, and then do the following depending on your selection:
    New:
    1. Optional: Edit the suggested Port Group Name by selecting it and typing a new name over it. Port group names must be unique from other port groups on the storage system and cannot exceed 64 characters. Only alphanumeric characters, underscores ( _ ), and (-) are valid. Port group names are case-insensitive.
    2. Select the ports to use. To view host-invisible ports (unmasked and unmapped), select Include ports not visible to the host. If a Fibre host or iSCSI host or NVMe/TCP host was not selected, select the appropriate filter to filter the port list by iSCSI virtual ports or FC ports or NVMe/TCP ports that are based on the selected host. If an empty host was selected, the radio button Fibre is selected by default. The Dir-Port table is filtered to only show either FC or iSCSI or NVMe/TCP depending on the radio button selection.

       Table 2. Ports
       Port | Description
       --- | ---
       FA (Fibre channel) | Ports are passed in by the user or wizard, using port group or port selection. WLP automatic port selection is not available. Load is spread across ports that are online, not virtual, ACLX enabled, and have negotiated speed. Current zoning is not considered.
       FA (Fibre channel) and FN (Fibre Channel) | Ports are passed in by the user or the wizard, using port group or port selection. WLP automatic port selection is not available. Load is spread across ports that are online, not virtual, ACLX enabled, and have negotiated speed. Current zoning is not considered.
       SE (Gig E) | iSCSI endpoints are passed in by the user or wizard, using port group or iSCSI endpoint selection. WLP automatic port selection is not available. iSCSI endpoints are mapped to physical ports. The load is spread across physical ports that are online, not virtual, and have negotiated speed. Current zoning is not considered.

       The following properties display:
       - Dir-Port —Storage system director and port in the port group
       - Identifier —Port identifier
       - Initiators Logged In—Number of initiators logged into the fabric
       - PGs—Number of port groups where the port is a member.
       - Mappings —Number of mappings
       - % Busy —Percentage of time that the port is busy.
    3. Click Next.

    Existing: Select the port group type and select an existing port group and click Next.

17. On the Review page, review the summary information that is displayed including the performance impact.
18. Optional: Edit the suggested name for the Masking View by selecting it and typing a new name over it. Verify the rest of your selections. To change any of them, click Back. Some changes may require you to make other changes to your configuration.
19. Optional: To receive alerts when the performance of the storage group changes, relative to its service level target, select Enable Compliance Alerts. For information about Compliance Alerts, see Create service level compliance alert policies.
20. Optional: Click Set Host I/O Limits.

    This option is not displayed when you select an existing storage group and click Provision. The option is displayed when you click Create.

21. Do one of the following:
    - Click Run Now to perform the operation now.
    - Expand Run Now and click Add to Job List to add this task to the job list, from which you can schedule or run the task at your convenience. For more information, see Schedule jobs and Preview jobs.