Dell EMC PowerVault MD 34XX/38XX Series Storage Arrays Administrator's Guide

Initializing thin virtual disk with different physical capacity

1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab.
2. Select the thin virtual disk that you want to initialize.
   The thin virtual disks are listed under the Disk Pools node.
3. Select Storage > Virtual Disk > Advanced > Initialize.
   The Initialize Thin Virtual Disk window is displayed.
4. Select Use a different repository.
5. Based on whether you want to keep the current repository for future use, select or clear Delete existing repository, and click Next.
6. Select one of the following:
   • Yes—If there more than one disk pool on your storage array
   • No—If there is only one disk pool on your storage array
   The Select Disk Pool window is displayed.
7. Select Keep existing disk pool, and click Next.
   The Select Repository window is displayed.
8. Use the Preferred capacity box to indicate the initial physical capacity of the virtual disk and the Units list to indicate the specific capacity units to use—MB, GB, or TB.
   NOTE: Do not allocate all the capacity to standard virtual disks—ensure that you keep storage capacity for copy services (snapshot images, snapshot virtual disks, virtual disk copies, and remote replications).

   NOTE: Regardless of the capacity specified, capacity in a disk pool is allocated in 4 GB increments. Any capacity that is not a multiple of 4 GB is allocated but not usable. To make sure that the entire capacity is usable, specify the capacity in 4 GB increments. If unusable capacity exists, the only way to regain it is to increase the capacity of the virtual disk.
   Based on the value that you entered in the previous step, the Disk pool physical capacity candidates table is populated with matching repositories.
9. Select a repository from the table.
   Existing repositories are placed at the top of the list.

   NOTE: The benefit of reusing an existing repository is that you can avoid the initialization process that occurs when you create a new one.
10. If you want to change the repository expansion policy or warning threshold, click View advanced repository settings.
    • Repository expansion policy – Select either Automatic or Manual. When the consumed capacity gets close to the physical capacity, you can expand the physical capacity. The MD storage management software can automatically expand the physical capacity, or you can do it manually. If you select Automatic, you also can set a maximum expansion capacity. The maximum expansion capacity allows you to limit the virtual disk’s automatic growth below the virtual capacity. The value for the maximum expansion capacity must be a multiple of 4 GB.
    • Warning threshold – In the Send alert when repository capacity reaches field, enter a percentage. The MD Storage Manager sends an alert notification when the physical capacity reaches the full percentage.
11. Click Finish.
    The Confirm Initialization of Thin Virtual Disk window is displayed.
12. Read the warning and confirm if you want to initialize the thin virtual disk.
13. Type yes, and click OK.
    The thin virtual disk initializes.