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

A storage partition is a logical entity consisting of one or more virtual disks that can be accessed by a single host or shared among hosts that are part of a host group. The first time you map a virtual disk to a specific host or host group, a storage partition is created. Subsequent virtual disk mappings to that host or host group do not create another storage partition.

When you choose this type of configuration, all the hosts must have the same operating system and special software (such as clustering software) to manage virtual disk sharing and accessibility.

You can use the Storage Partitioning Wizard to define a single storage partition. The Storage Partitioning Wizard guides you through the major steps required to specify which host groups, hosts, virtual disks, and associated logical unit numbers (LUNs) are to be included in the storage partition.

Storage partitioning is unavailable when:

• No valid host groups or hosts exist in the object tree on the Host Mappings tab
• No host ports are defined for the host being included in the storage partition
• All mappings are defined
  NOTE: You can include a secondary virtual disk in a storage partition. However, any hosts that are mapped to the secondary virtual disk have read-only access until the virtual disk is promoted to a primary virtual disk, or the replicate relationship is removed.

Storage partitioning topology is the collection of elements, such as Default Group, host groups, hosts, and host ports shown as nodes in the object tree of the Host Mappings tab in the AMW. For more information, see Using The Host Mappings Tab.

If a storage partitioning topology is not defined, an informational dialog is displayed each time you select the Host Mappings tab. You must define the storage partitioning topology before you define the actual storage partition.