PowerScale OneFS 9.8.0.0 Web Administration Guide

Storage pools overview

OneFS organizes different node types into separate node pools. You can configure node pool membership to include node types that you specify. You can also add node types to, and remove node types from, existing node pools. You can organize these node pools into logical tiers of storage. By activating a SmartPools license, you can create file pool policies that store files in these tiers automatically, based on criteria that you specify.

Without an active SmartPools license, OneFS manages all node pools as a single pool of storage. File data and metadata are striped across the entire cluster so that data is protected, secure, and readily accessible. All files belong to the default file pool and are governed by the default file pool policy. In this mode, OneFS provides functions such as autoprovisioning, virtual hot spare (VHS), global namespace acceleration (GNA), L3 cache, and storage tiers.

When you activate a SmartPools license, additional functions become available, including custom file pool policies and spillover management. With a SmartPools license, you can manage your dataset with more granularity to improve the performance of your cluster.

The following table summarizes storage pool functions based on whether a SmartPools license is active.