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QNAP

QTS 5.1.x

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Creating a Qtier storage pool

For details on hardware and software requirements, see Qtier requirements.

Tip:

Immediately after creating a Qtier storage pool, QTS starts moving data between tiers. This data migration may affect system storage performance. You should create the Qtier storage pool during a period of low NAS activity.

  1. Go to Storage & Snapshots > Storage > Storage/Snapshots.
  2. Perform one of the following actions.

    Current NAS State

    Action

    No volumes or storage pools

    Click New Storage Pool

    One or more volumes or storage pools

    Select Create > New Storage Pool

    The Create Storage Pool Wizard opens.

  3. Enable Qtier.
  4. Optional: Enable SED encryption and create a SED secure storage pool.

    You must have free SEDs on the NAS.

    For details, see Self-encrypting drives (SEDs).

  5. Click Next.
  6. Configure a tier.
    1. Optional: Select an expansion unit from the Enclosure Unit list.
      Important:

      • You cannot select disks from multiple expansion units.

      • If the expansion unit is disconnected from the NAS, the storage pool becomes inaccessible until the expansion unit is reconnected.

    2. Select one or more disks.
      Warning:

      All data on the selected disks will be deleted.

      Important:

      • For data safety, you cannot select disks that have the status Warning.

      • The status In Use means that a disk is currently formatted as an external disk, and may contain current user data.

      • If you select a disk with the status In Use, QTS will temporarily stop all disk storage services on the NAS in order to unmount the disk, and then delete all data and partitions on the disk.

      • The number of disks you can select depends on the RAID type you want to select. For details, see the following:

      • If you select multiples of three disks and select Triple Mirror for the RAID type, every three disks will form an individual RAID group in the storage pool. You can select a maximum of 15 disks with Triple Mirror.

    3. Click OK.
    4. Select a RAID type.

      QTS displays all available RAID types and automatically selects the most optimized RAID type.

      Tip:

      Use the default RAID type if you are unsure of which option to choose.

      For details, see RAID types.

    5. Optional: Select the disk that will be used as a hot spare for this RAID group.

      The designated hot spare automatically replaces any disk in the RAID group that fails.

      For RAID 50 or RAID 60, a spare disk must be configured later. You should configure a global spare disk so that all subgroups share the same spare disk.

      Tip:

      Under Role, click Data and then select Spare.

    6. Select the number of RAID 50 or RAID 60 subgroups.

      The selected disks are divided evenly into the specified number of RAID 5 or 6 groups.

      • A higher number of subgroups results in faster RAID rebuilding, increased disk failure tolerance, and better performance if all the disks are SSDs.

      • A lower number of subgroups results in more storage capacity, and better performance if all the disks are HDDs.

      Warning:

      If a RAID group is divided unevenly, the excess space becomes unavailable. For example, 10 disks divided into 3 subgroups of 3 disks, 3 disks, and 4 disks will provide only 9 disks of storage capacity.

  7. Repeat the previous steps to configure at least one more tier.

    For details, see Qtier requirements.

  8. Click Next.
  9. Optional: Configure SSD over-provisioning.

    Over-provisioning reserves a percentage of SSD storage space on each disk in the RAID group to improve write performance and extend the disk's lifespan. You can decrease the amount of space reserved for over-provisioning after QTS has created the RAID group.

    Tip:

    To determine the optimal amount of over-provisioning for your SSDs, download and run SSD Profiling Tool from App Center.

  10. Optional: Configure the alert threshold.

    QTS issues a warning notification when the percentage of used pool space meets or exceeds the specified threshold.

  11. Optional: Configure pool guaranteed snapshot space.

    Pool guaranteed snapshot space is storage pool space that is reserved for storing snapshots. Enabling this feature ensures that QTS always has sufficient space to store new snapshots.

  12. If you enabled SED encryption, configure the SED settings.
    1. Specify the encryption password.

      The encryption password must consist of 8 to 32 characters from any of the following groups:

      • Letters: A to Z, a to z

      • Numbers: 0 to 9

      • Special characters: Any except for space ( )

      Warning:

      Remember this password. If you forget the password, the pool will become inaccessible and all data will be unrecoverable.

    2. Optional: Select Auto unlock on startup.

      This setting enables the system to automatically unlock and mount the SED pool whenever the NAS starts, without requiring the user to enter the encryption password.

      Warning:

      Enabling this setting can result in unauthorized data access if unauthorized personnel are able to physically access the NAS.

  13. Click Next.
  14. Verify the storage pool information.
  15. Click Create.

    A confirmation message appears.

    Warning:

    Clicking OK deletes all data on the selected disks.

  16. Click OK.

QTS creates the Qtier storage pool and starts moving data between tiers. QTS starts automatically tiering data after it has spent sufficient time analyzing data access patterns.