If this document does not correspond to your current software version, you can go to Download Center to find other available document versions.

QNAP

QuTS hero 5.0.x

Download (PDF)

Creating a Block-Based LUN

  1. Go to one of the following screens.
    • iSCSI & Fibre Channel > iSCSI Storage

    • iSCSI & Fibre Channel > Fibre Channel > FC Storage

  2. Click Create, and then select New Block-Based LUN.

    The Create LUN window opens.

  3. Specify a LUN name
    • Length: 1 to 32 characters

    • Valid characters: 0-9, a-z, A-Z, underscore (_)

  4. Select the storage pool that this LUN will be created in.
  5. Select a provisioning type.

    Provisioning Type

    Description

    Thick provisioning

    QuTS hero allocates storage pool space when creating the LUN. This space is guaranteed to be available later.

    Thin provisioning

    QuTS hero allocates storage pool space only when needed, such as when data is being written to the LUN. This ensures efficient use of space but there is no guarantee that space will be available.

  6. Specify a LUN capacity.

    Specify the maximum capacity of the LUN. The maximum capacity depends on the LUN allocation method:

    • Thick provisioning: Equal to the amount of free space in the parent storage pool.

    • Thin provisioning: 5 PB (5000 TB)

  7. Optional: Configure LUN guaranteed snapshot space.

    LUN guaranteed snapshot space is storage pool space that is reserved for storing snapshots of a LUN. Enabling this feature ensures that QuTS hero always has sufficient space to store new snapshots for this LUN.

  8. Optional: Configure the following LUN settings.

    Setting

    Description

    Compression

    QuTS hero compresses the data in the LUN to reduce the size of stored data. Enabling compression also reduces the total number of blocks that QuTS hero needs to read and write, increasing read and write speeds.

    Tip:

    New shared folders and LUNs have compression enabled by default. Compression does not impact read/write and processor performance on ZFS filesystems. Only disable this setting when necessary.

    Deduplication

    QuTS hero eliminates duplicate copies of data to reduce the required amount of storage space.

    Important:

    To enable deduplication, your NAS must have at least 8 GB of memory.

    Alert threshold

    QuTS hero issues a warning notification when the percentage of used LUN space is equal to or above the specified threshold.

    SSD Cache

    The SSD cache will be used to improve LUN access performance.

    Important:

    This setting is only available when the SSD cache is enabled.

    Fast clone

    Fast Clone enables QuTS hero to create copies of files faster. It also saves storage space by modifying file metadata, allowing original and copied files to share the same data blocks.

    Important:
    • Fast Clone only works when the copied file is created in the LUN containing the original file.

    • Fast Clone does not improve the speed of snapshot restoration operations such as restoring files from a snapshot, snapshot revert, and snapshot clone.

    Synchronous I/O

    Select the ZFS Intent Log (ZIL) sync setting to improve either data consistency or performance. There are three options:

    • Auto (Default): QuTS hero uses synchronous I/O or asynchronous I/O based on the application and the type of I/O request.

    • Always: (Default). All I/O transactions are treated as synchronous and are always written and flushed to a non-volatile storage (such as a SSD or HDD). This option gives the best data consistency, but might have a slight impact on performance.

    • None: All I/O transactions are treated as asynchronous. This option gives the highest performance, but has a higher risk of data loss in the event of a power outage. Ensure that a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) is installed when using this option.

    Performance profile (block size)

    Specify the block size of the LUN.

  9. Optional: Select Map LUN to an iSCSI target or FC port group

    If selected, the Edit LUN Mapping wizard appears after QuTS hero has finished creating the LUN.

  10. Optional: Configure LUN encryption.
    Note:
    • To encrypt data on the LUN, the system generates a unique encryption key based on the user-defined encryption password. To access data on the LUN, the LUN must be unlocked with the encryption password or the encryption key file. You can download the encryption key file later.

    • You cannot enable or disable encryption after a LUN is created.

    • Encryption decreases read and write speeds.

    • VJBOD, SnapSync, and Snapshot Replica do not currently support encrypted LUNs.

    1. Select Enable LUN encryption.
    2. Specify an encryption password.
      Note:

      The password cannot contain the following characters or sequences: space ( ), dollar sign ($), colon (:), equal sign (=), HTML double quote ("), HTML backslash (\)

      Warning:

      If you forget the encryption password and do not have the encryption key file, the LUN will become inaccessible and all data in the LUN will be lost.

      To download the encryption key file, see Managing LUN Encryption.

    3. Verify the password.
    4. Optional: Select Auto unlock on startup.
      Note:

      This setting allows the system to save the encryption key so it can automatically unlock the LUN every time the NAS starts, without requiring the user to provide the encryption password or encryption key file.

      You can change this setting at any time. For details, see Managing LUN Encryption.

  11. Click Create.
  12. Optional: Map the LUN to an iSCSI target or Fibre Channel port group.