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QNAP

QuTS hero h5.1.x

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Creating a storage pool

Note:

  • For storage pools created in QuTS hero h5.0.0 or later, if you downgrade the firmware or migrate the pool to a NAS running QuTS hero h4.5.4 or earlier, the system will not be able to import the pool.

  • For storage pools containing shared folders where read acceleration has been enabled, the system will not be able to import the pool if you downgrade the firmware or migrate the pool to a NAS running QuTS hero h5.0.0 or earlier.

    For details, see "Enable Read Acceleration" in Shared folder actions.

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

    NAS State

    Action

    No storage pools

    Click New Storage Pool.

    One or more storage pools

    Click Create, and then select New Storage Pool.

    The Create Storage Pool Wizard window opens.

  3. Click Next.
  4. 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.

  5. Optional: Next to Security, select SED secure storage pool.

    This option is only available when there are SEDs in the selected enclosure.

    The list of disks only displays SEDs.

  6. Select one or more disks.
    Important:

    • QuTS hero assigns the first storage pool created as the system pool. The system pool should consist of only SSDs.

      For details, see The system pool.

    • 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.

    Warning:

    All data on the selected disks will be deleted.

  7. Select a RAID type.

    QuTS hero 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.

  8. Optional: 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.

  9. Optional: Enable QNAP SSD Antiwear Leveling.

    QNAP SSD Antiwear Leveling (QSAL) is a patented QNAP technology that helps prevent SSDs in the same RAID group from failing at the same time. It works by adding a varying amount of over-provisioning to each SSD, which causes each disk to wear at a different rate.

    For details, see QNAP SSD Antiwear Leveling (QSAL).

    Note:

    • QSAL is available for the following RAID types: RAID 5, 6, 50, 60, TP.

    • The RAID group must contain at least two SSDs that can provide estimated life remaining.

    • At least one SSD must have over 3% estimated life remaining.

  10. Click Next.
  11. Configure any of the following settings.

    Setting

    Description

    Optimize performance

    The system will optimize the pool's storage performance immediately after the pool is created.

    Important:

    • Storage pool optimization requires at least 100 GB of storage pool space.

    • Optimizing the pool will take a long time. While the pool is being optimized, the pool will be unavailable and you cannot create another pool with Optimize Performance enabled.

    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 QuTS hero has created the RAID group.

    Note:

    SSD over-provisioning is automatically enabled if QNAP SSD Antiwear Leveling (QSAL) is enabled.

    External device SSD over-provisioning

    External device SSD over-provisioning reserves the specified percentage of space on each disk in the RAID group to improve write performance and extend the disk's lifespan.

    Note:

    • This setting is available if the selected SSDs are installed in certain QNAP external device models.

    • This setting can only be configured for RAID types other than JBOD and RAID 0.

    Pool over-provisioning

    Storage pool over-provisioning reserves the specified percentage of space in the storage pool in order to maintain consistent pool access performance. Storage pool over-provisioning also extends the lifespan of SSDs in the pool.

    Enable Pool Guaranteed Snapshot Space

    Reserve a percentage of the total storage pool space for snapshots.

    Alert Threshold

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

    Encryption password

    Note:

    This setting is only available if you selected Create SED secure storage pool.

    The encryption password is used for locking and unlocking the SED secure storage pool, and is required for disabling SED security to change the SED pool into a standard pool without encryption.

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

    A confirmation message appears.

  15. Click OK.

QuTS hero creates the storage pool and then displays the information on the Storage/Snapshots screen.