Chapter 12: Managing Storage Volumes

Overview

SOLARIS 9 EXAM OBJECTIVES COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER:

• Explain the purpose, features, and functionalities of RAID, and identify the guidelines to follow when using RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5, including hardware considerations.

• Define key SVM concepts, including volumes and state databases.

In Chapter 7, "File System Management," you learned how to create disk-based file systems for permanent file storage. You also learned that Solaris defines eight slices by default, numbered 0 through 7. Although basic hard disk management tools discussed in Chapter 7 are sufficient for most computers and networks, they do have some shortcomings.

For example, the default disk management tools do not provide for fault tolerance. In other words, if one disk fails, all information on all slices on that disk is lost. Of course, you can make regular backups of data onto a tape device or other backup media (known as fault recovery), but this method requires you to make time-consuming restorations of lost data while the computer is down.

The Solaris Volume Manager enables you to create a variety of volume types to both increase your computer's speed and provide fault tolerance. Several of these advanced storage configurations are categorized into RAID levels, such as RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5.

This chapter begins with a discussion of RAID. After that, you will spend some time learning about the Solaris Volume Manager and how you can use the Solaris Volume Manager to ease your hard disk administration, speed up your computer's disk I/O, and provide automatic fault tolerance for your system's data.