## About Storage Profiles

A storage profile is set of attributes that you apply to a storage domain to allocate storage, instead of having to set each attribute individually. The system has a predefined set of storage profiles, including the Default storage profile. You choose a profile suitable for the application that is using the storage or create a custom profile.

Each storage profile has the following settings.

Parameter | Value or Variable Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
Name | Up to 32 characters | Unique identifier for the storage profile.
Description | Up to 256 characters | Description of the profile.
Segment Size | 4 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, or 64 KB | Size of the array segment.
Read Ahead | On (Enabled) or Off (Disabled) | Read-ahead mode of the array.
RAID Level | 0, 1, 5 | RAID level configured across all disks within a virtual disk.
Array Type | Exact Match: IOPS (2x4 array) Exact Match: Bandwidth (2x2 array) Exact Match: Capacity (2x6 array) Best Available Match: IOPS Best Available Match: Bandwidth Best Available Match: Capacity | The Exact Match options must be used only with the specified array configuration (2x2, 2x4, and 2x6) so, for a single system, only one of the Exact Match options is appropriate. If a profile defines an Exact Match option but is applied to the wrong array type, you cannot add storage to that pool. The Best Available options attempt to match the array type based on the performance of IOPS, bandwidth, or capacity. The following rules apply: Bandwidth: 2x2 > 2x4 > 2x6 Capacity: 2x6 > 2x4 > 2x2 IOPS: 2x4 > 2x2 > 2x6
Number of Disks | 2 through 14, Variable | The number of disks to be grouped together in a virtual disk. For example, if you create a storage pool that has the Number of Disks parameter set to a number, all virtual disks that are part of that storage pool must have the same number of disks. If the Number of Disks parameter is set to the Variable value you are prompted for the number of disks when storage is added to the pool.
Dedicated Hot Spare | Enabled / Disabled | Setting that indicates whether each virtual disk requires an additional disk from the same tray to be used as its dedicated hot spare.
Virtualization | Concatenate / Stripe | Strategy to be used for all volumes allocated from a storage pool. The Concatenate value: Requires a minimum of one virtual disk Used in sequential environments Implements algorithms to create volumes from "best fit" virtual disks to minimize overall partitioning of virtual disks The Stripe value: Requires a minimum of two virtual disks Used in random environments Stripes across multiple partitions in volumes
Stripe Size | 128 KB, 512 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB | The amount of space in memory on a virtual disk to be allocated for the stripe used in the Stripe virtualization strategy. This field is valid when the Virtualization parameter is set to Stripe.

### Related Topics

- Reference: Standard Storage Profiles
- Managing Storage Profiles