## About Storage Pools

A storage domain can be divided into storage pools; the number of storage pools depends on the array configuration. Each storage tray can support one or two storage pools; for example, in a 2x6 array configuration, you can define a maximum of 12 storage pools.

Each pool uses a profile, which allows the storage pool to meet specific I/O requirements. The system provides a set of storage profiles that satisfy certain I/O requirements, but if none of the profiles are suitable for your site's need, you can create a custom storage profile.

The default configuration uses the Default storage pool, which consists of all the disks in the system. When you create a new storage pool, you assign specific disks to it, and then you create volumes of disks.

To see the current storage pools, go to the Storage Pool Summary page, as described in Displaying Pool Information.

Reconfiguring a storage pool consists of removing the storage pool and then creating a new storage pool. Storage pools can be expanded dynamically so you can remove unused virtual disks and add new virtual disks.

Note -

You cannot delete storage pools that have volumes associated with them. Removing the storage pool destroys all stored data in the pool. The data can be restored from backup after new storage pools are added, but it is far easier to avoid the difficulty in the first place.

You should determine your pools and virtual disks utilization carefully. A tray can have two virtual disks only. Therefore, if seven disks in a tray are assigned to a single storage pool, and you add one disk and configure it into a second storage pool, you cannot add six more disks later to the empty disk slots without reconfiguring the storage pools. In this situation, you could not use the disks as virtual disk; you could, however, use them as array hot spares.

### Related Topics

- Managing Storage Pools
- About Virtual Disks
- About Volumes