Volumes

Brief conceptual information about volume.

A volume is a logical unit that allows you to apply policies to a set of files, directories, and sub-volumes. You can use volumes to enforce disk usage limits, set replication levels, establish ownership and accountability, and measure the cost generated by different projects or departments.

The volume structure defines how data is distributed across the nodes in your cluster.

You can create a volume for each user, department, or project.

You can mount volumes under other volumes to build a structure that reflects the needs of your organization.

Sub-volumes are created by mounting a volume in a sub-directory of an already mounted volume. This establishes a parent-child relationship between the volumes whereas the parent volume is mounted in top-level directory and the child volume is mounted in the sub-directory. Create multiple small volumes with shallow paths at the top of a fabric volume hierarchy to spread the load of access requests across the nodes.

A well-structured volume hierarchy is an essential aspect of fabric performance. As the data in a fabric grows, Having an efficient volume hierarchy maximizes data availability as the data in a fabric grows. Fabric performance is negatively affected when a volume structure is not in place.