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About storage components

HCP uses storage components to represent the storage available to it for storing objects.

A storage component is a set of one or more access points (buckets, containers, or mount points) that share a common endpoint. An endpoint is either a specific type of HCP storage (primary running or primary spindown) or a specific externally addressable storage device or storage service such as an S Series Node or Amazon S3. Each storage component has a specific set of data availability, price, and performance characteristics.

HCP uses storage components to provide you with an interface to:

  • Configure HCP to provide the information that HCP needs to access specific extended storage devices and cloud storage service endpoints.
  • Configure HCP to monitor, manage, and use all of the storage that is represented by one or more storage components of the same type as a single storage pool.
  • Monitor the health, availability, capacity, and usage of the storage that is represented by each component (primary running storage, primary spindown storage, S Series storage, and each extended storage device and cloud service endpoint) and appropriately provision storage.
  • Retire S Series or extended storage that is represented by a single storage component, or retire all of the storage that is represented by the components in a single storage pool.

Primary storage components

Every HCP system has a preconfigured storage component for each type of primary storage that the system is configured to use. The primary running storage component represents all continuously spinning disks that are currently managed by the HCP nodes. For SAIN systems with spindown storage, the primary spindown storage component represents all spindown-capable disks that are currently managed by the HCP nodes.

In the System Management Console, you can use the Storage page to perform the following actions:

  • View information about the current hardware configuration, health status, availability, capacity, and use of the storage that is represented by each primary storage component
  • View current and historical storage usage statistics for each primary storage component
  • View a comparison of the current and historical storage capacity usage statistics for all components that are defined on the HCP system, including the two primary storage components.
  • Monitor the health and use of each type of primary storage
  • Determine when you need to add primary storage or replace storage devices that are used for primary running storage or primary spindown storage
NoteYou cannot modify a primary storage component for the purpose of adding, retiring, or upgrading primary running storage or primary spindown storage. To add primary storage to an HCP system either to increase primary storage capacity or to replace one or more retired storage devices, contact your authorized HCP service provider for help.

On a RAIN or SAIN system, you can use either the Storage page or the Migration page in the System Management Console to retire one or more primary storage devices. When you retire primary storage, HCP automatically updates each primary storage component, as needed, to reflect the changes in the total storage capacity and the total number of disks represented by each primary storage component.

HCP S Series storage components

HCP can use HCP S Series Nodes as an alternative to primary storage or for tiering purposes.

To connect the S Series Nodes to the HCP system, you need to add them to the HCP system on the Hardware page of the System Management Console.

You can configure HCP to write directly to S Series Nodes by changing the ingest tier of a service plan. This does not remove the need for primary storage. Primary running storage still keeps all custom metadata of objects tiered to S Series storage.

After an S Series storage component is added, you can use the Storage page to view its health status, availability, capacity, and current and historical storage usage statistics.

S Series Nodes have a storage capacity limit. You can use the Storage page to monitor the health and usage of S Series storage components and determine when you need to add more S Series Nodes to the HCP system.

Extended storage components

HCP supports several types of extended storage. To enable HCP to use a specific type of extended storage, you first create and configure one or more storage components of the applicable type.

You can configure HCP to access and store object data on the following types of extended storage:

  • NFS

    Volumes that are accessed on physical storage devices using NFS mount points

  • Amazon S3

    Cloud storage that is accessed using an Amazon Web Services user account

  • Google Cloud

    Cloud storage that is accessed using a Google Cloud Platform user account

  • Microsoft Azure

    Cloud storage that is accessed using a Microsoft Azure user account

  • S3 compatible

    Any physical storage device or cloud storage service that is accessed using a protocol that is compatible with the Amazon S3 access protocol

  • ThinkOn cloud

    S3 compatible cloud storage that is accessed using a ThinkOn cloud user account

ImportantExtended storage is intended to increase the amount of storage that’s available to HCP. Extended storage does not function as backup storage. You should secure, back up, and monitor the health and availability of each extended storage device and cloud storage service that you use to store data in an HCP repository.

 

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