Volume properties

General

Volume name.

Volume names can include the following special characters: `~!@#$%^&*()_-+={[}]|\:;'<,>.?/

The double quote (") is the only restricted character.

Represents the total size of the volume, indicating the amount of space allocated for storage within that volume. Measured in Mebibytes (MiB), Gibibytes (GiB), or Tebibytes (TiB). You can choose custom values for these settings, or use the maximum available capacity for the volume.

Free space indicates the amount of available space left on the volume, after deducting the space used. The calculation is the difference between the total allocated space for the volume and the total used space on the volume. This is an informational setting that provides detail at a glance so administrators can monitor the volume usage and space requirements.

NT File System (NTFS) or Resilient File System (ReFS) file system used to format the volume. NTFS, developed by Microsoft for the Windows NT operating system, stores, and retrieves files. ReFS, also developed by Microsoft, provides additional capabilities to support current storage and retrieval requirements. For more information, see the Microsoft NTFS overview and ReFS overview.

Drive letter of the file system on which the volume is mounted. The assigned drive letter becomes a unique property of the volume. You cannot use the same drive letter for more than one volume.

The allocation unit defines the smallest unit of space that data uses on the file system. For example, if you have an allocation unit of 8 KiB and you want to store a 1 KB file, the file consume 8 KiB on the volume. Because the system reads data from the volume in blocks, you can use this allocation unit to optimize reads and writes. For system running sequential workloads, the larger the allocation unit, the better is the performance. If you have large volumes and a small allocation unit, you will not efficiently use the full capacity of the volume.

However, if you have a random workload and small files, a larger allocation unit lowers performance because the system read larger chunks of information from the disk you actually need, which is an inefficient use of capacity.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise recommends leaving this setting at the default value so that the system determines the appropriate allocation unit based on the volume size.

This setting indicates the number of file shares provisioned on a volume, provided for information purposes only.

Deduplication

Data deduplication optimizes volume space by looking for duplicated information on the volume, storing it once, and (optionally) compressing it. This process frees up space on a volume and saves money by reducing the need to purchase additional storage. You can enable deduplication for different purposes. HPE StoreEasy supports deduplication for general use across the file server, or you can enable deduplication on a virtual server used by remote desktop users or for a virtual backup server (see, Microsoft Data Deduplication Overview).

The management console supports deduplication for NTFS only. If your volume uses ReFS, the management console does not provide deduplication options.

Determine the number of days that must pass before a file becomes eligible for deduplication. Deduplication of files that users no longer access regularly provides a more efficient use of deduplication resources.

By default, HPE StoreEasy excludes certain file types from deduplication. You can specify additional file types to exclude, but you cannot change the default file types. The excluded file types depend on the mode of deduplication you choose.

Management console excludes certain file types to prevent performance issues by deduplicating files where deduplication has not real benefit. For example, where the deduplication effort would not save space. You can add your own files to this list when you know that those files will not deduplicate well. This might include encrypted files, can cause deduplication issues.

Shows the difference between the actual size of the files on the volume and the size of the logical drive after deduplication. Savings you see that using deduplication depend on the data stored and the workload usage on the volume.

Indicates the total size on the disk without deduplication.

Indicates the total volume size and a bar graph that shows how much of total space is used.

Displays the list of scheduled snapshots, if any. Displays additional information, such as date and time of the snapshot, depending on the schedule type (see, Adding a snapshot schedule using HPE StoreEasy management console).