How to Create a Volume Group in PowerStore

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Written By Amit Singh

I am a technology enthusiast with 15 years of experience in SAN and NAS Storage. 

In this article, we will look at how to create volume group on Dell EMC PowerStore using PowerStore Manager.

A volume group in PowerStore system consists of one or more volumes. A volume can only be a member of one volume group at a time. The recommended method for creation of volume group in PowerStore is via PowerStore Manager.

Note: All the members of volume group must reside in a single appliance.

Volume Group Creation using PowerStore Manager – Step by Step

Step 1

  • Login to PowerStore Manager.
  • Click on Storage, and Click on Volume Group.
  • Click + Create button to create a new Volume Group.

A new Create Volume Group card will slide out.

Create a Volume Group in PowerStore
Create Volume Group

Note: If Protection Policy is selected here, then it cannot be managed at the volume level. It is all or nothing approach here.

Step 2

Use the following settings for the new Volume Group (leave all other settings as default):

  • Name: As per Naming Convention
  • Description: Optional
  • Select Optional Protection Policy from the Drop Down.
  • To ensure consistent protection across all members of the volume group, select Apply write order consistency to all volumes in this volume group. (Default Selection)

Notice that the checkbox for write-order consistency is checked by default. This ensures that all protection policies (i.e. snapshots/replication) will be taken at the same point in time for all the volumes of the volume group. This makes the volume group write consistent and also ensures that write order is preserved for all the volumes when a snapshot is taken for this volume group.

Click Create

Create a Volume Group in PowerStore
Create Volume Group

NOTE: It is important to note the behavior of the (Write-Order Consistency) checkbox. If the apply write-order consistency is checked then while setting up replication all the volumes in this volume group will automatically be replicated. It is not possible to selectively replicate individual volumes in the volume group.

If you want to replicate only a subset of a volume in volume group, then you need to uncheck this box. Also , if you uncheck the box no target volume group will be created on secondary array while setting up replication.

Step 3

Add Volumes

Once the Volume Group is successfully created, you’ll see a message displayed that you can add existing or new volume to the volume group.

  • Click Add Volumes and
  • Click on Add Existing or New Volumes.

This action will bring you directly to the Volumes wizard. The same action can be done manually later as well.

Create a Volume Group in PowerStore
Add Volume to Volume Group

I am a technology enthusiast with 15 years of experience in SAN and NAS Storage. I work with one of the fortune 500 companies as SAN Storage Architect.

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