FlexVol Size Limitations

FlexVols are contained in one aggregate

Aggregates and their disks are owned by a single node
FlexVols cannot span aggregates or nodes
The maximum size of aggregates and FlexVols is controller dependent
On a FAS 8080EX the maximum aggregate size is 400TB and maximum
FlexVol size is 100TB
Infinite Volumes
Infinite volumes can span multiple aggregates and nodes
An infinite volume is a single, scalable volume that can store up to 2
billion files and up to 20 petabytes of data
Clients see a single junction path and namespace for the entire volume
It can be larger than the available physical storage by using thin
provisioning
It can be expanded non‐disruptively
Infinite Volumes SVM
An infinite volume is placed in a dedicated SVM
Infinite Volumes support NAS protocols only
You can have FlexVol SVMs and Infinite Volume SVMs on the same
cluster, and they can share aggregates
You should not create SVMs with Infinite Volume if the cluster contains
SVMs with SAN configuration
SVMs with Infinite Volume span between 2 and 10 nodes
Constituents
Infinite volumes are made up of constituents:
‒ Data Constituents
‒ The Namespace Constituent
‒ Namespace Mirror Constituents
Constituents
Each Infinite Volume has a single namespace constituent that maps
directory information and file names to the file's physical data location
within the Infinite Volume
The data is stored in data constituents. There will typically be multiple
data constituents spread over multiple nodes
A namespace mirror constituent is an intracluster data protection
mirror copy of the namespace constituent. The namespace mirror
provides a backup copy of the namespace constituent
Clients are not aware of constituents. They interact with the infinite
volume as if it was a normal single directory on a single storage system
Constituents

Client

Infinite Volume

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Aggr1 Aggr3 Aggr5 Aggr7

Aggr2 Aggr4 Aggr6 Aggr8

Infinite Volume Size
You can specify the aggregates you want to use and the size when you
create the infinite volume
New data constituents of an Infinite Volume are balanced equally
across nodes. This means that the node with the smallest available
space determines how much space is used on each node and limits
the size of the Infinite Volume that you can create or expand
For example, if you try to create a 6 PB, six‐node Infinite Volume but
one of the nodes used by the Infinite Volume has only 0.5 PB of
available space, each node can hold only 0.5 PB of data constituents,
limiting the total size of the Infinite Volume to approximately 3 PB
Storage Classes
Storage classes are an optional feature of infinite volumes that allow
you to provide multiple tiers of storage that is transparent to clients
You can optimize storage by grouping it into storage classes that
correspond to specific goals
All data is written to the single file system, and a data policy
automatically filters data for the files into different storage classes
Incoming files are placed into the appropriate storage class according
to rules based on file name, file path, or file owner
Storage Classes
You can define the following characteristics for a storage class:
‒ Aggregate characteristics, such as the type of disks to use
‒ Volume settings, such as thin provisioning, compression and
deduplication

Storage classes are configured with OnCommand Workflow

Automation and OnCommand Unified Manager
Storage Classes
Client

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Data Policy
NameSpace FV SVM NS Mirror FV SVM

Gold (SAS) Gold (SAS) Gold (SAS) FV SVM

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Gold (SAS) Gold (SAS) Gold (SAS) FV SVM

Silver (SATA) Silver (SATA) Silver (SATA) FV SVM

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Silver (SATA) Silver (SATA) Silver (SATA)