3par use space simple question

[koans]

Hi guys,

I'm new with 3PAR and got a really basic question.

We recently started feeding the VMs hosted on the 3PAR SAN, and we’ve discovered something interesting regarding the storage efficiency. The servers themselves appear to be optimizing the data stored far more than we expected. Normally, it uses about 2TB of the 3.5TB of space in the system. Right now, the drives are only using 1.3TB yet they still appear to have the same files available. Is this the block-level optimization mechanism that was mentioned as a part of the 3PAR SAN? If so, how often does this optimization occur?

Thx !

[Sheldon Smith]

Probably. The block-level optimization (thin provisioning) is a hardware real-time function. How often? As data is written.

It's not clear from your question where you are seeing these savings. It may be something else. Screen shots would do well to help clarify this.

Note: While I work for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, all of my comments (whether noted or not), are my own and are not any official representation of the company.
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[koans]

Seems to happen between 23:30 and 00:00, in that time it reduce by 5%.

[CalvinZito]

Agree with @SheldonSmith that more information is needed to understand the savings. Are you using SSDs? If so, my first thought was this could be deduplication savings but you would see that immediately not later.  

Congrats on the new 3PAR! A few suggestions for information:

• My blog - the 3PAR team posts once a week and there's tons of 3PAR content on my Around the Storage Block blog. Today's post talked about the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant.
• HPE Storage Group - I manage a LinkedIn Group for HPE Storage Discussions. If you request to join, be sure to follow the instructions you get in the email you'll get. I closely monitor who I allow in the group (no spammers, recruiters, etc.) so need a reply telling me your a customer.
• There's a technical users group that I find an outstanding place for getting technical questions answered. Don't get me wrong, so is this, but the 3parug.com is also excellent. 

[koans]

Thx Guy, yes we're using SSD that is part of an AO.