topic Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it? in Array Performance and Data Protection

Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

lindy37 — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 01:18:01 GMT

New to Nimble. I created a volume to move some VMware VDI's from your Equallogic to our new CS300. I chose "VMware VDI" when I did this via the web GUI. Later I created another volume this time through the VMware plugin and it chose "VMware ESX 5". I have data on both volumes.

Can I change them to be the same without impacting the data on the volumes? If so, which is better for VDI's? My hosts are running ESXi 5.5 update 2.

Thanks!

Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

Nick_Dyer — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 14:53:57 GMT

Hi Chris! Welcome to Nimble Storage

It's absolutely possible to change a performance policy on a volume without any impact to data or data services. The only requirement is the new performance policy selection must be the same block size as the old. In your example, VMware VDI comprises of a 4k block, Compression ON, Caching ON, and so does the VMware ESX 5 policy; so go ahead!

HTH

Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

lindy37 — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 16:15:42 GMT

Thanks!

Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

mdenton128110 — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:18:07 GMT

Hi.. If the 2 profiles have the same characteristics.. i.e. block size etc.. are you actually changing anything but the name of the profile in this case ?

Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

mdenton128110 — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:18:43 GMT

and why hasn't my funky new avatar icon shown up ? I am not a robot!

Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

mdenton128110 — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:21:01 GMT

ah.. there it is

Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

rugby0134 — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:29:47 GMT

Multiple performance policies allow you to break down reports in Infosight. You can group buy multiple ESX, Exchange, or SQL servers to see actual usage per environment.

Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

Nick_Dyer — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:30:10 GMT

To add on to Kevin's note; today it's merely changing the category more than anything. However, there are a few features coming in the future which will make the correct categorisation of applications more important.

Re: Can you change a performance policy on a volume with data already on it?

jasonwoerner115 — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 18:15:21 GMT

Nick, is there documentation from Nimble specifying the limitation you revealed (and perhaps other real-world VVol use cases and workflows)? I realize it makes a lot of sense that you can't change block size on the fly, but actually trying this in the vSphere client doesn't indicate the problem. Instead, your disk remains non-compliant while also claiming that the storage it resides on is compatible with the new policy you've assigned.