Shared storage pool clusters

Shared Storage Pool (SSP) clusters are a feature in PowerVM® Classic and Enterprise Editions and were introduced in Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) Version 2.2.0.11 Fix Pack 11 Service Pack 1. It is a server-based storage virtualization method that provides distributed storage access to a VIOS for client partitions.

Note: For HMC to manage Shared Storage Pool clusters, the VIOS level should be at 2.2.3.3 or later.

A shared storage pool is a pool of storage area network (SAN) storage devices that can be used among Virtual I/O Servers. It is based on a cluster of Virtual I/O Servers and a distributed data object repository with a global namespace. Each VIOS that is part of a cluster represents a cluster node.

Shared storage pools provide the following benefits:

Improve the usage of available storage.
Simplify administration tasks.
Simplify the aggregation of large numbers of disks among the Virtual I/O Servers.

Shared storage pools provide better usage of the available storage by using thin provisioning. The thinly provisioned device is not fully backed by physical storage if the data block is not in actual use.

Last updated: Tue, June 12, 2018