The newly introduced HP P6000 Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) software includes thin provisioning functionality with multiple benefits which significantly enhances the value of the P6000 EVA. Thin provisioning provides a way to create a virtual disk (Vdisk) such that the operating system sees more capacity available than is physically allocated by the array. As the operating system writes data to the Vdisk, the software automatically allocates more space up to the size of the Vdisk. The size of the virtual disk is specified by the user, but the amount of allocated capacity is managed by the array and cannot be
specified.
Thin provisioning functionality is also supported with the XCS10 software for the EVA 4400, EVA 6400, and EVA 8400 and this document covers the use of thin provisioning on those systems, too.
This white paper documents:
• Information that a P6000 EVA customer needs to know from an operational and technical perspective before choosing to use thin provisioning.
• “Best practices” for using P6000 EVA Thin Provisioning; that is, practices and approaches that will enable the P6000 EVA customer to optimize the value of thin provisioning.