{{site.data.keyword.attribute-definition-list}}

{: #file-storage-faqs}

{: faq} {: #volumeencrypt} {: support}

Look at your list of {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} in the customer portal. You can see a lock icon next to the volume name for the volumes that are encrypted.

{: faq} {: #encryptupgrade} {: support}

{{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} that was provisioned before a data center upgrade can't be encrypted. New {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} that was provisioned in upgraded data centers is automatically encrypted. It's automatic, not a provisioning setting that can be selected or left out. Data on nonencrypted storage can be encrypted by creating a new volume, then copying the data to the new encrypted volume with host-based migration. For more information, see Migrating {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}}.

{: faq} {: #upgradedcenter} {: support}

In the {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} order form, all upgraded data centers are denoted with an asterisk (*). During the ordering process, you're given an indication that you're provisioning storage with encryption. When the storage is provisioned, you can see an icon in the storage list that shows that volume as encrypted.

All encrypted volumes and file shares are provisioned in upgraded data centers only. You can find a full list of upgraded data centers and available features here.

{: faq} {: #orderendurance} {: support}

The {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} Endurance type 10 IOPS/GB tier is available in most data centers, and new data centers are going to be added soon. You can find a full list of upgraded data centers and available features here.

{: #mountpoint} {: faq} {: support}

All encrypted {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} volumes that are provisioned in the enhanced data centers have a different mount point than nonencrypted volumes. To ensure that you're using the correct mount point, view the mount point information in the Volume Details page in the UI. You can also access the correct mount point through an API call: SoftLayer_Network_Storage::getNetworkMountAddress().

{: faq} {: #provision} {: support}

By default, you can provision a combined total of 700 Block and {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} volumes. To increase your limit, contact your sales representative. For more information, see Managing storage limits.

{: faq} {: #authlimit} {: support}

The default limit for number of authorizations per file volume is 64. To increase this limit, contact your sales representative.

{: faq} {: #hostlimit} {: support}

That depends on what the host operating system can handle, it’s not something that {{site.data.keyword.cloud}} limits. Refer to your OS documentation for limits on the number of file shares that can be mounted.

{: #maxfilevolume} {: faq} {: support}

The number of files a volume can contain is determined by how many inodes it has. An inode is a data structure that contains information about files. Volumes have both private and public inodes. Public inodes are used for files that are visible to the customer and private inodes are used for files that are used internally by the storage system. The maximum number of files setting is 2 billion. However, this maximum value can only be configured with volumes of 7.8 TB or larger. The maximum number of inodes that can be configured on a volume is calculated by taking the total allocated volume size in KB and dividing it by 4. Any volume of 7.8 TB or larger reaches the maximum limit at 2,040,109,451 inodes.

{: faq} {: #movedatacenter}

You need to order new {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} in the right data center, and then cancel the {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} device that you ordered in the incorrect location. When the volume is canceled, there's a 24-hour reclaim wait period. You can still see the volume in the console during those 24 hours. Billing for the volume stops immediately. When the reclaim period expires, the data is destroyed and the volume is removed from the console, too.

{: faq} {: #iopsmeasure} {: support}

IOPS is measured based on a load profile of 16-KB blocks with random 50 percent reads and 50 percent writes. Workloads that differ from this profile might experience poor performance. To improve performance, you can try adjusting the host settings or enabling Jumbo frames.

{: faq} {: #smallblock} {: support}

Maximum IOPS can be obtained even if you use smaller block sizes. However, the throughput is less in this case. For example, a volume with 6000 IOPS has the following throughput at various block sizes:

• 16 KB * 6000 IOPS == ~93.75 MB/sec
• 8 KB * 6000 IOPS == ~46.88 MB/sec
• 4 KB * 6000 IOPS == ~23.44 MB/sec

{: #iopslimit} {: faq} {: support}

IOPS is enforced at the volume level. Said differently, two hosts connected to a volume with 6000 IOPS share that 6000 IOPS.

{: faq} {: #prewarm} {: support}

There's no need for pre-warming. You can observe the specified throughput immediately upon provisioning the volume.

{: faq} {: #ethernet} {: support}

Throughput limits are set at a per-volume level. That limit cannot be increased by using a faster Ethernet connection. However, with a slower Ethernet connection, your bandwidth can be a potential bottleneck.

{: #isolatedstoragetraffic} {: faq} {: support}

It's best to run storage traffic on a VLAN, which bypasses the firewall. Running storage traffic through software firewalls increases latency and adversely affects storage performance.

{: faq} {: #howtoisolatedstorage}

To enact this good practice, complete the following steps.

1. Provision a VLAN in the same data center as the host and the {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} device.

2. Provision a secondary private subnet to the new VLAN.

3. Trunk the new VLAN to the private interface of the host. This action momentarily disrupts the network traffic on the host while the VLAN is being trunked to the host. {: note}

4. Create a network interface.

   • On the Linux® host, create a 802.11q interface. Choose one of the unused secondary IP address from the newly trunked VLAN and assign that IP address, subnet mask, and gateway to a new 802.11q interface.
   • In VMware, create a new VMkernel network interface (vmk) and assign the unused secondary IP address, subnet mask, and gateway IP from the newly trunked VLAN to the new vmk interface.

5. Add a new persistent static route on the host to the target NFS subnet.

6. Authorize the new IP to access the storage.

7. For mounting instructions, depending on your host's operating system, follow the appropriate link.

   • Accessing {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} on Linux®
   • Mounting {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} in CentOS
   • Mounting {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} Volume on ESXi hosts

{: faq} {: #latency} {: support}

Target latency within the storage is less than one ms. The storage is connected to compute instances on a shared network, so the exact performance latency depends on the network traffic during the operation.

{: faq} {: #deleted} {: support}

{{site.data.keyword.filestorage_full}} presents file shares to customers on physical storage that is wiped before any reuse.

When you delete a {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} volume, that data immediately becomes inaccessible. All pointers to the data on the physical disk are removed. If you later create a new volume in the same or another account, a new set of pointers is assigned. The account can't access any data that was on the physical storage because those pointers are deleted. When new data is written to the disk, any inaccessible data from the deleted volume is overwritten.

IBM guarantees that data deleted cannot be accessed and that deleted data is eventually overwritten and eradicated. Further, when you delete a storage volume, the share must be overwritten before the storage is made available again, either to you or to another customer.

When IBM decommissions a physical drive, the drive is destroyed before disposal. The decommissioned drives are unusable and any data on them is inaccessible.

Customers with special requirements for compliance such as NIST 800-88 Guidelines for Media Sanitization can perform the data sanitization procedure before they delete their storage.

{: faq} {: #cancelstorage}

The cancellation process for this storage device is in progress so the Cancel action is no longer available. The volume remains visible for at least 24 hours until it’s reclaimed, with an hourglass or clock icon next to the device name to indicate that it’s in a waiting period. The minimum 24-hour waiting period gives you a chance to void the cancel request if needed.

{: faq} {: #nfs} {: support}

Both NFSv3 and NFSv4.1 are supported in the {{site.data.keyword.cloud}} environment. NFSv4.2 is currently not supported

The preferred version is NFSv3 because it's a stateless protocol and more resilient when network events occur.

NFSv3 natively supports no_root_squash that allows root clients to retain root permissions on the NFS share. You can enable this feature in NFSv4.1, by editing the domain information and running the rpcidmapd or a similar service. For more information, see Implementing no_root_squash for NFS.

When it comes to vSphere Solutions, NFSv3 supports more features than v4.1. Such features include Storage DRS and Site Recovery Manager.

{: #isVAAIsupported} {: faq} {: support}

No. Currently, vStorage for API Array Integration and Hardware acceleration are not supported.

{: faq} {: #decommission} {: support}

When drives are decommissioned, IBM destroys them before they are disposed of. The drives become unusable. Any data that was written to that drive becomes inaccessible.

{: faq} {: #failover} {: support}

Controlled Failover does one last sync before it breaks the mirror process. The Immediate Failover immediately breaks the mirror and activates the replica volume.

{: #StorageOffline} {: faq} {: support}

There are a couple of scenarios where a host (bare metal or VM) loses connection to the storage however briefly and as a result, the host considers that storage read-only to avoid data corruption. Most of the time the loss of connectivity is network-related but the status of the storage remains read-only from the host's perspective even when the network connection is restored.

This issue can be observed with virtual drives of VMs on a network-attached datastore (NFS protocol). To resolve, confirm that the network path between the Storage and the Host is clear, and that there's no maintenance or outage currently in progress. Then, unmount and mount the storage volume. If the volume is still read-only, restart the host.

For mounting instructions, see the following topics.

• Mounting {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} in CentOS
• Mounting {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} on ESXi hosts
• Mounting {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} on Red Hat Linux®
• Mounting {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} on Ubuntu

To prevent this situation from recurring, the customer might consider the following:

• Increasing disk timeout values. For more information, see VMware KB - Increasing the disk timeout values for a Linux® 2.6 virtual machine{: external}.
• Adding guest OS tunings. For more information, see NetApp's recommendations for guest OS tunings for a VMware vSphere deployment{: external}.
• Reconfiguring Host systems that use NFSv4.1 for NFSv3 for increased resilience during maintenance operations.
• Discontinuing session trunking on host systems that run VMware ESXi. Session trunking is not supported and is known to cause disruptions.

{: faq} {: #expandsize}

To see the expanded volume size, mount and remount your existing {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} disk on your server. In VMware, rescan storage to refresh the datastore and show the new volume size.

{: faq} {: #chassis-swap}

Complete the following tasks to connect storage after a swap.

1. Remove the authorization (revoke access) from the storage devices, and then authorize the host again.
2. Discover the storage devices again, with the new credentials that were gained from the reauthorization.

For more information, see Managing {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}}.

{: faq} {: #disconnect}

Complete the following steps to disconnect a volume from a host.

1. Unmount the device.
2. Revoke access for the host from the storage device in the Cloud console.
3. Remove auto mounts from NFS connections.

{: faq} {: #tier-options}

Endurance and Performance are provisioning options that you can select for storage devices. In short, Endurance IOPS tiers offer predefined performance levels whereas you can fine-tune those levels with the Performance tier. The same devices are used but delivered with different options. For more information, see File Storage Features{: external}.

{: faq} {: #connect-Windows}

No. You cannot connect {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_full}} on Microsoft® Windows®. NFS is not supported by {{site.data.keyword.cloud}} in a Windows® environment.

{: faq} {: #multiple-hosts}

Yes, you can use this setup because NFS is a file-aware protocol.

{: faq} {: #inodes}

Typically, when volumes are provisioned, they are allotted the maximum inode count for the size that you ordered. Maximum inode count grows automatically as the volume grows. If the inodes count does not increase after you expanded a volume, submit a support case{: external}.

{: faq} {: #expand-fail}

The following situations can affect the ability to upgrade or expand storage.

• If the original volume is the Endurance 0.25 tier, then the IOPS tier can’t be updated.
• Older storage types can't be upgraded. Ensure that the storage was ordered in an upgraded Data Center that allows for Expandable storage.
• The permissions that you have in the Cloud console can be a factor. For more information, see the topics within User roles and permissions{: external}.

{: faq} {: #thin}

All Block and {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} services are thin-provisioned. This method is not modifiable.

{: #staasV2migration} {: faq}

You might notice that your Storage volumes are now billed as "Endurance Storage Service” or "Performance Storage Service" instead of "Enterprise Storage", and you have new options in the console, such as the ability to adjust IOPS or increase capacity. {{site.data.keyword.cloud}} strives to continuously improve storage capabilities. As hardware gets upgraded in the datacenters, storage volumes that reside in those datacenters are also upgraded to leverage all enhanced features. The price that you pay for your Storage volume does not change with this upgrade.

{: #stordurabilityfaq} {: faq}

When you store your data in {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}}, it's durable, highly available, and encrypted. The durability target for a single Availability zone is 99.999999999% (11 9's). For more information, see Availability and Durability of {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}}.

{: #storavailabilityfaq} {: faq}

When you store your data in {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}}, it's durable, highly available, and encrypted. File Storage is built upon best-in-class, proven, enterprise-grade hardware and software to ensure high availability and uptime. To ensure that the availability target of 99.999% (five 9's) is met, the data is stored redundantly across multiple physical disks on HA paired nodes. Each storage node has multiple paths to its own Solid-State Drives and its partner node's SSDs as well. This setup protects against path failure, and also controller failure because the node can still access its partner's disks seamlessly. For more information, see Availability and Durability of {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}}.

{: #storagemetrics} {: faq}

{{site.data.keyword.cloud}} does not provide storage performance IOPS and latency metrics. Customers are expected to monitor their own {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}} devices by using their choice of third-party monitoring tools.

The following examples are utilities that you could consider to use to check performance statistics.

• sysstat{: external} - System performance tools for the Linux® operating system.
• typeperf{: external} - Windows® command that writes performance data to the command window or to a log file.
• esxtop{: external} - A command-line tool that gives administrators real-time information about resource usage in a VMware® vSphere environment. It can monitor and collect data for all system resources: CPU, memory, disk, and network.

{: #replicavsduplicate} {: faq}

You can create a replica or a duplicate volume by using a snapshot of your volume. Replication and cloning use one of your snapshots to copy data to a destination volume. However, that is where the similarities end.

Replication keeps your data in sync in two different locations. Only one of the volume pair (primary volume and replica volume) can be active at a time. The replication process automatically copies information from the active volume to the inactive volume based on the replication schedule. For more information about replica volumes, see Replicating data.

Duplication creates a copy of your volume based on a snapshot in the same availability zone as the parent volume. The duplicate volume inherits the capacity and performance options of the original volume by default and has a copy of the data up to the point-in-time of a snapshot. The duplicate volume can be dependent or independent from the original volume, and it can be manually refreshed with data from the parent volume. You can adjust the IOPS or increase the volume size of the duplicate without any effect on the parent volume.

• A dependent duplicate volume does not go through the conversion of becoming independent, and can be refreshed at any time after it’s created. It keeps the original snapshot locked so that snapshot cannot be deleted while the dependent duplicate exists. The parent volume cannot be canceled while the dependent duplicate volume exists. If you want to cancel the parent volume, you have to either cancel the dependent duplicate first or convert it to an independent duplicate.

• An independent duplicate is superior to the dependent duplicate in most regards, but it cannot be refreshed immediately after creation because of the lengthy conversion process. It can take up to several hours based on the size of the volume. For example, it might take up to a day for a 12-TB volume. However, after the separation process is complete, the data can be manually refreshed by using another snapshot of the original parent volume.

For more information about duplicates, see Creating and managing duplicate volumes.

Feature	Replica	Dependent duplicate	Independent duplicate
Created from a snapshot
Location of copied volume	Remote Availability Zone	Same Availability Zone	Same Availability Zone
Supports failover
Different Size/Iops
Auto-synced with parent volume
On-demand refresh from parent volume		1	2
Separated from parent volume
{: caption="Table 1. Comparison of features between different types of volume copies. " caption-side="top"}
{: summary="This table has row and column headers. The row headers identify the capability. The column headers identify the type of volume copy."}
{: #table1}

{: #duplicateconversion} {: faq}

The conversion process can take some time to complete. The bigger the volume, the longer it takes to convert it. In case of a 12-TB volume, it could take 24 hours. You can check on the progress in the UI or from the CLI.

• In the UI, go to Classic Infrastructure{: external}. Click Storage > {{site.data.keyword.filestorage_short}}, then locate the volume in the list. The conversion status is displayed on the Overview page.

• From the CLI, use the following command.

  slcli file duplicate-convert-status <dependent-vol-id>

  Example output:

  slcli file duplicate-convert-status 370597202
  Username            Active Conversion Start Timestamp   Completed Percentage
  SL02SEVC307608_74   2022-06-13 14:59:17                 90