What is the minimum number of 256-GB disks required for the storage pool?

You have a server named Server1 that runs Windows Server 2012 R2.

You plan to create a storage pool that will contain a new volume.
You need to create a new 600-GB volume by using thin provisioning. The new volume must use the
parity layout.
What is the minimum number of 256-GB disks required for the storage pool?

You have a server named Server1 that runs Windows Server 2012 R2.

You plan to create a storage pool that will contain a new volume.
You need to create a new 600-GB volume by using thin provisioning. The new volume must use the
parity layout.
What is the minimum number of 256-GB disks required for the storage pool?

A.
2

B.
3

C.
4

D.
5

Explanation:
It takes 3 discs (minimum) in order to create a storage pool array with parity. If this array were using
fixed provisioning, this would not be enough given the 256MB capacity (since only 2/3rds of 256 X 3 –
less than 600 – could be used as actual data with the rest being parity bits), but since this array uses
thin provisioning, a 600GB volume could technically be set up on a 20GB disc and it would still show
as 600GB. (So, essentially, the question really becomes how many drives it takes in a storage pool to
create a parity array.)
References:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831391.aspx
http://www.ibeast.com/content/tools/RaidCalc/RaidCalc.asp
http://www.raid-calculator.com/default.aspx
https://www.icc-usa.com/raid-calculator



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papali

papali

Then the correct anwser is B. 3

Maum

Maum

no its C because of the needed space. As you use 3 Disks 1 diskstorage is not available because of parity bits. so you need 4 Disks to ensure you have more than 600GB

francis

francis

I believe the answer is B because it states that you are using thin provisioning. In thin provisioning, you don’t have to have the entire volume size right away.

Kevin

Kevin

Nick says:

March 5, 2015 at 3:21 am

I just tested this in a 2012r2 lab machine.

Added 3 40 disks to a Storage Pool. 3x40GB in RAID5 is 80GB.
Created a new virtual disk on the storage pool
Selected Parity for Storage Layout
Specified Thin Provisioning
Set disk size to 200GB
Created

New volume wizard popped up
Went through new volume wizard, specified size of 200GB
New volume is in service

B is correct.

Stephen

Stephen

Answer is B – 3 Disks to create a parity layout

Maum

Maum

Answer is C!
When using Parity Layout u lose the storage of 1 disk. so when we need 600 GB and only would have 3 Disks with 256 GB Storage, we would have effective only 512GB. So the answer is C, that we have enough storage.

Kevin

Kevin

Bart says:

April 9, 2015 at 1:19 pm

Agree:
Parity – This is a striped set with distributed parity by striping data and parity information across multiple disks, similar to RAID 5. It increases reliability with reduced capacity. This configuration requires at least three disks to protect data from a single disk failure, and cannot be used in a failover cluster.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/yungchou/archive/2012/08/31/windows-server-2012-storage-virtualization-explained.aspx

The answer is B. (!)Thin(!) provisioned means ONLY virtual limits (MAX 64 TB within 2012 R2)
(!)Thick(!) provisioned the answer would be C.

Dakduif

Dakduif

Agreed. Even the explanation below the answer describes a situation where B is still the answer because of the way ‘thin’ provisioning works.