Introduction

Used extensively in various industries such as banking, healthcare, and telecommunications, Veritas Volume Manager, under Veritas Storage Foundation, is known for its advanced capabilities to manage and optimise disk space usage. This guide aims to provide detailed and insightful technical documentation on the usage and maintenance of Veritas Volume Manager.

Overview

Veritas Volume Manager, also referred to as VxVM, is a storage management sub-system that allows administrators to manage physical disks as logical units known as volumes. This sophisticated technology enables enterprises to handle complex storage management tasks easily. From volume resizing, disk addition to storage area network (SAN) environments, to recovery and repair functions, VVM serves as an instrumental tool in maintaining storage efficiency.

The Operating Principles of VxVM

Based on a hierarchical structure, VxVM operates on three primary levels: disk media, virtual objects, and volumes. Disk media incorporate the physical disk drives. Virtual objects, which are disk groups and subdisks, fall into the middle of the VxVM structure. Lastly, volumes, which are symbolic representations of physical storage, are user-accessible storage sections treated as individual disks.

Creating Disk Groups

Disk groups, collections of disks that share common configurations, are a crucial element in using VxVM effectively. To create a disk group, you need to initialize your disks, specify disk group parameters, and then add the disks to the group. 

        
            vxdisksetup -i DiskName
            vxdg init DiskGroupName DiskName=DiskAccessName

The above commands initialize a specified disk and then create a new disk group, adding the initialized disk to it.

Managing Volumes

Adding and administrating volumes is another core aspect of VxVM. Volumes are created by allocating spaces from a disk group. This operation can be carried out using the 'vxassist' command followed by make, volume name, size, and layout. 

        
            vxassist -g DiskGroupName make VolName Size Layout

With this command, you can specify the size and name of the volume, along with the style of layout required.

Mirroring Volumes

Volume mirroring is another essential functionality provided by VxVM. You can mirror a volume using the 'vxassist' command again, but this time adding the keyword mirror. 

        
            vxassist -g DiskGroupName mirror VolName

This sets up a mirror for a particular volume, ensuring redundancy.

Conclusion

Veritas Volume Manager is a robust tool that delivers dynamic functionality and streamlined efficiency for managing disk volumes. This guide offers insights into its basic operations, including creating and managing disk groups, volumes, and implementing volume mirroring. As with any complex technology, understanding each function and its interdependencies is key to successfully manoeuvring the tool and maximizing its astute capabilities.

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