1. Introduction To Computers
Storage Spaces

2. Storage pools and Storage Spaces
A storage space is another option to connect multiple drives into one logical storage space
It is available in Windows 8 and 10, but not 7 or earlier
It makes it very easy to expand our storage by adding drives and gain some of the benefits of RAID as well
Basically, we pool all of our storage disks together (storage pool), and then segment the pool into storage spaces
This simplifies all of the processes we’ve learned before to make it easier to add storage space, and gives us a few new capabilities as well
Works very similar to Linux’s Logical Volume Manager

3. How to Create a Storage Space
First, we collect our storage devices. The awesome thing about storage spaces is that our storage devices don’t need to be the same format, speed, size or anything. They can be SSD, HDD, internal, and external in any mix
We take all of the storage on these disks and poll them together into one storage pool. This is a logical construct, and not a physical one
We can then cut up this pool into separate storage spaces. Each pool can be split up into multiple storage spaces or be one large storage space, just like a drive being split into partitions. When we create a storage space we also assign it a volume letter, just like when we partition volumes
We would access these storage spaces just like they were disks installed in the system. Windows will also treat them as if each storage space is a different drive

4. Benefits of Storage Spaces
Storage pools are VERY easy to add to. Just put in a new disk, assign it to the pool, and the storage pool will increase in size
Storage space can also tier data. Any data that is accessed frequently will be put on the faster storage devices, and data that is infrequently accessed will bubble down to the slower storage devices
Data is resilient. We can add in mirroring or parity, like in RAID arrays
Resiliency is extended automatically. If we are using mirroring or parity, any new drives I add to the pool will also protect data in the same way
Thin-provisioning allows us to use more storage space than our pool actually has

5. Data Resiliency
We can choose to use one of three different resiliency methods when using storage spaces. All of these methods will reserve some space for resiliency
Two-Way Mirror
This method works like mirroring in a RAID array. Two copies of your data will be saved
This means if one copy becomes corrupt or the drive dies we still have a copy
Requires at least two physical disks
Three-Way Mirror
This method is a more complex version of mirroring that requires five disks
Three copies of your data will be dispersed through the five disks
This allows for up to two disks to be disabled before data is lost
Parity
This method works like RAID 5 parity, and requires three disks
Like two-way mirror, we have the ability to lose one disk without loss of data, but we are able to use much less space for the resiliency, and more for storing data

6. Thin Provisioning
Thin-provisioning (Or overbooking) allows us to use a total storage space greater than the storage pool
The premise for this is that most volumes will not use their total space
Therefore, we can give each storage space a section of the storage pool, and only ACTUALLY allocate a portion of the space
As the space allocated is used up, more space gets allocated
This will work for most instances, but be warned, if the storage pool is used up, and a user tries to use some space allocated for them that isn’t there, the pool will dismount, and the user may lose data

7. Method to Create Storage Pools
We must first start with unallocated drives to create our storage pool
We then open control panel, system and security, then storage spaces
We then choose to create a storage pool and storage spaces
We can add as many unallocated drives as we want to the pool, and then split them up as we wish into storage spaces

8. Method to Create Storage Spaces
Once the storage pool is made we can create a storage space within it
We can set the drive name, letter, file system and size
Note that we can select resiliency here, including the simple option for no resiliency
Also note that the size available will change based on our resiliency options

9. Examining The Storage Pool
In storage spaces from control panel we can get a good look at the status of our storage pool
This includes data used, what drives are attached how much each drive provides, and how much of each drive is used
We can add drives from here, and when we do, they just become a part of the pool
Also note that we are using 3 GB of capacity. This is all overhead, since there hasn’t been a file saved yet