Thin provisioning, a dynamic SSD capacity allocation method, addresses user needs on demand. In this approach, the filesystem's capacity is defined by a minimum guaranteed capacity and a maximum capacity, which can virtually exceed the available SSD capacity.
The system optimally allocates more capacity, up to the total available SSD capacity, for users who use their allocated minimum capacity. Conversely, as users free up space by deleting files or transferring data, the idle space undergoes reclamation, repurposing it for other workloads that require SSD capacity.
Thin provisioning proves beneficial in diverse scenarios:
- Tiered filesystems: On tiered filesystems, available SSD capacity is used for enhanced performance and can be released to the object store when needed by other filesystems.
- Auto-scaling groups: Thin provisioning facilitates automatic expansion and reduction (shrinking) of the filesystem's SSD capacity when using auto-scaling groups, ensuring optimal performance.
- Filesystems separation per project: Creating separate filesystems for each project becomes efficient with thin provisioning, especially when administrators don't anticipate full simultaneous usage of all filesystems. Each filesystem is allocated a minimum capacity but can consume more based on the actual available SSD capacity, offering flexibility and resource optimization.