Dell EqualLogic PS Series Template Volumes and Thin Clones Guide - Usage Instructions and Recommendations
Summary
This technical white paper explains how and when to use PS Series Template Volumes and Thin Clones in Dell EMC storage environments. It describes template volumes as master copies containing a base OS or application configuration, and thin clones as space-efficient copies sharing data with the template. The paper covers creation procedures, use cases including rapid VM provisioning and test/dev environments, space reclamation, performance considerations, and best practices. It targets storage administrators, virtualization engineers, and IT architects working with Dell EMC PS Series (EqualLogic) arrays.
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PS Series Template Volumes and Thin Clones: How and When to Use Them Dell EMC Engineering November 2016
A Dell EMC Technical White Paper
Page Summary Contents For Dell EqualLogic PS Series Template Volumes and Thin Clones Guide - Usage Instructions and Recommendations
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PS Series Template Volumes and Thin Clones: How and When to Use Them Dell EMC Engineering November 2016 A Dell EMC Technical White Paper
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Revisions Date Description February 2011 Initial release November 2016 Updated to reflect industry changes The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc. makes no representations o...
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Table of contents Revisions................................................................................................................................................................................
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Executive summary This document shows how to configure Dell EMC PS Series template volumes and thin clones and discusses possible use cases including Microsoft® SQL Server®, Microsoft Hyper-V™, and VM...
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1 Introduction Data growth continues to increase exponentially and as result, technology companies are continually trying to develop new ways to reduce data storage consumption. In most cases, these t...
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2 Configuring template volumes and thin clones Thin clones are sub-volumes of template volumes in which the template is a read-only version of volume at a specific point in time. Thin clones can be cr...
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3 Use cases for template volumes and thin clones PS Series thin clones can be used in a number of ways, ranging from gold image deployments to object distribution. The simplest use for thin clones is ...
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Figure 1 shows the process flow to create database thin clones using the PS Series Auto-Snapshot Manager/Microsoft Edition (ASM/ME) and the PS Series Group Manager. Convert to Verify i SCSI Create DB ...
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Now the database volumes can be converted to template volumes using the PS Series Group Manager GUI. 1. Select the smart copy used for the read-only copy of the database and locate the names of the vo...
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2. Log into the PS Series Group Manager and locate the Smart Copy Clones in the Group Manager Volumes view. Select the smart copy clones, and using the Activities pane of Group Manager, select the Con...
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5. Use ASM/ME to create thin clones of the created template database (see Figure 5). Create a thin clone using ASM/ME 11 PS Series Template Volumes and Thin Clones: How and When to Use Them | TR1063
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3.3 Providing a powerful VMware test environment using thin clones Thin clones can bring huge value to a virtualized environment. In a VMware v Sphere environment, all virtual machines are encapsulate...
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1. Create new users for the developers: Developer1, Developer2, Developer3. 2. Create folders in v Center to isolate the test environments: Developer1, Developer2, Developer3. 3. Create isolated v Swi...
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4. Assign users to folders. Different environments will have different permission structures, but in this example, each developer is only given permissions to their folder. This way, when a developer ...
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1. Provision one thin clone as described in section 2. 2. Preform a rescan of the storage adapter from ESXi, and select Add Storage from the Storage tab. 3. When presented with the Mount Options dialo...
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Note: Multiple snapshots can be mounted at once, however, this involves setting an advanced ESXi configuration setting that is now deprecated. Its use in a production environment is not recommended as...
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Once each of the VMs is registered in the appropriate folder, you also need to change the network settings so that they are isolated. These are exact copies of the production VMs including hostname, M...
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There are a variety of other things that can be done to these environments that are beyond the scope of this document, for example: Assign a second network adapter, assign new IP addresses to it, an...
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4 Summary PS Series template volumes and thin clones can be very valuable tools when applied in the right environments. They serve as space-efficient copies for environments that require high numbers ...
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A Technical support and resources Dell.com/support is focused on meeting customer needs with proven services and support. Dell Tech Center is an online technical community where IT professionals have ...
Manual Details
| Brand | Dell |
|---|---|
| Pages | 20 |
| File Size | 698.07 KB |
| Published | June 26, 2026 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the function of a template volume in a PS Series array?
A template volume acts as a read-only gold image copy from which writeable thin clones can be created.
How do thin clones save storage space?
Thin clones initially consume little to no storage space, and only new writes are recorded to the storage, reducing consumption.
What types of environments benefit from template volumes and thin clones?
They are ideal for environments that use many copies or images of like data, such as test environments or OS deployments.
Does this technology support multiple virtual platforms?
The use cases include Microsoft SQL Server, Hyper-V, and VMware vSphere.