Exploring VxVM

Abstract

Getting started with the actual Veritas Volume Manager product is easiest if you first gain an overview of the concepts behind Veritas Volume Manager (or VxVM in short), what virtual objects it uses and how they act together to form a complete volume management layer. After the extensive problem introduction in the previous chapter let us gain some insight into what VxVM does and how it does it. You will be intrigued by how straightforward and clear the design, yet how powerful and extensible the resulting architecture is.

In the following walkthrough you will encounter several commands which are not generally useful for everyday work. This is because they tend to be rather low-level commands which have long since been superseded by much more convenient commands that take much less parameters, preparation and time than the ones used in this chapter. We still like to use the inconvenient ones because they make it much clearer what exactly happens inside VxVM. But there is no need to learn those commands any more. Whenever low-level commands are used they are marked appropriately by using a slanted fixed-width fond like this: vxlowlevel command you need not remember. Normally the common higher-level commands are discussed close to the low level ones. They are set in a straight fixed-width font like this: vxhighlevel command you should remember.