Glossary 529

A plex that is not as long as the volume or that has holes (regions of the plex that do not have a backing subdisk).

Storage Area Network (SAN)

A networking paradigm that provides easily reconfigurable connectivity between any subset of computers, disk storage and interconnecting hardware such as switches, hubs and bridges.

stripe

A set of stripe units that occupy the same positions across a series of columns.

stripe size

The sum of the stripe unit sizes comprising a single stripe across all columns being striped.

stripe unit

Equally-sized areas that are allocated alternately on the subdisks (within columns) of each striped plex. In an array, this is a set of logically contiguous blocks that exist on each disk before allocations are made from the next disk in the array. A stripe unit may also be referred to as a stripe element.

stripe unit size

The size of each stripe unit. The default stripe unit size is 64KB. The stripe unit size is sometimes also referred to as the stripe width.

striping

A layout technique that spreads data across several physical disks using stripes. The data is allocated alternately to the stripes within the subdisks of each plex.

subdisk

A consecutive set of contiguous disk blocks that form a logical disk segment. Subdisks can be associated with plexes to form volumes.

swap area

A disk region used to hold copies of memory pages swapped out by the system pager process.

swap volume

A VxVM volume that is configured for use as a swap area.

transaction

A set of configuration changes that succeed or fail as a group, rather than individually. Transactions are used internally to maintain consistent configurations.

volboot file

A small file that is used to locate copies of the boot disk group configuration. The file may list disks that contain configuration copies in standard locations, and can also contain direct pointers to configuration copy locations. The volboot file is stored in a system- dependent location.

VM disk

A disk that is both under VxVM control and assigned to a disk group. VM disks are sometimes referred to as VxVM disks or simply disks.

volume