Requirements and considerations for large volumes

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This article describes the requirements and considerations you need to be aware of before using large volumes on Azure NetApp Files.

Requirements and considerations

The following requirements and considerations apply to large volumes. For performance considerations of regular volumes, see Performance considerations for Azure NetApp Files.

  • A regular volume can’t be converted to a large volume.

  • You must create a large volume at a size of 50 TiB or larger. A single volume can't exceed 1 PiB.

  • You can't resize a large volume to less than 50 TiB. A large volume cannot be resized to more than 30% of its lowest provisioned size. This limit is adjustable via a support request.

  • Large volumes are currently not supported with Azure NetApp Files backup.

  • You can't create a large volume with application volume groups.

  • Currently, large volumes aren't suited for database (HANA, Oracle, SQL Server, etc.) data and log volumes. For database workloads requiring more than a single volume’s throughput limit, consider deploying multiple regular volumes. To optimize multiple volume deployments for databases, use application volume groups.

  • Throughput ceilings for the three performance tiers (Standard, Premium, and Ultra) of large volumes are based on the existing 100-TiB maximum capacity targets. You're able to grow to 1 PiB with the throughput ceiling per the following table:

    Capacity Linear performance scaling per TiB up to maximum allowed capacity tier throughput (large volume)
    Capacity tier Minimum volume size
    (TiB)    		 Maximum volume size (TiB) Minimum throughput for capacity tier (MiB/s) Maximum throughput for capacity tier (MiB/s)
    Standard (16 MiB/s per TiB) 50 1,024 800 12,800
    Premium (64 MiB/s per TiB) 50 1,024 3,200 12,800
    Ultra (128 MiB/s per TiB) 50 1,024 6,400 12,800

    * 2-PiB large volumes are available on request depending on regional dedicated capacity availability. To request 2-PiB large volumes, contact your account team.

    For the latest performance benchmark numbers conducted on Azure NetApp Files Large volumes, see Azure NetApp Files large volume performance benchmarks for Linux and Benefits of using Azure NetApp Files for Electronic Design Automation (EDA).

  • Large volumes aren't currently supported with cool access.

About 64-bit file IDs

Whereas regular volume use 32-bit file IDs, large volumes employ 64-bit file IDs. File IDs are unique identifiers that allow Azure NetApp Files to keep track of files in the file system. 64-bit IDs are utilized to increase the number of files allowed in a single volume, enabling a large volume able to hold more files than a regular volume.

Supported regions

Support for Azure NetApp Files large volumes is available in the following regions:

  • Australia East
  • Australia Southeast
  • Brazil South
  • Canada Central
  • Central India
  • Central US
  • East US
  • East US 2
  • France Central
  • Germany West Central
  • Japan East
  • North Europe
  • Qatar Central
  • South Africa North
  • South Central US
  • Southeast Asia
  • Switzerland North
  • UAE North
  • UK West
  • UK South
  • US Gov Virginia
  • West Europe
  • West US
  • West US 2
  • West US 3

Configure large volumes

Important

Before you can use large volumes, you must first request an increase in regional capacity quota.

Once your regional capacity quota has increased, you can create volumes that are up to 1 PiB in size. When creating a volume, after you designate the volume quota, you must select Yes for the Large volume field. Once created, you can manage your large volumes in the same manner as regular volumes.

Register the feature

If this is your first time using large volumes, register the feature with the large volumes sign-up form.

Next steps