Storage Pool Configuration Options

Once you have configured at least one storage pool, there are a few new options that present themselves. All of these are available from the main Storage Spaces control panel view, and all but the first three are found within the Storage pool area:

• Create a storage space : Every storage pool will contain at least one storage space. But once you have a storage pool, you can keep adding additional spaces as needed. To do so, click the link titled Create a storage space. You’ll see the same interface discussed in the previous section, and your options will be limited only by the available storage types attached to the PC.

• Add drives : If you’ve already created a pool and would like to add one or more drives to that pool, you do so through the Add drives link. Drives added in this fashion will automatically be made available to any spaces within the pool. (But note that Storage Spaces does not provide a way to change the resiliency or size configuration of a space after the fact, as is discussed a bit later in the chapter.)

• Rename pool : By default, a storage pool is silently given the imaginative name Storage pool by Windows. You can change this with the Rename pool link though, to be fair, this isn’t something you’ll need to deal with unless you’re creating multiple pools for some reason. That’s a fairly advanced configuration and, in our opinion, pretty crazy for even an advanced PC user.

• Create a new pool and storage space : This link on the left side of the Storage Spaces window will allow you to create other storage pools, and their contained spaces, assuming you have the additional disk capacity to support such a thing. Honestly, a single storage pool with multiple spaces is probably complex enough for most people. But if you have the urge to really overthink things, go nuts.