When you consider implementing thin provisioning for storage, it’s not as easy as simply checking a box on an RFP, it’s more than that as 3PAR's InServ storage system and the newest release of its InForm operating system have proven. For 3PAR, thin provisioning is the ability -- without administrative overhead -- to allocate virtual volumes once -- and autonomically consume physical capacity for written data. It lets IT administrators meet capacity requirements, support multiple service levels and drive efficiencies in the data center.

Traditionally, provisioning refers to the ability to pre-allocate blocks of data to applications, with the result being that capacity remains locked up and unused when data is not written to the volume. By contrast, 3PAR’s thin provisioning allows over-allocation of disk capacity as blocks of data are released as capacity is required.

3PAR’s thin provisioning strategy has been expanded with the introduction of next generation thin technologies: Thin Conversion, Thin Persistence, Thin Copy reclamation and Thin Reclamation for Symantec’s Veritas Storage Foundation. This report discusses each of them in detail.