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The base SmartPools license enables:
The SmartPools job runs on a schedule and applies changes that have occurred through file pool policy configurations, file system activity, or the passage of time. The schedule is configurable through standard Job Engine means, defaulting to daily at 10 p.m.
The storage pool configuration of SmartPools requires no license. Drives are automatically provisioned into disk pools and node pools. Tiers can be created but have little utility because files are evenly allocated among the disk pools. The global SmartPools settings are all still available, with the caveat that spillover is forcibly enabled to any in the unlicensed case. Spillover has little meaning when any file can be stored anywhere.
The default file pool policy applies to all files. It can be used for protection policy and I/O optimization settings, but the disk pool policy cannot be changed. The SetProtectPlus job will run to enforce these settings when changes are made.
If a SmartPools license lapses, the disk pool policy set on files' inodes will be ignored and treated as the ANY disk pool policy. The disk pool policy is evaluated only when new disk pool targets are selected. So, writes to files with valid targets will continue to be directed to those targets based on the old disk pool policy. The writes will continue until a “reprotect” or higher level restripe causes the disk pool targets to be reevaluated. New files will inherit the disk pool policy of their parents (possibly through the New File Attributes mechanism). However, that disk pool policy will be ignored, and the disk pool targets will be selected according to the ANY policy.
When SmartPools is not licensed, any disk pool policy is ignored. Instead, the AutoBalance job spreads data evenly across node pools.