VxVM and Data Storage

VxVM uses two types of objects to handle storage management:

Physical objects

Physical disks, or other hardware, with block and raw operating system device interfaces that are used to store data.

Virtual objects

When one or more physical disks are brought under the control of VxVM, it creates virtual objects called volumes on those physical disks. Each volume records and retrieves data from one or more physical disks. Volumes are accessed by file systems, databases, or other applications the same way that physical disks are accessed.

Volumes are also composed of other virtual objects (plexes and subdisks) that are used in changing the volume configuration. Volumes and their virtual components are called virtual objects, or VxVM objects.