Data ONTAP uses plexes as the unit of RAID-level mirroring when the
SyncMirror software is enabled.
A traditional volume is directly tied to the underlying aggregate and its properties. When you create a traditional volume, Data ONTAP creates the underlying aggregate based on the properties you assign with the
vol create command, such as the disks assigned to the RAID group and RAID-level protection.
A FlexVol volume is a volume that is loosely coupled to its containing aggregate. A FlexVol volume can share its containing aggregate with other FlexVol volumes. Thus, a single aggregate can be the shared source of all the storage used by all the
FlexVol volumes contained by that aggregate.
You can use either traditional or FlexVol volumes to organize and manage system and user data. A volume can hold qtrees and LUNs.
After you set up the underlying aggregate, you can create, clone, or resize FlexVol volumes without regard to the underlying physical storage. You do not have to manipulate the aggregate frequently.
