This IBM® Redbooks® publication captures several of the preferred practices that are based on field experience and describes the performance gains that can be achieved by implementing the IBM System Storage® SAN Volume Controller and Storwize® V7000 V7.2. This book begins with a look at the latest developments with SAN Volume Controller and Storwize V7000 and reviews the changes in the previous versions of the product. It highlights configuration guidelines and preferred practices for the storage area network (SAN) topology, clustered system, back-end storage, storage pools and managed disks, volumes, remote copy services, and hosts. Then, this book provides performance guidelines for SAN Volume Controller, back-end storage, and applications. It explains how you can optimize disk performance with the IBM System Storage Easy Tier® function. Next, it provides preferred practices for monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting SAN Volume Controller and Storwize V7000. Finally, this book highlights several scenarios that demonstrate the preferred practices and performance guidelines.