Jim Perrin wrote:
This is where LVM shines, because you can simply add another lun, add it to your lvm setup, and expand the filesystem on the fly.
Also the OP should look into thin provisioning software that may be available for his EMC array. In some situations this can eliminate the need for LVM. For me I still use LVM because it helps when detecting what paths to use with MPIO. I often create larger(1-2TB) volumes on the storage array and then create smaller logical volumes in LVM, then when I need to expand I just expand, no need for new LUNs. If your data access patterns don't involve large amounts of writes and then deletes(thin provisioning dedicates storage when it is written to), then you don't need volume management at all the array can do it for you.
Most workloads in my experience are friendly with thin provisioning, some are not. Some vendors have ways to reclaim deleted space as well to put it back into the storage pool(s) for use by other systems.
http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/news/column/0,294698,sid5_gci1134713,00....
nate