Limitations for file-level tiering

Last published : Jun 10, 2026
InfoScale supports file-level tiering in cloud environments with the following limitations:
  • A file can be present either in the cloud or on-premises, but not at both locations simultaneously. The filesystem may have a few files on-premises and few in the cloud, but at any given time, a single file can exist only at one location.
  • During migration, access to files is blocked. If any related applications try to access the files under migration, they are blocked until the migration is complete.
  • Migration of files from the cloud to on-premises is not supported if a size-based policy is specified.
  • Write operations on files in the cloud are blocked. Only buffered read is allowed on files in the cloud.
  • If you want to remove a cloud volume from MVFS, you must first move all the files that exist on the cloud volume to some other volume or to another cloud.
  • Migration of compressed files is not allowed.
  • Migration of memory-mapped files is not allowed.
  • Migration of files that contain shared extents, like deduplicated files, is not allowed.
  • The vxcloudusage utility scans all the system Inodes and their block maps, which may be time consuming. Therefore, Veritas recommends that you do not run this utility frequently. Additionally, when Inodes and block maps are scanned, system caches may get recycled, which may indirectly affect the overall performance of the system. Therefore, Veritas recommends that you do not run this utility during active production hours.
  • When the Veritas Volume Replicator (VVR) option is configured, SmartIO caching cannot be used on the target site.
The limitations for the command-line support are as follows:
  • The following commands are not supported for files in the cloud:
    • FSCACHE
    • SETEXT
    • VXCOMPRESS
    • VXFILESNAP
    • TRUNCATE
  • The following file system commands are not supported with cloud volumes:
    • FSCDSADM
    • FSCDSTASK
    • FSCKPTADM
  • If a checkpoint is present, you cannot add a cloud volume to the filesystem.
  • The fragmentation index is always zero for files in the cloud.
  • Direct write operations on cloud devices are not allowed. However, the policy is invalid if it specifies file creation on a cloud volume.