On which entity is Replication Factor configured?

Replication Factor is configured on a storage container. It determines how many copies of the data associated with that container are maintained across the Nutanix distributed storage fabric. The official Prism 7.5 definition states that replication factor is the number of copies of data maintained on a storage container within a cluster. For example, RF2 maintains two copies, whereas RF3 maintains three copies and consequently requires a cluster capable of providing the corresponding fault-tolerance level.

A storage pool aggregates physical storage resources, but it does not independently establish the replication policy for guest data. A protection domain defines which entities are protected and controls snapshot or replication schedules for disaster recovery; it is not the administrative location for configuring local data-copy count. “Replication Policy” is therefore a distractor representing data-protection behavior rather than an AOS storage entity.

Replication factor also affects usable capacity because additional copies consume physical storage. Administrators must therefore align the container’s replication factor with the cluster’s available fault domains and required resilience. Prism requires RF3 to be configured individually for the applicable containers after the cluster supports the necessary fault-tolerance level.

NHCF/NCA reference: Cluster storage configuration, storage containers, distributed storage, and data resilience. Official references: Replication Factor and Replication Factor Configuration .

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