Thick Provisioning
Thick provisioning is a storage allocation method where the full amount of disk space requested for a virtual machine or storage volume is reserved and allocated upfront from the physical storage pool. This ensures that the space is immediately available and guaranteed for use, but it can lead to inefficient utilization if the allocated space is not fully consumed. It contrasts with thin provisioning, where space is allocated on-demand as data is written.
Developers and system administrators should use thick provisioning in scenarios where performance predictability and data integrity are critical, such as in production environments with high I/O workloads or when running databases that require consistent disk performance. It is also preferred when storage overcommitment risks are unacceptable, as it prevents the 'out of space' issues that can occur with thin provisioning if physical storage is exhausted.