ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Thin provisioning

Thin provisioning is a way of using computer storage efficiently without wasting any space. Think of it like having a big toy box in your room that you can put all your toys in. With thin provisioning, you can tell the computer that your toy box is really big, even if it's not, and the computer will think that it has a lot more storage than it actually does.

Here's how it works: Let's say you want to save a file on your computer that is 100GB big, but you only have 50GB of space left on your hard drive. Normally, you would not be able to save the file because there isn't enough space. However, with thin provisioning, you can tell your computer that there is actually 200GB available. Even though you don't actually have 200GB, the computer thinks that you do and will let you save the file.

But wait, where does the extra 150GB of space come from? Well, it doesn't actually exist yet. This is where the "thin" part of thin provisioning comes in. The computer will only use up the actual space that the file takes up (in this case, 100GB) and will wait to use the rest of the space until it's actually needed. This way, you don't end up wasting any space on your hard drive and only use what you actually need.

To continue with the toy box example, it's like having a magic toy box that can make more space as you put more toys in it. If you only have a few toys, the toy box won't take up too much space. But if you start to put more and more toys in the box, it will magically create more space to fit all your toys without taking up too much room in your room.

Overall, thin provisioning is a clever way to use computer storage efficiently without wasting any space. It allows you to make the most out of the space you have and only use what you actually need.