```
KEY:
storage_class  define object level redundancy

ARGS:
standard  (string)    set the parity count for default standard storage class e.g. "EC:4"
rrs       (string)    set the parity count for reduced redundancy storage class e.g. "EC:2"
comment   (sentence)  optionally add a comment to this setting
```

or environment variables

```
KEY:
storage_class  define object level redundancy

ARGS:

The default value for the `STANDARD` storage class depends on the number of volumes in the erasure set:

| Erasure Set Size | Default Parity (EC:N) |
|------------------|-----------------------|
| 5 or fewer       |                 EC:2  |
| 6-7              |                 EC:3  |
| 8 or more        |                 EC:4  |

```sh
openssl ecparam -genkey -name prime256v1 | openssl ec -out private.key
```

A response similar to this one should be displayed:

```
read EC key
writing EC key
```

Alternatively, use the following command to generate a private ECDSA key protected by a password:

```sh
openssl ecparam -genkey -name prime256v1 | openssl ec -aes256 -out private.key -passout pass:PASSWORD
```

drives you provide into erasure-coding sets of *2 to 16* drives.  Therefore, the number of drives you present must be a multiple of one of these numbers.  Each object is written to a single erasure-coding set.

Minio uses the largest possible EC set size which divides into the number of drives given. For example, *18 drives* are configured as *2 sets of 9 drives*, and *24 drives* are configured as *2 sets of 12 drives*.  This is true for scenarios when running MinIO as a standalone erasure...

- **MinIO chooses the largest EC set size which divides into the total number of drives or total number of nodes given - making sure to keep the uniform distribution i.e each node participates equal number of drives per set**.
- **Each object is written to a single EC set, and therefore is spread over no more than 16 drives.**