Configuration and Discovery

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The following sections describe how to configure and discover Dell EMC VNX systems for monitoring by SL1 using the EMC: VNX PowerPack:

Prerequisites for Monitoring Dell EMC VNX

Before you can monitor Dell EMC VNX storage systems using the EMC: VNX PowerPack, you must have the following information about an EMC SMI-S Provider that has already been properly installed and configured:

  • Username and password for a user with access to the SMI-S Provider
  • IP address and port for the SMI-S Provider

Additionally, statistics logging must be enabled on each Dell EMC VNX storage system that will be monitored. To do so:

  1. Log in to Unisphere.

  1. Select a Dell EMC VNX storage array from the list, and then click the System tab.
  2. In the System Management menu, click System Properties.
  3. On the Storage System Properties dialog box, click the General tab.
  4. Select the Statistics Logging checkbox, and then click OK.

Creating a Credential for Dell EMC VNX

To configure SL1 to monitor Dell EMC VNX systems, you must first create a Basic/Snippet credential. This credential allows the Dynamic Applications in the EMC: VNX PowerPack to connect with an EMC SMI-S Provider. An example Basic/Snippet credential that you can edit for your own use is included in the EMC: VNX PowerPack.

To create a Basic/Snippet credential to access an EMC SMI-S Provider:

  1. Go to the Credential Management page (System > Manage > Credentials).
  2. Locate the EMC SMI-S Example credential, and then click its wrench icon (). The Edit Basic/Snippet Credential modal page appears.

  1. Enter values in the following fields:
  • Credential Name. Type a new name for the Dell EMC VNX credential.

  • Hostname/IP. Type the IP address of the SMI-S Provider.
  • Port. Type "5988" for an HTTP connection or "5989" for an HTTPS connection.
  • Timeout. Type "30".
  • Username. Type the username for a user with access to the SMI-S Provider.
  • Password. Type the password for the SMI-S Provider account username.
  1. Click the Save As button.
  2. When the confirmation message appears, click OK.

To monitor VNX arrays and file systems that have different login credentials, create a separate Basic/Snippet credential for each.

Discovering Dell EMC VNX Devices

To model and monitor your Dell EMC VNX system, you must run a discovery session to discover the EMC SMI-S Provider that SL1 will use as the root device for monitoring the VNX system.

The discovery session will discover the SMI-S Provider as a pingable device using the Basic/Snippet credential that you created. Several minutes after the discovery session has completed, the Dynamic Applications in the EMC: VNX PowerPack should automatically align to the SMI-S Provider root device to discover, model, and monitor the remaining component devices in your VNX system.

To discover the SMI-S Provider for the Dell EMC VNX system that you want to monitor, perform the following steps:

  1. Go to the Discovery Control Panel page (System > Manage > Classic Discovery).
  2. In the Discovery Control Panel, click the Create button.

  1. The Discovery Session Editor page appears. In the Discovery Session Editor page, define values in the following fields:
  • IP Address Discovery List. Enter the IP address for the SMI-S Provider.

  • SNMP Credentials. Do not select any credentials in this field.
  • Other Credentials. Select the Basic/Snippet credential you created for the SMI-S Provider.
  • Initial Scan Level. Select 5. Deep Discovery. The EMC: VNX PowerPack includes non-SNMP device classes that are aligned only during deep discovery. If you do not select 5. Deep Discovery in this field, the SMI-S Provider will be discovered and assigned a device class for a pingable device.
  • Discover Non-SNMP. You must select this checkbox.
  • Model Devices. You must select this checkbox.
  1. Optionally, you can enter values in the other fields on this page. For more information about the other fields on this page, see the Discovery & Credentials section.
  2. Click the Save button to save the discovery session and then close the Discovery Session Editor window.
  3. The discovery session you created will display at the top of the Discovery Control Panel page. Click its lightning-bolt icon () to run the discovery session.
  4. The Discovery Session window will appear. When the SMI-S Provider is discovered, click its device icon () to view the Device Properties page for the SMI-S Provider.

To monitor VNX storage arrays and file systems that have different IP addresses and/or credentials, create and run a separate discovery session for each.

Manually Aligning Dynamic Applications

It can take several minutes after discovery for Dynamic Applications to display on the Dynamic Application Collections page. If the listed Dynamic Applications do not display on this page, try clicking the Reset button.

To verify that SL1 has automatically aligned the correct Dynamic Applications during discovery:

  1. From the Device Properties page (Registry > Devices > wrench icon()) for the SMI-S Provider, click the Collections tab. The Dynamic Application Collections page appears.

  1. If the SMI-S Provider that you are monitoring is a storage area network (SAN) device, then the following Dynamic Applications should display in the list of aligned Dynamic Applications:
  • EMC: VNX Array Discovery
  • EMC: VNX Components Configuration
  • EMC: VNX LUN Cache

If the SMI-S Provider that you are monitoring is a network-attached storage (NAS) device, then the following Dynamic Application should display in the list of aligned Dynamic Applications:

  • EMC: VNX File Discovery

If the listed Dynamic Applications have not been automatically aligned, you can align them manually. To do so, perform the following steps:

  1. For the "EMC: VNX Array Discovery" Dynamic Application, click the Action button on the Dynamic Application Collections page of the SMI-S Provider device and then select Add Dynamic Application from the menu. The Dynamic Application Alignment page appears.

  1. In the Dynamic Applications field, select EMC: VNX Array Discovery.
  2. In the Credentials field, select the Basic/Snippet credential you configured for the SMI-S Provider.
  3. Click the Save button.
  4. Repeat steps 1–4 for the other Dynamic Applications, as needed.
  5. After aligning the Dynamic Applications, click the Reset button and then click the plus icon (+) for the Dynamic Applications. If collection for the Dynamic Applications was successful, the graph icons () for the Dynamic Applications are enabled.
  6. Click the graph icon () for the "EMC: VNX Components Configuration" Dynamic Application to view the collected data. The Configuration Report page will display the number of components of each type and the total number of components managed by the device.

Viewing Dell EMC VNX Devices

When SL1 discovers your Dell EMC VNX system, SL1 will create component devices that represent each component in your VNX system.

Dell EMC VNX storage pools are identified by the pool name. If a storage pool is renamed, a new component device will be created and the old component device will remain until it is vanished or purged.

Dell EMC VNX storage arrays and file systems use different root IP addresses. Therefore, if you are monitoring both arrays and file systems, each will have its own set of component views on the Device View, Device Components, and Device Component Map pages.

In addition to the Device Manager page, you can view the VNX system and all associated component devices in the following places in the user interface:

  • The Device View modal page (click the bar-graph icon []for a device, then click the Topology tab) displays a map of the selected device and all of the devices with which it has parent-child relationships. Double-clicking any of the devices listed reloads the page to make the selected device the primary device:

  • The Device Components page (Registry > Devices > Device Components) displays a list of all root devices and component devices discovered by SL1 in an indented view, so you can easily view the hierarchy and relationships between child devices, parent devices, and root devices. To view the component devices associated with your VNX system, find the SMI-S Provider and click its plus icon (+):

  • The Device Component Map page (Classic Maps > Device Maps > Components) allows you to view devices by root node and view the relationships between root nodes, parent components, and child components in a map. This makes it easy to visualize and manage root nodes and their components. SL1 automatically updates the Device Component Map page as new component devices are discovered. SL1 also updates each map with the latest status and event information. To view the map for your VNX system, go to the Device Component Map page and select the map from the list in the left NavBar. To learn more about the Device Component Map page, see the section on Views.

Relationships with Other Types of Component Devices

SL1 can automatically build relationships between Dell EMC VNX component devices and other associated devices. If you discover a vCenter device using the Dynamic Applications in the VMware: vSphere Base Pack PowerPack and/or a UCS device using the Dynamic Applications in the Cisco: UCS PowerPack, SL1 will automatically create relationships between the following types of component devices, where appropriate:

  • Dell EMC VNX LUNs and VMware Datastores
  • Dell EMC VNX LUNs and UCS Service Profiles

Available Metrics for Dell EMC VNX Component Devices

The EMC SMI-S provider does not expose all metrics for every type of Dell EMC VNX device. Because of this, some metrics are not available on all VNX component devices in SL1. The following table indicates the available metrics on each type of VNX component device.

  VNX Storage System VNX Storage Processor VNX Storage Pool VNX RAID Group VNX SnapView Pool VNX Storage Pool LUN VNX RAID Group LUN
Capacity Total X X X X
Capacity Used X X X
Capacity Free X X X X
Cache Read Hits X
Cache Write Hits X
Cache Read Hit Ratio X
Cache Write Hit Ratio X
Capacity Utilization X X X X
Processor (CPU) Utilization X
IO Total X X X X
IO Read X X X X
IO Write X X X X
LUN Utilization X X
Port IO X
Port Throughput X
Service Time X X
Throughput Total X X X X
Throughput Read X X X X
Throughput Write X X X X