Three use cases for sTorage resource managemenT

Business white paper

Table of contents

Introduction 3StorageautomationwithHPStorageEssentials 3Automatingstorage—HPStorageEssentialsandHPOperationsOrchestration 5Storageincidentmanagement—HPStorageEssentialsandHPOperationsManager 6Storagechangemanagement—HPStorageEssentialsandtheHPUniversalCMDB 9Storagecompliancemanagement—HPStorageEssentialsandHPServerAutomation 9Conclusion 11

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IntroductionToday’sITexecutivesareconstantlychallengedtodomorewithless.Double-digitITbudgetincreases,oncesocommon,aregivingwaytoexecutivemandatesto“optimize,virtualize,andeconomize.”Meanwhile,CTOsandCIOsarefeelingthepinch.

Inthisenvironment,datacenterautomationhastransi-tionedfromaback-burnergoalintoatoppriority.ThenewsenseofurgencyisbeingspurredbythepromiseofstreamlinedITservicedeliveryandlowercosts,nottomentionnaggingconcernsaboutlosingadvantagetonimblecompetitorswhoareembracingthetechnology.

Automationsoftwareishighindemand.Automatedprocessflowsarereplacingrepetitive,manualtasksandblurringthelinesbetweenformerlyimpenetrableITmanagementsilos.Thismovementreflectsagrowingrealizationthatoptimalservicedeliverydependsonmasteringtheintricateinter-dependenciesbetweennetwork,server,client,application,andstorage.

Figure 1�HPStorageEssentialsandthestorage-automationecosystem

Storage Essentials Platform

Process automation

HP OperationsOrchestration

HP BSA ServerAutomation

HP UCMDB

HP OperationsManager

Incident and problemmanagement

Changemanagement

Compliancemanagement

HP Storage Automation

HP Storage Essentials automation ecosystem

Reluctancetoopenthestorage-areanetwork(SAN)toautomationhasrecededintheeraofvirtualization.Whileminimizinghardware,virtualizationhasproducedanexplosionofvirtualmachines(VMs)thatrequirestor-ageserviceandmanagementatatimewhenitisdifficulttogetresourcestomanagethegrowth.

ItisnowonderthatITmanagersareturningtoautoma-tion.Consideringourleadershipindatacenterautomation,itisnosurprisethatHPStorageEssentialsisfrontandcenterwhenitcomestoautomatingstorage.Inadditiontoprovidingindustry-leading,full-featured,heteroge-neousstorageresourcemanagement,HPStorageEssentialsoffersanintegratedsuiteofservicestodeliveronthepromiseofstorageautomation.

Storage automation with HP Storage EssentialsHPStorageEssentialsistightlyintegratedwithkeyprod-uctsfromtheHPbusinesstechnologyoptimization(BTO)suite,creatingaversatilestorage-automationecosystem.

AsdepictedinFigure1,HPStorageEssentialsisthehubthatdeliversstoragedatatoprovensolutionstodrivestoragechange,compliance,andincidentmanagement.HPOperationsOrchestrationprovidestherun-bookenginethattiesitalltogether.Theendresultisapowerful,com-prehensivestorage-automationplatformtocomplementandenhanceITILv3-basedinitiativesforbest-practiceITmanagement.

ThefollowingintegrationsmakeuptheHPStorageEssentialsstorage-automationecosystem:•HP Operations Orchestration softwareautomates

repetitive,time-consumingstoragetasksanddrivesprocessflows,combiningstoragechange,compliance,andincidentmanagement.

•HP Operations Manager softwareshowshowstorageincidentsimpacttheSANandcriticalbusinessservices.

•HP Universal Configuration Management Database (UCMDB) softwaresupportsstoragechange,compli-ance,impactanalysis,andreports.

•HP Server Automation softwareletsadministratorsvisualizeandreportonserversandstorageinasinglepaneofglass,includingstoragecomplianceaudits.

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Figure 2 HPOperationsOrchestrationstorage-automationworkflows

Figure 3 HPOperationsOrchestrationdrag-and-wireworkflowcreation

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Figure 4 Integratedautomationtasksacrossdomains

Automating storage—HP Storage Essentials and HP Operations OrchestrationTogether,HPStorageEssentialsandHPOperationsOrchestrationprovidethetoolsandservicestoautomaterepetitive,time-consumingstoragetasks.TheHPOperationsOrchestrationStudio,depictedinFigure2,providesaneasy-to-usedrag,drop,andwireinterfacetodesignandbuildstorageworkflows.

TheHPStorageEssentialsAcceleratorPackforHPOperationsOrchestrationincludeshundredsoftoolkitoperationsandout-of-the-boxflowsforstoragediscovery,storagesystem,fabricandzonemanagement,backupandrestore,capacityreclamation,storageconfigurationmanagement,andmore.Oncecreated,storageflowscanbeaddedtoservicecatalogsforrepeateduse.Thissavestime,money,andresourcesandprovidesthefoun-dationfordeliveringstorageasaservice.

HPOperationsOrchestrationisnotjustforstorage.Itprovidesasharedenginetocreatestreamlined,cross-domainprocessflows.HPOperationsOrchestrationsupportsover3,000flowsandtoolkitoperationsforthemostcommonoperatingsystems,applicationservers,networkingsolutions,databases,virtualizationplatforms,andmore.

Anexampleofacross-domainworkflowisthecommis-sioningandprovisioningofavirtualmachine(VM).Thisprocessincludesmanyrepetitive,time-consumingsub-tasksthatcrosstheserver,storage,andnetworkdomains,forexample,creatingtheVMandprovisioningitwithanoperatingsystem(OS),application,andstorage.

AllofthesetaskscanbecompletelyautomatedinaprocessflowbycombiningoperationsfromtheHPOperationsOrchestrationAcceleratorPacksforHPStorageEssentials,HPServerAutomation,andthedesiredOS,application,andservice-deskintegrations.Thecompletedflowcanthenbeaddedtoanon-demandservicecatalogandaccessedwheneveranewVMwiththesameconfigurationprofileisrequired,resultinginsignificantsavingsintimeandresources.

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Figure 5 BusinessimpactofstorageeventsasseenintheHPOperationsManagerconsole

Storage incident management—HP Storage Essentials and HP Operations ManagerTheHPOperationsManagerSmartPlug-in(SPI)forHPStorageEssentialshelpsSANadministratorsmonitorthehealthandavailabilityofHPStorageEssentialsCentralManagementServer(CMS)nodes,theircorrespondingagentnodes,andrelatedSANinfrastructure.ItalsohelpsITadministratorsunderstandtheimpactofstorageeventsonkeybusinessservicesanddeterminetherootcausesofstorageincidentsquickly.

HPOperationsManagerusestheSPItomodelservicemapsofHPStorageEssentialsasanapplicationandoftheSANtopology.WhenHPOperationsManagerreceivesHPStorageEssentialsalertsfromtheSPI,icons

forimpactedHPStorageEssentialsCMS,agentnodes,andSANelementslightupintheHPOperationsManagerconsole.HPOperationsManagerleveragestheservicemapstopropagatetheimpactofstorageeventsonrelatedbusinessservices.Inaddition,theSPIallowsoperatorstouseHPOperationsManagertostart,stop,andcheckthestatusofHPStorageEssentialsservices.

TheHPStorageEssentialsSPIandHPStorageEssentials/HPUCMDBintegrationscanalsoenableHPStorageEssentials-managedstorageforHPBusinessAvailabilityCenter(BAC)anditsapplicationslikeHPOperationsManager.Inthiscase,HPBAChaspre-exist-ingconnectionswiththeHPUCMDBandHPOperationsManagertopullthestoragetopologyandeventsfromHPStorageEssentialsandprocessthemintheHPBACconsole.

Figure5showstheeventsviewoftheHPOperationsManagerconsole.TheHPOperationsManagerNodeBankisvisibleintheleft-handpane.

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Figure 6 HPOperationsManagermapview

•TheHPOperationsManagerSPIforHPStorageEssentialshasloadedHPStorageEssentialstopologyincludingSANhosts,switches,andarraysintotheHPOperationsManagerNodeBankunder“StorageEssentialsInfra.”

•TheSPIalsosendsHPStorageEssentialsSMI-SandPolicyManageralertstoHPOperationsManagerthatlightupimpactedSANelementsinthenodebank.HereweseeaminoralerttoswitchTianaindicatedbytheyellowiconontheleft.

•SelectingFCswitchTianalaunchestheHPOperationsManagereventbrowser.ThisHPStorageEssentialsPolicyManagereventwasgeneratedwhentheswitchbreachedthe“percentageused”policy,indicatingaswitchportoverloadcondition.

•ThenodebankalsoshowsServices,includinganemailservicerunningonahostconnectedtotheSAN.TheHPStorageEssentialsSPIhascreatedaSANser-vicemapthathaspropagatedtheSANswitchalertuptotheemailservice,whichisalsohighlightedintheHPOperationsManagerconsole.

Figure6showstheservicemaps.HereweseeamajorimpacttoServicesasindicatedbytheredbubble.WealsoseethatSANswitchTianaistherootcauseoftheminoralerttotheemailservice.Thealertisminorbecausethehostfortheemailservicehasanalternatepathtostorage.Buttheeventisworthnotingbecauseitindicatespotentiallossofredundancyfortheemailservice.

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Figure 7 ComplianceanalysisforFCswitches

Figure 8 Changereportoncollectionoflogicalvolumes

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Storage change management—HP Storage Essentials and the HP Universal CMDBTheHPStorageEssentialsIntegrationPackageforUCMDBallowsstorageadministratorsto:•Generatereportsshowingthechangehistoryof

storageconfigurationitems(CIs)•Monitorcomplianceofmandatedstorageconfigura-

tionsusingGoldStandard,CIcomparison,andViewSnapshotfeatures

•ModelSANchangestoseetheimpactonSANandbusinessservicesbeforemakingachange

HowtheUCMDBworksCIspopulatedfromHPStorageEssentialsintotheHPUCMDBincludestoragefabric,zone,array,host,FibreChannel(FC)switch,HBA,FCadapter,andlogicalvolume.TheHPUCMDBdiscoverstherelationshipsbetweendis-coveredCIs.Thefrequencyofthedatatransferistotallyconfigurabletomeetvaryingbusinessneeds.

TheHPUCMDBusestheconceptof“packageasawrapper”fordiscoverypatterns,views,reports,andpre-builtimpactanalysisrules.Thepackagesaredeploy-ablesoftwareelementsthatcanbeaddedtotheHPUCMDBinstallation.

TheHPStorageIntegrationPackagefortheHPUCMDBincludes:•DiscoveryPatternsthatreplicateCIsandtheirrelation-

shipsforHPStorageEssentialsintheHPUCMDB•Graphicalviewsofthestorageenvironmentwithinthe

HPUCMDB•Pre-builtimpactanalysisrulesformodelingandview-

ingtheimpactofproposedchangestothestorageenvironment

•Pre-definedreportsthatgeneratechangeandcompli-ancetrackingsummariesquicklyandeasily

Figure7showshowtheHPUCMDBcanbeusedtosupportFCswitchcompliance.AnystorageCIcanbedesignatedaGoldMaster.OtherCIsarethenselectedandcomparedagainsttheGoldMaster,revealinganyvariancesthatexist.

Figure8showshowtheHPUCMDBsnapshotfeatureprovidesaviewofaselectedSANconfigurationoracollectionofCIs.Twosnapshotsofthesameviewtakenatdifferenttimescanbecomparedatscheduledintervals,suchasaftereveryrunofadiscoveryjob.

Sampleusecasesinclude:•Whathaschangedinmystorageswitchesoverthe

last24hours?•HowdidmyXParrayconfigurationchangeoverthe

lastyear?•DoallEVAstoragearraysinthedatacenterhavethe

samefirmwarerevisionas“this”switch?•Whichbusinessservicesgetimpactedifthisstorage

ISL(inter-switchlink)goesdown?•WhichapplicationsareimpactedifthisHBAfails,

factoringinapplicationclustering/failover?

Storage compliance management—HP Storage Essentials and HP Server AutomationStorageVisibilityandAutomationisafeatureinHPServerAutomationthatleveragesHPStorageEssentialstoprovideserveradministratorswiththestoragedatatheyneedtoeffectivelydotheirjobs.

StorageVisibilityandAutomationrequiresaHPStorageEssentialsConnectorforHPServerAutomationthatprovidesastoragescannertocollectSANtopology,relationships,andperformancedatafromtheHPStorageEssentialsdatabaseandloaditintotheHPServerAutomationmodelrepository.OnceitresidesintheHPServerAutomationmodelrepository,SANandserverdatacanbevisualized,monitored,andreportedinasinglepaneofglass.

Withthisfeature,serveradministratorscanvisualizetheend-to-endpath—fromapplicationtostoragearray—includingdependencies.TheycanalsomonitorandreportonSANcapacity,utilizationtrends,andconfigu-rationcomplianceusingbuilt-inrulestotestforsinglepointsoffailure,replicationstatus,andthelevelofRAIDprotectionforapplicationhosts.

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Figure 9 Storagevisibilityforserveradministrators

Figure 1�0 Storagereportingforserveradministrators

ConclusionToday’seconomicrealitiesdemandthatbusinessesdeliverITservicesinthemostefficientmannerpossible.WiththeHPStorageEssentialsstorage-automationecosystem,youcanstartdeployingautomatedstorageservicestoday.

Together,HPStorageEssentials,HPOperationsOrchestration,HPOperationsManager,HPUCMDB,andHPServerAutomationprovidetheend-to-endcapabilitytoautomatestorageprocessesandtobettermanagestoragechange,compliance,andincidentsforyourorganization.

Tolearnmore,visitwww.hp.com/go/storageessentials.

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Figure 1�1� Storagecomplianceauditsforserveradministrators

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©Copyright2010–2011Hewlett-PackardDevelopmentCompany,L.P.Theinformationcontainedhereinissubjecttochangewithoutnotice.TheonlywarrantiesforHPproductsandservicesaresetforthintheexpresswarrantystatementsaccompanyingsuchproductsandservices.Nothinghereinshouldbeconstruedasconstitutinganadditionalwarranty.HPshallnotbeliablefortechnicaloreditorialerrorsoromissionscontainedherein.

4AA1-8073ENW,CreatedFebruary2010,UpdatedJuly2011,Rev.1

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