Storage Area Networks: Designing and Implementing a Mass Storage System

5.2 Hewlett-Packard SAN Management Products

HP announced in April, 2000, that it supports and is committed to an open Storage Area Network standard. The HP approach is called the HP Equation storage architecture.

This vision is of an open, virtual pool of storage devices that efficiently offer 100% data availability, flexibility, and scalability. This result should be a storage grid, analogous to the electrical power grid.

5.2.1 Overview of Two SAN Management Products

Hewlett-Packard s SAN Manager LM (LUN Management) and SAN Manager DM (Device Management) products are very recent offerings. They are good examples of the kind of software needed to manage storage on the SAN. They are both supported on HP-UX, NT, and Solaris hosts .

SAN Manager LM enables LUNs in the storage pool to be assigned through a drag-and-drop interface and secures the assignments by making them visible to only the associated server. It works in a heterogeneous server/storage environment.

SAN Manager DM is a real-time SAN monitor. It provides a physical view and a centralized platform to manage configuration changes. It is a critical element in defining topology and establishing a means to physically control the SAN.

Through additional plug-ins, HP says it will provide LUN mirroring, performance monitoring, SAN backup, capacity management, remote diagnosis, and many other storage management capabilities. As that becomes true, SAN Manager DM should be an effective SAN management solution.

5.2.2 SAN Manager LUN Management (LM)

HP SureStore E SAN Manager LUN Management (LM) software is a server-based SAN management solution. It provides SAN storage access control. It s an efficient way to build and manage complex server/storage security assignments. You assign storage access to some hosts and exclude other hosts from access.

SAN Manager LM runs in a heterogeneous server/storage environment. Storage from various manufacturers can be treated as a pool of devices that can be assigned to any host.

5.2.2.1 Ease of Use

During installation, SAN Manager LM automatically discovers all the storage devices and hosts on the SAN. As a result, very little information has to be entered manually.

The Device Group feature is used to organize storage devices into logical groups, making it easy to locate and assign devices. To assign storage, you select individual devices or an entire Device Group with the mouse and drag it to a host. Storage assigned exclusively to each host is clearly displayed in a simple tree structure.

You can use view filters to limit what devices or hosts are displayed. This will reduce onscreen clutter.

The icons representing hosts and storage devices use badges and color to convey status information. Badges are added to base icons to signify that storage is partitioned, assigned exclusively, or assigned to a share group. Icon color indicates host and storage partitioned, assigned exclusively, or assigned to a share group. Icon color indicates host and storage availability.

The Share Groups feature is used to assign storage to cluster configurations.

The best ease-of-use feature is the reduction of manual entries, because that s a tedious task and has the greatest potential for operator error.

5.2.2.2 Storage Assignment

Storage is assigned at the LUN level. SAN Manager LM controls storage assignments on the SAN, and doesn t on security mechanisms implemented by particular SAN components .

As mentioned, storage can be assigned when and where it is needed through the drag-and-drop interface. You can also add and remove storage at any time, because no host reboots are required. Storage is available for immediate use after being assigned.

5.2.2.3 Data Consolidation

If SAN Manager LM is used effectively, no storage will be wasted. The right amount of storage for a database will be assigned, and as the database expands, just the right amount of storage is added. In theory, wasted storage is freed up, and it becomes available to other applications. The goal is optimal use of storage devices.

5.2.2.4 Administration Costs

SAN Manager LM reduces the cost of administering storage because it s a centralized security management solution. Thousands of storage logical unit numbers (LUNs) and hundreds of hosts can be managed as a single SAN. This allows fewer administrators to manage more storage than ever before.

SAN Manager LM is relatively easy to use and that helps storage administration go faster and with less stress. This should result in a more efficient use of the system administrator s time.

5.2.2.5 Redundancy and Flexibility

The SAN Manager LM software architecture has no single point of failure. The SAN configuration database can be mirrored three ways to ensure a copy will always be available. Each host accesses the database independently, eliminating runtime interdependencies between hosts.

SAN Manager LM is compatible with most RAID, JBOD, and tape storage devices because it doesn t depend on particular brands or models of storage devices to implement LUN security. Both native Fibre Channel storage devices and SCSI storage devices behind bridges can be managed.

5.2.3 SAN Manager Device Management (DM)

The HP SureStore E SAN Manager Device Management (DM) application provides comprehensive, centralized management of the SAN environment.

SAN Manager DM uses a management approach taken from HP s OpenView Network Node Manager, used for managing TCP/IP networks.

SAN Manager DM is a Java application, and is the interface for consolidating other management tools, including legacy and browser-based tools.

5.2.3.1 Ease of Use

The SAN Manager DM interface shows a display of SAN devices. If there s a problem with a device, a click of the mouse on the device s icon launches the appropriate device management application to resolve the problem.

SAN Manager DM is an efficient tool for quickly recognizing and resolving device failure issues.

Operators no longer need to run from device to device to troubleshoot problems, add, delete or change storage configurations, or track data center environment changes.

SAN Manager DM can launch device-specific applications and global applications, such as HP OpenView OmniBack II. More than one application can be associated with each SAN device, allowing you to launch one of a set of applications depending on the task to be accomplished. Launched applications may be either Web or server-based.

5.2.3.2 Integration with Other Solutions and Tools

Java technology enables SAN Manager DM to be highly portable. An extensible, open architecture offers enhanced support for servers and storage devices.

Device management applications are easily integrated by way of command line interfaces. The distributed and dynamic loading capabilities that Java offers lend to tighter integration with the graphical user interface and data repository service.

Together, these capabilities provide an environment in which system integrators and other solution providers can easily develop customized SAN management solutions that specifically address their customers needs.

5.2.3.3 Auto-Discover y and Mapping of Fibre Channel Devices

SAN Manager DM automatically discovers devices that are part of the SAN topology, including server-based Fibre Channel host bus adapters, interconnecting devices and storage devices.

Devices are mapped in an intuitive graphical format at a central console, providing virtually instant visibility into the SAN. Continual automatic discovery assures that changes in the SAN are immediately identified and mapped.

5.2.3.4 Mapping Nonmanaged Devices

As is often the case with new technology, manageability interface standards have not yet been established for Fibre Channel SAN devices. SAN Manager DM ensures that even unmanaged devices are represented on the network map by allowing these devices to be added manually.

5.2.3.5 Creating Custom Views of the SAN

The automatically generated map of the SAN shows all physical connections between devices. This map can be customized into views with drag-and-drop simplicity, so icons are grouped to more accurately reflect their geographical distribution. Once created, custom views can be saved for future use. SAN Manager DM produces both a hierarchical and a graphical representation of the SAN. Clicking on a device icon changes the map perspective to show which devices are connected to the selected device.

5.2.3.6 Health Monitoring of Devices/Status Monitoring

SAN Manager DM receives device status information from the individual devices and reports it to a central console. Color-coded icons on the SAN map allow IT operators instant recognition of devices that are experiencing a problem or are down. In addition, SNMP traps are generated and can be passed to other management or monitoring applications for action. For example, an alarm can be configured so that when a specified event occurs, a page is sent to notify a system administrator of the problem.

5.2.3.7 Event Monitoring

SAN Manager DM maintains an ongoing log of device events for historical reference. An event browser, similar to the one in HP OpenView Network Node Manager, enables the user to review the detailed events. Events are grouped by categories. The event browser enables the user to filter the event log based on the event source, event severity, time logged, or other attributes. Entries in the event file can be flagged as acknowledged to indicate when action has been undertaken for this event.

5.2.3.8 DM Summary

HP SureStore E SAN Manager DM provides comprehensive, centralized management of the SAN environment. SAN Manager DM is an effective solution for enterprise-wide SAN management.

Centralized Console Management of storage devices, no matter what their type, can be accomplished with a single tool that can be used independently of the storage s host.

• Auto-Discovery of Devices ”   automatically identifies, adds, and maps new devices so the administrator can better utilize all resources.

• Graphical Device Map ”   graphical maps provide a quick, clear view of the connection between hosts, devices, and components of the SAN infrastructure.

• Real-Time Device Monitoring.

• Launchable Device Icons ”   a visible alarm lets the administrator know the status of any device and launch applications in order to make changes on the fly.

• Customized Device Maps ”   groups icons more accurately to reflect their geographical location so you know where the device resides on the SAN.

• Health Monitoring, Alarm Configuration, Event Monitoring, and Event Logs ”   lets the administrator know what s going on and what s happened on the SAN.