MONITORING STORAGE PERFORMANCE OF IBM SVC SYSTEMS WITH SENTRY SOFTWARE

Transcription

1 MONITORING STORAGE PERFORMANCE OF IBM SVC SYSTEMS WITH SENTRY SOFTWARE WHITE PAPER JULY 2018

2 INTRODUCTION The large number of components in the I/O path of an enterprise storage virtualization device such as the IBM SVC makes the diagnosis of performance issues a challenging task. Sentry Software simplifies the root cause analysis by providing an easyto-use interface with flexible drill-down capabilities for all the key-components of an IBM SVC. It uses a data collector based on the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) standard to collect configuration information and performance data, and leverages the native SVC interface to supplement the performance measurements. The configuration information exposes the relationships between the various storage components enabling IBM SVC KM for PATROL to use these relationships to provide drill-down paths, and to complement the performance data by calculating or estimating values for metrics and components that are not directly supported by the hardware, or the vendor s SMI-S provider software. By leveraging deep knowledge of storage system performance and configuration, IBM SVC KM for PATROL provides a comprehensive solution for managing your IBM SVC storage virtualization environment. IBM SVC ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW The IBM SVC architecture is significantly different from a traditional storage array in that it is not limited to providing block level storage from internally managed drives, it also virtualizes external block level storage. Typically, the IBM SVC device is found in the I/O path between the host and the back-end storage. An SVC consists of up to four I/O groups. Each I/O group consists of two redundant, clustered nodes. Each node consists of an off the shelf processor, memory, and four fiber channel ports. It also supports two Ethernet ports, and is capable of supporting four internal Solid State Drives (SSDs). The physical components of IBM SVC are commodities. The uniqueness of SVC is in the software and the logical components that will be discussed in the remainder of this section. Let s see how IBM SVC KM for PATROL can be a comprehensive solution for managing your storage virtualization environment. MONITORING NODES As the only physical component of an SVC cluster, a node runs the SVC software. The IBM SVC KM for PATROL collects critical key indicators such as I/Os operations and connectivity health and performance. SVC nodes utilize commodity processors, memory, and fiber channel ports. The processors manage all I/O operations, the memory serves as a read and write I/O cache, and the fiber ports ensure connectivity and communication between the hosts, the SVC and their back-end storage devices. Some of the performance data collected by IBM SVC KM for PATROL can help you rapidly diagnose high processor utilization and alert you when the CPU is over or under used. REPORTING ON BANDWIDTH UTILIZATION The Bandwidth Utilization parameter can be used to detect high processor utilization and thus prevent node overloading and unpredictable performance degradations.

3 Because optimum performance will be achieved when the bandwidth utilization and the transfer rate are similar for both nodes, it is also recommended to monitor the transfer rate of each node by using the Received Byte Rate and Sent Byte Rate parameters. A proper load balancing will indeed prevent a node from being a bottleneck while the other one is almost idle. If the collected values are really different for both nodes, administrators should search for the LUNs preferred node and make sure the load balancing is adequate. If performance degradations are observed, administrators will then have to identify the node that has become a bottleneck and take the appropriate measures. MONITORING STORAGE POOLS A storage pool is a grouping of more than one managed disk. When planning a storage pool it is important to remember that when a single managed disk experiences a failure, it brings the entire storage pool offline. As a result, one of the primary design goals is to limit the hardware failure boundaries. REPORTING DISK SPACE CONSUMPTION Making sure that an IBM SVC System has enough remaining disk space available is critical for several reasons: SAN administrators want to make sure to be able to provision disk space for new servers when requested, as quickly as possible. The IBM SVC System itself may need additional disk space for specific features to work properly, like automatic snapshots, mirroring, etc. If thin provisioning is used, the remaining disk space becomes dramatically critical since the inability to allocate additional space to a LUN when requested by the subscriber host will lead to catastrophic data loss and corruption. The disk space used is permanently monitored for each pool. The Subscribed Capacity parameter represents the amount of disk space that has been made available to the subscriber hosts, or in other words, the amount of disk space that is seen by the servers connected to the IBM SVC System. The Consumed Capacity parameter represents the actual space usage in the pool. For thin pools (when thin provisioning is enabled on the IBM SVC System), this value is normally lower than the Subscribed Capacity, as it is the main purpose of thin provisioning. For traditional pools, the Consumed Capacity parameter has the same value as the Subscribed Capacity parameter, as the entirety of the subscribed disk space is fully allocated in the storage pool. The Consumed Capacity Percentage parameter is the most critical one as a pool usage nearing 100% means that SAN administrators will not be able to create new LUNs. By default, an alarm is triggered if the value of this parameter exceeds 75%. MONITORING VOLUMES A volume is a distinct grouping of storage units that can be exposed to a host. The size of the storage unit can be determined when the storage pool is created and is typically 128 or 256 MBytes. When creating volumes, SAN administrators define their capacity and their layout, i.e. is striped or sequential. Apart for 100% sequential workloads, the volumes are usually created as striped volumes. Striped volumes consist of storage units that are spread across the managed disks and responding to a round-robin process scheduling.

4 IBM SVC KM for PATROL collects information about the performance of IBM SVC including key-performance metrics. Metrics help measure, pinpoint, and troubleshoot performance issues and bottlenecks in your IBM SVC storage environment. IBM SVC KM for PATROL can also rapidly identify volumes that are no longer used by any server -when servers are decommissioned, for example, unused volume still occupy disk space- and allow administrators to reclaim the unused disk space to avoid unnecessary upgrades and extensions of your devices. VOLUME MIRRORING Volume mirroring provides data redundancy to add an extra layer protection for business critical applications and data. Volume mirroring consists in maintaining two copies, or mirrors, of a volume on two distinct pools (typically maintained on distinct storage backends). When a problem occurs leading to a volume failure, the data stored on this volume becomes unavailable. The system can then rely on the mirrored unaffected disk to continue to operate. Monitoring volume synchronization provides critical information on the mirroring process status of a volume and helps avoiding data loss and applications disruptions. IBM SVC KM for PATROL is flexible and can be configured to provide you with the information you need when you need it. You can quickly adjust the discovery and collect frequency and configure notifications and alert actions to get informed as soon as disruption or failure occurs. The uninterrupted collection of storage performance metric ensures total control of the monitored environment and a range of intuitive graphical reports helps pinpoint any suspicious behavior. As a Knowledge Module (KM) for PATROL, IBM SVC KM for PATROL runs natively on the BMC PATROL Agent and fully integrates with BMC TrueSight Operations Management to gain visibility into the performance of your entire infrastructure through a single, proactive monitoring platform. Visit Sentry Software Web Site to learn more about IBM SVC KM for PATROL and our storage monitoring solutions. IBM SVC KM for PATROL monitors the status of the volume mirroring process. The collected data is displayed within the TrueSight Operations Management interface. When the replication of a volume is jeopardized or becomes unsynchronized, an alert is triggered. Actions can then be taken to replace a failed volume or restore the mirroring synchronization and avoid critical loss of data or applications malfunction.

5 ABOUT MARKETZONE DIRECT PRODUCTS The BMC MarketZone Direct program sells and supports third-party products that complement and/or augment BMC solutions. MarketZone Direct products are available under BMC license and support terms. BUSINESS RUNS ON I.T. I.T. RUNS ON BMC SOFTWARE Business thrives when IT runs smarter, faster and stronger. That s why the most demanding IT organizations in the world rely on BMC Software across distributed, mainframe, virtual and cloud environments. Recognized as the leader in Business Service Management, BMC offers a comprehensive approach and unified platform that helps IT organizations cut cost, reduce risk and drive business profit. of any infrastructure. Sentry Software specializes in single solutions for multiplatform monitoring of hardware, storage, custom applications, or any IT infrastructure component. Its products are deployed in diverse industry sectors around the globe. ABOUT SENTRY SOFTWARE LEARN MORE Sentry Software, a BMC MarketZone Direct and Technology Alliance Partner, provides monitoring solutions that expand and enhance the capabilities of BMC TrueSight Operations Management, thus enabling up to 100-percent coverage To learn more about our solutions, please visit : Sentry Software products are made exclusively for BMC Software and are marketed, sold and supported by BMC Software as BMC products. They are listed on the BMC Software website products page under the BMC TrueSight category. To learn more about BMC TrueSight, please visit BMC, BMC Software, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software, Inc., are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners BMC Software, Inc. All rights reserved.