This topic describes the major hardware and software components in the Enterprise Storage Management environment and describes the two different network management connections that you can use to manage
The management of your storage arrays occurs over the network. The following are the major hardware components connected to the network. For a detailed description of the network setup requirements, refer to the storage management software installation guide for your operating system.
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Hardware Component |
Description |
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Storage Management Station |
The computer that you use to manage the storage arrays on your network. |
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Network Management Station (Optional) |
A network management station (NMS) is a console with installed The storage management software provides information about critical storage array events, using |
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BOOTP or BOOTP-Compliant DHCP Server |
A BOOTP or BOOTP-compliant DHCP server assigns the network-specific information, such as IP address and |
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Host |
A computer running one or more applications that accesses the storage array over the I/O path. |
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Storage Array |
A storage entity managed by the storage management software. A storage array consists of a collection of both physical components (such as physical disks, RAID controller modules, fans, and power supplies) and logical components (such as disk groups and virtual disks). A storage array can span multiple physical enclosures. |
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File Server (Optional) |
The storage management software can optionally be stored on a central file server. Management Stations on the network can then access the storage management software remotely. |
The storage management software comprises three major pieces:
The Client Management piece of the storage management software has two main windows: the
The Enterprise Management Window is the first window that appears when you start the software. You use the Enterprise Management Window to add and discover the storage arrays you want to manage and to provide a comprehensive view of those storage arrays. A list of storage arrays is stored in a local
You use the Array Management Window to manage (configure, maintain, and recover) the physical components (RAID controller modules, physical disks, and fans, for example) and logical components (virtual disks and disk groups) that comprise a storage array. The Array Management Window is specific to an individual storage array. Therefore, you can only manage a single storage array within an Array Management Window. However, you can launch other Array Management Windows to manage other storage arrays.
The Host-Agent management software is an optional piece of software that you can install on one or more hosts that are connected to the storage arrays. The Host-Agent management software, along with the Ethernet connection on the host, provides you with another network management connection to the storage array (see the description of In-Band Storage Arrays in this topic) rather than using the individual Ethernet connections on each RAID controller module in the storage array (see the description of Out-of-Band Storage Arrays in this topic).
Your
A multi-path driver can also be called an I/O path failover driver. There is typically a redundant pair of active RAID controller modules in a storage array. When you create a virtual disk in the storage array, one of the RAID controller modules is automatically or manually chosen to "own" the virtual disk and control the I/O between the virtual disk and the application host along the I/O path.
When a component along the I/O path to a RAID controller module or the RAID controller module itself fails, ownership of the virtual disks that had been assigned to that RAID controller module will automatically transfer to the other RAID controller module in the pair. The multi-path driver manages this failover process.
Types of Network Management Connections
The storage management software manages all storage arrays over the network. However, the software allows you to configure two different types of network management connections into a storage array: an
For increased connectivity, you can manage a storage array using any combination of network management connections (out-of-band, in-band, or multiple in-band). An out-of-band and in-band combination is also allowed but is not a recommended configuration because you would be using three Ethernet connections (one to each RAID controller module and one through the host). When you configure more than one network management connection into a storage array, the storage management software is aware of each connection and automatically chooses a connection when you attempt to manage the storage array by launching an Array Management Window. If a particular connection is currently not responding, the software tries all other configured network management connections into that storage array.
The RAID controller modules in the storage array are managed directly over the network through each RAID controller module's Ethernet connection on the storage array. To manage the storage array through these Ethernet connections, you must define each RAID controller module's IP address (or optionally, each RAID controller module's host name) and attach a cable to the Ethernet connections on the storage array.
The RAID controller modules in the storage array are managed through an Ethernet connection on a host instead of using the Ethernet connections on each RAID controller module. The Host-Agent management software on the host, described previously, facilitates communication between the management station and the RAID controller modules in the storage array. To manage a storage array using this method, you must install the Host-Agent management software on the host and then use the Enterprise Management software to include the host.