From the Lab

Projects in progress, expected releases, features in development, Beta versions...

Projects in Development

EMC Disks Arrays KM 1.7.00 - Beta Version	August 20, 2010
NetApp Filers KM 2.0.00 - Beta Version	July 27, 2010
BMC Performance Manager Express for NetApp Filers 2.8.00 - Beta Version	July 19, 2010
BMC Performance Manager Express for EMC Disk Arrays - Beta Version	July 15, 2010
BMC Performance Manager Express for EMC Disk Arrays - New screenshots	July 9, 2010
New Version of NetApp Filers Monitoring Brings New Features	July 1, 2010
HP EVA Monitoring: Beta Version and First Screenshots	June 30, 2010
EMC Disk Arrays Monitoring First Screenshots	June 15, 2010
More details on EMC Disk Arrays Monitoring	June 7, 2010
Update: Hardware Sentry KM version 1.7.00	June 4, 2010
New product: EMC Disk Arrays Monitoring (Storage)	June 1, 2010
New product: HP EVA Monitoring (Storage)	June 1, 2010

EMC Disk Arrays KM for PATROL - Beta Version

August 20, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: September 2010

EMC Disk Arrays KM for PATROL enables administrators to monitor their EMC disk arrays directly from their BMC PATROL Console avoiding the need to use a separate monitoring solution. The solution collects and brings critical performance data and useful metrics into your BMC ProactiveNet Performance Management environment. As part of the Sentry Software Storage Monitoring solution, EMC Disk Arrays KM for PATROL covers performance counters while Hardware Sentry KM collects hardware-related information.

Features

Disk Array: overall capacity, available space, overall traffic, available spare disks
Controllers: CPU utilization, data traffic, cache statistics, response time
Physical Disks: data traffic, disk time utilization, response time
Storage Pools: size and capacity, consumed and subscribed capacity, oversubscription problems detection (thin provisioning)
Volumes: data traffic, disk time utilization, response time, mapping, consumed capacity

Supported Platforms

EMC Clariion
EMC Symmetrix

Prerequisites

The solution leverages the EMC SMI-S provider that needs to be installed on a Windows or Linux system.

Get the “EMC SMI-S Provider” from EMC (the EMC SMI-S Provider is no longer part of Solutions Enabler).
Read carefully the EMC SMI-S Provider Release Notes which provides all the installation instructions.
For these tests, it is recommended to install it on a separate system (to avoid compatibility issues with EMC Control Center).
Configure the SMI-S Provider to make sure it “sees” at least one disk array (see the EMC SMI-S Provider Release Notes)

Setting up EMC Disk Arrays KM for PATROL

Create an element corresponding to the system where the EMC SMI-S has been installed and load EMC Disk Arrays KM for PATROL on this element.

Download Beta Version

BETA - senemc_WINDOWS_1700.exe - Installation on Windows	« SLA	11.9MB
BETA - senemc_UNIX_1700.tar - Installation on UNIX/Linux	« SLA	12.2MB

Feel free to download and investigate our latest monitoring products for the EMC Disk Arrays. We greatly appreciate your comments and feedback regarding these prerelease versions of our products. Please test them out and share your experience with us: support@sentrysoftware.com.

NetApp Filers KM for PATROL 2.0.00 - Beta Version

July 28, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: August 2010

Re-written to provide better visibility in the health performance and activity of the NetApp Filers, the product now offers a larger feature set. From the disk space allocation to the data traffic on each LUN, the replication activity, and the various protocols metrics, the new solution provides a comprehensive view of every aspect of the NetApp Filers versatility.

Easy configuration, out of the box alert thresholds, automated discovery, and very low prerequisite will ensure a seamless deployment of the solution.

Download Beta Version

BETA - senna_WINDOWS_2000.exe - Installation on Windows	« SLA	13.4MB
BETA - senna_UNIX_2000.exe - Installation on UNIX/Linux	« SLA	13.9MB

Feel free to download and investigate our latest monitoring product for NetApp Filers. We greatly appreciate your comments and feedback regarding these prerelease versions of our products. Please test them out and share your experience with us: support@sentrysoftware.com.

BMC Performance Manager Express for NetApp Filers 2.8.00 - Beta Version

July 19, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010

Easy configuration, out of the box alert thresholds, automated discovery, and very low prerequisite will ensure a seamless deployment of the solution.

How to install BMC Performance Manager Express for NetApp Filers

Place the BPM-Express-NetApp-Filers-2.8.00.par file in a known location on your file system. Login to the Portal with super-administrator credentials.
Click on Portal, then under Tasks click Performance Managers.
Click Upload and then click Browse to open a file selection dialogue box.
Select BPM-Express-NetApp-Filers-2.8.00.par and click Upload.
The Portal uploads the PAR file to the database, and BPM Express NetApp Filers now appears as BMC Performance Manager Express for NetApp Filers by Sentry Software in the list of Performance Managers.
The word "Published" next to BMC Performance Manager Express for NetApp Filers in the Performance Manager list indicates that the product is successfully installed.

Download Beta Version

BETA - BPM-Express-for-NetApp-Filers-2.8.00.par.zip

« SLA

394KB

BMC Performance Manager Express for EMC Disk Arrays - Beta Version

July 15, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010

BMC Performance Manager Express for EMC Disk Arrays enables administrators to monitor their EMC disk arrays directly from BMC Portal avoiding the need to use a separate monitoring solution. The solution collects and brings critical performance data and useful metrics into your BMC Performance Manager environment. As part of the Sentry Software Storage solution BMC Performance Manager Express for EMC Disk Arrays covers performance counters while BMC Performance Manager Express for Hardware collects hardware-related information.

Features

Disk Array: overall capacity, available space, overall traffic, available spare disks
Controllers: CPU utilization, data traffic, cache statistics, response time
Physical Disks: data traffic, disk time utilization, response time
Storage Pools: size and capacity, consumed and subscribed capacity, oversubscription problems detection (thin provisioning)
Volumes: data traffic, disk time utilization, response time, mapping, consumed capacity

Supported Platforms

EMC Clariion
EMC Symmetrix

Prerequisites

The solution leverages the EMC SMI-S provider that needs to be installed on a Windows or Linux system.

Get the “EMC SMI-S Provider” from EMC (the EMC SMI-S Provider is no longer part of Solutions Enabler).
Read carefully the EMC SMI-S Provider Release Notes which provides all the installation instructions.
For these tests, it is recommended to install it on a separate system (to avoid compatibility issues with EMC Control Center).
Configure the SMI-S Provider to make sure it “sees” at least one disk array (see the EMC SMI-S Provider Release Notes)

Setting up BMC Performance Manager Express for EMC Disk Arrays

Create an element corresponding to the system where the EMC SMI-S has been installed and load BMC Performance Manager Express for EMC Disk Arrays on this element.

Download Beta Version

BETA - BPM-Express-for-EMC-DiskArrays-2.7.01.par.zip

« SLA

1.3MB

BMC Performance Manager Express for EMC Disk Arrays - New screenshots

July 9, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010


Monitoring an EMC disk array	Overall I/Os (MB/sec)	Overall traffic	Diagnosing load balancing	Disks Responsiveness


Thin Provisioning Monitoring	LUNs Status and Performance

New Version of NetApp Filers Monitoring Brings New Features

July 1, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010

The selection of performance data and metrics collected by for NetApp Filers KM for PATROL and BMC Performance Manager Express for NetApp Filers has been completely re-evaluated to provide more accurate information to storage administrators and help them optimize storage server utilization.

Also, the upcoming versions of NetApp Filers KM for PATROL and BMC Performance Manager Express for NetApp Filers add full support for NetApp's SnapShot, SnapMirror and SnapVault features and will bring in-depth information about all replication activities, including the implied I/Os, the replication status and proper operation, data availability and accuracy, etc.

HP EVA Monitoring: Beta Version and First Screenshots

June 30, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010

HP EVA KM for PATROL enables administrators to monitor their HP EVA disk arrays directly from the PATROL console avoiding the need to use a separate monitoring solution. The KM collects and brings critical performance data and useful metrics into your BMC Performance Manager environment. As part of the Sentry Software Storage solution HP EVA KM for PATROL covers performance counters while Hardware Sentry KM for PATROL collects hardware-related information.

Supported HP EVA storage devices and features

Controllers
Host Connections
Host Port Status
Host Port Statistics

Nodes
Physical Disks
Physical Disks Groups
Virtual Disks

Virtual Disks Groups
Data Replication Tunnels
Data Replication Groups (in development)

HP EVA KM for PATROL requires HP Storageworks v9.1 to be properly installed on the server. Most information is collected via the HP EVAPERF.EXE utility, which requires no configuration. However, some additional information such as virtual disk size, node name, RAID array, etc. is collected via the Storage System Scripting Utility (SSSU.EXE). Valid account credentials (username and password) are required to run SSSU.

To enter the HP Command View EVA credentials:

Right-click the HP EVA icon in the PATROL console > KM Commands > KM Settings > HP Command View EVA Credentials...
Enter the valid username and password for HP Command View EVA
Click OK to validate.

First Screenshots


Global	Host Connection and Host Port Statistics	Physical Disks	Ports

Download Beta Version

BETA - sen_eva_windows_1601.exe - Installation on Windows	« SLA	1.4MB
BETA - sen_eva_unix_1601.tar - Installation on UNIX/Linux	« SLA	1.6MB
BETA - HP EVA KM for PATROL 1.6.01 - Installation Guide - PDF		3.7MB
BETA - HP EVA KM for PATROL 1.6.01 - Installation Guide - HTML

Feel free to download and investigate our latest monitoring products for the HP EVA Disk Arrays. We greatly appreciate your comments and feedback regarding these prerelease versions of our products. Please test them out and share your experience with us: support@sentrysoftware.com.

EMC Disk Arrays Monitoring First Screenshots

June 14, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010


Disk I/O	Fine Grained Monitoring	Controllers Performance	Historical View of I/Os	Report on Available Space

More Details on EMC Disk Arrays Monitoring

June 7, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010

Planned Features

Sentry Software's development team is currently finalizing the monitoring and collection of several critical metrics on EMC Disk Arrays. A beta version will soon be available and will include, among other valuable capacity information, the following parameters:

Critical capacity metrics on logical storage unit:

Host Visible Capacity: Size of the LUN as seen by the server
Reserved Capacity: Space guaranteed in the storage pool for the LUN (Thin LUNs only)
Allocated Capacity: Space actually allocated in the storage pool for the LUN
Consumed Capacity: Sum of the space actually allocated and the space guaranteed in the storage pool for the LUN.
Allocated Capacity Percent: Percentage of the host visible capacity that is actually allocated in the storage pool for the LUN
Consumed Capacity Percent: Percentage of the host visible capacity that is actually consumed in the storage pool for the LUN

In-depth capacity metrics on storage pool:

Type: Type of storage pool ("Thin" or "Traditional")
Size: Size of the storage pool
Subscribed Capacity: Total host visible capacity of the LUNs in the storage pool, plus the size of the child pools (i.e. "sub-pools" in the storage pool), if any.
Subscribed Capacity Percent: Percentage of the storage pool that is subscribed for LUNs or used for "child" pools (i.e. "sub-pools" in the storage pool).
Allocated Capacity: Total size of the space actually allocated for the LUNs in the storage pool, plus the size of the child pools (i.e. "sub-pools" in the storage pool).
Allocated Capacity Percent: Percentage of the storage pool that is actually allocated for the LUNs (plus the space used for child pools).
Consumed Capacity: Total size of the space actually allocated or reserved for the LUNs in the storage pool, plus the size of the child pools (i.e. "sub-pools" the storage pool).
Consumed Capacity Percent: Percentage of the storage pool that is actually allocated or reserved for the LUNs (plus the space used for child pools).
Available Capacity: Size of the space not allocated and not reserved for any LUN in the storage pool.

Consolidated capacity metrics for the entire disk array:

Subscribed Capacity Percent: Percentage of the storage pool that is subscribed for LUNs or used for "child" pools (i.e. "sub-pools" in the storage pool).
Allocated Capacity Percent: Percentage of the storage pool that is actually allocated for the LUNs (plus the space used for child pools).
Consumed Capacity Percent: Percentage of the storage pool that is actually allocated or reserved for the LUNs (plus the space used for child pools).

Update: Hardware Sentry KM 1.7.00

June 4, 2010 Status: Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010

Planned New Features and Improvements

Ability to monitor Windows and Linux servers without any agent (especially: no IBM Director Agent required!)
“Threshold templates”: thresholds that are applied to all instances of one class
Better handling of collection/discovery failures (improved retry mechanism)
Support for an “alternate” (or failover) source of data when monitoring a system with a redundant out-of-band management interface (typically 2 XSCF in a Sun M8000, or 2 management modules in an IBM BladeCenter)
Improved PowerConsumption algorithm
Improved performance for encrypted WBEM (especially for VMware ESXi systems)
Full support for Cisco UCS C-Series (rackmount) and B-Series (blade) servers, running Windows, Linux and VMware ESXi
Improved identification of the monitored devices (use their “real life” names instead of arbitrary numbers)

Contemplated New Features and Improvements

Better monitoring of fiber links: new parameters for more detailed link errors monitoring, special case for ISL links
Better handling of HBA multipathing: new class to represent one LUN and all of its possible routes
Support for virtual NICs: new class to handle the virtual and physical network adapters
Support for thin-provisioning when monitoring the UnallocatedDiskSpace (and related metrics) on disk arrays

New Product: EMC Disk Arrays Monitoring (Storage)

June 1, 2010 Status: New product, Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010

Planned Features

Implemented as a KM for PATROL and as an agent-less Performance Manager for BMC Portal
In-depth performance metrics on EMC disk arrays (overall I/O, for each storage pool, LUN, physical disks, FC ports, response time, controller utilization, thin provisioning, etc.)
Daily and hourly reports on the traffic and I/O for all monitored objects
Support for EMC Clariion and EMC Symmetrix
Relies on the EMC SMI-S Agent (to be installed on a separate system running Windows or Linux)

Contemplated Features

Support for EMC V-Max

New Product: HP EVA Monitoring (Storage)

June 1, 2010 Status: New product, Ongoing development
Expected release date: July 2010

Planned Features

Implemented as a KM for PATROL and as an agent-less Performance Manager for BMC Portal
In-depth performance metrics on HP EVA disk arrays (overall I/O, for each storage pool, LUN, physical disks, FC ports, response time, controller utilization, replication, cache utilization, etc.)
Daily and hourly reports on the traffic and I/O for all monitored objects
Relies on EVAPERF.EXE and SSSU.EXE, the standard tools installed on the HP Storage Server that ships with the HP EVA disk array