IBM SVC data source

09/09/2022 Contributors

The IBM SVC data source collects inventory and performance data using SSH, supporting a variety of devices that run the SVC operating system. The list of supported devices includes models such as the SVC, the v7000, the v5000, and the v3700. Refer to the Insight data source support matrix for supported models and firmware versions.

Terminology

OnCommand Insight acquires the following inventory information from the IBM SVC data source. For each asset type acquired by Insight, the most common terminology used for this asset is shown. When viewing or troubleshooting this data source, keep the following terminology in mind:

Vendor/Model Term

Insight Term

Drive

Disk

Cluster

Storage

Node

Storage Node

Mdisk Group

Storage Pool

Vdisk

Volume

Mdisk

Backend LUN

These are common terminology mappings only and might not represent every case for this data source.

Inventory Requirements

IP address of each SVC cluster
Port 22 available
Public and private key pair that you either generate withInsight or reuse a keypair already in use on your SVC

If you are reusing an existing keypair, you must convert them from Putty format to OpenSSH format.
Public key installed on the SVC cluster
Private key needs to be identified in the data source
Access validation: Open ssh session to the SVC cluster using the private key

No third-party software needs to be installed.

Performance Requirements

SVC Console, which is mandatory for any SVC cluster and required for the SVC discovery foundation package.
Administrative access level required only for copying performance data files from cluster nodes to the config node.

Because this access level is not required for the SVC foundation discovery package, the SVC foundation user might not work successfully.
Port 22 required
A private and public SSH key must be generated for this user, and the private key stored so that it is accessible from the Acquisition Unit. If the SVC foundation user has the proper permissions, then the same user and key works. The same SSH key can be used for inventory and performance data.
Enable data collection by connecting to the SVC cluster by SSH and running: svctask startstats -interval 1

Alternatively, enable data collection using the SVC management user interface.

Parent Serial Number explained

Traditionally Insight is capable of reporting the storage array serial number, or the individual storage node serial numbers. However, some storage array architectures do not cleanly align to this. An SVC cluster can be comprised of 1-4 appliances, and each appliance has 2 nodes. If the appliance itself has a serial number, that serial number is neither the serial number for the cluster nor the nodes.

The attribute "Parent Serial Number" on the storage node object is populated appropriately for IBM SVC arrays when the individual nodes sit inside an intermediate appliance/enclosure that is just part of a larger cluster.

Configuration

Field

Description

Cluster/s IP

IP address of fully-qualified domain name for the SVC storage

Choose 'Password' or 'OpenSSH Key File' to specify credential type

The credential type used to connect to the device via SSH

Inventory User Name

User name for the SVC CLI

Inventory Password

Password for the SVC CLI

Full Path to Inventory Private Key

Full path to the Inventory private key file

Performance User Name

User name for the SVC CLI for performance collection

Performance Password

Password for the SVC CLI for performance collection

Full Path to Performance Private Key

Full path to the Performance private key file

Advanced configuration

Field

Description

Inventory Poll Interval (min)

Interval between inventory polls (default 40 minutes)

Exclude Devices

Comma-separated list of device IDs to exclude from inventory collection

SSH Process Wait Timeout (sec)

SSH process timeout (default 200 seconds)

Performance Poll Interval (sec)

Interval between performance polls (default 300 seconds)

Performance Exclude Devices

Comma-separated list of device IDs to exclude from performance collection

Performance SSH Process Wait Timeout (sec)