Welcome to VMAX Unisphere for VMAX Implementation and

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Welcome to VMAX3TM – Unisphere for VMAX Implementation and Management.

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Revision Date: 10/31/2014

Revision Number: MR-1WP-VMAXUIIM.8.0.0

VMAX3 - Unisphere for VMAX Implementation and Management


This course covers Unisphere for VMAX functionality, architecture and installation. It also covers how to use the various views and perform administration tasks. Service level based provisioning with VMAX3 arrays is also covered.

A key part of the course includes recorded examples demonstrating how to configure, administer and use Unisphere for VMAX.



This module focuses on Unisphere for VMAX functionality and architecture. Environment and the system requirements for Unisphere for VMAX are also covered.



EMC Unisphere for VMAX is the management console for the EMC VMAX family of arrays. Unisphere for VMAX 8.0 supports service level based management for the VMAX3 Family of arrays. Starting with Unisphere 8.0 the installation of performance analyzer is done by default during the installation of Unisphere. In previous versions of Unisphere, Performance Analyzer was an optional component. Starting with Unisphere 8.0, PostgreSQL replaces MySQL as the database for performance analyzer. Unisphere for VMAX also provides a comprehensive set of APIs which can be used by orchestration services like ViPR, Open Stack and VMware.

Unisphere for VMAX 8.0 only supports the VMAX3 arrays – VMAX 100K/200K/400K.



You can use Unisphere for VMAX for a variety of tasks, including, managing eLicenses, user accounts and roles, and for performing array configuration and volume management operations, such as SLO based provisioning on VMAX3 arrays and managing Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST).

With Unisphere for VMAX, you can also configure alerts and alert thresholds and monitor alerts.

In addition, Unisphere for VMAX provides tools for performing analysis and historical trending of VMAX performance data. With the performance option you can view high frequency metrics in real time, view Symmetrix system heat maps and view graphs detailing system performance. You can also drill-down through data to investigate issues, monitor performance over time, execute scheduled and ongoing reports (queries), and export that data to a file. Users can utilize a number of predefined dashboards for many of the system components, or customize their own dashboard view.



Unisphere for VMAX 8.0 is a 64 bit application and requires the 64 bit version of Solutions Enabler 8.0.

Unisphere for VMAX has a Client-Server Architecture. The Unisphere client supports Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome running on Windows platforms. Any Windows host that runs a supported browser with network connectivity to the Unisphere server can be used. The client console requires 600 megabytes of memory and Adobe Flash Player 11.2 or higher. The Unisphere client uses static ports, and hence, functions with most VPN solutions. Please refer to the latest Installation Guide for the specific versions of the supported browsers.

The Unisphere for VMAX Server can be installed on 64-bit versions of Windows and Linux. The server requires a minimum of one dual-core processor or two CPUs. Please refer to the latest Installation Guide and release notes for the latest supported platforms and caveats. The Unisphere server is a SYMAPI application and can be deployed either in a Local or Remote configuration. We will discuss these options further, on the next slide. The Unisphere Server requires 12-16 GB of available memory and 120 GB of available disk space.

Unisphere for VMAX is also available as a Virtual Appliance for VMware environments. Note that this module does not cover the deployment of the Unisphere for VMAX Virtual Appliance. The detailed instructions on deploying the Unisphere for VMAX Virtual Appliance can be found in Chapter 4 of the Installation Guide, titled, “Installing the Unisphere for VMAX Virtual Appliance”.



As in previous versions Unisphere can be installed on Linux. As mentioned before PostgreSQL replaces MySQL as the repository for performance data. Please pay attention of the Linux specific requirements listed on the slide.



The Unisphere for VMAX Server can be deployed in a Local or Remote configuration. The Unisphere Server requires Solutions Enabler, the base Symmetrix management software. Unisphere for VMAX v8.0 requires Solutions Enabler v8.0.

In the local configuration, the Unisphere Server and Solutions Enabler are installed on the same host that has a direct connection to one or more Symmetrix VMAX arrays.

In the remote configuration, the Unisphere Server discovers the SYMAPI Server (storsrvd) over the network. The host on which Unisphere Server is installed does not need direct connectivity to a Symmetrix; instead, the Unisphere Server communicates over the IP Network with a host connected to a Symmetrix, and running the SYMAPI Server (storsrvd).

Unisphere for VMAX uses Symmetrix-based eLicensing. As a result, you can only manage a Symmetrix VMAX Family system from a Unisphere host if the Symmetrix system contains a Unisphere for VMAX (SMC) eLicense. However, you can use Unisphere for VMAX to obtain and install the proper eLicense on the Symmetrix system.

Solutions Enabler utilizes a wide variety of daemon processes to handle different client requests. Most of these daemons start only when needed. Unisphere leverages the various Solutions Enabler daemons. The Base API daemon (storapid) monitors Symmetrix gatekeeper access, helping to reduce contention between daemons and other client applications. The SYMAPI Server daemon (storsrvd) provides SYMAPI services to remote clients, like the Unisphere Server, in a remote configuration. The Event daemon (storevntd) monitors Symmetrix events and asynchronously sends alerts to registered clients, like the Unisphere Server. This eliminates the need for the Unisphere Server to poll for updates, while ensuring that notifications are made in near-real time.



Unisphere for VMAX 8.0 provides a comprehensive set of APIs for provisioning (Legacy and SLO based – VMAX3 only), replication, planning and performance health monitoring which can be used by orchestration services like ViPR, Open Stack and VMware. The idea is to provide simple to use APIs that provide higher level of abstraction for a simpler operational model.

Please refer to the EMC Unisphere for VMAX REST API Concepts and Programmer’s Guide for more information.



This module covered Unisphere for VMAX functionality and architecture. Environment and the system requirements for Unisphere for VMAX were also covered.



This module covers the available Unisphere for VMAX documentation, and the installing Unisphere for VMAX.



Unisphere for VMAX 8.0 and Solutions Enabler 8.0 documentation will be available at GA and can be downloaded from the EMC Online Support Website (https://support.EMC.com).

Chapter 1 of the Unisphere for VMAX Installation Guide gives detailed information on pre-installation considerations, including environment and system requirements. Chapter 2 gives step by step instructions to install the product.

The Release Notes distributed along with the software include information about new and changed features, environment and system requirements, known problems and limitations, installation, troubleshooting, and non-EMC software attribution. You can view the Online Help by opening the Help window, where you can browse content or search for information. Solutions Enabler Functionality is covered in various EMC Solutions Enabler Product Guides.



Unisphere for VMAX v8.0 installs with Performance Analyzer. This is a change from older versions where one had the choice of installing Unisphere with or without the Performance Analyzer option. Unisphere for VMAX v8.0 requires 64-bit Solutions Enabler v8.0, the installation process with check if SE 8.0 is installed on the server host, and if the server meets the memory and disk space requirements. The Unisphere Server requires 12-16 GB of available memory 120 GB of available disk space.

The installation process will also allow you to overwrite the default Unisphere Lockbox Password. The Unisphere Lockbox Password is required when performing upgrades. Keep a record of the custom Lockbox Password.

The Linux specific requirements listed in the previous module should be addressed before installation.



While installing Unisphere for VMAX, you will be prompted to specify an Unisphere Initial Setup User. The Unisphere Initial Setup User in v8.0 is the same as the Initial Setup User in older versions of Unisphere for VMAX. You can either specify the user ID you currently use to access the Symmetrix system (if User Authorization is enabled), or you can use the default user ID smc. If you plan on using the default ID, there must be no user IDs listed in the User Authorization database. If there are user IDs in the database (regardless of whether user authorization is enabled), then you must use SYMCLI to add the default user ID (smc) to the database.

The Unisphere Initial Setup user's role is to install and set up the Unisphere environment (create users and add roles). It is intended to be a temporary role, as it will only allow you to access and perform administrative tasks on Symmetrix systems that do not have defined user roles (authorization rules). Once an Administrator or SecurityAdmin is assigned to a Symmetrix system, the Unisphere Initial Setup user will no longer be able to access, or even see the system from the Unisphere console. Therefore, it is recommended that users not operate in this role for too long.

If you want to create a username for the Unisphere Initial Setup User that is different from the default of “smc,” then the only restriction is that the chosen name must be a valid login to the Unisphere Server host. This is for the purpose of authentication from the Unisphere Server host OS. If you simply accept the default name of “smc,” you should remember that the EMC best practice is to change the default password of “smc” to prevent unauthorized access.



This is a brief summary of the Unisphere for VMAX installation process. More details are available in Chapter 2 of the Installation Guide. The installation can be done with the Installation Wizard or with the Command line. The Installation Guide provides detailed steps for Windows and Linux.

There are a number of user selectable values during installation. It should be noted that all pathnames used in this training assume that the default directory paths were chosen at installation. However, there are options to specify non-default paths. The Unisphere Initial Setup User identifies the initial user with the privileges for creating additional user accounts and setting permissions. The default Unisphere Initial Setup User name is lowercase “smc” with password lowercase “smc”. To ensure security, this default password should always be changed after the installation. To specify any other Unisphere Initial Setup User name, the name must be an authorized user of the Unisphere server host, as there is no mechanism to specify the password. Connection type is another value which defaults to local, but can be set as remote if the Unisphere Server is communicating with a remote SYMAPI server running on a different host. You can also modify the values of the port assignments for the Unisphere server and the Performance database. The default HTTPS port for Unisphere is 8443, and the default port of the Performance database is 3324. To change these values after the product has been installed, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the application. Finally you can choose to overwrite the default Unisphere Lockbox Password.

Note that this module does not cover the deployment of the Unisphere for VMAX Virtual Appliance. The detailed instructions on deploying the Unisphere for VMAX Virtual Appliance can be found in Chapter 4 of the Installation Guide, titled, “Installing the Unisphere for VMAX Virtual Appliance”.



This slide displays steps that require user input while installing Unisphere for VMAX on a Windows host.

Choose Install Folder is the default install location that has been chosen in this case. The default folder can be changed if desired.

For Symapi Connection Type the default Unisphere Initial Setup User name of “smc” has been used. A different User name could be specified. This user should have a valid login to the Unisphere Server host. The default connection type for Unisphere is local. In this case, we have chosen the local option. If the remote option were to be used, the Node name and Net port of the remote SYMAPI server have to be specified. This would be the host that is attached to the Symmetrix Arrays, and should be running SYMAPI server.

Ports Configuration – the default HTTPS port is 8443 and the Performance DB port defaults to 3324. In this example they have not been changed.



The default Unisphere Lockbox Password can be changed by the user. The Unisphere Lockbox Password will be required when performing upgrades. Please keep a record of the Custom Lockbox Password if the default is overwritten.



The installer will check for adequate disk space and available memory. This slide shows examples of Disk Space and Memory warnings.

Note that the installation may succeed, but the application may not function properly if one chooses to ignore these warnings.



Here is an example of a successful installation.



The installation process automatically starts the EMC Symmetrix Management Application Server (SMAS) Service and the EMC_smasdb service. Note that the EMC_smasdb service is only implemented when Unisphere is installed with the Performance option.

These services can be started or stopped like any other Windows Service. Please note that the order in which the services are started and stopped is important.

• If stopping manually, always stop the SMAS service before stopping the Performance DB.

• If starting manually, always start the Performance DB before starting the SMAS service.



This slide shows the steps required to start and stop the Performance database and the SMAS daemon in Linux hosts. The order in which these are started and stopped is important. Always start the Performance DB before starting the SMAS daemon. Always stop the SMAS daemon before stopping the Performance DB.

To start or stop these processes, change the directory to the location shown on the slide and then execute the commands shown on the slide.



To ensure that virus-scanning software does not affect the operation of Unisphere for VMAX, exclude the directories and all subdirectories listed on the slide from any virus scan.

Not following this advice may lead to data corruption in the Performance database or problems with data collection.



Unisphere for VMAX is a very simple product to install and operate. However, there are a few potential problems. Installation verifies key information, such as the presence of prerequisite software, minimal memory and disk space requirement. The installation depends on the correct remote SYMAPI server port assignments and Initial Setup User Name. The User verification screen on install is the place to catch this error. When the Unisphere for VMAX Client is invoked, the error message clearly points out the problems. For example, the message for the SYMAPI server not detected, cannot tell if the host or port assignment is wrong, or if SYMAPI server has simply not been started. The message should be sufficient to lead the user to make the appropriate checks to ensure that it is up and running on the correct host and port. Using Unisphere for VMAX with firewalls requires correct port settings. eLicense entitlements should be verified if problems are encountered on installation, or in trying to run licensed features.

SMAS log files and the SYMAPI log files are required for troubleshooting. EMC Customer Service personnel will instruct one to gather the required files to send to EMC for analysis.

The Release Notes have a section titled “Known Problems and Limitations” and a section titled “Technical Notes”. Please refer to these sections for known issues.



This module covered the available Unisphere for VMAX documentation, and installing Unisphere for VMAX.



This module focuses on launching and navigating the Unisphere for VMAX graphical user interface. The use of online help is also covered.



You can launch the Unisphere GUI by opening a supported Web browser and using the URL shown on the slide (https://<Unisphere Server>:8443). If a non default port was specified during installation, the port specified during the installation should be used in the URL. Once the login screen is displayed and a valid User name and Password are entered, the Unisphere console is displayed, as shown on the right of the slide.

The first screen after the login is the Home section for all the VMAX family arrays that the Unisphere server manages.

The Home section shows some high level properties of the arrays being managed by the Unisphere Server.



The main components of the Unisphere interface are highlighted on the screen.

The title bar buttons are used to refresh the information, set preferences, export data, logout and to invoke the online help.

The System Selector is used to toggle the interface between two modes, All Symmetrix and individual Symmetrix systems. We will discuss this further in the next slide.

The Unisphere interface has seven major areas. Hovering over the Menu bar button will show the choices for that menu. We will explore each menu option later in this module. The status bar shows the total number of alerts, the name of the Unisphere user and role, and when the information was last updated.



The System selector, located at the far left of the Menu bar, displays a list of all managed Symmetrix systems. It allows you to toggle the interface between two modes; All Symmetrix and individual Symmetrix systems. Selections you make in the list provide the context for subsequent operations.

To pick an individual Symmetrix, click on the System selector button and then click on the desired Symmetrix. The System Selector can also be used to Discover Symmetrix Arrays.

If All Symmetrix is selected, then only the Home, Performance and Support sections are shown. If an individual Symmetrix is chosen then all the available sections are shown (Storage, Hosts, Data Protection, Performance, Databases, System, and Support).

The current location is shown as hyperlinks, just below the System selector and section buttons. You can use the hyperlinks to navigate back to a previous screen.



To open the help page start by clicking help in the title bar which opens the entire help system.

Clicking help in a dialog box, wizard page, or view opens a help topic specifically for that dialog, page or view.

The online help can also be opened by clicking on the Support section button, and then clicking on the Help big button on the Support page.

Clicking help in a dialog box, wizard page, or view opens a help topic specifically for that dialog, page or view.



To perform administrative tasks start by clicking on Administration in the Home menu, this will give a list of all the avaliable tasks. One can setup Alert Settings, Security, Preferences and Link and Launch client registrations.



The system dashboard can be accessed by clicking on the system menu button of a specific Symmetrix and will bring up the system dashboard for the specific array.

The system dashboard provides a place from which to monitor a Symmetrix system, including hardware, capacity, and performing a health check.

You can click on the Front End, Back End and Available Ports links to list the configured Front End, Back End and Available Ports respectively. The Symmetrix Hardware link will show the status of the individual hardware components of the array.



In addition to the Dashboard link, the System menu has links which allow you to: View and manage the Audit logs (Audit Log link), alerts (Alerts link), jobs (Job List link) and Manage system settings (Settings link).

Click on the Settings link in the System menu to show the available System Settings.

The System Settings tasks can be used to view and manage: Symmetrix Attributes, Electronic Licenses and Symmetrix Access Controls.



The Storage Menu has links to the Storage Group Dashboard, Service Level, SRPs, Volumes and to tasks to help Provision Storage to Host and Create Volumes.

Click on the Storage menu button to show the Storage Group Dashboard as shown in the slide.



The Hosts menu can be used to view and manage: Hosts (Initiator Groups), Masking views, Initiators, Port groups, XtremSW Cache adapters and Virtual Servers.

The Hosts menu also has links to tasks that help Create Host (Initiator Group) and Host Group. Click on the Hosts menu button to show the listing of Hosts (Initiator Groups)



The Performance menu can be used to navigate to the Performance Dashboard to Monitor, Analyze or plot Charts of the Managed Arrays. In addition the Performance menu can also be used to manage Reports and to manage Settings. The Performance related Settings to be managed are, System Registrations, Real Time Traces, Performance Thresholds/Alerts and Databases.

Click on the Performance section button to show the Performance section big buttons.

The Performance section can be used to do a number of performance related tasks.



This demo covers the Unisphere for VMAX user interface.

Click the Launch button to view the video.



This module covered launching and navigating the Unisphere for VMAX graphical user interface. The use of online help was also covered.



This module focuses on some of the Administrative tasks that need to be performed with Unisphere for VMAX. We will cover security related tasks, configure alerts and thresholds, registering VMAX3 arrays for performance data collection and backing up the performance database.



Security management in Unisphere 8.0 is very similar to older versions. The Authorized Users & Groups task is the same as the older Authorization Roles task.

Unisphere 8.0 includes the Database Storage Analyzer Application (DSA). Two user roles related to the DSA application are available. They are DSA Admin and DSA Read Only users

Click on the Security button in the Administration page to see all the Security related tasks.



Unisphere for VMAX supports the following types of authentication:

1. Local Directory: Users login with their Unisphere username and password (if they have a local Unisphere user account).

2. Windows (local and domain based): Users login with Windows domain\username and password (if they have a Windows account on the Unisphere server).

3. LDAP: Users login with their LDAP-SSL username and password (if they have a user account stored on a LDAP-SSL server).

To configure/view authentication methods, click the Authentication big button from the Home > Administration >Security page. In order to configure this, the user must be the Initial Setup User, Admin, or SecurityAdmin. The Local Directory and Windows OS/AD authentication methods are enabled by default. To make changes to the Authentication method, click on the Edit button in the Security > Authentication page. To enable LDAP-SSL, check the LDAP-SSL box on Page 1 of the Configure Authentication Wizard, then Click Next. On Page 2, specify the LDAP-SSL server credentials. Please read the Online Help for additional information on configuring LDAP authentication.



Roles must be explicitly defined for all users or groups, as the default permission is set as “None”. These roles apply only to Unisphere for VMAX; limiting roles in Unisphere does not block a user from using the CLI commands for operations not permitted with Unisphere. There are six different levels of storage system roles, from “None” to “Admin,” with permission to do nearly all Unisphere actions. Note that multiple user roles can be assigned.

A Monitor has very limited privileges, and can only view all information about the Symmetrix, without making any configuration changes.

A PerfMonitor includes Monitor role permissions and grants additional privileges within the performance component of Unisphere for VMAX application to setup various alerts and update thresholds to monitor Symmetrix performance.

The StorageAdmin performs all management (active or control) operations on a Symmetrix system.

The SecurityAdmin performs security operations on a Symmetrix system, like creating user accounts and managing roles, in addition to all Monitor operations.

The Auditor has all the viewing abilities of a Monitor, and in addition, can also see the security settings.

The Admin user performs all operations on a Symmetrix system, including security operations, in addition to all StorageAdmin and Monitor operations.

The Initial Setup User (ISU) can perform administrative tasks only on Symmetrix systems that do not have defined roles (authorization rules). Once an Administrator or SecurityAdmin is assigned to a Symmetrix system, the ISU will no longer be able to access, or even see, the system from the Unisphere console. Note that once you log in as the ISU with default name and password “smc,” remember to change the default password to avoid a serious security breach.



The interface to create local users has changed slightly in Unisphere 8.0.

To create local users and assign roles, click the Create button in the Home > Administrators > Security > Local Users page to launch the dialog, shown on this slide. This dialog can be used to create Local Directory users managed by Unisphere and assign roles to these users.

On the slide, the creation of a Local Directory user is shown. In this example, we are creating a new user “JoeStorage”. In the General tab, type the name in the Name field, then choose a description and password. For Local Directory users, a password has to be specified.

To specify the role click on the Roles tab.



This is a continuation of the previous slide. To assign a role click on the Roles tab.

Click on a specific storage system to assign the storage system role. In this example we have chosen SID 570 and the StorageAdmin role. Note that multiple storage system roles can be assigned.

Click on Database Storage Analyzer Application (DSA) to assign the desired DSA role. In this example we have assigned the role of DSA Read only.

Click OK to complete the creation of the local user and assignment of roles. Roles can be modified subsequently if needed.



This demo covers management of Local Users and Roles in Unisphere for VMAX.




Click on the Alert Settings button in the Administration page to see all the Alert settings. Alert Settings management in Unisphere 8.0 is very similar to older versions.

On VMAX3 arrays alert thresholds can be set for SRPs. The Performance Thresholds and Alerts interface had been changed to improve ease of use.



To configure Alert Policies, click the Alert Policies big button from the Home > Administration > Alert Settings page.

The Alert Policies page allows you to configure Symmetrix alerts. Most of the alerts are disabled by default. All alerts need to be explicitly enabled through this dialog if they are to be used.

In the Alerts Policies page, highlight the alert categories that you wish to enable, then click on the Enable button. In the example shown, some of the alerts have been enabled for Symmetrix 570. Only enabled alerts can be displayed in the System Alerts view.

Optionally, you can configure Unisphere to send out notifications when an alert triggers. In order to do this, click the Notify button. Then, select one or more of the notification types (e-mail, SNMP or syslog).



To configure Pool Threshold Alerts, click the Symmetrix Pool Threshold Alerts button from the Home > Administration > Alert Settings page.

On older VMAX family arrays The Pool Threshold Alerts page can be used to enable monitoring and setting threshold limits on the percentage of utilization of TimeFinder/Snap, SRDF/A Delta Set Extension (DSE), Virtual Provisioning Thin Pools and FAST VP Policies. When enabling threshold alerts, you can specify a threshold value (percentage of utilization) for each of the severity levels; Warning, Critical, and Fatal. For example, if you set warning to 50 for a particular pool, Unisphere will issue a warning alert when that device pool is at 50% utilization.

The Pool Threshold Alerts page can also be used to configure Unisphere to alert you when an SRDF/A session has been off loading (spilling) cycle data to a DSE pool for a certain length of time. The settings are in minutes.

For VMAX3 Arrays Alert Thresholds can be set on the Storage Resource Pools (SRP).

Please note that the default threshold policies cannot be modified. To setup customized thresholds, click on the Create button. In the Create Thresholds Policies dialog, pick the Symmetrix system from the dropdown menu, then pick the category from the dropdown menu. Then, highlight the pools to which the policy should apply, and choose the threshold levels, then the OK button to create a customized threshold.



To configure Performance Thresholds and Alerts, click the Performance Thresholds and Alerts button from the Home > Administration > Alert Settings page. These settings can also be accessed via the Performance > Settings page.

The Performance Thresholds and Alerts page lists all the performance thresholds for all the performance metrics. Alerting is not enabled for any of the metrics by default. This page can be used to create new thresholds for various performance metrics, or to edit the default metrics and enable Alerting.

The metrics display is filtered by Array and Category. You can further filter a given category by metrics that are designated as KPI (Key Performance Indicators).

The next slide shows an example of the creation of a new custom performance threshold.



Click on the Create button in the Performance Thresholds and Alerts page to create a new Performance Threshold and Alert.

In the Create Performance Threshold and Alert dialog box, Select the Symmetrix ID, Category, Instance and Metric. If there is a default value for the Metric, it automatically displays in the Value fields for First Threshold and Second Threshold. Add or change the value for the First Threshold, Second Threshold, or both.

Enable the alert and then select the severity for the alert. Possible values are Information, Warning, Error, and Critical. Set the number of occurrences in the data samples that must happen before the alert is triggered. For example, if the threshold is breached 3 times out of 5 samples, initiate an alert. Click OK.

In this example, threshold and alerting has been enabled for the Array Host IOs/Sec metric for Symmetrix ID 570.



In order to collect performance data, a Symmetrix array has to be registered for data collection. On the Home screen, arrays which are not registered for performance data collection will have a link to Register this system to collect performance data. Click on this link to navigate to the System Registration page. Alternately one can also click on the System Registrations button in the Performance > Settings page to change the view to the System Registrations page. Highlight the array, then click on the Register button.

In the Register dialog, check the Real Time and Root Cause Analysis boxes to collect real time and root cause analysis data, then click OK.

The System Registrations view will show that the system is registered to collect data.

Note in Unisphere 8.0, diagnostic data is called root cause analysis data.



The Performance Database is managed by using the Databases button on the Performance > Settings page. Click on the Databases button to switch to the Databases view. The databases for all the arrays for which performance is being collected will be displayed.

Click on a specific array instance. You can backup or restore the database.

Click on the Backup button to backup the database. The backup can be run immediately, or it can be scheduled. A recurring schedule can be setup for the backup, as shown on the slide. The backup file is stored on the Unisphere server host (specifically, in the <install_location>\SMAS\backup\SPA folder).



This demo covers System Registration for Performance Data and Backup of the Performance Database.




This module covered some of the Administrative tasks that need to be performed with Unisphere for VMAX. We covered security related tasks, configuration of alerts and thresholds, registration of VMAX3 arrays for performance data collection and backup of the performance database.



This module focuses on Service Level Based Provisioning. We will view the available SRPs and SLOs on a VMAX3 array, perform SLO based provisioning and check SLO compliance.



To view the SRPs configured on a VMAX3 array – Choose Storage Resource Pool from the Storage menu.

In this example we see the details of SRP_1 on array 570. The properties section shows the Name, Emulation and Capacity information for this SRP. This array has two disk groups configured as seen in the Disk Groups Section.

The Service Level Link will show us the available SLOs for this SRP that can be associated with Storage Groups.



To view the SLOs associated with an SRP click on the Service Level link in the SRP details view.



In order to provision storage to a Host we first use the Create Host Wizard to create the initiator group for the Host. The Create Host wizard is available as a Common Task under the Hosts menu.

Click on the Create Host link to launch the Wizard. Then select the WWNs of the HBAs of your host and click on the Add button to add them to the list.

In this example our Host has already been zoned to the VMAX3 array and the WWNs of our host are listed and can be chosen. If a host is yet to be zoned you can type in the WWN into the Add Initiators field.

Optionally, you can click on the Set Host Flags button to override any port flag settings.



This is continuation of the Create Host Wizard. To set host flags click on the Set Host Flags button. In this example we want consistent LUNs so we have checked the Consistent LUNs box. Click on OK to close the Set Host Flags dialog.

To complete the Create Host process, add the task to a Job List or choose to Run Now.



To view a listing of all the Hosts (initiator groups) choose Hosts in the Hosts menu. This will show a listing of all the Hosts (initiator groups) configured in the array.

In this example we see that SID 571 has two hosts configured including the one we just created – pod1esxi.

To view the details of a Host select the host and click on View Details. The Host has two initiators and no Masking views. The Consistent LUNs option is enabled.

To launch the Storage Provisioning Wizard click on the Provision Storage to Host button.



In this example the Storage Provisioning Wizard has been launched from the context of a Host, thus you do not have to specify the host. The title of the dialog includes the host we are provisioning to – Provision Storage to pod1esxi.

Type in a name for the Storage Group to be created. Click on Add Service Level if this will be a Cascaded Storage Group with Child Storage Groups.

If you simply want to create a Storage Group with devices then all you need to do is specify the Service Level, Workload Type, Number of Volumes and Capacity.



In this example the Add Service Level button was clicked once. This created two request entries as shown.

Type in the desired name for each of the Child Storage Groups. In this example one is named pod1esxi_app1 and the other pod1esxi_app2.

Use the Service Level Pick list to choose the desired SLO. In this example we will choose the Platinum SLO for the app1 child SG.



Use the Workload Type pick list to choose the desired workload type. In this example we will choose the OLTP for the app1 child SG.



Finally enter the desired number of volumes and the volume capacity for each storage group and then click Next. We can see that we have created the request for two child storage groups. We have set the desired service level, workload type, number of volumes and volume capacity for each. The Avg. Response time column indicates the expected response time for the selected service level and workload type.



In the Select Port Group screen you can choose an existing Port Group or create a new one. In this example we are creating a new Port Group. Click Next.

Note that ports that an HBA are zoned to show up automatically. You can click on the “Include ports not visible to the host” to show all ports and choose them if necessary.



On the review page click on the Run Suitability Check button to see if the array can meet the Service Level Objectives for the provisioning request.



In this example the green check mark indicates that Service Level Objective for provisioning request will be met.

Click on the Add to Job List to add the Provisioning request to the Job List.



The Job has been successfully executed.



To see a listing of all masking views click on Masking Views in the Hosts menu.

The new masking view pod1esxi_mv is listed. Select the masking view and click on View Connections to see detailed information about the view.



The masking view connections page allows you to see all the components that make up the masking view. The connections page contains three tree lists for each of the component groups in the masking view - initiators, ports, and storage groups.

The parent group is the default top-level group in each expandable tree view and contains a list of all components in the masking group including child entries which are also expandable.

To filter the masking view, single or multi-select (hold shift key and select) the items in the list view. As each selection is made, the filtered results table is updated to reflect the current combination of filter criteria.

This view can be extremely useful for troubleshooting. As an example, you could filter the view by choosing only one of the initiators and one of the ports and see which of the initiators is logged in to the array.



Click on Storage Group Dashboard in the Storage menu to see the Storage Group Dashboard. The dashboard displays SLO Compliance, a listing of Storage Groups and the Demand Report for the various SLOs. In this example we can see that the SLO Compliance shows that 3 of the FAST managed storage groups are Stable.



Clicking on the Stable SG icon in the SLO Compliance report will show a listing of the storage groups which have Stable SLO Compliance. In this example we can see that three of the SGs are stable. To see the details of a specific SG, select the SG and then click on View Details.



In this example we are looking at the Workload of one of the Stable storage groups. To see the Workload on an SG click on the Workload tab in the detailed view of an SG.



This demo covers SLO Based Provisioning of VMAX3 storage to a new host.




This module covered Service Level Based Provisioning. We viewed the available SRPs and SLOs on a VMAX3 array, performed SLO based provisioning and checked SLO compliance.



This course covered Unisphere for VMAX functionality, architecture and installation. It also covered how to use the various views and perform administration tasks. Service level based provisioning with VMAX3 arrays was also covered.

A key part of the course included recorded examples demonstrating how to configure, administer and use Unisphere for VMAX.

This concludes the training.


Documents

Welcome to VMAX Unisphere for VMAX Implementation and