This article describes the feature highlights of the VMAX storage management console – Unisphere.

Unisphere for VMAX has been introduced for a while.  There are many useful features in it. Especially customer can perform the monitoring, configuration change, maintenance, management operations for VMAX system resource directly through Unisphere for VMAX. Beyond the normal functionalities, Unisphere also provides several of advanced features.

System monitoring and management:

• Viewing the Symmetrix system log: User can configure Unisphere for VMAX to monitor Symmetrix systems for specific events or error conditions. When an event/error of interest occurs, Unisphere for VMAX will display an alert and, if configured to do so, notify you of the alert by way of email, SNMP, or Syslog.
• System Runtime Check: Unisphere for VMAX performs the runtime checks. If a check returns a result outside the expected range, Unisphere for VMAX will raise the appropriate alert.
• System Alter thresholds: Certain alerts are associated with a numerical value. This value is compared with a set of threshold values, which determine wether the alert is delivered and, if so, with what severity.
• System Alert notification: The alert notification feature allows you to configure Unisphere for VMAX to deliver alert notifications.
• View Audit log: Symmetrix audit records come from the SYMAPI database and include all actions taken on that Symmetrix system. User can view , open pre-filtered audit log through console to display most recent 513 records.

System hardware management：

• Self-Health Check: User is able to perform the system level health check via Unisphere, it not only includes routine check of data volume, director, Enginuity version, but also have Vault State Test、Spare Drive Test、Memory Test、Locks Test、Emulations Test、RDF Test、Environmental Test、Battery Test etc.
• CRU Support: User can perform disk replacement through Unisphere.
• Enabling and disabling director ports: it’s very useful as user can control director port to enable or disable ports.
• Setting director port attributes: Set Port attributes was required BIN change, users can perform by themselves from Unisphere.
• Setting director port type: it supports changing RDF port to FE port, vice versa.
• Setting CPU I/O resource distribution: it’s the parameters to control mixed I/O workloads on an SRDF director.

System configuration management：

• Storage configuration: storage groups, FAST, Volume configuration, Reserving volumes, provisioning
• Assigning Symmetrix priority: user is able to setup Symmetrix priority to individual volumes or groups of volumes (DGs or SGs).
• Setting replication Qos: QoS (Quality of Service) feature, allows user to adjust the data transfer (copy) pace on individual volumes or groups of volumes (DGs or SGs) for certain operations. By increasing the response time for specific copy operations you can increase the overall performance of other Symmetrix volumes.
• Host Management: the host management category allow user to manage Initiator Groups, Port Groups, CU images etc

From customer perspective, Unisphere provides a common simple GUI user interface which enables customers to easily provision, manage, and monitor VMAX environments. Using Unisphere, the management of high end storage platform becomes easier than ever.

Author: Fenglin Li

iEMC APJ

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