Chapter 2. Architecture 25
The integration layer connects to IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center (shown in
the middle of the graphic). The IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center uses Web
Services Description Language (WSDL) to communicate with subsequent
components.
In this initial version of this solution, IBM Tivoli Provisioning Manager interacts
with the volume management portion of IBM TotalStorage Multiple Device
Manager and the fabric management of IBM Tivoli SAN Manager. Future
releases will provide workflows for Performance Manager and Replication
Manager from IBM TotalStorage Multiple Device Manager and new workflows for
IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager.
For more details on WSDL, please refer to the following Web site:
http://www.w3.org/TR/wsdl
2.5 Communications with devices and agents
This section describes the interrelationships between the server components of
each product in the IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center and their agents or
devices, focusing on the high level architecture and communications between
these components.
2.5.1 IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager
IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager has four major components: the server,
scheduler, repository, and agent. There is also a Common Information
Model/Object Messaging (CIM/OM) component used for collecting data from
storage subsystems, such as the IBM Enterprise Storage Server and FAStT.
The high-level architecture and agent interaction is shown in Figure 2-5 and is
described in the proceeding sub-sections. The three layers in the graphic
represent the various component areas, such as the server, the agent, and the
proxy agents.
26 Exploring Storage Management Efficiencies and Provisioning
Figure 2-5 IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager high-level architecture
Server
The Server component is the center of IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager’s
architecture and directs all of the activities related to:
򐂰 The monitoring performed on the Monitored Agent computers
򐂰 The reporting performed on the Client GUI computers
The Server interacts with the components described in the following sections.
Enterprise Repository
IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager monitors your environment to accumulate
information about its storage assets and their usage over time. It records this
information in the centralized Enterprise Repository. The repository is organized
into a series of relational database tables and is accessed by IBM Tivoli Storage
Resource Manager using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC).
Storage
Host
Disk
Server
_______________
Scheduler
Data
Repository
CIM/OM
TCP/IP
SNMP, NFS, CIFS, NCP
SLP
TCP/IP
LUN
Enterprise
Storage Server
JDBC
Agents
Proxy Agents
File and
Print
Server
Application
Server
IBM Storage Resource Manager Server
CIM Agent
Chapter 2. Architecture 27
Job Scheduler
IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager deploys monitoring activities via an
embedded Job Scheduler. This Job Scheduler controls when to run Discovery,
Ping, Probe, Scan, and Quota checking jobs. It provides robust scheduling
functionality and the flexibility to specify exactly when to run monitoring jobs, as
well as other functions such as running scripts and creating reports.
Agents
The Agent component is installed on each machine containing storage that you
want to monitor. The Agent component runs in the background and deploys
monitoring jobs such as Pings, Probes, and Scans. It interacts with the Job
Scheduler and deploys monitoring jobs according to the schedules that you have
defined.
This allows an Agent to:
򐂰 Detect low-level problems, such as grown defects in the hardware containing
the storage information.
򐂰 Keep track of information such as the uptime/downtime of the machine on
which it is running.
򐂰 Return information to the server from the scans and probes.
Agents receive jobs to be run from a server’s scheduling service and then
contact the server for the job definition. Once this has been successfully
completed, no further communication to the server is required until the job is
completed.
Probes
A probe gathers local hardware and general filesystem information on a machine
where an Agent is installed. Use probes to discover information about new or
removed disks and filesystems and gather CPU, memory, and operating system
level information. The probe relies on local system calls and APIs.
A proxy probe is required for systems on which IBM Tivoli Storage Resource
Manager does not support an Agent (for example, on most NAS devices and
Netware servers). A proxy probe on these devices will use SNMP queries to
gather hardware information and CIFS, NFS, NCP commands to gather volume
and file system information. Again, see Figure 2-5 on page 26 for a depiction of
this.

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