SAN Storage Performance Management Using Tivoli Storage Productivity Center

SAN Storage Performance Management Using Tivoli Storage Productivity Center

Released September 2011
Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
ISBN: 9780738435978

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Book description

IBM Tivoli® Storage Productivity Center is an ideal tool for performing storage management reporting, because it uses industry standards for cross vendor compliance, and it can provide reports based on views from all application servers, all Fibre Channel fabric devices, and storage subsystems from different vendors, both physical and virtual.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication is intended for experienced storage managers who want to provide detailed performance reports to satisfy their business requirements. The focus of this book is to use the reports provided by Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for performance management.

We do address basic storage architecture in order to set a level playing field for understanding of the terminology that we are using throughout this book.

Although this book has been created to cover storage performance management, just as important in the larger picture of Enterprise-wide management are both Asset Management and Capacity Management. Tivoli Storage Productivity Center is an excellent tool to provide all of these reporting and management requirements.

Table of contents

  1. Front cover
  2. Notices
    1. Trademarks
  3. Preface
    1. The team who wrote this book
    2. Now you can become a published author, too!
    3. Comments welcome
    4. Stay connected to IBM Redbooks
  4. Summary of changes
    1. September 2011, Third Edition
  5. Part 1 Storage performance management concepts
  6. Chapter 1. Performance management concepts
    1. 1.1 Performance management fundamentals
    2. 1.2 Environmental norms
    3. 1.3 Storage subsystem architecture
      1. 1.3.1 High-level component diagram of storage devices
      2. 1.3.2 Disk storage subsystem
      3. 1.3.3 Storage virtualization device
      4. 1.3.4 Comparison of a disk storage device and a virtualization device
      5. 1.3.5 Data path from your application to the storage
    4. 1.4 Native Storage System Interface (Native API)
    5. 1.5 Standards
      1. 1.5.1 SNIA
      2. 1.5.2 CIMOM and CIM agent
      3. 1.5.3 SMI-S standards
    6. 1.6 Performance issue factors
      1. 1.6.1 Types of problems
      2. 1.6.2 Workloads
      3. 1.6.3 Server types
      4. 1.6.4 Running servers in a virtualized environment
      5. 1.6.5 Understanding basic performance configuration
  7. Part 2 Sizing and scoping your Tivoli Storage Productivity Center environment for performance management
  8. Chapter 2. Tivoli Storage Productivity Center requirements for performance management
    1. 2.1 Determining what Tivoli Storage Productivity Center needs
      1. 2.1.1 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center licensing options
      2. 2.1.2 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center Components
      3. 2.1.3 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center server recommendations
      4. 2.1.4 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center database considerations
      5. 2.1.5 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center database repository sizing formulas
      6. 2.1.6 Database placement
      7. 2.1.7 Selecting an SMS or DMS table space
      8. 2.1.8 Best practice recommendations for the TPCDB design
      9. 2.1.9 GUI versus CLI
      10. 2.1.10 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center instance guidelines
    2. 2.2 SSPC considerations
    3. 2.3 Configuration data collection methods
      1. 2.3.1 Storage Resource Agents
      2. 2.3.2 Storage Server Native API
      3. 2.3.3 CIMOMs
      4. 2.3.4 Version control for fabric, agents, subsystems, and CIMOMs
    4. 2.4 Performance data collection
      1. 2.4.1 Performance Data collection tasks: Overview
      2. 2.4.2 Performance Data collection tasks: Considerations
    5. 2.5 Case Study: Defining the environment
      1. 2.5.1 CASE STUDY 1: Basics
      2. 2.5.2 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center basics
  9. Part 3 Performance management with Tivoli Storage Productivity Center
  10. Chapter 3. General performance management methodology
    1. 3.1 Overview and summary of performance evaluation
      1. 3.1.1 Main objectives of performance management
      2. 3.1.2 Metrics
    2. 3.2 Performance management approach
      1. 3.2.1 Performance data classification
      2. 3.2.2 Rules of Thumb
      3. 3.2.3 Quickstart performance metrics
      4. 3.2.4 Performance metric guidelines
    3. 3.3 Creating a baseline with Tivoli Storage Productivity Center
    4. 3.4 Performance data collection
      1. 3.4.1 Planning
      2. 3.4.2 Prerequisite tasks
      3. 3.4.3 Defining the performance data collection jobs
      4. 3.4.4 Defining the alerts
      5. 3.4.5 Defining the data retention
      6. 3.4.6 Running performance data collection
    5. 3.5 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center performance reporting capabilities
      1. 3.5.1 Reporting compared to monitoring
      2. 3.5.2 Predefined performance reports
      3. 3.5.3 Customized reports
      4. 3.5.4 Batch reports
      5. 3.5.5 Constraint Violations reports
    6. 3.6 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center configuration history
      1. 3.6.1 Viewing configuration changes in the graphical view
      2. 3.6.2 Viewing configuration changes in the table view
    7. 3.7 Tivoli Storage Productivity Center administrator tasks
      1. 3.7.1 Using Configuration Utility to verify everything is running as expected
      2. 3.7.2 Verifying that Discovery, probes, and performance monitors are running
      3. 3.7.3 Setting system-wide thresholds
      4. 3.7.4 Defining additional reports and thresholds
      5. 3.7.5 Regularly reviewing the incoming alerts
      6. 3.7.6 Using constraint violation reports
      7. 3.7.7 Using the Topology Viewer
      8. 3.7.8 Using the Data Path Explorer
      9. 3.7.9 Configuring automatic snapshots, then exploring Change History
  11. Chapter 4. Using Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for problem determination
    1. 4.1 Problem determination lifecycle
    2. 4.2 Problem determination steps
      1. 4.2.1 Identifying acceptable base performance levels
      2. 4.2.2 Understanding your configuration
    3. 4.3 Volume information
      1. 4.3.1 Determining the subsystem configuration
      2. 4.3.2 DS8000 information
      3. 4.3.3 IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC) or Storwize V7000
      4. 4.3.4 DS5000 information
      5. 4.3.5 XIV information
      6. 4.3.6 Determining what your baselines are
      7. 4.3.7 Determining what your SLAs are
      8. 4.3.8 General considerations about the environment
      9. 4.3.9 Problem perception considerations
      10. 4.3.10 Keeping track of the changes
    4. 4.4 Common performance problems
    5. 4.5 Deciding what can be done to prevent or solve issues
      1. 4.5.1 Dedicating plenty of resources, with storage isolation
      2. 4.5.2 Spreading work across many resources
      3. 4.5.3 Choosing the proper disk type and sizing
      4. 4.5.4 Monitoring performance
    6. 4.6 SVC considerations
      1. 4.6.1 SVC traffic
      2. 4.6.2 SVC best practice recommendations for performance
    7. 4.7 Storwize V7000 considerations
      1. 4.7.1 Storwize V7000 traffic
      2. 4.7.2 Storwize V7000 best practice recommendations for performance
  12. Chapter 5. Using Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for performance management reports
    1. 5.1 Data analysis: Top 10 reports
    2. 5.2 Top 10 reports for disk subsystems
      1. 5.2.1 Top 10 for Disk #1: Subsystem Performance report
      2. 5.2.2 Top 10 for Disk #2: Controller Performance reports
      3. 5.2.3 Top 10 for Disk #3: Controller Cache Performance reports
      4. 5.2.4 Top 10 for Disk #4: Array Performance reports
      5. 5.2.5 Top 10 for Disk #5-9: Top Volume Performance reports
      6. 5.2.6 Top 10 for Disk #10: Port Performance reports
      7. 5.2.7 IBM XIV Module Cache Performance Report
    3. 5.3 Top 10 reports for SVC and Storwize V7000
      1. 5.3.1 Top 10 for SVC and Storwize V7000#1: I/O Group Performance reports
      2. 5.3.2 Top 10 for SVC and Storwize V7000#2: Node Cache Performance reports
      3. 5.3.3 Top 10 for SVC #3: Managed Disk Group performance reports
      4. 5.3.4 Top 10 for SVC and Storwize V7000 #5-9: Top Volume Performance reports
      5. 5.3.5 Top 10 for SVC and Storwize V7000 #10: Port Performance reports
    4. 5.4 Reports for Fabric and Switches
      1. 5.4.1 Switches reports: Overview
      2. 5.4.2 Top Switch Port Data Rate performance
    5. 5.5 Case study: Server - performance problem with one server
    6. 5.6 Case study: Storwize V7000- disk performance problem
    7. 5.7 Case study: Top volumes response time and I/O rate performance report
    8. 5.8 Case study: SVC and Storwize V7000 performance constraint alerts
    9. 5.9 Case study: IBM XIV Storage System workload analysis
    10. 5.10 Case study: Fabric - monitor and diagnose performance
    11. 5.11 Case study: Using Topology Viewer to verify SVC and Fabric configuration
      1. 5.11.1 Ensuring that all SVC ports are online
      2. 5.11.2 Verifying SVC port zones
      3. 5.11.3 Verifying paths to storage
      4. 5.11.4 Verifying host paths to the Storwize V7000
  13. Chapter 6. Using Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for capacity planning  management
    1. 6.1 Capacity Planning and Performance Management
      1. 6.1.1 Capacity Planning overview
      2. 6.1.2 Performance Management overview
      3. 6.1.3 Capacity Planning reporting
    2. 6.2 Performance of a storage subsystem
      1. 6.2.1 SVC and Storwize V7000
      2. 6.2.2 Storage subsystems
      3. 6.2.3 Fabric
  14. Appendix A. Rules of Thumb and suggested thresholds
    1. Rules of Thumb summary
    2. Response time Threshold
    3. CPU Utilization Percentage Threshold
    4. Disk Utilization Threshold
    5. FC: Total Port Data Rate Threshold
    6. Overall Port response Time Threshold
    7. Cache Holding Time Threshold
    8. Write-Cache Delay Percentage Threshold
    9. Back-End Read and Write Queue Time Threshold
    10. Port to Local Node Send/Receive Response Time Thresholds
    11. Port to local node Send/receive Queue Time Threshold
    12. Non-Preferred Node Usage
    13. CRC Error rate Threshold
    14. Zero Buffer Credit Threshold
    15. Link Failure Rate and Error Frame Rate Threshold
  15. Appendix B. Performance metrics and thresholds in Tivoli Storage Productivity Center performance reports
    1. Performance metric collection
    2. New FC port performance metrics and thresholds in Tivoli Storage Productivity Center 4.2.1 release
    3. Metrics
    4. Thresholds
    5. Tivoli Storage Productivity Center Performance Metrics
    6. Common columns
    7. XIV system metrics
    8. Volume-based metrics
    9. Back-end-based metrics
    10. Front-end and fabric based metrics
    11. Tivoli Storage Productivity Center performance thresholds
    12. Threshold boundaries
    13. Setting the thresholds
    14. Array thresholds
    15. Controller thresholds
    16. Port thresholds
  16. Appendix C. Reporting with Tivoli Storage Productivity Center
    1. Using SQL
    2. SQL: Table views
    3. SQL: Example Query XIV Performance Table View
    4. CLI: TPCTOOL as a reporting tool
    5. Tivoli Storage Productivity Center: Batch Report
    6. Tivoli Storage Productivity Center: Batch Report Example
  17. Related publications
    1. IBM Redbooks publications
    2. Other publications
    3. Online resources
    4. How to get Redbooks publications
    5. Help from IBM
  18. Back cover

Product information

  • Title: SAN Storage Performance Management Using Tivoli Storage Productivity Center
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: September 2011
  • Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
  • ISBN: 9780738435978