How to Monitor Dell EMC SC Series/Compellent Storage Systems with Storage Analyzer KM

  • kb1313
  • Jun. 3, 2024
  • 2 min read

How to set up a policy in BMC TrueSight/Helix to monitor Dell SC-Series/Compellent storage systems via REST API.

Best Practice TSOM TrueSight Helix BHOM Storage Analyzer KM SKM SI Storage Intelligence Policy Dell EMC Unisphere SC Storage Center Compellent Data Collector

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Introduction

This article explains how to configure the Dell EMC SC Series (REST) adapter to monitor Dell EMC SC Series devices, also known as Compellent, via Unisphere Central for SC Series/Dell EMC Storage Manager using the REST API protocol. More specifically, the KM communicates with the Data Collector service, which listens on port 3033 by default and is accessible via https://<Unisphere_hostname>:3033

Although the KM can also collect data against the Storage Centers directly, this method is NOT recommended as some statistical data may be missing.

Prerequisites

Before configuring the policy:

For optimal performance, we recommend reserving 2 CPU cores and at least 4 GB of RAM for operating the Storage Analyzer KM. The amount of memory allocated to the Java engine of the KM may be adjusted via the /SENTRY/STORAGE/collectionHubHeapSizeMax configuration variable. For more details, refer to:

Procedure

  1. Log in to TrueSight/Helix Operations Management

  2. Create a new monitoring policy:

    • Specify the general properties and agent selection criteria
    • Add a monitoring configuration
    • Select the Storage Analyzer solution
    • In the Storage Configuration section, click Add to create a new Endpoint

    Dell EMC SC Series/Compellent - Creating the TrueSight/Helix Monitoring Policy

  3. Configure the Endpoint Settings:

    Dell EMC SC Series/Compellent - Configuring the Endpoint Global Settings

  4. Configure the Endpoint Connection Settings:

    • Provide the Username and Password
    • Specify the port (3033 by default)
    • Check Encryption if using the HTTPS protocol.

    Dell EMC SC Series/Compellent - Configuring the Endpoint Connection Settings

  5. Configure the Advanced Settings:

    • In large environments, we recommend increasing the values of the Discovery and Polling Intervals to maintain the workload of the PATROL Agent and monitored systems at a reasonable level.
    • Since volume monitoring is highly resource-intensive, we recommend disabling it if not needed to reduce the workload on the KM and PATROL Agent.
    • Because displaying thousands of volumes will have a huge impact on the PATROL Agent and on BMC TrueSight/Helix, volumes are discovered but NOT displayed. Uncheck the Hide Volume Instances box if required.

    Dell EMC SC Series/Compellent - Configuring the Endpoint Advanced Settings

  6. Save the policy and verify that it applies to the right PATROL Agent.

  7. Allow the KM some time to discover your storage system(s). Access the Devices page and search for their hostname, IP address, FQDN, or custom MetaFQDN/Device Name. You can also refer to the article Identifying and Locating Devices in TrueSight to learn how to run the below PSL script in the Query PATROL Agent window:

        CLASS_NAME = "SKM_SYSTEM";
    nodes = get_vars("/".CLASS_NAME, "subnodes");
    foreach node (nodes)
    {
    objectPath = "/".CLASS_NAME."/".node;
    instanceName = get(objectPath."/MetaFQDN");
    output  = [output, "Device Name:  ".instanceName ];
    }
    print(output);
Best Practice TSOM TrueSight Helix BHOM Storage Analyzer KM SKM SI Storage Intelligence Policy Dell EMC Unisphere SC Storage Center Compellent Data Collector