IBM Spectrum Control 5.4.1 continues to provide a global dashboard that enables you to monitor not only IBM DS8000 storage systems but others as well, with one-minute performance data collection, and customized alerting and reports. Let’s not forget about the simplified, proactive IBM Support experience with the IBM Cloud-based, IBM Storage Insights for IBM Spectrum Control, which is available at no additional cost if you have an active license with a current subscription and support agreement for IBM Virtual Storage Center, IBM Spectrum Storage Suite, or any edition of IBM Spectrum Control.
This new release of IBM Spectrum Control 5.4.1, provides the following additional monitoring enhancements for DS8000:
- Snapshot information for volumes that are protected by Safeguarded Copy
- Topology and location information for DS8000 Fibre Channel (FC) ports.
Valuable snapshot information protected by Safeguarded Copy
You can view the total pool and storage system capacity that is used to store volume backups that are created by Safeguarded Copy. You can also view the pools that backup copies are written to, and the capacity that is used to store the volume copies across all your DS8000 storage systems.
The summary information has been updated on the Copy Data page to include the value for the capacity that is protected locally, which includes the volume capacity that is protected by Safeguarded Copy, FlashCopy, and VDisk mirror. You can also view the capacity that is used to store volume backups for Safeguarded Copy.
Included with seeing more information about the protected volumes when you click Safeguarded Copy, you can define alerts to notify you when the capacity for storing volume backups exceeds a specified amount for a storage system, pool, or a specific volume.
Also, the IBM Spectrum Control reporting feature can be used to create chargeback and consumer reports in order to view the capacity of the volume backups for Safeguarded Copy.
Port Topology and location of FC Ports
You’re an IBM Spectrum Control user that monitors DS8000 storage systems, and you need to understand the port topology and the location of the ports in the hardware hierarchy? Well, you’re in luck! It’s as easy as going to the Block Storage Systems page, double-clicking a DS8000 system, and then selecting FC Ports. You can also validate if the port uses FICON or the SCSI FCP protocol and view the frame, I/O enclosure, and host adapter for that port.
The biggest value of this monitoring enhancement for owners of DS8000 storage systems, is that you can now see the association between ports and host adapters. It also enables you to investigate the performance of the host adapter. You can multi-select the ports that are associated with the adapter and click View Performance.
More information in the What’s New
For more information as well as new support platforms for IBM Spectrum Control 5.4.1, see what’s new .
Download the new version of IBM Spectrum Control
You can download this version of the product here. Review the Instillation instructions and Download package sections. You can then install the product by following the installation instructions in the IBM Knowledge Center.
Free 90-day trial of IBM Spectrum Control is now available!
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- Monitoring the health of your storage systems and devices
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- Alerting and alert policies
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IBM Spectrum Control Knowledge Center
IBM Spectrum Control centralizes, automates, and simplifies the management of complex and heterogeneous storage environments. Use the IBM Spectrum Control documentation to help you with your storage management tasks.
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