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IBM Spectrum Control 5.2.13 Pearls in the documentation

By Chris King posted Thu March 23, 2017 02:12 AM

  
V5.2.13 of IBM Spectrum Control includes a number of exciting new features, including enhanced monitoring of EMC devices, the ability to measure whether a Spectrum Scale file system has enough room to recall data that was migrated to external storage, and detailed information about the hard disk drives, solid-state drives, and flash modules in IBM Cloud Object Storage Slicestor nodes. Speaking of IBM Cloud Object Storage, you're also now able to clearly identify the vaults that cannot be accessed and the vaults that are at risk of access failure.



In this continuing blog series, I'll delve into the IBM Knowledge Center to highlight some pearls of information that might help get the most out of these and other features in Spectrum Control:



What's new in 5.2.13?


The what's new topic provides a quick overview of all the new features that were added in 5.2.13. Screenshots are included to illustrate the features, and links to more detailed information are provided in case you want to learn more.


Pro tip: You can also learn about what's new directly in the product GUI by clicking the help icon in the upper right of the main window and selecting the "What's New" option:


what's new for IBM Spectrum Control


To view a list of the features that were added in previous release, check out Summary of changes for IBM Spectrum Control.



Setting up EMC devices for monitoring, in a picture


Spectrum Control and Storage Insights communicate with Solutions Enabler and SMI-S Provider to collect detailed information about the EMC VMAX, EMC VNX, and EMC VNXe devices that they manage. To get up and running quickly with monitoring those devices, a new visual walkthrough is available for quick reference:


configuring EMC in IBM Spectrum Control


For more information, check out the following IBM Knowledge Center topics:


Spectrum Control



Storage Insights




A social media directory for Spectrum Control


Social media is a great way to learn about the latest developments in Spectrum Control, directly from storage management and product experts. But sometimes it can be hard to keep track of all the channels and sites where those experts share info.


The Videos and blogs for Spectrum Control topic in the IBM knowledge Center now does that for you by summarizing and linking to the all latest videos and blogs -- product news, hints, and tips are just a click away!


social media for IBM Spectrum Control



IBM Cloud Object Storage: Identifying vaults that are inaccessible or at risk


IBM Cloud Object Storage is a critical player in helping customers adopt and manage hybrid cloud object storage in their organizations. Within IBM Cloud Object Storage, entities known as "vaults" represent a logical container of data, or virtual storage space. Vaults are where you can grant permissions and configure data storage options such as encryption, compression, and the IDA.


To applications that use IBM Cloud Object Storage, the ability to access these vaults is key to maintaining uptime. Access to vaults is determined by COS Accesser® nodes. In Spectrum Control, you can identify which vaults are inaccessible due to COS Accesser node failures, and you can also determine which vaults are at risk to become inaccessible in the future based on additional failures.


monitoring IBM Cloud Object Storage in IBM Spectrum Control


Learn how to identify vaults that can't be accessed at Investigating vaults that cannot be accessed.

Learn how to see which vaults might be at risk at Monitoring vaults that are at risk of access failure.



Choosing the right performance data when you want to balance pools or tier volumes


Whether you're optimizing tiering to manage storage resources efficiently (and reduce storage costs) or distributing the workload of volumes across pools on the same tier, knowing how to choose the best performance data for analysis is key.


For example, you created an application to monitor the performance and storage usage of a database that is used for retail transactions. The retail store is open from Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM. You don't want to use the performance data in the analysis that was collected when the volumes were idle, such as at the weekends or when the retail store is closed. So you decide to configure the selection of the performance data that is used in the analysis.


choosing performance data in IBM Spectrum Control


accessing help in IBM Spectrum Control For more information, in the Spectrum Control GUI, click the help icon in the upper right corner, click Help, and navigate to Provisioning, optimizing, and reclaiming storage > Optimizing storage tiering > Performance data selection for balancing pools and tiering volumes.



Inside Spectrum Control: Administering component servers


Under the covers, several component servers form the core infrastructure of Spectrum Control. Each of these servers is dedicated to ensuring a stable experience and managing the tasks that you perform while using the product.


You can view the status of these servers at any time by clicking Component Servers on the Home > System Management page. On this page, you cannot not only see each server's status, but also the following information:


  • The memory that is being consumed


  • The number of database connections


  • Trace level settings for problem determination



accessing the System Management page in IBM Spectrum Control


Additionally, you can use the System Management page to stop and start servers, when needed.


For example, if for some reason alerts are not being generated for conditions on resources, restarting the Alert server might help resolve the problem. Simply click the Stop Server button next to the Alert server and then click Start Server to restart it.


viewing the status of the Alert server in IBM Spectrum Control


To learn how to check on the status of Spectrum Control servers, see Checking IBM Spectrum Control status.

To learn how to start and stop servers, check out Starting and stopping the IBM Spectrum Control servers.



Previous blogs in the "pearls" series




Joining the conversation


joining the conversation about IBM Spectrum Control Be social! Join the conversation at #IBMStorage and #softwaredefinedstorage.


We are always striving to improve the information that we deliver, and how we deliver it. At the bottom of every page in IBM Knowledge Center is a "Feedback" link. Please use this link to reach out to us and help influence the information experience.


For continuing news about the documentation for IBM Spectrum Control and IBM Storage Insights, follow me on View Chris King's profile on LinkedIn or Twitter @chris_tking.




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#Object
#GPFS
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#monitoring
#Softwaredefinedstorage
#performanceoptimization
#Cloudstorage
#PrimaryStorage
#StorageManagementandReporting
#IBMSpectrumStorage
#IBMSpectrumScale
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