Specifications

www.ibm.com/support/techdocs 42

Summary of Best Practices for Storage Area Networks

9.2 Tools

Management is one of the key issues behind the concept of infrastructure

simplification. The ability to manage heterogeneous systems at different levels as

though they were a fully-integrated infrastructure offering the system administrator a

unified view of the entire SAN environment is a goal that many vendors and

developers have been striving to achieve. SAN management tools can range from

huge packages capable of monitoring and managing one or more fabrics to a

collection of vendor-supplied management applications for specific products.

Regardless of which approach is deployed within a SAN environment, the tool(s)

should also have the functionality which aids the administrator with diagnosis and

troubleshooting. This paper does not attempt to advocate one approach or

management package over another. However, certain key points of consideration

will be discussed so the administrator has a better understanding when evaluating

various tools.

As stated, some products will have management tools which are supplied by the

product vendor. Many of these product-specific tools are free, while some are not.

Using vendor-supplied tools may be cost effective, but the administrator should

remember that a dedicated management tool for a limited product set is just that …

limited. The management tool is very unlikely to be integrated with other

management tools as well as being able to monitor or manage other SAN

components from other vendors.

Another decision point is how the management tool(s) interfaces with SAN devices.

Interface mechanisms include:

• Command line interface (CLI) via a Telnet or secure TCP/IP connection

• Web-based graphical user interface (GUI)

• Simple network management protocol (SNMP)

• Dedicated management server

• SNIA’s SMI open standard

Finally, the increasingly frequent adaptation of virtualization at various points within

the SAN environment is only increasing the number of pain points for administrators

as well as requiring broader range of functionality and features for the management

applications. Being able to virtualize servers, storage (disk or tape) and fabrics plus

much more will be a pain point for years to come.