HP StorageWorks Fabric Manager 5.X Release Notes (AA-RUR2F-TE, September 2005)

5Fabric Manager 5.x release notes
Fabric Manager is tightly integrated with other HP SAN management products, such as Advanced
Web Tools and Fabric Watch. Organizations can also use Fabric Manager with such other leading
SAN and storage resource management applications as the drill-down element manager for single
or multiple HP fabrics.
Highlights
• Provision, monitor, and administer large numbers of switches and multiple HP SAN fabrics with
greater efficiency.
• Perform management tasks across multiple devices and fabrics as a single management
operation.
• Intelligently group multiple HP StorageWorks switches or ports to facilitate aggregated
management.
• Visualize and track changes to SAN configuration and state information through multiple views
at multiple levels of detail.
• Launch Fabric Manager from other enterprise management applications as the element
manager for the fabric or multiple fabrics.
• Track SAN assets by using detailed table views that can be exported to a spreadsheet.
• Discover details about devices logged in to the fabric, including HBA asset information.
• View the SAN layout through a topology map that specifies ISL, switch, and device details.
• Identify, isolate, and manage SAN events across large numbers of switches and fabrics.
Information about new features
Fabric Manager 5.x provides support for the following new platforms:
• HP StorageWorks 4/256 SAN Director
• HP StorageWorks 4/8 SAN Switch
• HP StorageWorks 4/16 SAN Switch
New features in this release
Fabric Manager 5.x provides the following set of feature enhancements:
• User interface improvements: Improved menu organization to follow the logical steps taken for
fabric management.
• FTP server integration: An embedded FTP server simplifies the process of updating firmware on
switches.
• Firmware repository: Added support for a firmware repository and profile-driven management.
With fabric profiles, the SAN administrator can define the standard firmware revisions, which
Fabric Manager will manage. The result is simplified firmware management in large fabrics.
• Improved integration with Advanced Web Tools and third-party management tools: Improved
integration with Advanced Web Tools provides more in-context launch features and
single-sign-on options. This streamlines the management process for the administrator accessing
Advanced Web Tools functions. Using flexible launch facilities, an administrator can integrate
Fabric Manager with internal or third-party tools.