Managing HP servers through firewalls with Insight Management 7.2

White paper| HP Insight Management 7.2
14 | March 2013
may be specified in a configuration file. The target system need not be actively listening to the
chosen port, but the firewall must be configured to allow these requests to pass.
Next, the CMS attempts to identify a number of management protocols such as SNMP, HTTP, and
WBEM. The protocols used for asset management depend on the types of systems being
managed (Table 1):
• ProLiant servers provide management data through SNMP, giving complete coverage of
the hardware instrumentation. Integrity servers running Windows also provide this
SNMP instrumentation.
• ProLiant and Integrity servers running Microsoft Windows 2003or 2008 also expose
much data through the Insight Providers and WMI. The HP Insight Providers include
server providers (information about processors, memory, peripheral devices, computer
system information, and sensor information); network providers (network controller
information and indications); and storage providers (storage controller information and
indications). WMI on Integrity currently does not cover detailed hardware information
such as controllers, DIMMs, and physical disks.
• ProLiant and Integrity servers running Linux can also provide management data through
WBEM. While that data is not currently as rich as the SNMP information, WBEM provides
basic hardware and operating system information.
• HP 9000 and Integrity servers running HP-UX provide management data with WBEM. HP
recommends WBEM for asset management and makes it available on 11.x versions of
HP-UX. (These systems also support SNMP, but SNMP is not required for asset
management.)
Table 1: Protocols used for asset management of industry-standard servers
Server
OS
SNMP
WBEM
WMI
SSH
WS-MAN
ProLiant Windows Y Y
1
Y
ProLiant Linux Y Y Y
HP 9000 HP-UX Y
2
Y (11.x)
HP Integrity HP-UX Y
2
Y
HP Integrity Linux Y Y Y
HP Integrity Windows Y Y
1
Y
Other devices Y Y
1
When WMI Mapper is installed
2
Not required for asset management
Selecting the protocols that must be enabled through the firewall depends on the types of
systems managed. Issues associated with each protocol are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Ideally, WBEM is used to manage servers located through a firewall.
SNMP
SNMP gives the best management coverage but at the highest risk. While no “set” operations are
necessary for asset management, SNMP is UDP-based; therefore, in many environments it is not
considered a suitable protocol to pass through the firewall. Because SNMPv1 has a simple, clear-
text ”community,” it provides a low level of security. However, SNMP may be suitable for some
environments in which the network containing the managed systems is relatively controlled. Do
not use the default, ”Public or Private,” for the community string. It should be customized
accordingly.