110-6168-EN-R3 SANHQ Guide V3.0 Web PDF

Copyright 20092014 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Dell and EqualLogic are registered trademarks of Dell, Inc.

All trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell is strictly forbidden.
Published: January 2014
Part Number: 110-6168-EN-R3
Table of Contents
1 Overview of SAN Headquarters
SAN Headquarters Features
SAN Headquarters Environment
SAN Headquarters Operation
Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI
Start SAN Headquarters from Windows
Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI Using a Command Line
2 Installing SAN Headquarters

Prerequisites for Installing SAN Headquarters
PS Series Group Requirements
Requirements for Running the SAN Headquarters Server
Requirements for Running the SAN Headquarters Client
Log File Directory Requirements
Required Installation Information
Preinstallation Review
Installation Procedure
Full Installation Client and Server
Client-Only Installation
Post-Installation Tasks
Restart the SAN Headquarters Server
Uninstall the SAN Headquarters Software

Retaining Data and Log Files
Uninstallation Procedure
Upgrading SAN Headquarters

Considerations When Upgrading SAN Headquarters Software
Obtain SAN Headquarters Update Notifications
3 Getting Started with SAN Headquarters

Navigating the GUI
All Groups Summary Information
Group Information Categories
Network Information
Context Link Bar Options
Using 95th Percentile Reporting
Displaying Data from Different Times
Missing Data Points in Graphs
Identifying Volumes
Add a Group for Monitoring

SAN Headquarters Prerequisites for Adding a Group
Add a Group from the SAN Headquarters GUI
Adding a Group to the Monitoring List from the Command Line
Manage Server Monitoring

Add a Server
Changing the Default Server
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SAN HQ Installation and Users Guide
Remove a Server
Upgrading the Client Monitoring Multiple Servers
Verifying and Modifying Access to Log Files
4 Configuring and Managing the Group Monitoring Environment

SAN Headquarters Settings
Control GUI Appearance
Display Installation Settings
Change the Log File Directory
Control Client Startup Settings to Detect Firewall Rules
Control Tooltips
Control Chart Display
Control Temperature Display Settings
Hide Disabled Email Alerts
SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings

Degraded Connection Status
SupportAssist Configuration Settings

Managing Group Monitoring
Remove a Group from the Monitor List
Sort the List of Monitored Groups
Hide Groups in the GUI
Increase the Log File Size
Modify the SNMP Community Name for a Group
Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts
Stop Group Monitoring
Launch Group Manager with Single Sign-On

Single Sign-On Requirements
Enable Single Sign-On / Modify Login Credentials
Disable Single Sign-On for a Group
Delete Login Credentials for a Group
Adding and Managing Favorite Views

Add a View to the Favorites List
Set a View As the Home Page
Monitoring Synchronous Replication Volumes

Displaying Live Data
Prerequisites for Establishing a Live View Session
Run a Live View Session
RAID Policy Evaluation and Reliability

Use the RAID Evaluator
RAID Policy Reliability Reporting
Viewing Recoverable Volumes

About the PS Series Firmware Volume Undelete Feature
Display Recoverable Volumes in SAN Headquarters
Snapshot Space Borrowing

Syslog Event Logging
Configure Syslog Event Logging for a Group
Disable Syslog Event Logging for a Group
Change the Syslog Configuration to Use Specific Interfaces
Disable the SAN Headquarters Syslog Server
Handling Group Network Address Changes

Diagnosing and Solving Monitoring Problems
Additional Group Monitoring Concepts
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How Data Is Compressed in Log Files

How Group Performance Affects SNMP Polling
How Your Group Monitoring Environment Affects TCP Retransmission Reporting
Dependency on Software and Firmware Versions
5 Understanding SAN Headquarters GUI Data

Information Provided By the GUI
Performance and Capacity Terms
Capacity and Replication Terms
I/O Terms
Network Terms
Polling Status
Reported Alerts
Alert Priorities
Display Alerts
Export Alerts
Copy Alerts to the Clipboard
SAN Headquarters Alerts
Syslog Events
Event Priorities
Displaying Events
Search Events
Export Events
Copy Events to the Clipboard
Audit Messages
Displaying Audit Logs
Search Audits
Export Audit Logs
Copy Audit Logs to the Clipboard
6 Analyzing Group Data and Solving Problems

Prerequisites for Analyzing Data
Potential Sources of Performance Problems
Understanding Application Storage Utilization
Best Practices for Analyzing Data Over Time

Identifying Hardware Problems
Identifying Performance Problems
Experimental Analysis
Examples of Interpreting Performance Data

Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
1:
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5:
6:
Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability

Mainly Idle Group
Adequately Performing Group Possibly Near Full Capability
Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability
Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full Capability
Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads
Best Practices for Solving Performance Problems

Network Infrastructure Recommendations
Server and Application Configuration Recommendations
Group Configuration Recommendations
7 Preserving Group Data

Group Data Reports
Report Types
Information Required for a Report
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Use the GUI to Create a Report

Use a Command to Create a Report
Group Diagnostics Report Data
Group Data Archives

Use the GUI to Create an Archive File
Use a Command to Create an Archive File
Open an Archive File
Group Data Exports

Use the GUI to Export Group Data
Use a Command to Export Group Data
8 Configuring and Using SupportAssist

Overview of SupportAssist for EqualLogic PS Series Groups
How SupportAssist Works
SupportAssist Features and Benefits
Data Collected By SupportAssist
SupportAssist Requirements
Configuring SupportAssist
Prerequisites for Configuring SupportAssist
Configuring SupportAssist When Adding a New Group
Configuring SupportAssist for an Existing Group
Modifying the SupportAssist Configuration

SupportAssist Activity Log
Modifying SupportAssist Data Collection Settings for a Group
Modifying SupportAssist Syslog Settings for a Group
Updating or Configuring Contact Data
Enabling and Disabling Weekly Data Collection
Enabling and Disabling Automatic Upload for a Group
Deleting the SupportAssist Configuration for a Group
Using SupportAssist
Running an On-Demand Data Collection
Decrypting Local Data Packages
Display Support Case Information
Monitoring and Troubleshooting SupportAssist

General Troubleshooting
Considerations When Enabling SupportAssist
Impact of Firmware Updates on SupportAssist
Performance Impact When Using SupportAssist
SupportAssist Alerts
Displaying Groups Configured for SupportAssist
Offline Data Uploads Using SupportAssist
Using a Different Server to Upload Diagnostic Information
SupportAssist Reference Information

Data Collection and Upload Settings
Data Sorting Options
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Preface
Dell EqualLogic SAN Headquarters (SAN HQ) enables you to monitor multiple PS Series groups from a
single graphical interface. It gathers and formats performance data and other vital group information. Analyzing
the data might help you improve performance and more effectively allocate group resources.
Audience
This manual is designed for administrators responsible for installing SAN Headquarters and using it to monitor
PS Series groups.
Administrators are not required to have extensive network or storage system experience. However, it is useful to
understand:
Basic networking concepts
Current network environment
Disk storage space requirements
RAID configurations
Disk storage management
Note: Detailed information about network configuration is beyond the scope of this manual.
Related Documentation
For detailed information about PS Series arrays, groups, volumes, array software, and host software, log in to the
Documentation page at the Dell Support site.
Dell Online Services

You can learn about Dell products and services using this procedure:
1. Visit http://www.dell.com or the URL specified in any Dell product information.
2. Use the locale menu or click the link that specifies your country or region.
Dell EqualLogic Storage Solutions

To learn more about Dell EqualLogic products and new releases being planned, visit the Dell EqualLogic
TechCenter site: http://delltechcenter.com/page/EqualLogic. Here you can also see articles, demos, online
discussions, and more details about the benefits of our product family.
Technical Support and Customer Service

Dell support service is available to answer your questions about PS Series SAN arrays.
vii
Preface
Contacting Dell
1. If you have an Express Service Code, have it ready. The code helps the Dell automated support telephone
system direct your call more efficiently.
2. If you are a customer in the United States or Canada in need of technical support,
call 1-800-945-3355. If not, go to step 3.
3. Visit eqlsupport.dell.com.
4. Log in, or click Create Account to request a new support account.
5. At the top right, click Contact Us, and call the phone number or select the link for the type of support you
need.
viii

SAN Headquarters (SAN HQ) enables you to monitor multiple PS Series groups from a single graphical user
interface (GUI). It gathers and formats performance data and other vital group information. Analyzing the data
can help you improve performance and more effectively allocate group resources.
SAN Headquarters Features

Dell EqualLogic SAN Headquarters (SAN HQ) provides a single-system view of one or more PS Series
groups. Using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) requests, SAN HQ obtains group configuration,
status, and performance statistics and formats the data into graphs and tables.
Using SAN HQ, you can:
Quickly be informed of hardware, capacity, and performance-related problems.
Improve performance by identifying performance obstructions (bottlenecks).
Obtain comprehensive information about group performance based on latency, IOPS, I/O rate, I/O size, and
other data. Using 95th percentile reporting, remove the top 5% of data spikes for a more accurate picture of
your storage performance.
View real-time data for group member or volume I/O and save the results for future analysis.
From a single SAN HQ Client, monitor group performance data from multiple servers.
Determine how the group is performing, relative to a typical I/O workload of small, random I/O operations.
This information can help you determine if a group has reached its full capabilities, or whether you can
increase the group workload with no impact on performance.
More effectively allocate group resources by identifying underutilized resources.
Enable multiple individuals to access and monitor the same performance data.
Deploy Dell SupportAssist for diagnostic data collection on a weekly basis, on-demand as needed, or when
critical events occur. Diagnostic data collections are automatically uploaded to Dell Support for analysis; if
you disable automatic uploads, the data is encrypted and stored locally.
Display Dell Customer Support cases created as a result of SupportAssist diagnostic uploads and from traditional support calls.
Automatic weekly update of the SAN HQ local repository, including newly supported disks and hardware,
used for Estimated IOPS calculations. This local repository is also used to verify member configuration and
disk drive support. You can also choose to update the local repository manually at any time.
For a selected group, pool, or member, apply different RAID policies to analyze the performance benefits
and determine the reliability of your current RAID policy.
View the percentage of all TCP segment packets sent by the member port.
View 512-byte or 4-Kbyte disk sector size for each disk per menber and for each volume in the group.
Visualize synchronous replication volumes and NAS containers.
Display space consumed by recoverable volumes in the recovery bin.
Display space available for snapshot borrowing.
See the number of Ethernet ports with active and inactive data center bridging (DCB), and the number of
ports incompatible with DCB.
View events, audits, and group alerts.
Preserve group performance data for later analysis by creating archives.
Create customized reports of group performance data.
Export group performance data to a spreadsheet.
Specify favorite views.
SAN HQ does not disrupt access to group storage or degrade performance on the hosts or groups.
SAN Headquarters Environment

SAN Headquarters (SAN HQ) uses a client/server model that includes these components:
SAN HQ ServerIssues SNMP requests to collect configuration, status, and performance data from one or
more PS Series groups and stores the information in log files. To keep you informed of potential problems,
the SAN HQ Server can send email notification of group alerts. The SAN HQ Server also includes a syslog
server. You can configure groups to log events to the syslog server.
Note: For the best performance, Dell recommends that you have only one SAN HQ Server installation mon-
itor a group. Do not have multiple servers monitoring the same group.
Log filesContain the data that the SAN HQ Server collects from a group. The SAN HQ Server maintains
one set of log files for each monitored group. Each set of log files can contain up to 1-years worth of data.
After a year, the SAN HQ Server overwrites the oldest data. You can put the log files on a network-accessible resource to share the data with computers running the SAN HQ Server.
SAN HQ ClientProvides a graphical user interface (GUI) for managing the SAN HQ environment and
viewing data collected by one or several SAN HQ servers. A SAN HQ Client accesses the log files maintained by the SAN HQ Server and formats the group data into tables and graphs. You can run the SAN HQ
Client on multiple computers.
SupportAssistProvides a diagnostics gathering facility configured and run from the SAN HQ Client to collect diagnostics and configuration information from the PS Series arrays and upload it to Dell Support for
analysis. For more information, see How SupportAssist Works on page 175.
SAN Headquarters Operation

After you install the SAN HQ Server, you can use the SAN HQ GUI to add a group to the monitoring list. You
can run the GUI from any computer with the SAN HQ Client installed.
After you add a group, the SAN HQ Server issues regular SNMP requests to the group and collects
configuration, status, and performance data. By default, the polling periodthe time between consecutive
polling operationsis 2 minutes.
Note: SNMP polling has no impact on group performance because serving SNMP requests is not a high priority
for a group.
The SAN HQ Server stores the data in the group log files. Computers running the SAN HQ Client access the log
files and display the data in the SAN HQ GUI.
Figure 1 shows the general layout of a SAN HQ single-server environment.
Figure 1: Single-Server Environment
In Figure 1, a remote SAN HQ Client accesses the local SAN HQ client/server via the network. The SAN HQ
Server issues a series of SNMP requests (polls) to each group for configuration, status, and performance
information. When the first set of polls returns from a group, the server stores this baseline information in the
group data and log files for future reference. It issues subsequent polls at regular intervals (by default, 2
minutes), averaging the data from these consecutive polling operations. (For more information about polling, see
Polling Status on page 112.)
The SAN HQ Server also includes a syslog server to which a PS Series group can log events (see Syslog Event
Logging on page 96).
Figure 2 shows an example of a SAN HQ multiserver environment.
Figure 2: Multiserver Environment
In Figure 2, a remote SAN HQ Client accesses two SAN HQ servers at different sites. Both SAN HQ servers
are monitoring groups on separate networks. The client can access the data and log files that are being monitored
by those servers, displaying the information in the client GUI.
The SAN HQ Server can monitor multiple groups. The server issues a series of polls to each group it monitors
for configuration, status, and performance information.
Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI

You can start SAN HQ from Windows or from a command-line utility. The SAN HQ GUI enables you to
configure the group monitoring environment, change settings, and view group configuration, status, and
performance data.
Start SAN Headquarters from Windows

To start the SAN HQ GUI on a computer with the SAN HQ Client installed:
Either double-click the SAN HQ shortcut on the desktop or click Start, then Programs, then EqualLogic,
then SAN Headquarters.
You can also double-click SANHQClient.exe in the directory where you installed SAN HQ. By default, the
installation location is:
C:\Program Files\EqualLogic\SAN HQ
You can also start SAN HQ from a command line. See Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI Using a Command Line on page 8.
When you start the GUI, the Servers and Groups window appears, showing all groups monitored by the default
server. The Servers and Groups window displays the status of each connected server and monitored group and
any active alerts. You can also modify GUI settings. When you configure additional servers for monitoring, a
similar window appears for each server.
Figure 3 shows a typical Servers and Groups window.
Figure 3: Servers and Groups Window
The numbered callouts correspond to the following items.
Callout 1 Menus and Toolbars

Provide access to tasks, such as adding a group, exporting group data, and launching the Group Manager
GUI. For detailed information about menu options, see Navigating the GUI on page 23.
Callout 2 Servers and Groups Tree
Expandable list of servers and groups. Select a server to show all groups monitored by that server. Select a
group name to display group data in graphs and tables.
The icon next to each item in the tree hierarchy indicates the health condition of a group member:
A green arrow indicates a server with its associated groups is available. A yellow diamond in the icon
indicates that the default server, which cannot be removed. For multiple servers, you can change the
default server by right-clicking an available server and selecting Make This Default Server from the
drop-down menu. (The client always has one default server that is originally configured during installation.)
A check mark in a green circle indicates no health conditions exist.
A question mark (?) in a blue circle (and the group name in yellow) indicates that a Caution level condition exists.
An exclamation mark (!) in a yellow triangle (and the group name in yellow) indicates that a Warning
level condition exists.
An x in a red circle (and the group name or IP address in red) indicates that an event requiring immediate attention exists or that the group cannot be reached by SAN HQ.
Callout 3 Servers and Groups Table
Lists the groups monitored by the server and shows the following information for each group:
Group name
Monitoring status (Connecting, Connected, Disconnected, or Failed to Connect)
Amount of time elapsed since the group was last polled (Last Poll Update)
PS Series firmware on the group members (displays mixed if members are running different versions)
Group network address (group IP address, DNS name, or management address)
Location and description (based on the groups Group Manager settings)
Callout 4 Alerts, Events, and Audit Logs Table
Lists any active alerts, events, or audit logs for the selected group. Alerts indicate when an alarm (typically
a hardware problem) or a performance condition exists in a group. Events display syslog tracking of system
operations. Audits are syslog events about administrator actions. For information, see Reported Alerts on
page 112, Syslog Events on page 120, and Audit Messages on page 123.
Callout 5 Servers and Groups Button

Click the Servers and Groups button to display the All Groups window or to exit a Settings window.
Callout 6 Settings Button
Enables you to modify general settings (SAN HQ GUI appearance, installation settings, client startup settings, tooltip behavior, chart display settings, temperature display settings, alert display settings), email notification settings, group settings (single sign-on functionality and SNMP community name), hidden group
settings, favorites settings, SupportAssist settings, and server settings. SupportAssist settings do not show
information until you enable SupportAssist data collection for a group. Server settings appear when you do a
full installation of the SAN HQ Server and Client.
Callout 7 SupportAssist Button
Displays the configuration settings for SupportAssist, customer support cases reported back to SAN HQ, and
the Activity Log panel showing all recent SupportAssist activity. For more information, see SupportAssist
Configuration Settings on page 68.
You can also obtain help in the GUI windows by placing the pointer on a graph legend or on the question
mark next to a table title.
Callout 8 Help Button
Displays SAN HQ documentation and support information.
You can also obtain help in the GUI windows by placing the pointer on a graph legend or on the question
mark next to a table title.
Callout 9 Update Notification Button
Click this button to access software and firmware notifications and other recent product news from Dell
EqualLogic. See Upgrading SAN Headquarters on page 21.
Note: Note that this button appears in the GUI only if new updates are available and if update notification
has not been disabled.
Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI Using a Command Line

A command-line utility allows you to start the SAN HQ GUI and, if you want, to load a specific view. Use the
following command syntax:
SanHQClient.exe -NavigateToGroup:"value" [-View:"value"] [-TimeRange:"value" |
-TimeLatest:"value" | -TimeAll]
Table 1 describes the options that can be specified with this command to customize the view.
Note: The default behavior is to start with the normal view, which is the standard latest 8-hour format.
Table 1: SAN HQ Command Line Options

Option
Supported Values
-NavigateToGroup: value
Specifies the group. Options for value include:

Name of the group
IP address of the group
-View: value
Specifies the view type. Options for value include:

Summary
Capacity
Inbound Replica or Inbound
Outbound Replica or Outbound
Combined
IO
Events
Hardware or Firmware
Disks
Experimental Analysis or Experimental
Analysis
iSCSI or Connections
Network
Ports
If not specified, the view loads in the Summary view.
-TimeRange: value
Specifies the time to be applied to the display, in the format:

-TimeRange: start-end or start to end
where options for start and end include:
dd/mm/yyyy hh:MM:ss AM|PM
dd/mm/yyyy 24hour clock
If not specified, the page loads in the standard latest 8-hour
format.
-TimeLatest: value
Loads data from the specified time. Options for value

include:
X or X hours for X hours
Y days for Y days
Z months for Z months
If not specified, the page loads in the standard latest 8-hour
format.
-TimeAll
Loads all the data available for that group.
For example:
SanHQClient.exe -NavigateToGroup:"SanHQ-D" -View:"Capacity" -TimeLatest:"8"
The following actions occur if the command line contains any errors when you enter it:
Error
Resulting Display
Wrong group name or IP address specified
All Groups summary window
Wrong page name specified
Summary window for the specified group
Wrong time specified
Time period is selected as default 8 hours
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For each set of servers that contains the groups that you want to monitor, you must install the SAN HQ Server on
one computer. You can also install the SAN HQ Client on additional computers. If you are already running SAN
HQ, you can upgrade to a new version and retain the data already collected.
Prerequisites for Installing SAN Headquarters

Before you begin the SAN HQ installation, perform these tasks for each set of groups that you want to monitor:
1. Identify the groups that you want to monitor. Make sure the groups meet the requirements described in PS
Series Group Requirements on page 11.
2. Identify the computer that will run the SAN HQ Server and monitor the previously identified groups. The
SAN HQ Server stores group data in log files that must be accessible to the computers running the SAN HQ
Client.
See Requirements for Running the SAN Headquarters Server on page 12 and Log File Directory Requirements on page 14.
Note: Do not have multiple computers running the SAN HQ Server monitor the same group.
3. Identify the computers that will run the SAN HQ Client. The SAN HQ Client enables you to run the SAN
HQ GUI, which obtains group data from the log files maintained by the SAN HQ Server and formats the
data in graphs and tables.
Note: If you install the SAN HQ Server, the SAN HQ Client is also installed on the computer.
See Requirements for Running the SAN Headquarters Client on page 13.
4. Collect the information you need for the installation. See Required Installation Information on page 15.
PS Series Group Requirements

A PS Series group must meet the following requirements to be monitored by SAN HQ:
PS Series firmware version 5.2 or higher.
FS Series firmware version 2.0 or higher.
11
Visit the Dell Support site to download PS Series firmware:

https://eqlsupport.dell.com
Network connectivity must be established between the group and the computer running the SAN HQ Server.
At least one SNMP community name must be configured in the group. See the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrator's Manual for information about configuring SNMP access to a group.
Dell recommends that you use a dedicated SNMP community name for SAN HQ. You can specify up to five
SNMP community names in a group.
Requirements for Running the SAN Headquarters Server

To run the SAN Headquarters Server, you need a computer that has the following software installed and meets
the following requirements:
Microsoft Windows operating systems:

Microsoft Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)
Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64-bit* operating system)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit* operating system)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 (32-bit and 64-bit* operating systems)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (64-bit* operating systems)
*Supported with or without Hyper-V enabled.
Network connectivity to all network interfaces in each monitored group, with at least one ethernet port on
each member configured to support management traffic, in either of the following scenarios:
No dedicated management configurationSAN HQ must have access to at least one ethernet port on
each member
Dedicated management configurationSAN HQ must have access to the dedicated management port
configured on each member
Microsoft .NET 4.5 or later.

Note: The SAN Headquarters installation application installs Microsoft .NET 4.5 Client Profile if it is not
detected on the host system.
Host O/S recommended memory requirement plus 512 MB base memory plus 20 MB RAM per member for
each monitored group.
512 MB of free local disk space to save temporary files.
Directory for log files. The SAN Headquarters Server stores group data in the log files. The directory must
meet the requirements described in Log File Directory Requirements on page 14.
Table 2 lists the protocols and ports for standard SAN HQ functionality.
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Table 2: Protocol and Port Information for Standard SAN HQ Functionality

Protocol (Port)
Description
TCP/IP (8000)
SAN HQ TCP/IP client to server communication. You can modify this port
number and host name/IP address on the SAN Headquarters Service Configuration page (for information, see SAN Headquarters Server Configuration
Settings on page 67).
HTTP (80)
SAN HQ Client communication to the Web for retrieving recent updates information (http://psonlinehelp.equallogic.com). For more information, see Obtain
SAN Headquarters Update Notifications on page 22.
UDP (514)
Optional. SAN HQ Server communication to the PS Series array, to display

syslog entries on the Events and Audits panel.
SNMP/UDP (161)
Communication between the SAN HQ Server and PS Series array for standard data collection.
SSH (22)
Secure Socket Shell communication between the SAN HQ Server and

PS Series array, and for the initial SupportAssist configuration.
TCP/IP (2606)
SupportAssist data collection port for communicating with the PS Series array.
HTTPS (443)
SAN HQ Server communication to the Dell Support server for uploading SupportAssist data and weekly updates to local repository (including newly-support disks and hardware).
For SAN HQ Servers that use a proxy, the ports must be opened for full functionality. Enable an exception to
allow https://apwebservice.dell.com for the SupportAssist secure web server.
Requirements for Running the SAN Headquarters Client

To run the SAN Headquarters Client, which enables you to run the SAN Headquarters GUI, you need a
computer that has the following software installed and meets the following requirements:
Microsoft Windows operating systems:

Microsoft Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)
Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64-bit* operating system)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit* operating system)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 (32-bit and 64-bit* operating systems)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (64-bit* operating systems)
*Supported with or without Hyper-V enabled.
Microsoft .NET 4.5 or later.
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Note: The SAN Headquarters installation application installs Microsoft .NET 4.5 Client Profile if it is not
detected on the host system.
Host O/S recommended memory requirement plus 512 MB base memory plus 20 MB RAM per member for
each monitored group.
Local directory for cached data (at least 30 MB of free space for each monitored group).
512 MB of free local disk space to save temporary files.
Read access to the log file directory used by the computer running the SAN Headquarters Server. See Log
File Directory Requirements on page 14.
Log File Directory Requirements

The computer running the SAN HQ Server stores group configuration, status, and performance data in log files.
The log file directory must meet these requirements:
For each monitored group, the directory must have at least the following amount of free space:
log_file_size x 13 + 100MB
You specify the log file size during the installation. The default data log file size is 5MB, the minimum size
is 2MB, and the maximum size is 10MB.
To use the computer running the SAN HQ Server as a syslog server to store event messages and audits, the
default size of the event and audit log file is 5MB, the minimum size is 2MB, and the maximum size is
20MB. You can later modify the syslog size. When messages have consumed all the free space in the event
and audit file, new messages overwrite the oldest messages. For more information about event messages,
see Syslog Event Logging on page 96. For information about audit logs, see Audit Messages on page 123.
Note: Using a log file size that is larger than the default size (5MB) enables you to store more-precise data;
however, it might have a slightly negative impact on response time. If you use a log file size that is
smaller than the default size, data will be less precise, but response time might improve. See How
Data Is Compressed in Log Files on page 101.
The location of the directory can be:

Local device on the server. If you want, you can set up this directory as a network share.
Requirement: You must specify a directory (for example, C:\SANHQ\Log). The directory cannot be a root
drive, such as C:\.
By default, Windows hides the Program Data folder.
Network device. For example, you can use a directory on a PS Series group volume or a network file
share. Dell recommends that you specify the UNC name for a network file share (for example
\\monservice\log). If you specify a mapped network drive, SAN HQ converts it to a UNC name.
Because of the potential for network disruption, Dell recommends that you not locate the log file directory on the same group that you are monitoring.
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By default, the SAN HQ Server (EQLXPerf) runs as a local user with the name LocalService. If you are
using a log file directory that is on a network file share, you must configure EQLXPerf to run as a domain
user that has full access to the network file share. During the SAN HQ installation, you will be prompted for
the domain user name and password.
For example, to assign a domain user name to EQLXPerf:
1. In the Windows Control Panel, click Administrative Tools and then Services.
2. Right-click EqlxPerf in the list of services and select Properties.
3. Click the Log On tab.
4. Select This account, enter the domain user name and password for EQLXPerf, and then click Apply.
Optionally, you can assign a domain user name to EQLXPerf from the SAN HQ menu bar by selecting Settings, then Server Settings.
After you modify the EQLXPerf login credentials, you must stop and start the SAN HQ Server, as described
in Restart the SAN Headquarters Server on page 20.
Each computer running the SAN HQ Client must have read access to the log file directory and any network
resources being used.
In addition, if you want to allow a SAN HQ Client computer to add groups to the monitoring list, configure email
notification, or change the SNMP community name for a group, the computer must have read/write access to the
directory and any network resources. If you choose to enable TCP/IP communication during a full client/server
installation (see Installation Procedure on page 16), SAN HQ uses the folder's permission to determine user
access to the log file data.
Use the standard Microsoft NTFS security mechanisms for the log file directory. Right-click the directory and
select Properties. Then, click the Security tab and specify the access information.
Required Installation Information

The SAN Headquarters installation requires the following information:
Location of the SAN HQ software. To obtain the software:

a. Go to https://eqlsupport.dell.com
b. Log in to your support account.
c. Go to the Downloads area.
You can also contact your PS Series support provider to obtain the SAN HQ software. Copy the software to a location accessible to the computer on which you want to install SAN HQ.
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Log file directory and optional network share name (if installing the SAN HQ Server). See Log File Directory Requirements on page 14.
Note: If you were previously running SAN HQ and you chose to keep the log files when you removed the
software, you must specify the same log file location when you reinstall SAN HQ.
Network file share where the log files are located (if installing only the SAN HQ Client).
Local cache directory (if installing only the SAN HQ Client). For each monitored group, you need 30MB of
free space.
This version of SAN HQ requires the Microsoft .NET 4.0 Client Profile or later. As a convenience, it is
included in the installation application. Dell recommends that you use .NET 4.0 to update all SAN HQ
Server and Client installations. Otherwise, the .NET 4.0 Client Profile will need to be installed before connecting a previous client to an upgraded server. The upgrade provided by the server does not contain the
required Microsoft .NET 4.0 Client Profile update.
Disk space for reports, archives, and exports:

Archives minimally require approximately 1.5 to 2 times the log size of the amount of data selected.
Reports minimally require approximately 5MB per group per report, depending on the selected time
range.
Exports minimally require approximately 50MB per group, depending on the selected time range, data
object, and size of the group's log files.
Preinstallation Review
For each set of groups that you want to monitor, you must install the SAN HQ Server on one computer. You can
install the SAN HQ Client on additional computers. If you are already running SAN HQ, you can upgrade to a
new version and retain the data already collected.
Before starting the SAN HQ software installation, review the prerequisites for installing SAN HQ described in
Prerequisites for Installing SAN Headquarters on page 11 and perform the necessary preinstallation tasks.
If you are upgrading from a previous version of SAN HQ, see Upgrading SAN Headquarters on page 21 before
installing the software.
Installation Procedure
To install SAN HQ:
1. Double-click the SAN HQ executable file, SANHQSetup32And64.exe. If you had a previous version of SAN
HQ installed, you can choose to update or repair the previous installation (see Upgrading SAN Headquarters
on page 21) or uninstall it (see Uninstall the SAN Headquarters Software on page 20). Otherwise, the
welcome screen appears, followed by the End User License Agreement (EULA). Accept the license terms
to continue.
2. When you install SAN HQ for the first time, you must specify the location for the installation files.
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3. Choose either the full installation (SAN HQ Server and Client) or a client-only installation.
Continue with the following steps for either type of installation.
4. Accept the EULA.
5. Accept the default directory for the application files. Click Next.
6. Choose to install the SAN HQ Server and Client.
a. Accept the default TCP/IP port for SAN HQ, which you can change later from Settings then Server
then Connection Settings for Client. (This option is available only after performing a full installation. It is not available from a client-only installation.)
3. (Optional) If the computer running the SAN HQ Server is behind a firewall, the installation asks if you want
to add firewall rules to enable TCP/IP communication for the required processes. Click Yes.
The firewall must not block the following access:
Ping (ICMP) for IPv4 and, if configured, IPv6.
TCP/IP communication to the default TCP/IP port for SAN HQ, specified during the installation.
Dell recommends that you set an individual rule for all SAN HQ executables for IPv4 and, if configured, IPv6.
For detailed information about adding and configuring firewall rules, refer to the TechNet article, Configuring Firewall Rules, at the Microsoft Windows Server TechCenter:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd448559(WS.10).aspx
4. An installation dialog box displays as the application is installed. When complete, click Finish.
By default, Launch SAN Headquarters is selected. You will be asked to start the SAN HQ service
(EQLXPerf), which will poll and record requested group monitor data. If you do not start this service, you can
continue by using existing data logs, but not gather new data. For more information, see Log File Directory
Requirements on page 14.
5. (Optional) Enter the login credentials for remote SAN HQ server login. If you do not provide the user name
and password to authenticate the remote server, the connection to the server will be degraded and advanced
SAN HQ features will be disabled.
Full Installation Client and Server

1. Specify the directory for the log files and optional network share name.
2.
SAN HQ has advanced features that operate through TCP/IP (for example, SupportAssist and Live View).
If you do not enable TCP/IP communication and later want to use advanced features, then you must reinstall
the software. To enable TCP/IP communication:
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a. Check the box and enter or accept the default host name/IP address. Dell recommends using a static IP
address.
b. Accept the default TCP/IP port for SAN HQ, which you can change later from Settings then Server
then Connection Settings for Client. (This option is available only after performing a full installation. It is not available from a client-only installation.)
3. (Optional) If the computer running the SAN HQ Server is behind a firewall, the installation asks if you want
to add firewall rules to enable TCP/IP communication for the required processes. Click Yes.
The firewall must not block the following access:
Ping (ICMP) for IPv4 and, if configured, IPv6.
TCP/IP communication to the default TCP/IP port for SAN HQ, specified during the installation.
Dell recommends that you set an individual rule for all SAN HQ executables for IPv4 and, if configured, IPv6.
For detailed information about adding and configuring firewall rules, refer to the TechNet article, Configuring Firewall Rules, at the Microsoft Windows Server TechCenter:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd448559(WS.10).aspx
By default, Launch SAN Headquarters is selected. You will be asked to start the SAN HQ service
(EQLXPerf), which will poll and record requested group monitor data. If you do not start this service, you can
continue by using existing data logs, but not gather new data. For more information, see Log File Directory
5. (Optional) Enter the login credentials for remote SAN HQ server login. If you do not provide the user name
and password to authenticate the remote server, the connection to the server will be degraded and advanced
SAN HQ features will be disabled.
Client-Only Installation
1. Specify the local cache directory where group performance data will be stored. Each monitored group
requires 30MB. Dell recommends using a directory on drive C: if you have sufficient space.
2. Specify the network file share where the log files are located, in the form:
IP-address-of-server\Monitor
After the installation completes, by default the SAN HQ GUI is launched automatically (see Post-Installation Tasks on page 19).
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Post-Installation Tasks
After the installation completes, by default, the SAN HQ GUI starts. To manually start the GUI, see Starting the
SAN Headquarters GUI on page 5.
The following conditions apply:
If the TCP/IP settings were enabled during the SAN HQ Server installation, you will be asked to provide
user credentials of the SAN HQ Server before continuing. The client-only installation asks for the credentials on first use. If the system is not on a domain, supply machine login information using either of these
forms:
.\user-name or system-name\user-name.
If you are installing the SAN HQ Server for the first time, the Add Group wizard starts, enabling you to add
groups to the monitoring list.
If you were previously running SAN HQ and you are using the same log files, the SAN HQ Server automatically locates the log files and resumes monitoring the groups. Some data points might be missing for the
time period that SAN HQ was not installed.
See Getting Started with SAN Headquarters on page 23 for information about adding groups to the monitoring list
and performing other post-installation tasks.
Preserve Data
SAN HQ provides several methods that you can use to preserve group performance data. For example, you can:
Create reports from group data (see Group Data Reports on page 157)
Archive group data (see Group Data Archives on page 165)
Export group data (see Group Data Exports on page 169)
You can preserve data at the current time or use a command line to perform the task regularly.
Configure Single Sign-On

Single sign-on functionality in SAN HQ enables you to locally store a group administration account and
password. With these stored credentials, you can start Group Manager from the SAN HQ Client GUI for a
monitored group without entering login credentials.
You must run SAN HQ from the same domain user account and from the same computer to start the Group
Manager GUI as a standalone application without entering login credentials. If single sign-on is not enabled,
Group Manager is launched in the default web browser and you must enter the group administration credentials.
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Note: If you already configured single sign-on from Group Manager, do not configure single-sign on in SAN
HQ. Configuring single sign-on does not share credential information when the group is already configured to
use the firmware version of single sign-on.
For more information about launching the Group Manager GUI with single sign-on, see Launch Group Manager
with Single Sign-On on page 74.
Set Up Notification Mechanisms

By monitoring group events, you can promptly correct problems. Methods for notification include:
Alerts that occur in a group. These alerts appear in:

Alerts table in the All Groups window (see Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI on page 5)
Alerts panel at the bottom of each window
See Reported Alerts on page 112.
Optionally, you can set up email event notification and designate email addresses to receive messages when
an alert occurs in the group. See Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts on page 72.
Optionally, you can configure a group to log events to the syslog server that is part of the SAN HQ Server.
Events appear in the Events panel at the bottom of each window and also in the Events window. See Syslog
Event Logging on page 96.
Optionally, you can set up audit logs to track administrator actions. See Displaying Audit Logs on page 123.
Restart the SAN Headquarters Server

In rare situations, you might need to restart the SAN HQ Server.
To restart the server:
1. In the Windows Control Panel, click Administrative Tools and then Services.
2. Right-click EqlxPerf in the list of services and select Restart.
Uninstall the SAN Headquarters Software

To uninstall the SAN HQ software, first decide whether to keep the SAN HQ data and log files, then perform
the uninstallation.
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Retaining Data and Log Files

If you are running a full (client and server) installation of SAN HQ, before you uninstall the SAN HQ software,
decide if you want to keep the current log files for future use. You might also want to save the user configuration
file (user.config).
Record the log file location by clicking Settings in the lower-left GUI panel. In the Installation Settings panel,
click the Log Files Directory link. You will need to specify the location of the log files when reinstalling SAN
HQ. When you uninstall the SAN HQ software, choose the option to keep the log file.
You might also want to back up the log files and the user configuration file before uninstalling the software,
particularly if you are backing up for the purpose of performing a full server/OS reinstallation. All log files are
located in the log file folder you specified when installing the software, usually in \documents and
settings\all users\Application Data\Equallogic\San HQ\Logs, and the user configuration file in
Data\Dell\SANHQ\version#\user.config. You can restore these files when the reinstallation is complete and
the settings will be restored.
Uninstallation Procedure
To uninstall SAN HQ:
1. Open the Windows Control Panel.
2. Click Programs and Features.
3. Select Dell EqualLogic SAN Headquarters and then click Uninstall.
4. Choose whether to keep the log files.
If you choose to keep the log files, when you reinstall SAN HQ on the same computer and specify the same
log file location, the SAN HQ Server automatically locates the log files and starts monitoring the groups
again.
Upgrading SAN Headquarters

If you are currently running SAN HQ, you can upgrade to a newer version. Upgrading maintains the data
collected by the older version. You can also:
Back up the existing SAN HQ log folder
Configure update notifications from Dell about recent updates for SAN HQ, Host Integration Toolkits, and
firmware
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When you upgrade SAN HQ, the SAN HQ Server attempts to reconnect to the groups via SNMP. You should
expect performance impact to your groups to be minimal to none.
Considerations When Upgrading SAN Headquarters Software

The following considerations apply when you upgrade to a newer version of SAN HQ:
When you install a new version of SAN HQ without first removing the current software, SAN HQ automatically uses the log files from the previous installation.
When you upgrade an existing full client and server installation, the installation wizard asks if you want to
first back up the existing SAN HQ log file data. Accept the Backup SAN HQ data to the specified location option (selected by default) when running the installation wizard to upgrade a full installation.
Caution: Do not back up your data to the EqualLogic folder on the same drive under any circumstances. Dell
strongly recommends that you back up your data to a different physical drive before upgrading SAN HQ. If you
do not back up the log file data, you might not be able to restore your existing environment.
If you remove SAN HQ before reinstalling, you can also choose to keep the existing log files. Make sure
you specify the current log file directory when prompted by the installation procedure.
If you upgrade to a new version of SAN HQ, any new type of data that the version collects will not appear
for dates before the time of the upgrade.
If you upgrade to version 3.0 of SAN HQ, the installation automatically archives all data from previous versions.
Obtain SAN Headquarters Update Notifications

The updates notification function allows you to control notifications from Dell about recent update information
available for Dell EqualLogic SAN solutions, including available updates for SAN HQ, host integration tool kits,
PS Series firmware, and disk firmware, along with relevant news articles.
You can access these updates in the following ways:
Automated news updatesConfigure a set amount of time before SAN HQ checks for more recent information when launched. By default, SAN HQ checks for updates every 7 days. If new updates are available,
an icon is displayed in the Updates Notification button in the lower-right corner of the SAN HQ Client.
ManuallyAt any time, select Check for Updates from the Help menu to gather the most recent updates
available. The Recent Updates dialog box displays, showing recent updates. Click OK to apply the updates.
You can disable this option by selecting Never from the Check for updates drop-down menu.
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After you install SAN HQ, you can start monitoring PS Series groups.
Navigating the GUI

To display detailed information about a group in the SAN HQ GUI, select the group name in the Servers and
Groups tree in the far-left panel. The Summary of Group window appears (see Figure 4).
The Summary of Group window displays an overview of group status, capacity, I/O performance, and network
performance. You can navigate through the SAN HQ GUI windows in several ways and display increasingly
more detailed group data in different contexts.
Figure 4: GUI Navigation
The following numbered items correspond to the callouts in Figure 4.

Callout 1 Menu Bar Items and Tool Bar Buttons
Table 3 shows the menu bar items and where to find additional information.
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Table 3: SAN Headquarters Menu Bar

Menu Item
Options / Information
SAN HQ
Add New Group

See Add a Group for Monitoring on page 52
Add New Server
See Add a Server on page 57
Create Archive
See Group Data Archives on page 165
Open Archive
See Open an Archive File on page 169
Export All Group Data
See Group Data Exports on page 169
Exit
SupportAssist
Configuration Wizard
See Configuring SupportAssist for an Existing Group on page 191
Run Now
See Running an On-Demand Data Collection on page 206
SupportAssist Settings
See SupportAssist Configuration Settings on page 68
Activity Log
See SupportAssist Activity Log on page 200
Customer Support Cases
See Display Support Case Information on page 209
Decrypt Local Data Packages
See Decrypting Local Data Packages on page 207
Group
Launch Group Manager

See Launch Group Manager with Single Sign-On on page 74
Export Group Data
See Group Data Exports on page 169
Stop Monitoring
See Stop Group Monitoring on page 74
Start Monitoring
See Add a Group for Monitoring on page 52
Increase Log File Size
See Increase the Log File Size on page 71
Remove from Monitoring List
See Remove a Group from the Monitor List on page 69
Hide Group Information
See Hide Groups in the GUI on page 70
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Menu Item
Options / Information
Settings
General Settings
See SAN Headquarters Settings on page 63
Email Settings
See Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts on page 72
Group Settings
See Configuring and Managing the Group Monitoring Environment on page 63
Hidden Group Settings
See Hide Groups in the GUI on page 70
Favorite Settings
See Adding and Managing Favorite Views on page 77
Server Settings
See SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings on page 67
Reports
Configuration, Capacity, Thin-Provisioned Volumes, Replication, Replication Across

Groups, Performance, Host Connections, Hardware and Firmware, Top 10, Top 10 Across
Groups, Alerts, Group Diagnostics, SyncRep, Snapshot Schedules, and Volumes Performance
See Report Types on page 157
Favorites
Add to Favorites
See Add a View to the Favorites List on page 77
Manage Favorites
See Adding and Managing Favorite Views on page 77
Make This Home Page
See Set a View As the Home Page on page 78
Default Home Page
Help
About, Navigation Help, User Guide, Release Notes, and Check for Updates
See Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI on page 5
Under the menu bar, the tool bar buttons perform the following actions:
Back or ForwardReturns to a previously visited window or moves forward to a previously visited window. You can also click the down arrow next to the Forward button to display the navigation history.
Add New ServerAdds an additional server to monitor groups on that server. Similar to selecting
SAN HQ from the menu bar, then Add New Server.
Add GroupAdds a new group to monitor. Similar to selecting SAN HQ from the menu bar, then Add New
Group.
New WindowProduces a new window displaying the current view. When you exit from the new window, the original window remains open.
Launch Group ManagerWhen you select a group from the Servers and Groups tree, the Launch Group
Manager button appears, letting you start the Group Manager GUI for the group. Similar to selecting
Group from the menu bar, then Launch Group Manager.
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Create ArchiveSaves group data to a compressed archive (.grpx) file. Similar to selecting SAN HQ from
the menu bar, then Create Archive.
PrintPrints the current window.
Callout 2Servers and Groups Tree

A single SAN HQ Client can monitor multiple servers. The Servers and Groups tree shows all servers that
have been configured and their associated groups. For multiple servers, one server is designated as the
default server and cannot be removed. Additional servers are secondary servers that can be added and
removed.
Callout 3 Summary Views
Summary information for all groups is available at the top of the Servers and Groups tree. This view presents
comprehensive information, across all groups, allowing you to make quick comparisons and analysis of your
infrastructure. Links are provided on the summary pages to take you to specific information for a group. For
more information, see All Groups Summary Information on page 27.
Callout 4Information Categories
Select the group name in the Servers and Groups tree to display a summary of capacity, status, I/O performance, and network performance for the group, pools, members, volumes, and volume collections.
You can obtain more detailed information by expanding the group in the Servers and Groups tree and selecting a subcategory: capacity, combined graphs, event/audit logs, hardware/firmware, I/O, iSCSI connections,
and network. You can further refine the information by expanding the tree. For example, to see data for all
disks for a member, select Hardware/Firmware then Disks. For more information about all subcategories,
see Group Information Categories on page 31.
Callout 5 Favorites
Lists views saved as favorites that you added from Favorites on the menu bar. Right-click a saved favorite to
make it your home page, to delete it, or rename it. See Adding and Managing Favorite Views on page 77.
Callout 6 Window Title
You can identify the category and object for which the GUI is displaying data by examining the window
title. In most cases, the title includes the group name, category, and object. For example: Capacity of All
Pools on Group - group06.
Callout 7Context Link Bar Objects
Within each information category, you can view groupwide data (Group) or data that is restricted to a specific
group object: Pools, Members, Volumes, and Volume Collections. For more information, see Context Link Bar
Options on page 44.
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All Groups Summary Information

From the Servers and Groups tree and All Groups Summaries page (see Figure 5), you can display summary
views across all groups for capacity, replication, hardware/firmware, and volumes.
Figure 5: All Groups Summaries
The All Groups Summaries page provides links to summary views across all groups. Hover over the link for a
brief description of the summary view. Click a link (for example, Capacity Summary) to see the All Groups
summary for capacity. Data on the summary pages is refreshed every 2 minutes, or manually when you click the
Refresh button.
You can obtain the following information from this page:
Alerts SummaryProvides a quick look at the total number of alerts by severity level: Critical, Warning,
Caution, and Information. Click the Alerts Summary link to navigate to the Alerts panel for the default
server. For more information about SAN HQ alerts, see Reported Alerts on page 112.
Capacity SummaryDisplays the capacity information gathered from the most recent poll of each group.
For more information, see Capacity Information on page 32.
Hardware/Firmware SummaryDisplays the Hardware/Firmware information gathered from the most

recent poll of each group. For more information, see Hardware/Firmware Summary on page 28.
Replication SummaryDisplays outbound replication information gathered from the most recent poll of each
group. For more information, see Replication Summary on page 29.
SyncRep SummaryDisplays synchronous replication information per group or individual volume, gathered
from the most recent poll of each group. For more information, see SyncRep Summary on page 29.
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Volume Capacity SummaryDisplays volume capacity information per group or individual volume, gathered
from the most recent poll of each group. For more information, see Volume Capacity Summary on page 30.
Volume I/O SummaryDisplays the individual volume I/O information gathered from the most recent poll
of each group. For more information, see Volume I/O Summary on page 30.
Capacity Summary
The All Groups Capacity Summary page displays capacity information gathered from the most recent poll of
each group. For each group, SAN HQ provides the group capacity, volume reserve (that is, space allocated to
the volume), snapshot reserve, delegated space, and replication reserve. Total, in-use, and free-space statistics
are shown for each of these categories.
For group thin-provisioned space, SAN HQ provides the following information:
Unreserved SpaceAmount of unallocated space for thin-provisioned volumes in the group. The reported
size of a thin-provisioned volume can be larger than the volume reserve.
Free SpacePercentage of free group space required to fulfill the maximum in-use space for all thin-provisioned volumes.
Thin Provisioned VolumesNumber of thin-provisioned volumes in the group. The reported size of a thinprovisioned volume can be larger than the volume reserve.
Template VolumesNumber of thin-provisioned volumes in the group that are template volumes.
Thin Clone VolumesNumber of thin-provisioned volumes in the group that are thin clone volumes.
For all information categories, you can click the icon in the column heading to sort by size criteria. For additional
definitions of capacity and replication terms, see Capacity and Replication Terms on page 108.
Hardware/Firmware Summary
The All Groups Hardware/Firmware Summary page displays the hardware and firmware configuration for all
groups monitored by the server. The information is gathered from the most recent poll of each group.
Information presented on the Hardware/Firmware Summary page includes:
Group MemberName of the group where the Hardware/Firmware information is displayed. Expand the
group name to display individual members of the group.
FirmwareFull firmware revision number on the group or member.
Model of the PS Series array.
ControllerList of controller models for the group or member.
MemberSummary of the current member status for the group or the individual status of the member:
online, offline, unconfigured, initializing, vacating-in-progress, or vacated.
Service TagService tags of the groups and members.
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RAID status and RAID policyThe current RAID status and RAID policy type for the group or member. A
degraded, reconstructing, or verifying RAID status might adversely affect performance.
RAID reliability score and RAID reliability ratingA SAN HQ feature that helps you make decisions about
the resilence of the RAID policy on your group, reported both as a numerical score and starred rating. For
information, see RAID Policy Reliability Reporting on page 85.
EnclosureSerial numbers for the group or members.
Controller countTotal number of controller models for the group or member.
DisksDisks present on the group or member.
UptimeUptime of the controllers on the group or members.
Disk model for disks on the group or member.
For related information about potential hardware problems, see Identifying Hardware Problems on page 130.
Replication Summary
The All Groups Replication Summary page displays outbound replication gathered from the most recent poll of
each group. SAN HQ displays the following information:
Group/VolumeGroup or volume name. Expand a group to display individual volumes configured for replication.
Replication PartnerList of all groups currently configured as an outbound replication partner.
StatusCurrent status of outbound replication for a group or volume. For a group, the value indicates the
group's configured replication status. For a volume, the value indicates a volume's individual replication
status.
Active ReplicationActive replicas count; that is, the number of volumes actively replicating data to a partner site. An individual volume indicates if it is actively replicating to a partner site.
Paused ReplicationOutbound replication paused count; that is, the number of volumes currently paused
from replicating data to a partner site. An individual volume indicates if it is currently paused, and the Status
column provides additional details.
Waiting ReplicationNumber of volumes waiting for outbound replication to begin. An individual volume
indicates if it is currently waiting for replication to begin.
For more information about replication terms, see Capacity and Replication Terms on page 108.
SyncRep Summary
The All Groups SyncRep Summary page displays information about volumes configured for synchronous
replication. The information shows the total number of SyncRep volumes, in-sync volumes, out-of-sync volumes,
paused volumes, amount of changes for the group since the last SyncRep operation, and the remaining amount of
changes for the group to be synced.
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For conceptual information about SyncRep, see About Synchronous Replication on page 78. To display SyncRep
volumes from the Servers and Groups tree, see Display SyncRep Volumes in SAN Headquarters on page 79.
Volume Capacity Summary

The All Groups Volume Capacity Summary page displays critical volume capacity, similar to the All Groups
Capacity Summary page, while providing a more detailed look at a groups individual volumes. The individual
volume capacity information is gathered from the most recent poll of each group. You can expand the group to
see individual volumes and then select the volume name to navigate to that volumes capacity page. A search
field lets you search for a particular volume by name and type. For example, you could search for a thinprovisioned volume with the name sqldb-testvol1 to verify whether the volume has adequate free space.
Information presented on the Volume Capacity Summary page includes:
Group/VolumeName of the group displaying the volume capacity information. Expand the group/volume
name to display the individual volumes for the group.
Volume typeTemplate for a template volume; Thin Clone for a thin clone of a template volume; Thin for a
thin-provisioned volume; or Standard for a standard, fully provisioned volume.
Total CapacityVolume size as seen by iSCSI initiators. For volumes that are not thin provisioned, the
reported size is the same as the volume reserve. For thin-provisioned volumes, the reported size can be
greater than the volume reserve.
Allocated SpaceTotal, in-use, and free space allocated to the volume or group. For thin-provisioned volumes, as volume reserve is consumed more space is allocated to the volume, up to the user-defined limit.
Snapshot SpaceTotal, in-use, and free snapshot space for the volume or group.
Replication SpaceTotal, in-use, and free replication space for the volume or group.
Replication StatusCurrent replication status for the volume or group, either enabled or disabled.
For more information about these items and additional capacity and replication terms, see Capacity and
Replication Terms on page 108.
Volume I/O Summary

The All Groups Volume I/O Summary page displays group and individual volume I/O information gathered from
the most recent poll of each group. Expand the group to see individual volume I/O data and select the volume
name to navigate to the I/O page for the volume. Similar to the Volume Capacity Summary page, you can search
by the volume name or volume type.
Information presented on the Volume I/O Summary page includes:
Group/VolumeName of the group displaying the volume I/O information. Expand the group/volume name
to display the individual volumes for the group.
Volume typeTemplate for a template volume; Thin Clone for a thin clone of a template volume; Thin for a
thin-provisioned volume; or Standard for a standard, fully provisioned volume.
PoolName of the pool containing the volume.
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MemberNames of the members contained in the volume.
Volume average I/OAverage rate of iSCSI read and write data transfers to and from the volume.
Volume average latencyAverage time it takes to complete the iSCSI read and write operation for the volume.
Volume average I/O sizeAverage size of the I/O read and write operations for the volume.
Volume average queue depthAverage number of outstanding I/Os at the time of each incoming I/O. A
queue depth of zero indicates no outstanding I/Os.
Volume read/write percentagesRead and write operations for the volume, expressed as percentages of the
total I/O for the volume.
Volume member bindingMember to which a volume is bound (by default, none). Load balancing across
members does not occur if a volume is bound to a member.
For more information about these items and additional I/O terms, see I/O Terms on page 109.
Group Information Categories

The Servers and Groups tree (Figure 6) shows all servers that have been configured and the groups monitored by
the server. For each group, pool, member, volume, or volume collection (see context link bar options), SAN HQ
provides detailed information categories that help you evaluate your storage environment. These categories
include information about capacity, events and audits, hardware and firmware, I/O, and iSCSI connections.
Depending on your groups firmware version, you can navigate to additional subcategories of information (some
categories might not appear).
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Figure 6: Group Information Categories
The following sections describe the information that the categories and related subcategories provide.
Capacity Information
For a selected group in the Servers and Groups tree, click Capacity to show the Capacity of Group window.
This view shows similar group capacity information as on the All Groups Capacity Summary page (see Capacity
Summary on page 28), and shows total unused space in the group that is reserved but currently not storing data.
Expand the tree to show subcategories of capacity information.

Inbound Replicas
The Inbound Replicas view displays all inbound replicas for the group. (Replication of a volume is considered
inbound from the view of the secondary group, sometimes called the destination group.) You can also set the
context link bar option (see Context Link Bar Options on page 44) to show inbound replicas for all pools in the
group, members in the group, volumes, and volume collections.
Table 4 describes the information below the inbound replicas chart.
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Table 4: Inbound Replicas

Column
Description
Replica Set
Replica set name, based on the volume name and dot-number extension for uniqueness.
The number in the extension reflects the order in which each partner was configured as
a replication partner to the group.
Pool
Pool in which the inbound replica resides.
Volume Size
Volume reserve; that is, the actual amount of pool space allocated to the volume.
Reported Size
Reported size of the replica volume, as seen by the iSCSI initiators. This number can
be more or less than the volume reserve size.
Reserve Size
Current amount of replica reserve for the volume, shown in GB and as a percentage
(Reserved Percent). The replica reserve is the portion of delegated space reserved for
storing replicas of the volume.
Reserve Free
Amount of replica reserve that is not in use (not storing replicas of the volume), shown
in GB and as a percentage (Reserve Free Percent).
Reserve In Use
Amount of replica reserve in use (storing replicas of the volume), shown in GB and as
a percentage (Reserve In Use Percent).
Inbound Replicas
Total number of replicas for the volume.
Primary Group
Replication partner where the original volume is located.
For complete information about replication, see the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Manual.
Outbound Replicas
The Outbound Replicas view displays all outbound replicas for the group. (Replication of the volume is
considered outbound from the view of the primary group.) You can also set the context link bar option (see
Context Link Bar Options on page 44) to show outbound replicas for all pools in the group, members in the group,
volumes, and volume collections.
Table 5 describes the information below the outbound replicas chart.
Table 5: Outbound Replicas
Column
Description
Replica Set
Replica set name, based on the volume name and dot-number extension for uniqueness.
The number in the extension reflects the order in which each partner was configured as
a replication partner to the group.
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Column
Description
Partner
Replication partner to the primary group, to which the volume data is replicated.
Pool
Pool in which the outbound replica resides.
Volume Size
Volume reserve; that is, the actual amount of pool space allocated to the volume.
Reported Size
Reported size of the replica volume, as seen by the iSCSI initiators. For volumes that
are not thin provisioned, the reported size is the same as the volume reserve. For thinprovisioned volumes, the reported size can be larger than the volume reserve.
Reserve Size
Current amount of replica reserve allocated from delegated space for storing replicas
of the volume, shown in GB and as a percentage (Reserved Percent).
Delegated Space
on Partner
Amount of space on the replication partner delegated to the group.
Status
Replication status for a volume. See the Group Manager online help for a complete list
of replication statuses.
Replicas
Number of replicas in the replica set.
Most Recent Replica Duration
The amount of time to complete the most recent volume replication.
Most Recent Replica Transfer Size
Amount of data transferred during the most recent volume replication.
For complete information about replication, see the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Manual.
Recoverable Volumes
The Recoverable Volumes view displays all pending deleted volumes on the group that can be undeleted and
recovered. SAN HQ displays information in two categories: General and Original. For information about the
fields for this view, see Display Recoverable Volumes in SAN Headquarters on page 93. For conceptual
information about recoverable volumes, see About the PS Series Firmware Volume Undelete Feature on page
92.
You can also set the context link bar option (see Context Link Bar Options on page 44) to show recoverable
volumes on all pools in the group.
Space Borrowing
The Space Borrowing view displays the amount of free space available for a group to borrow. SAN HQ shows
the free space that is available and currently borrowed, and the actual snapshot reserve space available and
borrowed.
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Space borrowing allows you to temporarily increase the available snapshot space for a volume by borrowing
from the snapshot reserve of other volumes and from pool free space. For more information about this view, see
Snapshot Space Borrowing on page 95.
Combined Graphs
For a selected group in the Servers and Groups tree, click the Combined Graphs link to show the Combined
Graphs of Group window. You can also set the context link bar option (see Context Link Bar Options on page
44) to show combined graphs for all pools in the group, members in the group, volumes, and volume collections.
The combined graphs show the following information:
Network and I/OPresents several graphs showing network and I/O data: average I/O size (KB), average
number of IOPS operations, average latency (ms), average I/O rate (KB/sec), TCP retransmit percentage,
network rate (KB/sec), and average queue depth. This information is similar to information displayed on the
I/O and Network information windows (see I/O Information on page 37 and Network Information on page
41). For information about I/O terms, see I/O Terms on page 109. For information about network terms, see
Network Terms on page 111.
CapacityFor the selected time period, shows total capacity; in-use, free, and total snapshot reserve capacity; and snapshot reserve in-use and free space.
Total CountsFor the selected time period, shows total iSCSI connections and snapshots, I/O operations per
second against the weighted I/O latency, and I/O throughput rate against the average I/O latency.
Event and Audit Information

For a selected group in the Servers and Groups tree, click Events/Audit Logs to show the Events and Audit
Logs of Group window. By default, SAN HQ shows all events and audit logs for the selected range. Select the
appropriate button to restrict the view to events or audit logs.
This view shows similar information to the Events and Audit Logs tabs in the bottom of any view. You can
search, export, or copy events or audit logs. For complete information, see Displaying Events on page 120 and
Displaying Audit Logs on page 123.
Hardware and Firmware Information

For a selected group in the Servers and Groups tree, click Hardware/Firmware to show the Hardware/Firmware
for Group window. This view shows similar hardware and firmware information as on the All Groups
Hardware/ Firmware Summary page (see Hardware/Firmware Summary on page 28).
The chart indicates the status of all disks on the array:
Total disks in the array
Number of disks that are offline
Number of disks that are online
Number of disks set up as a hot spare drive
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Number of disks that have a warning message associated with them
Number of disks that are in a failed state
Hover over an increment in the graph to display this information for a given point in time.
Table 6 describes the information below the Disk Status chart.
Table 6: Disk Status
Column
Description
Member
Lists all members in the group. Select a member name to navigate to the hardware
information for that particular member, including health conditions for that member
(for example, more spare disks were expected for the member's RAID policy).
Pool
All pools on the group.
Firmware
PS Series firmware version on the active control module.
Model
PS Series array model number, set if the supported firmware is running on that
member.
Status
Member status, either online, offline, unconfigured, initializing, vacating-in-progress,

or vacated.
Service Tag
PS Series array service tag, set if the supported firmware is running on that member.
Enclosure Serial
Number
PS Series array serial number, set if the supported firmware is running on that
member.
Disks
Number of disks present on the group or member.
Disk Model
Model for the disks present on the group or member.
Controller Type
Type of control module (must be the same type on an array).
Controllers
Number of control modules on the array.
Uptime
Time since the array was turned on and started.
Estimated Last
Boot
Date and time when the secondary control module was turned on and started.
Expand the tree for Hardware/Firmware information to show the Disks subcategory (see Disk Information on
page 37).
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Disk Information
The Disks on Group view shows read and write IOPS in graphical form and as a total and percentage for disks
on the member.
Table 7 provides information about all disks (numbered zero through highest) for the member.
Table 7: Disk Information
Column
Description
Description
Information about the disk (for example, 10K 600GB SAS).
Average IOPS
Average number of I/O operations processed each second by the disk drive. Read and
write IOPS are not tracked separately for disk IOPS. Members on the group take advantage of idle periods to perform background operations on the disk drives.
Read I/O Rate
Read I/O rate per second.
Write I/O Rate
Write I/O rate per second.
Average Disk
Queue Depth
Average number of outstanding I/O operations when the disk receives a new I/O command. For more information about this term and other I/O terms, see I/O Terms on
page 109.
Model
Model code for the drive returned by the disk firmware.
Firmware Revision
Revision number of the disk, provided by the disk firmware.
Serial Number
Disk serial number, typically used with the model number to provide the disk's identity.
Sector Size
Disk drive sector size, either 512 bytes or 4K bytes. You can create volumes that use
either 512-byte or 4K-byte sectors, but cannot change them after they are created. For
information, see the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Manual.
I/O Information
For a selected group in the Servers and Groups tree, click I/O to show the I/O for Group window.
Table 8 describes the group I/O rate information displayed in the Group I/O chart.
Table 8: Group I/O
Column
Description
Group average I/O size
Average size of the iSCSI read and write operations for the group.
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Column
Description
Group inbound replication I/O size
Average size of the iSCSI operations associated with inbound replication to the
group (PS Series firmware 5.0 groups only).
Group average IOPS
Average number of iSCSI read and write operations processed each second in the
group.
Group inbound replication IOPS
Number of write operations processed each second by the group for inbound replication (PS Series firmware 5.0 groups only).
Group average latency
Average time it takes to complete iSCSI read and write operations in the group.
Group inbound replication latency
Average time to complete an inbound replication iSCSI operation to the group

(PS Series firmware 5.0 groups only).
Group average I/O
Average rate of iSCSI read and write data transfers in the group.
Group inbound replication I/O
Average rate of iSCSI data transfers for inbound replication to the group
(PS Series firmware 5.0 groups only).
Table 9 describes the group I/O rate information displayed in the Group I/O Load Space Distribution chart.
Table 9: Group I/O Load Space Distribution
Column
Description
High load*
Amount of I/O load space with a large number of I/Os running at a given time.
Medium load*
Amount of I/O load space with an average number of I/Os running at a given time.
Low load*
Amount of I/O load space with a low number of I/Os running at a given time.
SSD space
Amount of space available on all SSD drives (displayed only on groups with at least
one member using tiered storage).
*See the general information to the left of the graphs for an estimated indication of high, medium, or low
load. Hover over a chart in the graph to display corresponding numerical information.
For the selected group, the tables present similiar I/O information as the graphs, including general information
about the average size of the iSCSI read and write operations for the group and estimated I/O load. For more
information about I/O terms used on the I/O for Group window, see I/O Terms on page 109.
Expand the tree to show the subcategories of I/O information.
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Live View Sessions

The Live View Sessions for Group view shows group or volume I/O data captured in brief session intervals at
quick polling rates. SAN HQ establishes a Live View monitoring session for the selected target (volume or
member) at the session interval you specify, and then collects data for the session length. When you exit the Live
View session window, you can save the session, which then appears on the Live View Sessions for Group view.
Each session you save is identified by name, along with the following information:
Target typeEither volume or member
Session lengthLength of the data collection session, from 1 minute to 10 minutes
Poll intervalLength of time SAN HQ polls the group, from 1 second to 15 seconds
Number of pollsTotal number of polls during session length
Session startedDate and time session was initiated
From the Live View Sessions for Group window, you can:
Initiate a Live View session for the group
Set save options after the session is run: always save, always discard, or prompt
Filter information by target type (volume, member, or all) or by a specific volume or member
For more information about the Live View feature, see Displaying Live Data on page 81.
For prerequisites for running a Live View session, see Prerequisites for Establishing a Live View Session on
page 81.
For step-by-step instructions for running a Live View session, see Run a Live View Session on page 82.
The Experimental Analysis view provides estimated information about PS Series group performance, relative to
a specific workload, to help you understand your group performance and plan storage expansion. Because this
information is only an estimate, you should not use this data as the sole measure of your group's performance
potential.
This view provides the following estimated data, graphically and in tables:
Estimated IOPS workloadFor the group, provides the percentage of average IOPS relative to the average
estimated maximum IOPS, the percentage of read and write operations in the group, and the RAID policies
configured on a member's disk drives and spare drives. The workload percentage is an indicator of how
much work the group is performing, relative to how much it can do, based on maximum IOPS. "Work" is
defined as the number of small (8KB), random I/O operations the group performs each second.
Estimated Max IOPSEstimated maximum IOPS the group can process, based on the current configuration
and I/O load. This estimate also shows the estimated IOPS that can be processed when a RAID set is
degraded.
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For more information about estimated Experimental Analysis data, see Experimental Analysis Data on page 134.
The Experimental Analysis view also shows average IOPS, average I/O size, average latency, and average
queue depth. For information about these I/O terms, see I/O Terms on page 109.
For information about accessing the Experimental Analysis view, see Access the Experimental Analysis Window
on page 133. For examples of interpreting Experimental Analysis estimated performance data, see Examples of
Interpreting Estimated Performance Data on page 135.
RAID Evaluator
The RAID Evaluation for Group view displays the current RAID policy information and lets you apply a
different RAID policy to compare and analyze performance benefits. Information is presented in tables and
graphs, and you can immediately see the results of applying a new RAID policy in the RAID policy reliability
meter. This view also provides a link to best practices for choosing a RAID member policy.
Refer to the following sections for complete information about RAID evaluation for a group:
For conceptual information about RAID evaluation, see RAID Policy Evaluation and Reliability on page 83.
For information about using the RAID evaluator, see Use the RAID Evaluator on page 84.
For information about RAID policy reliability reporting, which includes understanding the RAID reliability
score shown in the table data and meters, see RAID Policy Reliability Reporting on page 85.
This section also provides examples of evaluating the reliability of your current RAID policy and possible
improvements, describes how to display RAID policy reliability alerts, and provides additional information in
the form of frequently asked questions.
SyncRep
For PS Series groups running firmware version 6.0 and later, the SyncRep for Group view lets you monitor
information about synchronous replication (SyncRep) volumes that have been configured for the group. By
default, this view shows a summary of all SyncRep volumes, the number of in-sync and out-of-sync volumes,
paused volumes, the amount of changes for this group since the last SyncRep operation, and the remaining
amount of changes for the group to be synced. The timeline graph shows the remaining changes to be completed.
For conceptual information about SyncRep volumes, see About Synchronous Replication on page 78.
For more information about the SyncRep for Group view, see Display SyncRep Volumes in SAN Headquarters
on page 79.
iSCSI Connection Information

For a selected group in the Servers and Groups tree, click iSCSI Connections to show the All iSCSI
Connections to Group window. Click an option on the context link bar to view all iSCSI connections to all pools,
all members, all volumes, and all volume connections (see Context Link Bar Options on page 44).
The All iSCSI Connections chart shows the total iSCSI connections for the group, the maximum connections
allowed, and the sample period for the data. (The Network for Group window shows the number of the iSCSI
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connections to the group, which includes connections to volumes, snapshots, active inbound replication,
replication management, and host control management. It also shows the total data read from and written to the
group targets.)
Table 10 describes the group iSCSI connection information provided for each iSCSI target.
Table 10: All iSCSI Connections
Column
Description
Target
Name of the connected volume or snapshot.
Host Initiator
Name
iSCSI initiator name of the host currently using the connection.
Host IP Address
IP address of the host currently using the iSCSI connection.
Port
Port on the group member used by the iSCSI connection.
Connection Time
Length of time the connection has been active.
Total Read
Amount of data that has been read over the iSCSI connection.
Total Write
Amount of data that has been written over the iSCSI connection.
Target Type
Displays if connection is to a volume snapshot or base volume.
Volume IQN
iSCSI qualified name of the volume or snapshot, using the format: IQN, year-month
date, reversed domain name, and optional prefix.
Network Information
For a selected group in the Servers and Groups tree, click Network to show the Network for Group window.
Click an option on the context link bar to view network information for all pools on the group or network
information for all members on the group (see Context Link Bar Options on page 44).
For the sample period for the data, the following charts show the total number of iSCSI connections, network
load percentage, percentage of all TCP segment packets sent to the group, and sent I/O and received I/O
(MB/sec).
Table 11 describes the general configuration information provided for the group.
Table 11: General Network Configuration Information
Column
Description
Number of
Number of iSCSI connections to the group, which includes snapshots, volumes, active
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Column
Description
iSCSI connections
inbound replication, replication management, and host control management. For a

detailed look at all iSCSI connections to the group, see iSCSI Connection Information
on page 40.
Management network enabled
Yes or no. If yes, the group has configured a dedicated management network, which
separates iSCSI traffic from group network management traffic. If no, a management
network is not configured.
Ports with DCB

support active
Total number of Ethernet ports with data center bridging enabled and active.
Ports with DCB

support inactive
Total number of Ethernet ports with data center bridging enabled but inactive.
Ports incompatible
with DCB
Total number of Ethernet ports with data center bridging disabled.
Table 12 describes the network load information provided for the group.
Table 12: Network Load Information
Column
Description
Total link speed
Sum of the negotiated link speeds for all active network interfaces in the group,
reported at half-duplex data transmission rate.
Active ports
Number of active network interfaces in the group. Ports connected to redundant control
modules are counted as one network interface.
TCP retransmit percentage
Percentage of all retransmitted TCP segment packets sent by the group. This TCP
retransmit percentage is tracked on each member, not on each network interface. A
TCP retransmit percentage greater than 1% might indicate insufficient bandwidth. For
more information, see How Your Group Monitoring Environment Affects TCP Retransmission Reporting on page 102.
TCP retransmits
Number of TCP segment packets retransmitted during the sample data period.
TCP out packets
Number of TCP segment packets successfully sent during the sample data period.
Table 13 describes the network rate information provided for the group.
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Table 13: Network Rate Information

Column
Description
Received
Group-received network trafficAverage per-second rate of network traffic received

by the group. Most received network traffic is for iSCSI write operations, although
group operations between members and replication activity can increase this rate.
Sent
Group-sent network trafficAverage per-second rate of network traffic sent by the

group. Most sent network traffic is for iSCSI read operations, although group operations between members and replication activity can increase this rate.
Total
Total group network trafficTotal average per-second rate of network traffic sent and
received by the group.
The Network Link meter indicates the estimated network load on the group as a percentage of total bandwidth.
The percentage displayed is either for sent data or received data, whichever is higher.
Expand the tree for Network information to show the Ports subcategory (see Network Port Information on page
43).
Network Port Information

The Network Ports for Group view shows the network throughput for all sent and received data (MB/sec) for the
sample period. The table below the chart shows the network port information for each member. Click an option
on the context link bar to view network ports for all pools on the group or network ports for all members in the
group (see Context Link Bar Options on page 44).
Table 14 describes the network port information provided for the group.
Table 14: Network Port Information
Column
Description
Member
Member in the group, repeated for each network interface. Select a member name to
view network information for that member (for example, glengrp - eth1).
Pool
Name of the pool in which the member resides.
Interface
Network interface name (for example, eth1). Selecting a member in the table shows
information for that particular network interface.
IPv4
Network interface address in version 4 format.
IPv6
Network interface address in version 6 format.
Received
Per-second rate at which the network interface is receiving data.
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Column
Description
Sent
Per-second rate at which the network interface is sending data.
Link Speed
Negotiated link speed for all active network interfaces, reported at half-duplex transmission rate.
Operational Status
Up or down. Indicates whether the network interface is operational. This status can
appear as down even though the administrator status is up.
Packet Errors
Total number of TCP packet errors.
Last Modified
Date and time the network interface was last modified or when the array restarted.
Port Type
Indicates whether the port can be used for iSCSI and management traffic or only for
management traffic.
Data Center Bridging Status
Indicates whether the Ethernet port is compatible and enabled for DCB, or disabled.
Retransmit Percentage
Percentage of all retransmitted TCP segment packets sent by an individual network

port.
Context Link Bar Options

Within each information category (see Group Information Categories on page 31), you can view groupwide data
(Groups) or data that is restricted to a specific group object: Pools, Members, Volumes, and Volume Collections.
Use the down arrow to show all items (for example, for Volumes, a list of all volumes in the group ) or a
particular item (for example, an individual volume, such as testvol01). You can select an item from the dropdown menu to further restrict the view to a particular item. Figure 7 shows the context link bar options when they
are expanded.
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Figure 7: Context Link Bar Options
By default, Group is selected when you view any information category for a group. Click an option on the
context link bar to show information restricted to that object:
Group (default)Displays groupwide data for the group information category you are viewing. For example,
for I/O information, SAN HQ displays the average I/O size, average IOPS, average latency, average I/O
rate, and average queue depth.
PoolsDisplays data for all pools on the group (for example, the capacity of all pools on a group) or for an
individual pool. When viewing all pools on the group, you can access individual pools from the list in the
lower panel.
MembersDisplays data for all members or for individual members. When viewing all members in the
group, you can access individual members from the list in the lower panel.
VolumesDisplays data for all online volumes. The drop-down menu lists the individual volumes you can
select. The volume icons indicate the type of volume: standard (fully provisioned), thin-provisioned, template, thin clone, and NAS (see Identifying Volumes on page 51).
Volume CollectionsDisplays data for all volume collections or for individual volume collections.
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In some cases, the Volume Collections windows display data for the group. Click the GUI tooltip for details.
An option on the context link bar that does not apply to an information category appears dimmed, with the
exception of the Group object, which always appears dimmed when selected.
Using 95th Percentile Reporting

95th percentile reporting lets you set the GUI display to factor out data spikes (the top 5% of data) and display
only the data that is typical of the average. When managing your storage environment, this reporting helps you
access a more realistic look at your normal operation.
You apply 95th percentile reporting on both groupwide (summary) data or data restricted to a specific object
(groups, pools, members, volumes, and volume collections). Table 15 shows where you can set the display to the
95th percentile for summary or detailed data in the SAN HQ GUI.
Table 15: 95th Percentile Reporting
Object
95% Reporting appears in:
Group
Summary data of the selected group

I/O data for the specific group
Network data for the selected group
Pools
Summary data of all pools on the selected group

I/O data for all pools on the selected group
I/O data for a specific pool on the selected group
Network data for all pools on the selected group
Network data for a specific pool on the selected group
Members
Summary data of all members in the selected group

I/O data for all members of the selected group
I/O data for a specific member of the selected group
Network data for all members of the selected group
Network data for a specific member of the selected group
Volumes
Summary data of all volumes on the selected group

I/O data for all volumes on the selected group
I/O data for a specific volume on the selected group
Volume Collections
Summary data of all volume collections on the selected

group
I/O data for all volume collections on the selected group
I/O data for a specific volume collection on the selected
group
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By default, SAN HQ sets the view to Standard. For example, the standard view for group I/O might resemble
the example in Figure 8, where write I/O data spikes reach 30KB and write IOPS spikes are 1100 seconds.
Figure 8: Standard View for Group I/O
To set 95th percentile reporting, click the 95th% button in any of the views indicated in Table 15. For example,
when you set the view to 95th% in the example in Figure 8, SAN HQ filters out the data spikes; in this case, the
maximum write I/O is under 12KB and write IOPS under 900 seconds (see Figure 9). For more information, see
Control Chart Display on page 66.
Figure 9: 95th Percentile View for Group I/O
Note: When switching from Standard view to 95th percentile reporting, both summary and specific data can
show missing data if either the beginning or ending data points appearing in Standard view are the high point of
the graph. Because 95th percentile reporting factors out the top 5% spikes, the polling period appears shorter at
either the beginning or end of the graph.
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Displaying Data from Different Times

In the SAN HQ GUI, graphs show group data from a specific time period. Tables and circle graphs show data
from a single point of time or show data that is averaged over a selected time period.
For example, by default, graphs display data from the most recent 8-hour time period, and tables and circle
graphs display data from the most recent poll.
You can display data from a different time period by using the GUI navigation features shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10: GUI Timeline, Graphs, and Tables
The following numbered items correspond to the callouts in Figure 10.

Callout 1 Timeline
Displays a range of dates for which group data is available. Use the left and right arrows next to the timeline or
the zoom links to change the dates in the timeline.
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Callout 2 Time range selector

Shown as a gray rectangle on the timeline, controls the time range for the information that appears in the graphs.
You can select the time range selector and stretch it along the timeline to set the time range, or you can use the
zoom links. You can also select and move the selector along the timeline to change the dates of the time range.
By default, when you first view the Summary of Group window, the timeline shows the most recent 10 days, and
the time range selector is set to display data from the most recent 8-hour time period.
Callout 3 Zoom links
Enable you to quickly set the value of the time range selector and also control the range of dates in the timeline:
Click Show Latest to show data up to the most recent poll. If you move the selector to the far right of the
timeline, Show Latest is automatically selected. If you move the selector to the left, Show Latest is automatically deselected.
Click 1hr, 8hr, 1d, 7d, or 30d to set the time range selector to 1 hour, 8 hours, 1 day, 7 days, or 30 days,
respectively.
The link for a specific time range appears only after SAN HQ has gathered data for this amount of time.
Click All to show all the dates for which data is available in the timeline.
Click Custom to specify a specific range of dates to show in the timeline.
Callout 4 Available data

Shows the beginning date and time and the end date and time for which data is available for the group. This
range represents the time period (up to the most recent year) that SAN HQ has gathered group data.
Callout 5 Selected range
Shows the current setting for the time range. Graphs show data obtained during this time period.
Callout 6 Showing data captured
Shows the date and time for the data displayed in the tables and circle graphs. By default, the tables and circle
graphs show data from the most recent time in the selected time range.
Callout 7 Data graphs
Show data from the selected time range. Place the cursor over a graph legend to obtain help information about
the data.
To obtain a data point for a graph, the SAN HQ Server calculates the average of the data collected from two
consecutive polling operations.
Place the cursor over a point in time on a graph to display a tooltip with information about the data point,
including the polling (or sampling) period used to obtain the data.
In a graph, you can also:
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Click a point in time to display data in tables and circle graphs from that time.
Use the pointer to select a time range in a graph. Tables and circle graphs will show data that is averaged
over this time range.
Use the left and right arrow keys to move back and forth in a graph.
If your pointer has a wheel, use it to zoom into and zoom out of a graph.
If SAN HQ is unable to communicate with a group because of a significant event in the group, such as control module restart or failover or a firmware upgrade operation, or if you have an unsupported hardware configuration, some data points might be missing from the graphs.
Callout 8 Data tables and circle graphs

By default, shows data from the latest time in the selected time range. However:
If you click a point in time in a graph, shows data from that specific time.
If you select a time range in the graphs, shows data averaged over that time range.
Place the cursor over the question mark next to a table or over a circle graph legend to obtain help information
about the data.
Callout 9 Display mode
Toggles between a display of the currently selected data in either 95th percentile or Standard mode. The 95th
percentile mode factors out the top 5 percent of data spikes for a more accurate representation of your activity.
Standard mode displays all data points including spikes.
Callout 10 Polling status
Shows the status of the most recent polling operation. A successful SNMP poll is required to obtain up-to-date
group information. Status can be as follows:
SuccessfulIndicates that the SNMP poll was successful.
FailedIndicates that SAN HQ cannot contact the group. In this case, an alert describing the problem is generated and displays in the Alerts tab at the bottom of the window.
Member RebootedIndicates a member reboot.
An increasing polling period indicates that group performance is degrading or a network problem prevented the
group from responding to SNMP requests in a timely manner. SAN HQ increases the default polling period (2
minutes) by increments of 20% until the group responds to SNMP requests. When the workload returns to normal
or the network problems resolve, SAN HQ decreases the polling period by decrements of 20% until it returns to
the default interval.
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Missing Data Points in Graphs

Some data points might be missing from the SAN HQ GUI graphs. Missing data points can occur in the
following circumstances:
If SAN HQ is unable to communicate with a group because of a significant event in the group, such as control module restart or failover or a firmware upgrade operation.
If you have an unsupported hardware configuration that prevents SAN HQ from obtaining certain information.
You reinstalled SAN HQ (using the previous installations log file directory) after some period of time. No
data was collected for the time during which SAN HQ was not installed.
Identifying Volumes
SAN HQ provides several ways to quickly identify online volumes by type. When you select a group from the
Servers and Groups tree to display groupwide data, click the down arrow for the Volumes context link option. A
drop-down list of all volumes in the group appears, with icons indicating the volume type: standard (fully
provisioned), thin-provisioned, template, thin clone,and NAS (see Table 16). For information about these volume
types, see the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Manual.
Table 16: Volume Type Icons
Volume Type
Icon
Description
Standard
Yellow cylinder
Thin Provisioned
Green and yellow cylinder
Template
Blue cylinder
Thin Clone
Green and blue cylinder
NAS
Purple cylinder (NAS volumes use the NAS cluster name as a prefix)
You can also determine volume types from the following views:
All Groups Capacity Summary
Capacity of Group (for all volumes)
All Groups Volume I/O Summary
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Add a Group for Monitoring

SAN HQ provides a complete look at your SAN when you add PS Series groups for monitoring. You can add a
group either from the SAN HQ Client GUI or from a command line.
Groups must meet the requirements described in PS Series Group Requirements on page 11. In addition, to
successfully monitor a PS Series group, you must meet the SAN HQ prerequisites described in
SAN Headquarters Prerequisites for Adding a Group on page 52.
SAN Headquarters Prerequisites for Adding a Group

For SAN HQ to monitor a PS Series group, you must meet the following prerequisites:
The group must meet the requirements in PS Series Group Requirements on page 11.
To add a group, the computer running the SAN HQ GUI must have read/write access to the log file directory
and the network file share, if applicable. If the Add Group button is not active in the GUI, you do not have
the correct permission. See Log File Directory Requirements on page 14.
To configure single sign-on for the group when adding a group, you must meet the requirements described in
Single Sign-On Requirements on page 75. You can configure single sign-on at a later time.
To enable automatic diagnostic data gathering by SupportAssist, you can choose to enable SupportAssist
when adding a group. For information, see Configuring SupportAssist When Adding a New Group on page
184.
Add a Group from the SAN Headquarters GUI

To add a group for monitoring from the SAN HQ Client GUI:
1. Start the SAN HQ GUI (see Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI on page 5).
2. Select a server if more than one is available (see Add a Server on page 57).
3. Select SAN HQ then Add New Group from the menu bar or click the Add Group button from the toolbar. The
Welcome to the Add Group Wizard dialog box appears.
Note: If your login account does not have the proper privileges, this option appears dimmed. To correct the
problem, right-click the server name in the Servers and Groups tree and select Change Login Credentials. Enter the credentials for the SAN HQ Server monitoring this group.
4. In the PS Series Group Information dialog box, enter:
52
Group IP addressIP address for the group (or management address if a dedicated management network
is configured in the group). Alternatively, you can enter the DNS name for the group.
SNMP community nameThis name must already be configured in the group. You can obtain the SNMP
community name by using the Group Manager GUI or CLI. For example, in the Group Manager GUI,
click Group Configuration, then select SNMP.
SupportAssist functionalitySelected by default, enables SupportAssist to be configured for diagnostic
data collection. For information about configuring SupportAssist, see Configuring SupportAssist When
Adding a New Group on page 184.
Single sign-on credentialsOptionally, select Enable and specify a group administration account name
and password that SAN HQ stores for future use. After you enter these credentials, you can run the GUI
as a standalone application and log in to the group without entering an account name and password. You
can also configure single sign-on at a later time. See Launch Group Manager with Single Sign-On on
page 74 for more information and requirements.
Select Disable if you do not want to configure single sign-on at this time.
5. Click Next.
Note: If you chose to enable SupportAssist in the previous step, you will be directed to the EULA page for
the SupportAssist feature, and additional configuration steps. See step 4 in Configuring SupportAssist
When Adding a New Group on page 184 for accepting the EULA, and then follow the remaining steps
in that section to configure SupportAssist when adding a new group.
6. In the E-Mail Notification dialog box, you can optionally set up email notification of alerts. In the dialog box,
you can select:
Do not send e-mail alertsSelect
this option if you do not want to configure email notification at
this time.
Send e-mail alerts using group settingsUse
the email notification settings already configured in
the group for email notification of alerts.
Send e-mail alerts using these settingsUse
the settings you specify in the dialog box for email

notification of alerts. Specify the following information:
SMTP server and optional port
Text for subject field (optional)
Email address to use in the From field
One or more email addresses that will receive notification (enter one address on each line, or use a
list of addresses separated by commas or semicolons)
See Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts on page 72 for more information.
7. Click Next.
8. In the Size Information for Log Files and Event and Audit Log Files dialog box, enter:
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Log file sizeFor each monitored group, SAN HQ maintains 13 log files. The default size for each log
file is 5MB, the minimum size is 2MB, and the maximum size is 10MB. Use the slider to change the
default log file size.
Using a larger log file size than the default size (5MB) enables you to store more-precise data, but it
might have a slightly negative impact on response time of the SAN HQ GUI. If you use a log file size
that is smaller than the default size, data will be less precise, but response time might improve. See How
Data Is Compressed in Log Files on page 101.
Event file sizeOptionally, if you want to use the computer running the SAN HQ Server as a syslog
server for the group, use the slider to change the default size of the event log file, which stores event
messages from the group. The default size of the event log file is 5MB, the minimum size is 2MB, and
the maximum size is 20MB. When messages have consumed all the free space in the event file, new
messages overwrite the oldest messages. See Syslog Event Logging on page 96.
9. The Completing the Wizard dialog box presents a summary of the information you provided. Click Add Group
to add the group to the monitoring list. Click Back to make changes.
For valid information, SAN HQ tries to connect to the group. This attempt might take several minutes. If SAN
HQ cannot connect to the group, it displays a dialog box allowing you to reenter the group IP address or
DNS name, and the SNMP community name. Click Retry to attempt the connection again.
After successfully adding a group, the SAN HQ Server starts to gather group data. Data appears in the SAN HQ
GUI graphs and tables as successive polling operations occur. Polling can take up to 10 minutes, depending on
the group workload.
You can also add a group using a script/CLI-based method, which provides a subset of the options in the GUIs
Add Group wizard. For information, see Adding a Group to the Monitoring List from the Command Line on page
54.
Adding a Group to the Monitoring List from the Command Line

The SANHQClient executable, along with optional parameters, lets you add a group for monitoring from the
command line. The command options provide a subset of the full options in the Add Group wizard (see Add a
Group from the SAN Headquarters GUI on page 52).
Use the following general command syntax to add a group:
# SANHQClient.exe [Server Selection] [Operation] [Group Identifier] -Community
[Optional Log Size Parameters] [Optional Email Configuration]
Table 17 defines the command-line options and associated parameters.

Table 17: Add Group CLI Command Options
Option
Command Parameter
Description
Server Selection
DefaultServer
Requests that the group be added to the current default SAN HQ Server.
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Option
Command Parameter
Description
ServerName=server-name
Requests that the group be added to a

specific server by its display name.
Log=server-log-direc-
Requests that the group be added to a specific

server by its log directory path
tory
Operation
AddGroup
Specifies that you are adding a group. Use the

optional and required parameters listed in
Table 18 for this command parameter.
Group Identifier
IPAddress=group-IP-
Specifies the groups well-known address for

identification and initial detection.
address
Name=group-DNS-name
Specifies the groups DNS name for identification or initial detection.
Table 18 defines the required and optional parameters for the -AddGroup parameter.
Table 18: Optional and Required Parameters for AddGroup
AddGroup
Parameter
Parameter
Description
Community=
Specifies the groups read-only SNMP community name used to collect detailed group data
during SAN HQ polling.
Required Parameters
AddGroup
snmp-community-name
Optional Parameters
AddGroup
LogSize=[210]
Specifies the size in MB for each of the groups

14 log files. Enter a value between 2 and 10; the
default is 5MB.
EventLogSize=[220]
Specifies the size in MB for each of the groups

syslog files. Enter a value between 2 and 20; the
default is 5MB.
UseGroupEmail
Specifies that the group should be configured for

alert email notification using the current email
options configured on the group. Equivalent to
-UseGroupEmailSettings. Do not use with
SMTPServer.
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AddGroup
Parameter
Parameter
Description
UseGroupEmailSettings

alert email notification using the current email
options configured on the group. Equivalent to
UseGroupEmail. Do not use with
SMTPServer.
SMTPServer=SMTPserver-IP or DNS-name

alert email notification using the supplied SMTP
server. Use To to specify the email recipient
list. Do not use with UseGroupEmail or
UseGroupEmailSettings.
To=email-recipient-
Specifies the comma- or semicolon-separated

email recipient list used when sending alert
email notifications to the specified
SMTP server. This command is required when
using SMTPServer and cannot be used with
UseGroupEmail or Use-GroupEmailSettings.
list
AddGroup
Email
SMTPPort=
SMTP-servers-portnumber
Subject=subject-line
Specifies the port number to be used when sending alert email notifications to the specified
SMTP server. This command cannot be used
with UseGroupEmail or
UseGroupEmailSettings.
Specifies the subject line used when sending
alert email notifications to the specified SMTP
server. This command cannot be used with UseGroupEmail or
Use-GroupEmailSettings. The default is
SAN HQ Notification Alert.
Manage Server Monitoring

You can set up a SAN Headquarters Client to connect to and monitor multiple servers from a single location.
These servers can exist in different physical locations, provided that network connectivity is present between the
client and server.
If one or more servers are running a newer version of the client, a dialog box appears for you to upgrade the
client (see Upgrading the Client Monitoring Multiple Servers on page 58).
Data monitored from the servers is stored in separate log file locations. If the log files are incompatible, you can
remove the server from monitoring or upgrade to the newer log file format.
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The Servers and Groups tree shows a summary of all servers available. Selecting a server shows all groups
monitored by that server.
To add a server, see Add a Server on page 57. To remove a server, see Remove a Server on page 58. Note that
you cannot remove the default server, nor the last server monitored. To upgrade the client monitoring the server,
see Upgrading the Client Monitoring Multiple Servers on page 58.
Add a Server
To monitor groups on additional servers, from client-only installations you can add a new server from the SAN
HQ GUI:
1. Select the SAN HQ menu item, then select Add New Server or click Add New Server from the toolbar.
Alternatively, right-click SAN HQ Servers from the top of the Servers and Groups tree, then select Add New
Server. The Add New SAN Headquarters Server wizard appears, which guides you to provide all required
information. Click Next.
Note: The servers you add can be in different physical locations, provided that you have network con-
nectivity between the client and server.

2. Enter server connection information required to initialize the connection to the server:
a. Enter the remote log directory path of the server to be monitored. You can specify either the server
DNS name or IP address. Specify the share name when supplying an IP address.
b. Enter a server display name to reference the SAN HQ Server you are adding. You can choose any name
or use the server IP address. (This field is automatically populated using the DNS name or IP address
from step a.)
c. Click Next.
3. When you add a server with TCP/IP enabled, you must enter your authentication credentials for access to the
remote server. The supplied credentials generate a validation ID for subsequent logins without needing to
store the password. If the credentials you enter cannot be validated, then the connection to the server will be
degraded. This degradation might result in slower performance and disable advanced features such as Live
View. After you enter valid credentials, the server's communication interface is established. The default
TCP/IP port is 8000 during the installation, although you can configure the server to use a different port.
Click Next.
Note: If the server port has been updated but the server has not been restarted to reflect the changes, you
will not be able to add the server until the server restarts to reflect the changed port number.
4. The Add Server Connection Summary dialog box shows a summary of the information you entered for the
new connection. If the information is correct, click Add Server. Otherwise, use the Back button to reenter
information.
57
When you click Add Server, you are connected to the server you added. It might take a few minutes for the
groups on the server to poll. If the connection cannot be made, a message appears indicating the problem (for
example, invalid credentials).
Changing the Default Server

On newer versions of Windows operating systems, if you launch SAN HQ from the administrator account, you
can change the server you added to become the default server. Right-click an available server and select Make
This Default Server from the drop-down menu. The server icon changes with a yellow diamond to show that
this server is now the default server.
Remove a Server
To remove a new server from the SAN HQ GUI:
1. Right-click the server you want to remove from the Servers and Groups tree, then select Remove Server.
You are asked to confirm removing the server.
2. Click Yes to remove the server from monitoring.
Note: You cannot remove the default server to SAN HQ. The Remove Server options appear dimmed.
Upgrading the Client Monitoring Multiple Servers

After adding servers to monitor groups (see Add a Server on page 57), when you launch the SAN HQ Client, if
one or more servers have a newer version of the client, a dialog box appears that enables you to upgrade the
client before continuing. Depending on the scenario, you can upgrade, remove, ignore, or exit. For example, if
the log files are incompatible, you can remove the server and upgrade to a compatible version. Note that the
default server cannot be removed, nor the last server monitored.
The following scenarios describe various conditions you might encounter.
Scenario 1: A newer version of the client is running on the default server (vm2). In this case, you must upgrade
to the newer version. SAN HQ selected the newest server by default. Click the Upgrade button to copy log files
and install the newer version of the client (Figure 11).
58
Figure 11: Scenario 1SAN HQ Client Requires Upgrade
Scenario 2: A newer version of the client exists on two servers. In this scenario, the selected server (fservice)
is at a lower client version than the default server (vm2). Continuing to select that server will require a second
upgrade, as indicated in the warning message at the bottom of the dialog box (Figure 12).
Figure 12: Scenario 2SAN HQ Client Requires Upgrade
Scenario 3: In this scenario, SAN HQ detected a newer version of two servers running the client. The nondefault server (fservice) is running the newest version and therefore is selected by default. However, SAN HQ
determined that the log files are incompatible with the current version and added a Remove button to that line
(Figure 13).
59
Figure 13: Scenario 3SAN HQ Client Requires Upgrade or Incompatible Server Removed
When you click Remove, the dialog box reappears with the default server (vm1) selected. As before, the top
message indicates that the current SAN HQ Client version (2.5) should be upgraded to the selected version (in
this case, server vm1 at version 3.0, Figure 14).
Figure 14: Scenario 3Incompatible Server Removed
When you upgrade to the newest version, SAN HQ informs you that the files are being copied and when the
copy operation is complete.
Verifying and Modifying Access to Log Files

When you start the SAN HQ Client, it verifies that all log directory paths are accessible.
Figure 15 shows a dialog box that indicates the server name and associated log file directory, and whether it is
reachable. This example uses five servers, for one of which the log directory is unreachable. When you click the
Retry link, a dialog box presents information about all the connected servers. You can review this information
and, if you want, remove the non-default server. Otherwise, you can ignore the condition or exit the client.
60
Figure 15: Log Directory Path Verification Dialog Box
61
62
4 Configuring and Managing the Group Monitoring

Environment
After installing SAN Headquarters and adding PS Series groups for monitoring, you can further configure and
modify your group monitoring environment.
SAN Headquarters Settings

Using the Settings link below the Servers and Groups tree or the Settings menu, you can access the SAN HQ
Settings pages. By default, the General Settings page is displayed, with additional settings options listed in the
panel on the left side.
You can change the following types of settings:
General Settings, including the GUI theme and graph colors, installation settings (and log file directory), tooltips settings, display format of charts, temperature settings, and alert display settings. For more information,
see:
Control GUI Appearance on page 64
Display Installation Settings on page 64
Change the Log File Directory on page 65
Control Client Startup Settings to Detect Firewall Rules on page 65
Control Tooltips on page 66
Control Chart Display on page 66
Control Temperature Display Settings on page 66
Hide Disabled Email Alerts on page 67
E-mail Settings (see Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts on page 72 ).
Group Settings, which enable or disable single sign-on (see Enable Single Sign-On / Modify Login Credentials on page 75).
Hidden Group Settings, which filter out the display of specific groups from monitoring by a user. By hiding
groups, you do not disrupt data gathering, you only hide the group from a user (see Hide Groups in the GUI
on page 70).
Favorites Settings (see Adding and Managing Favorite Views on page 77), from which you can select the
favorite settings that you want to remove.
You can also view information about the following settings:
63
If you configured multiple servers, view information about the servers from Server Settings (see
SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings on page 67). You must perform a full installation of the
SAN HQ Server and Client for the Server Settings option to appear.
If you configured and enabled SupportAssist to monitor your PS Series groups, you can view information for
all configured groups from SupportAssist Settings (see SupportAssist Configuration Settings on page 68). For
more information about setting up and using SupportAssist to collect and upload PS Series group diagnostics,
see Configuring and Using SupportAssist on page 175.
Control GUI Appearance

From the General Settings page, you can set the theme and colors of the GUI.
To change the appearance of the SAN HQ GUI:
1. Click Settings in the lower-left GUI panel. The General Settings page appears by default.
2. In the GUI Appearance panel:
Set the theme for the GUI windowsYou can use the theme that matches your operating system or you
can select another theme available on the system.
Change the colors used in the GUI graphsYou can use a predefined color scheme or select your own
colors.
3. Click Apply to implement and save the changes.
Display Installation Settings

To display installation settings in the SAN HQ GUI:
1. Click Settings in the lower-left panel. The General Settings page appears by default.
2. In the Installation Settings panel, the following information appears:
Installation TypeClient Only, when connected remotely to a SAN HQ Server; or Full, when running
on the system with the SAN HQ Server.
Installation DirectoryWhere you installed the SAN HQ software.
Log File DirectoryLocation of the log files maintained by the SAN HQ Server. If you have the correct
permission, you can change the location of the log files. See Change the Log File Directory on page 65.
This information does not appear if you are running a multiserver remote client.
Log File Directory In-Use SpaceServer only. The current amount of space in use by the log files.
Server InformationFor a client-only installation, provides the installation directory location, servers
monitored, and client cache directory location.
Client Cache DirectoryLocal directory for caching data related to SAN HQ. The directory does not
appear if you are running the SAN HQ Server.
3. Click any directory link to open the directory.
64
Change the Log File Directory

You can use the SAN HQ GUI to change the location of the log files where the SAN HQ Server stores group
data.
The following requirements apply:
To modify the log file directory, you must be running the SAN HQ Server.
Before changing the log file directory, close any SAN HQ GUI sessions that are accessing the log files,
except for the GUI session that will perform the change.
Make sure the new log file directory meets the requirements described in Log File Directory Requirements
on page 14.
Note: SAN HQ automatically restarts the SAN HQ Server after the log file location is changed.
To change the log file location:

1. Click Settings in the lower-left GUI panel. The General Settings page displays.
2. In the Installation Settings panel, click Change. The Change Log Files Directory Welcome dialog box
appears. Click Next to start the wizard.
3. In the Change Log Files DirectoryNew Location dialog box, specify:
New log file directory location

Optionally, whether to delete the original log files and directory after the files are copied to the new location
4. Click Copy to start the copy operation.

5. When the Change Log Files DirectoryRestart GUI dialog box appears, click Restart GUI.
If you chose to keep the original log file directory, you can manually delete the log files and directory.
Control Client Startup Settings to Detect Firewall Rules

From the General Settings page, you can set the client startup to automatically detect if the Microsoft Windows
firewall is enabled and if it has proper rules to allow TCP/IP communication to the local SAN HQ Server. If
SAN HQ detects that a Windows firewall is enabled but does not have access rules to allow
TCP/IP communication, it displays a dialog box asking if you would like to automatically add these rules.
To enable this feature in client startup:
1. Click Settings in the lower-left GUI panel. The General Settings page appears.
2. In the Client Startup Settings panel, select Check for Windows Firewall rules at Client startup.
65
Control Tooltips
From the General Settings page, you can determine how tooltips appear in the GUI. By default, when you move
the pointer over a point in time in a graph, tooltips appear that display data from the selected time. Similarly,
when you move the pointer over a graph legend, tooltips appear with definitions of the data.
To control tooltip behavior:
2. In the Tooltip Settings panel, turn tooltips on or off by selecting or deselecting the choices listed.
Control Chart Display

You can set your display of charts to be standard view or 95th percentile. Standard mode displays all data points
in charts, including high spikes. 95th percentile mode factors out the top 5% of data spikes. For information about
using 95th percentile reporting, see Using 95th Percentile Reporting on page 46.
To change the chart display:
2. In the Chart Display Settings panel, select either Standard or 95th percentile from the drop-down list.
Optionally, you can check the box to restore all displays to the default.
Control Temperature Display Settings

From the General Settings page, you can set the temperature values to display across SAN HQ as either
Fahreheit (F) or Celsius (C). SAN HQ automatically sets the default temperature based on the operating
system's current culture settings.
To set the temperature display values:
2. In the Temperature Display Settings panel, select either Fahrenheit or Celsius.
66
Hide Disabled Email Alerts

From the General Settings page, you can hide alerts that are not configured for email notification.
2. In the Alert Display Settings panel, select Hide all disabled email alerts from the User Interface.
SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings

When you perform a full installation of the SAN HQ Server and Client, Server Settings appears as an option
from the Settings link. When you click Server Settings, the SAN Headquarters Service Configuration page
appears, from which you can change the startup settings, connection settings for the client, server email
notification settings, and PS Series group connectivity test settings.
The SAN HQ service can be started either running the Local Service account (default) or with specific user
account credentials. For the SAN HQ service to use a network log directory, the service must be running as a
domain user. If you have administrative privileges, you can change the startup settings for the service in the
Startup Settings panel. Dell recommends that you configure to run as a specific user and supply a user name and
password.
The SAN HQ Server is capable of using an advanced communication infrastructure. In the Connection Settings
for Client panel, you can specify a host name (or IP address) and a port number that will be used by all clients
for advanced communication. SAN HQ clients that do not have the correct connection information will use a
degraded connection format that retrieves only a subset of data from the server. For more information, see
Degraded Connection Status on page 67.
If you set up to provide email notification of alerts for a group, you can change the default notification delay
from 6 hours to 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 hours, or 1, 2, or 7 days. Select the delay period from the drop-down menu in the
Server E-Mail Notification Frequency panel.
Degraded Connection Status

Connection status is displayed for each server in the All SAN Headquarters Servers window. When a degraded
connection is encountered (for example, failed TCP/IP communication), SAN HQ reports the condition. The
SAN HQ Client displays a list of all servers currently being monitored in the Servers and Groups tree. A gold
icon next to a server name indicates a degraded connection to the server.
Several possible scenarios can cause a degraded connection:
Connection credentials cannot be validated when connecting to the SAN HQ Server.
TCP/IP communication to the specified port cannot be established.
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SAN HQ clients cannot communicate with the server.
Connection Credentials Could Not Be Validated

The user credentials could not be validated when connecting to the server. SAN HQ reports the connection
status as Verify Connection Credentials, as shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16: Degraded Connection Status Verify Connection Credentials
To correct this problem:

1. Right-click the server name in the Servers and Groups tree and select Change Login Credential.
2. In the dialog box, resupply the credentials of theSAN HQ Server monitoring this group. Note that these
credentials must be resolved by the server to validate successfully.
Direct Connection Is Unavailable

TCP/IP communication to the specified port cannot be established. Typically, this scenario results from a
firewall on the server side not allowing communication. SAN HQ reports the degraded connection status as
Direct Connection Unavailable.
To correct this problem, add a rule to allow the SAN HQ Server process (SanHQServer.exe) communication to
the port specified during installation.
Server Restart Is Pending

The SAN HQ clients cannot communicate with the server. In this scenario, the SAN HQ Client notifies you of a
server settings change that requires a restart. SAN HQ reports the degraded connection status as Pending
Server Restart.
To correct this problem, verify that the SAN HQ Server process, eqlxperf, is restarted and listed in Windows
services.

To access the SupportAssist configuration settings, either:
68
Click SupportAssist in the lower-left panel.
From the SAN HQ menu bar, select SupportAssist and then SupportAssist Settings.
The SupportAssist Settings Configuration Settings page appears. Use the upper-left panel to navigate to the
activity log for recent SupportAssist activity, to a list of customer support cases reported back to SupportAssist,
or back to the SupportAssist configuration page.
For information about the SupportAssist configuration settings, see SupportAssist Configuration Settings on page
196. For information about recent SupportAssist activity reported in the activity log, see SupportAssist Activity
Log on page 200. For information about open Dell Support cases reported to SupportAssist, see Display Support
Case Information on page 209.
Managing Group Monitoring

Monitoring a PS Series array group involves several management tasks:
Remove a Group from the Monitor List on page 69
Sort the List of Monitored Groups on page 70
Hide Groups in the GUI on page 70
Increase the Log File Size on page 71
Modify the SNMP Community Name for a Group on page 72
Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts on page 72
Stop Group Monitoring on page 74
Remove a Group from the Monitor List

When you no longer want to monitor a group, you can remove it from the list of groups that is monitored by the
SAN HQ Server. SAN HQ deletes the log files containing group data, and the GUI no longer shows group data.
Alternatively, you can temporarily stop monitoring a group, retaining the log files and data. See Stop Group
Monitoring on page 74.
Note: To remove a group from the list of monitored groups, the computer running the SAN HQ GUI must have
read/write permission to the log file directory and the network file share, if applicable. On Windows Vista
operating systems and later, if the group was added by a client running as the administrator, then the group might
require that you set Run as administrator to enable administrative privileges to make any group modifications.
To remove a group from the list of monitored groups:
1. Select the group from the Servers and Groups tree. The Summary of Group window appears (Figure 4).
2. (Optional) To preserve logged data, create an archive. See Group Data Archives on page 165.
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3. From the Group menu, select Remove From Monitoring List.

4. In the confirmation dialog box, select Remove the group and delete the log files.
You are also given the choice to temporarily stop monitoring the group and keep the log files, as described in
Stop Group Monitoring on page 74.
Sort the List of Monitored Groups

You can sort the list of groups you are monitoring and adjust the presentation for best fit.
To sort the list of groups in the Servers and Groups tree:
1. Right click on Default Server or a server you added and then select Sort By.
2. Select Name to display alphabetically ascending or descending. The up or down arrow indicates the direction
the next sort will take.
3. Select Online Status to display online groups at the top of the tree.
To sort the list of groups from the All Groups Monitored by Server window:
1. On the Servers and Groups tree, select Default Server or a server you added.
2. Right-click on the Group column head, and select any of the following options:
Select Sort Ascending to sort in ascending alphabetic order.

Select Sort Descending to sort in descending alphabetic order.
Select Clear Sorting to return to the original sort order.
Select Best Fit to expand or collapse the column to ideal width.
Select Best Fit (all columns) or adjust all columns to ideal width.
Hide Groups in the GUI

You can filter a group view by hiding specific groups in the SAN HQ GUI. Although you hide the group in the
GUI display, SAN HQ continues gathering data for that group. You can later resume viewing the group data.
To hide a group:
1. In the Servers and Groups tree, right-click the name of the group that you want to hide.
2. Select Hide Group Information.
To resume viewing group data:
1. Click Settings, then click Hidden Group Settings. The Edit Hidden Groups page appears.
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2. Select the checkbox next to the hidden group to view.

3. Click Show Groups.
You can also access the Edit Hidden Groups page by right-clicking in the Servers and Groups tree panel and
selecting Edit Hidden Groups.
Increase the Log File Size

Increasing the log file size allows more data to be stored in the logs before the data becomes compressed.
Uncompressed data is a more precise representation of the status of the group at that time, therefore increasing
the overall accuracy of the tool.
The following restrictions apply:
The option to increase log file size can be selected only by a user with full access to the log location.
Increasing the log size might cause the amount of time required to load the logs to also increase due to the
extra levels of detail.
After you increase the log size, you cannot decrease the size without removing the group from SAN HQ and
deleting the existing logs.
To increase the log file size:

1. In the Servers and Groups tree, select a group, then from the Group menu, select Increase Log File Size.
You can also right-click a specific group in the Servers and Groups tree, then select Increase Log File
Size. The Increase Log File Size dialog box appears.
Alternatively, to change the log file size of several groups from one location, select a server or group from
the list in the Servers and Groups tree. From the SAN HQ menu bar, select Settings, then Group Settings.
The Group Settings page appears, showing all groups for that server.
a. In the list of group names, check the box to the left of the group for which you want to increase the log
file size.
b. In the Log File Size column, click Change Size. The Increase Log File dialog box appears.
2. In the Increase Log File dialog box, use the slider to increase the log file size.
3. Select the checkbox to acknowledge that you understand that you cannot later decrease the log file size.
4. Click OK.
For related information about how data is compressed in log files, see How Data Is Compressed in Log Files on
page 101.
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Modify the SNMP Community Name for a Group

To monitor a PS Series group, the SNMP community name that SAN HQ uses to access a group must match the
name that is already configured in the group.
If the PS Series group administrator changes the SNMP community name in the group, you must make the
corresponding change in SAN HQ.
You can obtain the name by using the Group Manager GUI or CLI. For example, in the Group Manager GUI,
click Group Configuration, then click SNMP.
Note: To change the SNMP community name for a group, the computer running the SAN HQ GUI must have
read/write permission to the log file directory and the network file share, if applicable. See Log File Directory
To change the SNMP community name for a group:
1. From Settings, select Group Settings. The Group Settings page appears.
Note: If the page is labeled as read-only, you do not have the correct credentials for changing the SNMP
community name.
2. Select the groups SNMP community name and modify the name.
3. Click Apply.
Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts

The SAN HQ GUI displays group alerts in the Alerts panel at the bottom of each GUI window. Alerts include
issues related to SAN HQ operation (such as an SNMP timeout), performance problems (such as a high load),
and group alarms (for example, a failed control module).
Optionally, you can configure email notification of alerts when you add a group or at a later time. If you
configure email notification for a group, the computer running the SAN HQ Server sends email messages to
designated addresses when an alert occurs. This feature enables administrators to be promptly informed of
potential problems in a monitored group.
Each new alert generates an email message. Subsequent alerts for the same problem are combined into a single
email message every 6 hours to limit redundant messages.
The SAN HQ Server also can construct combined email notifications for any alerts still active on a group. To
limit redundant messages, you can adjust the time between these combined email notifications from the default
of 6 hours. For information, see SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings on page 67.
Note: If an issue that generates a SAN HQ alert is resolved within a polling period, email notification does not
occur.
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To set up or modify email notification for a monitored group, the computer running the SAN HQ GUI must have
read/write permission to the log file directory and the network file share, if applicable. See Log File Directory
Dell recommends that you use the PS Series group email notification feature as the primary notification method
for group events. The SAN HQ alert notification system augments the group email notification feature and
should be considered a supplementary method of providing notification.
To configure email notification for a group:
1. From Settings, select E-Mail Settings. The E-Mail Settings page appears.
Note: If the page is labeled as read-only, you do not have the correct credentials for configuring email noti-
fication.
2. In the row with the group name, select the checkbox in the Enabled column.
3. In the E-Mail Settings panel, select Send E-Mail Alerts.
4. Select Use group e-mail settings if you want to populate the fields with the email notification settings
already set up in the group.
Select Use these e-mail settings if you want to use the email settings you enter in this panel. Enter the
following information:
IP address of the SMTP server that will deliver the email. Alternatively, you can enter the DNS name
for the server.
(Optional) A port for the SMTP server. The default port is 25.
(Optional) Text for the Subject field.
Email address for the From field.
Email addresses to receive notification. Specify only one address on each line.
5. Click Apply in the E-Mail Settings panel to apply the changes.

6.
Dell recommends that you send a test message to ensure that the email settings are correct. Click Test Eto send a test email message.
Mail
7. To customize the type of alerts that result in notification, click the Notifications tab on the E-Mail Settings
page. The E-Mail Settings Notification dialog box appears.
8. Select the group in the top table, select the type of alerts for which you want notification, and then click
Apply.
9. (Optional) Click the Informational, Caution, Warning, and Critical tabs to display a list of alerts for each
alert type.
10. Select the alerts for which you want notification and then click Apply.
To modify the existing email notification configuration for a group, in the E-Mail Settings Notification dialog
box, select the group in the top table and edit the data in the top table and click Apply, or edit the fields in the EMail Settings panel and click Apply.
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You can also change the alert selections in the E-Mail Settings Notification dialog box. Click Apply when
finished.
Stop Group Monitoring

You can temporarily stop, and then later resume, monitoring of a group. While you stop group monitoring, the
SAN HQ Server does not collect data for the group. However, any data that was previously collected remains in
the log files and can be viewed in the SAN HQ GUI.
Note: To stop and resume monitoring a group, the computer running the SAN HQ GUI must have read/write
permission to the log file network file share and directory. See Log File Directory Requirements on page 14. On
Windows Vista operating systems and later, if the group was added by a client running as the administrator, then
the group might require that you set Run as admininistrator to enable administrative privileges to make any
group modifications.
To temporarily stop monitoring a group and then resume monitoring the group:
1. In the All Groups window (Figure 3), select the group in the Servers and Groups tree. The Summary of
Group window appears.
2. From the Group menu, select Stop Monitoring.
Group data will still appear in the GUI, but the monitoring status is disconnected.
Note: If Stop Monitoring is not active in the Group menu, you do not have the correct credentials to stop
group monitoring.
3. To resume monitoring the group, from the Group menu select Start Monitoring.
Launch Group Manager with Single Sign-On

From the SAN HQ GUI, you can start the Group Manager GUI for a monitored group. Launching with the single
sign-on feature enables you to store a group administration account and password in SAN HQ. Then, if you are
running SAN HQ from the same domain user account and from the same computer, you can start the Group
Manager GUI as a standalone application without entering login credentials. If single sign-on is not enabled,
Group Manager is launched in the default web browser and you must enter the group administration credentials.
Note: If you already configured single sign-on from Group Manager, do not configure single-sign on in SAN
HQ. Configuring single sign-on does not share credential information when the group is already configured to
use the firmware version of single sign-on.
To launch Group Manager, either:
From the server level:

a. Select a server from the Servers and Groups tree.
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b. From the SAN HQ menu bar, select Settings, then Group Settings. The Group Settings page appears
for the server, showing a list of all groups on that service.
c. Select a group and click Launch in the Single Sign-On Action column.
From the group level:

a. Select a group from the Servers and Groups tree.
b. From the SAN HQ menu bar, select Group, then Launch Group Manager.
The credentials you supply are encrypted and stored in the domain user account and used to automatically log in
to Group Manager from SAN HQ clients connected to this SAN HQ service. For more information about
requirements for single sign-on, see Single Sign-On Requirements on page 75. For information about deleting
login credentials for a group, see Delete Login Credentials for a Group on page 76.
You can also configure single sign-on when adding the group to the monitoring list or at a later time (see Enable
Single Sign-On / Modify Login Credentials on page 75).
Single sign-on has a 5-minute timeout. If the system is idle for 5 minutes, SAN HQ displays a dialog box
indicating that unless you click Continue Session, the single sign-on session will close.
Single Sign-On Requirements

Requirements for configuring single sign-on for a group include:
The user account running the SAN HQ GUI must be a domain user account with write privileges to the log
file directory.
Note: The saved login credentials for a group can be used only if you are running this domain user account
on the same computer.
The computer running the SAN HQ GUI must be running Java 1.5.0 or a later version. Dell recommends
using Java 1.6.0 Update 7.
Enable Single Sign-On / Modify Login Credentials

You can enable single sign-on when adding the group to the monitoring list (see Add a Group from the
SAN Headquarters GUI on page 52). You can also enable single sign-on, or modify the account name or
password, after you add a group.
To enable single sign-on for a group or modify the existing login credentials:
1. From the Settings menu, select Group Settings. The Group Settings page appears.
2. Select the group.
3. Below Single Sign-On Settings, select Enable.
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4. In the table row that contains the group, click Add to add login credentials or click Modify/Delete to modify
the existing login credentials.
5. In the Single Sign-On dialog box, enter or modify a group administration account name and password and
click Save.
Note: The login credentials you enter are not tested until you launch Group Manager.
6. Click Apply on the Group Settings page.

To launch Group Manager and log in to the group, click Launch in the Group Settings window or click Group
Manager in the toolbar.
Note: If you enabled single sign-on and you are prompted for login credentials, be sure you entered the correct
account name and password. Also, make sure you are using the same domain user account and the same
computer that you used to configure single sign-on.
Disable Single Sign-On for a Group

You can temporarily disable single sign-on for a group. SAN HQ retains the login credentials, but does not use
them to log in to the group. Instead, Group Manager starts in your default web browser and you must enter a
valid group administration account name and password. You can later enable single sign-on and log in to the
group using the standalone Group Manager without entering the credentials.
To temporarily disable single sign-on for a group:
2. Select the group in the table.
3. Below Single Sign-On Settings, select Disable.
4. Click Apply.
When you want to reenable single sign-on for the group:
3. Below Single Sign-On Settings, select Enable.
4. Click Apply.
Delete Login Credentials for a Group

If you delete the login credentials for a group, SAN HQ can no longer use them to log in to the group.
To delete the login credentials for a group:
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3. Click Modify/Delete.
4. In the Single Sign-On dialog box, click Delete and confirm that you want to delete the credentials.
Adding and Managing Favorite Views

You can maintain a list of favorite group views in the SAN HQ GUI. This feature is similar to maintaining a list
of favorite websites in a browser and enables you to quickly view frequently accessed group data.
The favorite views list applies only to the computer running the GUI.
Add a View to the Favorites List

To add a view to the Favorites list, either:
Use the Toolbar menu. This method applies the active window as a favorite.
Select a specific node as a favorite from the Servers and Groups tree. This method adds the view associated
with that node as a favorite.
Adding a View as a Favorite

To add a favorite view from the toolbar:
1. Navigate to the specific view that you want to set as a favorite.
2. From the toolbar, select Favorites and then Add to Favorites.
The current view is then added to the list of favorites in the drop-down menu available from the Favorites menu
on the toolbar and under the Favorites node in the Group view.
Adding a Node as a Favorite

To add a node as a favorite from the Servers and Groups tree:
1. Right-click a specific node in the tree.
2. Select Add to Favorites.
The selected node is then added as a favorite at the group level. It is added to the list of favorites in the dropdown menu available from the Favorites menu on the toolbar and under the Favorites node in the Group view.
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Set a View As the Home Page

You can set a specific view as the home page when you first start SAN HQ.
To set a Favorites home page using the toolbar:
1. Navigate to the specific view that you want to set as the home page.
2. From the toolbar, select Favorites and then Make This Home Page.
The current view is then defined as the default window for SAN HQ.
To set a view as a home page using the Servers and Groups tree:
1. Navigate to the specific view that you want to set as the home page.
2. Right-click in the view and select Make This Home Page.
Monitoring Synchronous Replication Volumes

For PS Series groups running firmware version 6.0 and later, SAN Headquarters lets you monitor information
about synchronous replication (SyncRep) volumes. With this data, you can quickly assess the state of
synchronous replication across storage pools in the same PS Series group.
This section provides the following information:
Overview of synchronous replication (see About Synchronous Replication on page 78)
How to access information for SyncRep volumes from the SAN HQ GUI (see Display SyncRep Volumes in
SAN Headquarters on page 79)
About Synchronous Replication

Synchronous replication (SyncRep) is the simultaneous writing of data to two pools in the same PS Series group,
resulting in two hardware-independent copies of the volume data. Each write must go to both pools before the
write is acknowledged as complete. If one copy of the volume data is not available, you can obtain the data from
the other pool.
SAN HQ lets you monitor synchronous replication for SyncRep-enabled volumes, where volume data exists
simultaneously on two copies of the volume:
SyncActiveThe active copy of the volume to which iSCSI initiators connect when reading and writing
data.
SyncAlternateWhen data is written to the SyncActive volume, the group simultaneously writes the same
data to this copy of the volume in the alternate pool.
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To switch the roles of the SyncActive and SyncAlternate copies of the volume, use Group Manager.
SAN HQ displays information about three synchronous replication states:
in syncSyncActive and SyncAlternate copies of a volume contain the same data.
out of syncSyncActive volume and SyncAlternate volume might not contain the same data; the SyncActive
volume contains the most recent data. A volume can become out of sync if synchronous replication is
paused, or if one of the volumes becomes unavailable or has no free space. The volume can become out of
sync when the snapshot reserve in the SyncAlternate volume is full, but only when the snapshot space recovery policy sets volumes offline when the snapshot reserve is depleted.
pausedAdministrator has paused synchronous replication. While synchronous replication is paused, the volume is still online, and initiators can connect to and write to the SyncActive volume. An administrator might
pause and later resume synchronous replication.
For complete information about requirements for and setting up synchronous replication, see the Dell EqualLogic
Group Manager Administrator's Manual.
Display SyncRep Volumes in SAN Headquarters

To display information about SyncRep volumes, from the Servers and Groups tree:
1. Select a group configured for synchronous replication.
2. Select I/O then SyncRep.
By default, the SyncRep for Group window appears, showing a summary of total SyncRep volumes, the
number of volumes that are in sync and out of sync, paused volumes, the amount of changes for this group
since the last SyncRep operation, and the remaining amount of changes for the group to be synced.
3. Select Volumes on the context link bar to display the SyncRep for All Volumes on Group window (see Figure
17). The SyncRep Summary table lists the total number of SyncRep volumes and their status. The tables
below the summary include general SyncRep volume information, SyncActive volume statistics, and SyncAlternate volume statistics.
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Figure 17: SyncRep for All Volumes on a Group
4. Select a volume name listed under Volume Name in the table of SyncRep volumes. Information about that
single volume appears in the SyncRep for Volume window (Figure 18).
Figure 18: SyncRep for Volume Window
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When a SyncRep volume's state is in sync, the SyncRep summary indicates whether the SyncActive pool or the
SyncAlternate pool is the default. When the copies of the volume are out of sync, the SyncRep Summary
indicates read and write rates for the SyncAlternate pool, total changes made, and the remaining changes to be
made.
You can also view information about SyncRep volumes on groups or volume collections by selecting the object
on the context link bar.
Displaying Live Data

The SAN Headquarters Live View feature allows you to monitor, save, and later analyze group member or
volume I/O data captured in brief session intervals at quick polling rates. These intervals are called Live View
sessions, where you specify a primary object to monitor and collect data for one instance of that target. For
example, for a selected group member, you can display average I/O size, average IOPS, average latency, and
average I/O rate at 3-second polling intervals over a period of 1 minute. SAN HQ collects data points from the
arrays via SNMP. You can save this data for future analysis, then rerun a Live View session to compare this
data to current performance.
You can easily view I/O data for volumes by changing the target and selecting a volume to monitor. This data
shows average I/O size, average IOPS, average latency, average I/O rate, and average queue depth for the
specified polling interval and session length. You can set the poll interval to 1, 3, 5 (default), 8, 10, or 15 seconds
and session length to 1, 2 (default), 3, 5, or 10 minutes.
SAN HQ writes data from a Live View session to a temporary log file. It asks you to either save, discard, or
cancel the previous session data when you close the Live View window or try to start a new Live View session
before saving the previous session. You can change the default to always save the log file of your Live View
sessions.
The Live View Sessions feature is always visible under I/O in the Servers and Groups tree, even if you have not
established a Live View session (see Prerequisites for Establishing a Live View Session on page 81). In that
case, the Live View window appears with no sessions. When you activate a Live View session, the Servers and
Groups tree displays the Live View session window for a given group member or volume.
Prerequisites for Establishing a Live View Session

The Live View feature does not depend on a groups firmware level. However, several configuration
prerequisites must be enabled before establishing Live View sessions:
The SAN HQ Server must be running and have the correct SNMP community name and IP address specified
for the group.
The TCP/IP communication infrastructure must be enabled on the SAN HQ Server with the appropriate firewall rules established. If this infrastructure is not enabled, the SAN HQ Server is still listed as Connected, showing a green circle icon next to the server name in the Servers and Groups tree. However, the
Live View feature is disabled.
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To correct this problem, rerun the SAN HQ installation on your server in Modify/Repair mode. During the
reinstallation process, the Installation wizard presents a dialog box asking you to select Enable
TCP/IP Communication, enter an IP address (or server name), and enter the port number for communication.
The SAN HQ Client must not have a degraded connection to the server. For information about rectifying a
degraded connection, see Degraded Connection Status on page 67.
You must have approximately 100KB of disk space for each Live View session.
Run a Live View Session

To run a Live View session:
1. Use one of the following methods to start a Live View session:
Run a Live View session from the I/O for Group window:
a. Select a group from the Servers and Groups tree, then select I/O. The I/O for Group window appears.
b. Select an individual member or volume from the I/O for Group window. For example, selecting
Members for Group A shows all members for Group A. Select an individual member from the list in the
bottom panel. I/O information for that member appears.
c. In the upper-right corner of the I/O for Member (or I/O for Volume) window, click Live View to start a
Live View session.
Run a Live View session directly from the Live View Sessions for Group window:
a. From the Servers and Groups tree, select I/O then Live View Sessions.The Live View Sessions for
Group window appears.
b. Click the New Session button.
2. The Live View Session window appears. In the window, set the following session parameters:
Choose the target, either Member or Volume.

Choose the individual member or volume.
Set the session length; the default is 2 minutes. You can select session lengths of 1, 3, 5 or 10 minutes.
Set the poll interval; the default is 5 seconds. You can select intervals of 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 or 15 seconds.
3. Click the arrow button. (The arrow button turns to a square, allowing you to stop collecting data.) SAN HQ
begins collecting data and displays it at the chosen interval. Data continues to display until the session length
is reached. A status message at the top of the window indicates how many polls were completed in the
selected timeframe.
4. To establish a new Live View session, click the arrow button again. You can change the target, session
length, or polling interval each time. A dialog box appears asking you if you want to save the previous session. You can set the default to always save, always discard, or always prompt (default).
To view previously saved Live View sessions:
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1. Select the group member in the Servers and Groups tree, then I/O, and then Live View Sessions. Live
View sessions appear in the main panel for the member.
2. Select the saved session. The session name includes the member or volume name, and the date and time the
session was run. The saved session appears in the Live View window, from which you can select a target
and rerun Live View.
Note: If multiple clients initiate a Live View session on the same member or volume, the second client is unable
to initiate a session until after the first session completes.

Figure 19 shows a completed Live View session. The session length was 1 minute with a 1-second polling
interval. The status message indicates 58 polls were completed in the session timeframe.
Figure 19: Completed Live View Session for a Volume
RAID Policy Evaluation and Reliability

The RAID Evaluator view for a selected group, pool, or member displays the current RAID policy information
and lets you apply a different RAID policy to compare and analyze performance benefits. Statistical information,
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presented in tables, meters, and graphs, shows the maximum IOPS growth potential, current estimated maximum
IOPs, possible maximum IOPS, total IOPs, pool read/write distribution as a percentage, the current RAID policy
reliability score, and the possible RAID reliability score.
The RAID policy reliability feature scores your current RAID policy for overall effectiveness based on Dell's
baseline recommendations for all members in a group. The RAID policy reliability meter provides a quick
indication of whether your current or possible RAID policy is poor, fair, or excellent, and helps you make
informed decisions about whether to reconfigure your RAID policy for the group (see RAID Policy Reliability
Reporting on page 85).
Use the RAID Evaluator

To use the RAID Evaluator:
1. Select a group from the Server and Groups tree, then I/O, and then RAID Evaluator.
The RAID Evaluation for Group window appears, showing groupwide data by default (see Figure 20). You
can also restrict data to a specific pool or member in the group from the context link bar (see Navigating the
GUI on page 23). For example, clicking Members shows RAID evaluation for all members of the group.
2. To view information for a particular member, click Members on the context link bar. RAID evaluation for all
members of the group is displayed. In the lower panel, select a member to see RAID information for only
that member. Similarly, you can select information for all pools in the group or restrict data to an individual
pool.
Note: Occasionally, SNMP timeouts during RAID verification might cause critical information to be tem-
porarily unavailable, such as the calculation of estimated IOPS.

3. SAN HQ displays the current RAID policy in the upper-left panel and performance data in the reliability
meter and data graph. The available RAID selections are based on the current RAID policy, except when a
group or pool has a mixed RAID policy.
4. To evaluate a new RAID policy for a group, pool, or member, select a new RAID policy from the dropdown list. SAN HQ automatically refreshes the view with evaluation data for the new RAID policy. In addition, the RAID policy reliability meters are refreshed, showing the effectiveness of the new policy. (For
information about RAID policy reliability, see Evaluating the Reliability of Your Current RAID Policy on
page 85.)
Notes: RAID 6 Accelerated appears only for XVS array configurations and the RAID policy cannot be
changed.
If a group or pool contains a mixture of XVS arrays and standard arrays, you might erroneously select an
unknown configuration (that is, RAID 6 Accelerated evaluated on a pool with non-XVS arrays). SAN
HQ displays a notification label in the GUI that an incorrect selection was made.
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RAID Policy Reliability Reporting

A critical feature in the RAID Evaluator is RAID policy reliability reporting, which helps you make decisions
about the resiliency of the RAID policy on your group. SAN HQ presents a RAID policy reliability score,
represented numerically and graphically, which rates a particular storage array configuration's resiliency if disk
failures are encountered. (To better understand RAID policy reliability reporting, see RAID Policy Reliability
FAQs on page 91).
RAID Policy Reliability Score

The RAID policy reliability score is calculated at the member level from the drive speed, size, disk mean time
between failure (MTBF) hours, controller type, RAID policy, RAID geometry (number of disks in each
RAID set), workload, and rebuild times. These factors result in a calculated score ranging from approximately
5.00 to +5.00. A score of 1.19 is the threshold that Dell recommends as a reliable RAID policy for the group. For
example, the threshold score validates the maximum disk configuration in a RAID 50 policy for a single
member. A RAID policy with a score higher than 1.19 increases that effectiveness.
Evaluating the Reliability of Your Current RAID Policy

The RAID Evaluator provides several features that help you evaluate the reliability of your current RAID policy.
The RAID policy reliability meter (see Figure 20) indicates the RAID policy reliability score (see RAID Policy
Reliability Score on page 85) for your current RAID policy (top meter). The bottom meter initially shows
identical information. When you evaluate a new RAID policy, the possible score (bottom meter) dynamically
changes the reliability score and (if necessary) the color to match to the new RAID policy rating (see Evaluating
Possible RAID Policy Improvements on page 87).
In addition to a numerical reliability score, the RAID policies are also qualitatively rated:
Poor (red, 5.00 to 0.00)Dell recommends changing the RAID policy for the group.
Fair (yellow, 0.00 to 1.18)The potential exists for a failure. You should consider changing your
RAID policy.
Excellent (green, 1.19 to 5.00)Your current RAID policy is reliable (the higher the reliability score, the
more resilient the policy).
Unknown (gray, 0.00)SAN HQ does not recognize the group's configuration (see Unknown RAID Policy
Reliability Status on page 90).
The View Best Practice link between the meters connects you to a Dell Support page with information to help
you remedy or improve your RAID policy reliability score. For a RAID policy reliability status of unknown, a
More Info link appears with information about possible causes for the unknown configuration.
By default, information is displayed at the group level, while the RAID policy is set at the member level. The
RAID policy reliability meter also appears for all members in a group, an individual member, all pools on the
group, or an individual pool.
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Figure 20 shows the initial view when you first access the RAID Evaluator.
Figure 20: RAID Reliability Initial View
The numbered items in Table 19 correspond to the callouts in Figure 20.

Table 19: Callouts for Figure 20
Callout
Description
Access RAID Evaluator from the Servers and Groups tree.
The current RAID policy is indicated here. Initially, the possible RAID policy is the same as the
current policy. From the drop-down list, you can select and evaluate a different RAID policy.
RAID policy reliability scores are indicated in the Possible Statistics table and in the reliability
meters.
The current RAID policy reliability score is indicated by numerical score, quality rating, and graphically in the meter. In this example, an excellent rating is evaluated. The RAID policy reliability
score of 5.00 is above Dells recommended threshold of 1.19. The green color in the meter reflects
excellent reliability.
A link to Dell Support provides information for remedying a suboptimal RAID policy. In this case,
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Callout
Description
the RAID policy reliability score is high and no changes are needed.
6
The possible RAID policy reliability initially defaults to the current evaluation. Changing the
RAID policy in callout 2 would change the data in this meter (for more information, see Evaluating
Possible RAID Policy Improvements on page 87).
The data graph shows current and possible estimated maximum IOPS. In this example, the maximum IOPS are the same.
Evaluating Possible RAID Policy Improvements

In the RAID Evaluator view shown in Figure 20, the current RAID policy is displayed in the upper-left panel, in
both RAID policy reliability meters, and in performance data in the data graph. To evaluate a different
RAID policy for a group, pool, or member, select a new RAID policy from the drop-down list (callout 1 in
Figure 21).
For example, Figure 21 shows a RAID policy evaluation where the policy is changed from mixed to
RAID 6. A mixed RAID set yields only a fair reliability score of 0.86. Changing the policy to RAID 6
results in an excellent reliability score of 5.00, significantly above Dell's recommended threshold of 1.19.
Figure 21: Possible RAID Reliability Improvements
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Callout
Description
Select a new RAID policy from the drop-down list. In this example, RAID 6 is selected.
RAID policy reliability scores are indicated in the Possible Statistics table and in the reliability
meters.
In this example, the Max IOPS Growth rate is negative with the new policy, which means performance growth is less than before. Although negative, ample headroom still exists, as indicated
by the Possible Max IOPS rate in the graph (callout 5). Capacity remains relatively the same.
The current RAID policy reliability score is rated fair because the reliability score is less than
1.19 (in this example, 0.86). A negative reliability score would have generated a poor rating.
The possible RAID reliability score is indicated by numerical score and rating in the RAID policy
reliability meter. In this example, an excellent rating is evaluated. The RAID policy reliability
score of 5.00 is above Dells recommended threshold of 1.19. The green color in the meter indicates excellent reliability.
The data graph shows a lower Max IOPS rate, but ample headroom with the new RAID policy.
In the table, only one member has a current RAID policy reliability score of fair. Current scores
and ratings for all members are displayed. Select a member name to obtain more information (see
Figure 22).
Member HandsOnLabSumo01 shows a RAID policy reliability score of fair. The Max IOPS Growth rate is even
less at the member level than reported for the group (see Figure 22).
Figure 22: Possible RAID Reliability Improvements on Member
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Callout
Description
The Max IOPS Growth rate is lower at the member level.
The graph shows lower headroom for the Possible Max IOPS rate.
Changing to RAID 10 continues to show an excellent reliability rating and increases room for performance
growth (see Figure 23).
Figure 23: Changed RAID Policy for Member Shows Improvements

Callout
Description
RAID 10 is selected for evaluation.
The table shows an improved Possible Max IOPS rate.
This RAID policy continues to show an excellent rating, even though the reliability score
dropped slightly from 5.00 to 2.33.
The graph shows a higher Possible Max IOPS rate and increased headroom with the new
RAID policy. Total capacity is reduced, however.
RAID Policy Reliability Alerts

When a RAID policy reliability rating is poor, SAN HQ generates an alert that displays in the Alerts tab at
the bottom of the window. When you select a RAID policy reliability alert from the Alerts tab from any view,
SAN HQ takes you to the RAID policy reliability panel.
To display the alerts for a RAID policy reliability score of poor:
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1. Click the Alerts tab at the bottom of the RAID policy reliability view.
2. Select the alert to display the RAID policy reliability score.
3. Click the alert's priority to view information about the object that generated the alert.
Unknown RAID Policy Reliability Status

When SAN HQ does not recognize the group configuration, the RAID Evaluator displays an unknown
reliability status. Reasons for this status might be:
Newer or unknown disks or controllers are in your group.
Your current RAID setup has missing disks.
A members RAID policy has not been configured.
A member is offline.
Occasionally, SNMP timeouts during RAID verification might cause critical information to be temporarily
unavailable and an unknown status to display.
In Figure 24, the current RAID 10 policy shows a gray reliability meter with a RAID policy reliability score of
zero and status of unknown. Changing to RAID 6 does not alter the result.
Figure 24: Unknown RAID Policy Reliability
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Callout
Description
No RAID policy reliability scores are indicated in the Possible Statistics table.
The current RAID policy reliability score is rated as unknown and no reliability score can be calculated.
The More Info link provides additional information about possible causes of the unknown configuration.
Changing the RAID policy from RAID 10 to RAID 6 does not change the status of an unknown
configuration.
RAID Policy Reliability FAQs

The following frequently asked questions can help you better understand and evaluate your current RAID policy:
Question: Does RAID 6 take longer to rebuild than RAID 50? If so, why is the RAID policy reliability score
better for RAID 6?
Answer: RAID 6 does take longer to rebuild than RAID 50. However, the odds are lower for a RAID set
failure using RAID 6. RAID 6 has two parity drives per set, which allows it to survive a double failure, thereby
maintaining an advantage over other RAID policies that cannot survive a double fault.
Question: I have a PS6500E array with a RAID 50 configuration. However, my RAID policy reliability score
shows a poor rating. Why?
Answer: In a large array with large drives, a greater probability for a double fault exists than with a single
RAID set. Before you change a RAID policy, carefully consider all potential impacts to capacity and
performance to determine whether this action is appropriate.
Question: With the same PS6500X array with 900GB in a RAID 50 configuration, the evaluated RAID 6
configuration shows that I will exceed my Estimated IOPS if I make this change. What should I do?
Answer: Before you make any RAID policy change, consider these aspects of your environment: the overall I/O
pattern throughout the day, the current response times and any existing I/O pressures, and capacity. If all these
elements align with the workload you are considering changing, then you might need to move volumes to another
pool or add an additional member to the current pool. This action will help spread the load and provide a better
overall utilization of the group.
Question: Why should I focus on RAID reliability?
Answer: The industry as a whole is finding that larger drives and configurations have increased the risk of
double disk failures per RAID set.
Dell recognizes this fact and uses RAID reliability analysis to help you understand whether your configuration
can withstand multiple hard disk failures.
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Question: To me, the term reliability typically refers to a single disk drive or other single component. How
should I understand it?
Answer: Dell uses this term as it relates to the pool and members RAID policy.
Question: How do you determine the RAID policy reliability score for a group with a mixed RAID policy,
especially when it contains one or more pools and members?
Answer: The RAID policy reliability score displayed for a mixed pool or group represents the lowest score
throughout the object. For example, in a two-member mixed pool, where one member with RAID 5 has a
reliability score of 0.8 and another member with RAID 6 has a reliability score of 1.3, the group and pool
RAID policy reliability score would be 0.8. Extending this scenario to a multipool group, where the second pool
(Pool 2) has a member with a RAID policy reliability score of 2.0, then the group's score would continue to be
0.8 (0.8 for Pool 1 and 2.0 for Pool 2). Assume further that if Pool 2 has a score of 1.0 (instead of 2.0), then the
group would have a RAID policy reliability score of 1.0.
Viewing Recoverable Volumes

For PS Series groups running firmware version 6.0 and later, SAN Headquarters lets you view information about
volumes that have been deleted but are still recoverable. With this data, you can quickly assess the space
savings, per group, when deleted volumes are purged, or the amount of space required when you recover a
deleted volume.
This section provides the following information:
Overview of the PS Series firmware Volume Undelete feature, including the types of volumes supported
(see About the PS Series Firmware Volume Undelete Feature on page 92)
How to access information for recoverable volumes using the SAN HQ GUI (see Display Recoverable Volumes in SAN Headquarters on page 93)
About the PS Series Firmware Volume Undelete Feature

The volume undelete feature for PS Series groups running firmware version 6.0 and later provides an
administrator with the ability to restore volumes that might have been deleted by mistake. Enabled by default, the
firmware automatically moves deleted volumes to a recovery bin, after which they are automatically purged (or,
optionally, you can manually purge one or all deleted volumes).
When you delete a volume, the firmware automatically converts its volume type to thin provisioned. Recovering
the volume converts it back to its original type, and restores all the user data residing on that volume. You can
recover standard volumes, recovery volumes, SyncRep volumes, and thin-provisioned volumes. Volume types
that are purged immediately and cannot be restored include failback replica sets, replica sets, snapshots,
template volumes, and thin clones.
For more information about managing deleted volumes from Group Manager, see the Dell EqualLogic Group
Manager Administrator's Manual.
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The SAN HQ GUI visualizes these pending deleted volumes (shown as Recoverable Volumes in the Servers
and Groups tree) and displays the following information:
Name of the recoverable volume
Pool in which the recoverable volume resides
Amount of space borrowed by the recoverable volume
Date when the volume was deleted
Volume size seen by iSCSI initiators before deletion
Type of the original volume
Date and time the group will automatically purge the volume
Manual purge operations are displayed in the audit log. Automatic purge operations performed by the firmware
are logged in the event log.
Display Recoverable Volumes in SAN Headquarters

To display information about recoverable volumes in the recovery bin:
From the Servers and Groups tree, select a group, then Capacity, then Recoverable Volumes.
The Recoverable Volumes on Group window appears, showing the total space available for borrowing,
recoverable volume borrowing, and snapshot borrowing.
You can also view information about deleted volumes for all pools on the group by clicking Pools on the context
link bar (see Navigating the GUI on page 23).
Figure 25 shows information about recoverable volumes for a group.
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Figure 25: Recoverable Volumes Window
In Figure 25, hover over the graph to display the amount of storage space available for borrowing, the amount of
space borrowed for recoverable volumes by the group, and the amount of space borrowed for snapshots by the
group. The pie chart shows estimated percentages.
Below the graph, the General data table shows the following information:
VolumeName of the deleted volume
PoolPool on which the deleted volume resides
Size on DiskAmount of space borrowed by the deleted volume
DeletedDate and time when the volume was deleted
The Original data table shows information about the volume before it was deleted:
Reported SizeSize of the volume as seen by iSCSI initiators before it was deleted. For volumes that are
not thin provisioned, the reported size is the same as the volume reserve. For thin-provisioned volumes, the
reported size can be greater than the volume reserve.
TypeOriginal volume type, either Thin for a thin-provisioned volume or Standard for a fully provisioned
volume.
Due to Be PurgedDate and time when the volume will be purged automatically, after which the deleted
volume can no longer be recovered. Note that if the group runs low on free space, the deleted volume might
be purged before this date.
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Snapshot Space Borrowing

You can view the amount of free space available for a group to borrow as conditions require. SAN HQ presents
views showing free space that is available and currently borrowed, and actual snapshot reserve space that is
available and borrowed.
Snapshot space borrowing allows you to temporarily increase the available snapshot space for a volume by
borrowing from the snapshot reserve of other volumes and from pool free space. This temporary increase
enables you to prevent the oldest snapshots in your collection from being deleted automatically. The firmware
automatically deletes borrowed snapshots created using borrowed space when that space is needed for other
functions, such as when you create a new volume or when existing snapshots increase in size because of
increased input and output to the volume.
To access free-space borrowing information:
From the Servers and Groups tree, select a group, then Capacity, then Space Borrowing.
The Space Borrowing on Group window appears (see Figure 26), showing the actual free space for borrowing
and percent borrowed. For the snapshot reserve, it also shows the actual free space for borrowing and percent
borrowed.
Figure 26: Space Borrowing on Group Window
In Figure 26, hover over the graph to display the amount of storage space available for borrowing, the amount of
free space in the group, the snapshot reserve space, and the time period for which the data applies.
The pie charts shows estimated percentages for free space borrowing and snapshot reserve borrowing:
Free Space Borrowing

Actual FreeAmount of total group capacity that is not reserved, used, or being actively borrowed
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Borrowed FreeAmount of unreserved group capacity that is temporarily being used for volumes that
are oversubscribed or in the volume recovery bin
Snapshot Reserve Borrowing

Actual FreeAmount of snapshot reserve space that is not used or actively being borrowed
Borrowed FreeAmount of snapshot reserve free space that is temporarily being used for volumes that
are oversubscribed or in the volume recovery bin
The information data table below the graph shows the following information:
VolumeName of the volume.
PoolPool on which the volume resides.
Borrowing EnabledShows Enabled status when a volume is configured to support snapshot borrowing for
oversubscription.
Total Snapshot ReserveTotal amount of group space allocated to the volume's snapshot reserve.
In UseAmount of volume snapshot reserve currently in use.
FreeAmount of volume snapshot reserve not currently in use.
BorrowedAmount of volume snapshot reserve currently in use due to oversubscription. This space can be
borrowed from other volumes' free snapshot reserve or from the pool's free space.
Borrowed PercentagePercentage of borrowed volume snapshot reserve compared to the total volume snapshot reserve.
In Use PercentPercentage of borrowed volume snapshot reserve currently in use.
Borrowable from PoolAmount of available space on the pool for borrowing.
Syslog Event Logging

When an event occurs in a PS Series group (for example, you create a volume or remove a power supply), the
group generates an event message. Event messages help you monitor normal operations and also identify
problems before they disrupt service.
The SAN Headquarters Server includes a syslog server. If you configure a group to log events to the computer
running the SAN HQ Server, the events appear in the Events tab at the bottom of the SAN HQ GUI and also
when you select Events/Audit Logs in the Servers and Groups tree.
Although data in the SAN HQ GUI is updated only when a successful poll occurs, events continue to be logged
to the syslog server on the computer running the SAN HQ Server, regardless of polling activity.
After messages consume all the free space in the event file, new messages overwrite the oldest messages. You
can change the default event log size only when you first add the group to the monitoring list. The default size of
the event log file is 5MB, the minimum size is 2MB, and the maximum size is 20MB.
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If you are using the SAN HQ Server as a syslog server, do not run another syslog server on the computer running the SAN HQ Server.
A firewall must not block UDP port 514 on the computer running the SAN HQ Server.
Configure Syslog Event Logging for a Group

To use the Group Manager GUI to configure a group to log events to the syslog server on the computer running
the SAN HQ Server:
1. Start the Group Manager GUI for the group.
2. Click Group Configuration then click the Notifications tab.
3. In the Event Logs panel, select Send events to syslog servers.
4. Click Add.
5. Enter the IP address for the computer running the SAN HQ Server (the location of the syslog) and click OK.
6. Select the priority of the events you want to log to the syslog server.
7. Click the Save All Changes icon at the top of the window.
Events will appear in the SAN HQ GUI after the SAN HQ Server successfully polls the group. See Syslog
Events on page 120.
Disable Syslog Event Logging for a Group

To disable event logging from a group to the syslog server on the computer running the SAN HQ Server:
1. Start the Group Manager GUI for the group.
2. Click Group Configuration then click the Notifications tab.
3. In the Event Logs panel, select the IP address and click Delete.
4. Click the Save All Changes icon at the top of the window.
Caution: For groups enabled for SupportAssist, disabling syslog event logging from the group can potentially dis-
able part of the functionality for SupportAssist data collections. For more information, see SupportAssist Requirements on page 179.
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Change the Syslog Configuration to Use Specific Interfaces

If IPv6 addresses are used, the default SAN HQ syslog server configuration consists of one or two listening
UDP sockets that are bound to any network interface on the computer running the SAN HQ Server and to port
514.
You can change the syslog server configuration and enable only specific network interfaces for use as listening
UDP sockets.
You must change the syslog server configuration using a domain user account on the computer that is running
the SAN HQ Server.
The domain user account must have write privileges to the log file directory.
You must restart the SAN HQ Server to apply the change.
Before changing the syslog configuration, back up or make a copy of the SyslogConfig.xml file that is located in
the log file directory.
To change the syslog server configuration and enable only specific network interfaces for use as listening UDP
sockets:
1. Edit the SyslogConfig.xml file that is located in the log file directory used by the SAN HQ Server. For
example:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<SyslogConfig xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<Enable>true</Enable>
<IPv4Interface>ANY</IPv4Interface>
<Port>514</Port>
</SyslogConfig>
2. In the <IPv4Interface> tag or the <IPv6Interface> tag, whichever applies to your network configuration,
specify either:
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ANYSpecifies
that any network interface can be used as a listening UDP socket. This option is the
default.
IP addressSpecifies that only the network interface associated with the IP address can be used as a listening UDP socket.
Empty stringDisables the use of all network interfaces for a specific network protocol. For
example, specify the following string to disable use of IPv6:
<IPv6Interface></IPv6Interface>
You must use valid XML tags in the SyslogConfig.xml file.

3. Restart the SAN HQ Server, as described in Restart the SAN Headquarters Server on page 20.
If the SyslogConfig.xml file has a syntax error or some other problem, SAN HQs logs the event to the Windows
event log.
Disable the SAN Headquarters Syslog Server

By default, the syslog server that is part of the SAN HQ Server is always running. If needed, you can disable the
syslog server.
You must disable the SAN HQ syslog server using a domain user account on the computer that is running the
SAN HQ Server.
The user account must have write privileges to the log file directory.
You must restart the SAN HQ Server to apply the change.
To disable the SAN HQ syslog server:

1. Edit the SyslogConfig.xml file that is located in the log file directory used by the SAN HQ Server. For
example:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<SyslogConfig xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<Enable>true</Enable>
<Port>514</Port>
</SyslogConfig>
2. In the <Enable> tag, specify false:

<Enable>false</Enable>
3. Restart the SAN HQ Server, as described in Restart the SAN Headquarters Server on page 20.
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Note: If the SyslogConfig.xml file has a syntax error or some other problem, SAN HQ logs the event to the
Windows event log.
Handling Group Network Address Changes

SAN HQ locates a group on the network by using the group IP address, DNS name, or management IP address.
If the group network address changes, SAN HQ can no longer monitor the group through the original address.
If a group network address changes and you want to monitor the group under the new address:
1. Create an archive of the latest group data. See Group Data Archives on page 165.
2. Either:
Stop monitoring the group but retain the group log files. You can still view the group data in the SAN HQ
GUI, but no new data will be collected for the group at the obsolete network address. See Stop Group
Monitoring on page 74.
Note that the data associated with the obsolete network address still appears in the GUI under the group
name; however, the monitoring status is disconnected. If you try to resume monitoring the group using the
obsolete network address, the operation will fail.
Remove the group from the monitor list. The log files are deleted and the GUI no longer shows group
data. See Remove a Group from the Monitor List on page 69.
3. Add the group to the list of monitored groups, specifying the new network address. See Add a Group from
the SAN Headquarters GUI on page 52.
Diagnosing and Solving Monitoring Problems

The following list describes some common problems in the SAN HQ environment and provides possible
solutions:
Cannot connect to a groupMake sure an SNMP community name is configured in the group and the same
name is configured in the SAN HQ GUI for that group.
In addition, for each monitored group, the computer running the SAN HQ Server must have network access
to all the configured network interfaces on all the group members, the group IP address, and the management
address (if applicable). Use the ping command to determine if you can access all IP addresses.
Cannot add a groupMake sure the computer running the SAN HQ GUI has read and write access to the
log file directory.
Cannot set up email notification or change the SNMP community nameMake sure the computer running
the SAN HQ GUI has read and write access to the log file directory.
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Additional Group Monitoring Concepts

The following concepts are helpful when monitoring groups using SAN HQ:
How Data Is Compressed in Log Files on page 101
How Group Performance Affects SNMP Polling on page 102
Dependency on Software and Firmware Versions on page 105
How Data Is Compressed in Log Files

The SAN HQ Server maintains one set of 13 log files for each monitored group. The default size of each log file
is 5MB, the minimum size is 2MB, and the maximum size is 10MB. You specify the log file size when
configuring a group for monitoring. You can increase log file size after a group has been added to the SAN HQ
GUI.
Each set of log files can contain up to 1-years worth of data. After a year, the SAN HQ Server overwrites the
oldest data.
To be able to store a year's worth of data, each log file in a set contains data from polling periods of increasing
lengths. For example, one log file contains data that the SAN HQ Server polled every 2 minutes, another log file
contains data that was polled every 4 minutes, and so on.
By compressing data over time, the SAN HQ Server can efficiently store a large amount of data and also reduce
data volatility (by moderating extreme values). However, the SAN HQ Server calculates a data point by
averaging data from consecutive polls; therefore, old data shown in the SAN HQ GUI might not be as precise as
new data.
Note: Using a log file size that is larger than the default size of 5MB enables you to store more-precise data;
however, a larger log file size might have a slightly negative impact on response time. If you use a log file size
that is smaller than the default size, data will be less precise but response time might improve.
Table 24 shows how compression over time affects different types of performance data. For example, some data
is understated because intermittent idle time in typical workloads decreases averages. See Performance and
Capacity Terms on page 107 for a description of the terms used in Table 24.
Table 24: Compression Impact on Performance Data
Latency
Throughput
IOPS
I/O Size
Read/Write
Distribution
Understated over time
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
Less volatile over time
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
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For related information about increasing the size of the log file, see Increase the Log File Size on page 71.
How Group Performance Affects SNMP Polling

The SAN HQ Server issues regular SNMP requests to a PS Series group to obtain the configuration, status, and
performance data that appears in the SAN HQ GUI. By default, the polling period is 2 minutes.
SAN HQ updates the data in the GUI only if a polling operation succeeds. Unsuccessful SNMP polls can result
from network problems or the group workload. For example, if a group is busy processing I/O operations, it
might drop SNMP requests.
If the Monitor Service determines that a group is not responding to SNMP requests, it reviews the results of each
poll to determine if the polling interval needs to expand, contract, or remain the same. This process uses
historical evidence of a group's poll responsiveness to determine the optimal frequency for the group and then
makes adjustments accordingly. The Monitor Service can automatically shift among a list of polling frequencies,
ranging from 2 minutes to 24 hours.
The SAN HQ GUI displays the status of the group polling activity (Last Poll Status) at the top of the window.
See Polling Status on page 112.
You can determine the polling period used to obtain a data point by placing the cursor over a point in time on a
SAN HQ graph.
SAN HQ might temporarily lose connectivity with a group and not obtain data. When connectivity to the group is
restored and polling succeeds, the average value is calculated from the last two successful polling operations.
How Your Group Monitoring Environment Affects TCP

Retransmission Reporting
SAN HQ reports network load information for all retransmitted TCP segment packets sent from the network port
on the array. A retransmission rate greater than zero indicates that the network might have less than optimal
bandwidth.
Depending on the SAN HQ Client GUI view you are using, this data can differ significantly.
Network for Group View
The Network for Group window shows the percentage of all retransmitted TCP segment packets sent to the
group. This information is refreshed at SAN HQs regular polling interval (see Polling Status on page 112). SAN
HQ tracks TCP retransmits by group, member, and pool, and shows retransmit percentage averages from each
perspective. TCP retransmits for individual member network interfaces or iSCSI targets are shown in the
Network Ports view or the All iSCSI Connections view, respectively. Figure 27 shows TCP retransmission rate
information at the group level.
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Figure 27: TCP Retransmission Rates for a Group
Network Ports View
The Network Ports for Group window (see Figure 28) shows the percentage of all retransmitted TCP packets
sent by the individual network port. The percentage shown is based on all active TCP connections to a given
Ethernet port at any given time. This information is refreshed at regular intervals that are typically longer than
the TCP retransmission data presented at the group level.
Figure 28: TCP Retransmission Rates for a Volume
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All iSCSI Connections View
The All iSCSI Connections to Group window (see Figure 29) lists all iSCSI targets to the group, pool, members,
volumes, or volume collections. When you select an individual target, the TCP retransmission rate displayed is
based on the iSCSI-only traffic sent to a specific Ethernet port for a specific iSCSI target. Note that the iSCSI
Connection TCP retransmit percentage is a subset of the individual Ethernet Port TCP retransmit percentage,
which might cause the values to differ.
Figure 29: TCP Retransmission Rates for an iSCSI Target
Retransmission data on the port and target levels are acquired in regular TCP retransmit intervals for the
network ports and iSCSI targets. For all groups, the reported retransmit rate percentages can differ greatly,
depending on the view you are using. Further, if your environment has more than one SAN HQ Server
monitoring the same group, the TCP retransmit rates displayed by all servers and individual servers can differ
significantly.
For example, in Figure 30, Server A and Server B are monitoring the same group and currently show the same
TCP retransmit percentage. Both servers can potentially acquire data every 15 minutes. At the first retransmit
interval (T1), only Server B acquires the data. Server A acquires data at T2, or 30 minutes since its last polling
cycle. Server B then acquires the data at T3, or 30 minutes since its last polling cycle. Server B acquires data
again at the regular 15-minute TCP retransmit interval (T4). Server A must wait until T5, which is 45 minutes
since it last acquired data. In this scenario, the retransmission rates are significantly different between Server A
and Server B.
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Figure 30: TCP Packet Retransmissions in Multiserver Environment
A sustained high TCP retransmit rate (greater than 1%) might indicate a network hardware failure, insufficient
server resources, or insufficient network bandwidth. Dell recommends that you evaluate your network for any
TCP retransmit rates greater than 1%.
Note: Dell recommends that you not use multiple SAN HQ servers to monitor the same group.
Dependency on Software and Firmware Versions

New versions of SAN HQ sometimes collect a type of performance data that a previous version did not collect.
If you install a newer version of SAN HQ after running an older version (using the same log file directory), no
information appears for the new type of data before the time of the update. The type of performance data shown
for specific groups also depends on the version of the PS Series firmware that is installed on the group.
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106

After you start monitoring a group and understand how to use SAN Headquarters GUI navigation features, you
can begin to examine the SAN HQ GUI data.
Information Provided By the GUI

Before you can analyze performance data, you should understand the type of data that the GUI displays:
Performance and capacity dataTo analyze the group data in the GUI, you must understand the terminology. See Performance and Capacity Terms on page 107.
Polling statusGetting a complete set of data points in the GUI depends on how frequently SAN HQ can
successfully poll the group. If polls are not successful, you should investigate the cause. See Polling Status
on page 112.
AlertsAlerts notify you when hardware or performance issues occur in a group so that you can take action
to prevent problems. See Reported Alerts on page 112.
Events and audit logsIf you configure a group to use the syslog server that is part of the SAN HQ Server,
you are notified when group events occur so that you can take action to prevent problems. See Syslog Events
on page 120 and Audit Messages on page 123.
Note: When displaying group data, make sure you select the correct time range. By default, the GUI displays
data from the most recent 8-hour time period. Use the Zoom links above the timeline to quickly set the value of
the time-range selector and also to control the range of dates seen in the timeline. For example, click Show
Latest to show data up to the most recent time. See Navigating the GUI on page 23.
Performance and Capacity Terms

The data collected by SAN HQ can help you obtain a better understanding of your storage environment, prevent
future problems, and identify and diagnose existing problems before they affect operations. Therefore, it is
important that you understand the terminology used in the SAN HQ GUI.
Note: Tooltips are associated with the data that appears in the SAN HQ GUI. To obtain information about the
data, move the pointer over a graph legend or the question mark icon next to a table title.
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See the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Manual for detailed information about the status that
appears in the SAN HQ GUI, in addition to information about PS Series group operation.
Capacity and Replication Terms

The SAN HQ GUI provides the following capacity and replication terms and space statistics:
Delegated spaceSpace on the secondary group reserved for storing all replica sets from the primary group.
If free delegated space is low, you might want to increase it to ensure space is available for additional replicas. Space delegated to a primary group must be increased by the secondary group administrator.
When viewed from the primary group, delegated space on the secondary group is called replica space.
Note: Failback replica set space is tracked as delegated space.
Local replication reserveSpace on the primary group reserved for storing volume changes during replication and the failback snapshot.
Overall group capacityAvailable space. Capacity depends on a number of variables. For example, group
capacity depends on the number of members, the number and size of the disks installed in the members, and
each member's RAID policy.
Make sure free space in a pool does not fall below the lesser of these values:
5% of pool capacity
100GB times the number of pool members
Otherwise, load balancing, member removal, and replication operations do not perform optimally, and
performance for thin-provisioned volumes degrades.
Recoverable volumesPending deleted volumes that the firmware places in the recovery bin that can be
restored. SAN HQ shows the name of the volume, the pool in which it resides, the amount of space borrowed by the recoverable volume, the date when the volume was deleted, the size of the volume, the type of
volume, and date and time when the volume will be purged from the recovery bin.
Replication partnerList of all groups currently configured as an outbound replication partner.
Replica reservePortion of delegated space reserved for storing the replica set for a volume. After replica
reserve has been consumed, the oldest replicas are deleted to free space for new replicas. To retain more
replicas, increase the replica reserve percentage.
Reported volume sizeVolume size seen by iSCSI initiators.
Snapshot reserveSpace reserved for storing snapshots. After snapshot reserve has been consumed, the oldest snapshots are deleted to free space for new snapshots. To retain more snapshots, increase the snapshot
reserve percentage.
Space borrowingAbility to temporarily increase the available snapshot space for a volume by borrowing
from the snapshot reserve of other volumes and from pool free space. This temporary increase enables you
to prevent the oldest snapshots in your collection from being deleted automatically.
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Thin provisioning statisticsNumber of volumes that are thin provisioned, the amount of unreserved (unallocated) space for thin-provisioned volumes, and the percentage of group space required to fulfill the maximum in-use space requirements for thin-provisioned volumes.
Volume reserveSpace allocated to a volume. For thin-provisioned volumes, the volume reserve is based on
usage patterns. As more data is written to the volume, more space is allocated to the volume, up to the userdefined limit.
Volume typeType of volume: template, thin-provisioned, thin clone, or standard (a fully provisioned volume).
SAN HQ uses the following space-utilization terms:
In useSpace that is currently storing data.
FreeSpace that is not storing data or reserved for any purpose.
ReservedSpace that is reserved for some purpose (might include reserved space that is storing data and
space that is not storing data).
Unused SpaceSum of free space and space that is reserved but not in use.
To calculate total capacity, use the formula:

Capacity = In use + Free + Reserved, but not in use
I/O Terms
In general, I/O data measures traffic between iSCSI initiators and iSCSI targets (volumes and snapshots) in the
group. I/O data is provided for reads and writes (total I/O), only reads, and only writes. The data represents the
average for the polling period.
The SAN HQ GUI provides the following I/O statistics:
Average I/O rateAverage data transfer rate (also called I/O throughput). This rate is the average amount
of data that is transferred each second.
Usually, the I/O rate for reads and writes is not a significant indicator of performance. All storage systems
have a maximum throughput capacity. Because most I/O is random and not sequential, storage systems
rarely reach this threshold. If the threshold is reached, it indicates a sequential workload.
Note: As data is compressed over time, the I/O rate in the GUI becomes less precise.
Average IOPSAverage number of I/O operations processed each second. The GUI displays data for all
Ethernet activity, including iSCSI traffic and SAN HQ SNMP polling.
Note: As data is compressed over time, the IOPS values shown in the GUI become less precise.
Average latencyAverage time required to process and complete an I/O operation. Latency (also called
delay) is the best gauge for measuring the storage load and is the principal method for determining if a group
has reached its full capabilities.
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In SAN HQ, latency is measured from the time the group acknowledges an I/O request to the time the group
completes the I/O operation. Latency is measured in milliseconds and is reported as an average for the I/O
operations in a polling period.
Latency that occurs in the server is not included in the SAN HQ data.
Note: Increasing the period of time over which latencies are averaged does not make the latency data in the
GUI less precise. While some volatility is lost, idle time does not affect the average latency. Therefore, older latency data is still a good indicator of performance.
See Identifying Performance Problems on page 131 for information about interpreting latency values.
Average I/O sizeAverage I/O operation size. The size of the I/O operations can help you obtain a better
understanding of your applications and workload. For example, a workload that consists of many small, random I/O operations will have different performance characteristics than a workload with large, sequential
I/O operations.
Note: Increasing the period of time over which I/O sizes are averaged does not make the data in the GUI
less precise. While some volatility is lost, idle time does not affect the average I/O size. Therefore,
older I/O size data is still a good indicator of the workload.
Distribution of read and write IOPSPercentage of IOPS that are reads and the percentage of IOPS that are
writes in the group. The read and write percentages are not an indicator of performance. However, this information is important when sizing and configuring groups for specific workloads.
For example, certain RAID configurations perform better for a certain read/write distribution. In general,
RAID 50 and RAID 5 do not perform as well as RAID 10 for workloads consisting predominantly of random
writes. If latencies for a specific member suggest a performance problem, and the member performs more
than 70% of write I/O operations, moving the random write workload to a pool with a RAID 10 member
might solve the problem.
Note: Increasing the period of time over which the read/write distribution is averaged does not make the
data in the GUI less precise. While some volatility is lost, idle time does not affect the average
read/write distribution. In some cases, older read/write distribution data might give a more precise
indication of the workload than newer data.
Estimated I/O loadEstimated load, relative to the theoretical maximum capability of the group, pool, or
member. The estimated I/O load is based on latencies, IOPS, hardware, and the RAID configuration. The
load value is an estimate. Use it only as a general indicator.
See Identifying Performance Problems on page 131 for information about interpreting the estimated I/O load.
I/O Load Space DistributionShows the amount of space associated with three different levels of I/O load:
low, medium, and high. The SSD Space, displayed only on groups with at least one member using tiered storage, indicates the amount of disk space available from solid state drives.
IOPS versus latencyRelationship between average latency and IOPS. A graph on the Combined Graphs
windows plots I/O operations each second against the average I/O latency. Each SNMP poll is represented
by a circle that shows the IOPS and latency at the time of the poll. This information can help you understand
the relationship between IOPS and latency. For example, a high number of IOPS usually means a longer
latency time.
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Queue depthAverage number of outstanding I/O operations at the start of each incoming I/O operation.
SAN HQ shows the queue depth for disk drives (raw I/O), volumes (only iSCSI traffic), groups, and pools.
A queue depth of zero indicates no outstanding I/Os are present.
Requirement: A group must be running PS Series firmware version 4.2 or later to display iSCSI queue
depth.
Replication IOPSNumber of write operations processed each second for inbound replication.
Synchronous replicationSimultaneous writing of data to two pools in the same PS Series group, resulting in
two hardware-independent copies of the volume data.
SyncRep volumesVolumes configured for synchronous replication.
Network Terms
In general, network data measures all network traffic, including iSCSI operations, GUI operations, SNMP
requests, and replication operations.
The SAN HQ GUI provides the following network statistics:
Active portsNumber of active member network interfaces.
Ethernet port last modified dateDate when the network interface configuration was changed or the
member restarted.
iSCSI connectionsConnections to iSCSI targets (volumes and snapshots).

Note: Where the number of iSCSI connections appears in the GUI, the value includes connections to vol-
umes and snapshots, in addition to connections due to replication and Microsoft Service operations.
Link speedNegotiated link speed for all the active network interfaces. Link speed is reported at the halfduplex data transmission rate. Double the rate to obtain the full-duplex rate.
Management networkWhether a dedicated management network is enabled in the group.
Network loadPercentage of the theoretical maximum network bandwidth that is being used for sending I/O
or receiving I/O, whichever has the highest value. The theoretical maximum bandwidth is based on the negotiated link speed for all active network interfaces on the group members. The network is rarely a bottleneck
in a SAN. Usually, network bandwidth is underutilized, especially with random I/O workloads.
Network rateThroughput for all Ethernet traffic sent and received, including traffic from iSCSI initiators,
mesh traffic, and SNMP requests.
Sent and Received trafficAverage per-second rate of network traffic sent and received.
TCP retransmissionsRetransmitted TCP segment packets. For the group, the TCP retransmit rates are
tracked on each member, but not on each network interface or target. For an individual network interface,
TCP retransmit rates are based on all active TCP connections to a given Ethernet port at any given time. For
more information, see How Your Group Monitoring Environment Affects TCP Retransmission Reporting on
page 102.
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Polling Status
The SAN HQ Server regularly uses SNMP to poll a group to obtain data. By default, the polling periodthe
time between consecutive polling operationsis 2 minutes. You can capture data in shorter polling intervals, as
brief as 1 second, by using the Live View feature. See Displaying Live Data on page 81.
If a group is busy processing I/O operations, it might drop SNMP requests from the SAN HQ Server. If the
server determines that a group is not responding to SNMP requests, it automatically adjusts the polling frequency
based on historical evidence for the group until a poll succeeds. See How Group Performance Affects SNMP
Polling on page 102.
The SAN HQ GUI displays the status of the group polling activity (Last Poll Status) at the top of the window.
Table 25 describes the polling status.
Table 25: Polling Status
Status
Description
Successful
SNMP poll was successful.
Increasing
polling
period
Group performance or a network problem prevented the group from responding to SNMP
requests in a timely manner. SAN HQ automatically adjusts the polling frequency based on historical evidence for the group until a poll succeeds.
Failed
SAN HQ cannot contact the group. In this case, an alert describing the problem is generated.
Member
rebooted
A member rebooted. A successful SNMP poll is required to obtain up-to-date group information.
Reported Alerts
Alerts enable you to be quickly informed of problems so you can diagnose and correct them.
SAN HQ displays two types of alerts:
Performance-related alerts detected by SAN HQ (for example, low free pool space or high latency)
Some alerts have an increasing priority, as the condition increases in severity. Table 26 shows a list of SAN
HQ alerts.
Hardware alarms detected by the group (for example, high temperature or a failed control module)
Hardware alarms depend on the PS Series firmware version and also the member hardware. See the Dell
EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Manual for a list of hardware alarms.
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In some cases, a SAN HQ alert and a hardware alarm might be generated for the same group event.
Optionally, you can configure email notification for alerts. See Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts on
page 72.
Alert Priorities
Alerts reported by SAN HQ can include any of the following priorities:
InformationalNormal, operational events in the group that do not require any administrator action. Informational alerts are unique to SAN HQ.
CautionLow-level conditions that, if not addressed, might lead to performance issues or unwanted results.
Caution alerts are unique to SAN HQ.
WarningConditions that will affect group operation unless addressed immediately. Warning alerts correspond to Warning events and Warning alarms in the group.
CriticalSerious problems that are currently affecting group operation. Critical alerts correspond to Error
events and Critical alarms in the group.
Alerts can have multiple priority levels, given the condition that triggered the alert. For example, the Thin
Provision Volume Space alert can generate a caution, warning, or critical alert, depending on how close the
group comes to exceeding the maximum in-use space threshold.
Further, when email notification is enabled for a group, SAN HQ by default sends email notification for only
certain priority levels. In the example of the Thin Provision Volume Space alert, email notification is sent only
for warning and critical severity levels. Email notification is not automatically sent for all alerts generated on the
monitored groups. You can manually set email notifications for other alert priority levels from the Email Settings
page. For information, see Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts on page 72.
Notes: For some alerts (for example, the Snapshot Reserve alert), SAN HQ's default email notification settings
might be different in earlier versions of SAN HQ. The current version might not generate the expected
email notification unless you manually specify notification for that alert priority level.
If an issue that generates an alert is resolved within a data polling period, email notification will not
occur.
Display Alerts
Alerts appear in the bottom panel of the All Groups Monitored by Server window (active alerts only) or under
the Alerts tab at the bottom of the GUI windows.
To display alerts:
1. Click the Alerts tab to open the Alerts panel (Figure 31).
For each alert, the panel shows:
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Alert priority (see Alert Priorities on page 113)

Date and time of the SNMP poll that detected the alert
How long the alert has been active
Statue of the alert (whether the alert is Active or Cleared)
Alert description
2. Click a column heading to sort according to the column data.

Note: SAN HQ displays alerts that occurred within the selected time period. To display the latest alerts, select
Show latest
in the GUI window. The Alerts panel appears in the lower section of the window.
Figure 31: Alerts Panel
Export Alerts
You can export alerts to an .xls file.
To export alerts:
1. Click the Export Alerts icon at the top of the Alerts panel.
2. Enter a file name.
3. Click Save.
Copy Alerts to the Clipboard

You can copy all the alerts for a group or selected alerts to the clipboard.
To copy alerts:
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In the Alerts panel, click the Copy Selected Alerts to Clipboard icon or the Copy All Alerts to Clipboard
icon.
SAN Headquarters Alerts

The SAN HQ GUI displays alerts detected by SAN HQ, in addition to alerts that correspond to hardware alarms
in a group.
Table 26 shows a list of SAN HQs alerts. See the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Manual for
a list of hardware alarms.
Table 26: SAN HQ Alerts
Alert
Priority
Description
Collection schedule
keep count
Warning
A collection schedule has fewer snapshot or replica collections

than the expected number. This alert does not pertain to disabled schedules, on-demand (run once) schedules, or volume
collections that do not have any volumes that are not empty and
not deleted.
Connection failure
Critical
A SAN HQ Server SNMP request to the group failed.
Controller failover
Caution
A members active control module failed, resulting in failover

to the secondary control module.
Controller information not in SNMP

poll
Caution
SNMP requests for control module information timed out, due

to the group workload. Therefore, the number of control modules reported might not be accurate.
Controller not
detected
Warning
A member control module has failed or is not installed.
Critical member
RAID policy reliability
Critical
A member has a RAID policy reliability that is rated as

poor. Dell recommends changing the RAID policy.
Critical pool
RAID policy reliability
Critical
The pool has a RAID policy reliability that is rated as poor.

Dell recommends changing the RAID policy.
Disk information not

in SNMP poll
Caution
Some SNMP requests for member disk drive information timed

out, due to the group workload. The number of reported drives
might not be accurate.
DNS resolution failure
Critical
The DNS name for the group network address cannot be

resolved by the server running the SAN HQ Server.
Disk mirroring
Warning
Due to detected drive problems, a member is copying data to a

spare.
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Alert
Priority
Description
Disk not found
Warning
A member is missing a disk drive, based on the model number,

the number of disk slots, and the standard configurations (14,
16, 24 or 48 disk drives).
Disk status
Warning
A disk has a status other than online or spare and requires

administrator attention.
Drive failure
Warning
A disk drive failed.
Firmware not
recommended
Warning
A group member is running a supported firmware version that

is not recommended in this case.
Group firmware and

member disk incompatibility
Critical
A groups firmware is incompatible with the disks firmware.
Group incompatible
with SupportAssist
Informational,
Warning
An incompatibility has been detected between the group and

the installed SupportAssist version on the SAN HQ Server.
Group mixed firmware
Informational,
Warning
Group members are running different firmware versions.
Group non-WKA
address
Warning
A group has been added using the non-Well Known Address

(WKA) address.
ICMP ping to group

failed
Critical
The SAN HQ Server was unable to contact a group, so it canceled the poll.
Incomplete SNMP
poll
Warning
The SNMP request was not complete, making the poll unusable.
Low free pool space
Warning
A pools free space is less than the recommended value. Dell

recommends that free pool space not fall below the following
value, whichever is smaller:
5% of the total pool space
100GB multiplied by the number of pool members
Maximum replicas
and snapshots
Warning
Replication failed because the partner reached the maximum

number of replicas and snapshots.
Member added
Warning
A member has been added to the group.
Member added with

SupportAssist
Informational
A member has been added to the group and is configured for

SupportAssist diagnostic data gathering and the member contains a valid version of sanmond.
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Alert
Priority
Description
Member controller
reboot
Informational
A members control module rebooted.
Member disk added
Caution
A disk has been added to a member.
Member disk protocol

mismatch
Critical
A member contains an unsupported combination of SATAII and SAS disks.
Member disk
removed
Caution
A disk has been removed from a member.
Member disk firmware out of date
Critical
A disk has been detected with out-of-date firmware.
Member disk RPM

mismatch
Warning
A member contains drives with mismatched RPMs.
Member firmware
upgrade
Informational
A member has been upgraded with new firmware.
Member firmware
upgrade reboot pending
Informational
The firmware on a control module has been upgraded.
Member health status
Warning, Critical
A health condition exists, and is probably related to a hardware

failure.
Member mixed firmware
Warning
A member has different PS Series firmware versions running

on its control modules.
Member network port

failure
Warning
A network port on a member failed.
Member network port

load
Caution, Warning,
Critical
Send, receive, or both send and receive traffic for the network
interface is approaching the caution (80% load), warning (90%
load), or critical threshold (99% load).
Member network port

unreachable
Warning
An SNMP request to a members network port failed.
Member offline
Critical
A member is offline.
Member RAID status

changed
Caution
A members RAID status has changed.
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Alert
Priority
Description
Member removed
Caution
A member was removed from the group.
Member spare disk

mismatch
Critical
A member's spare drive is mismatched from active drives.
Member status
changed
Caution
A members status changed, such as from online to offline.
Member unconfigured
RAID
Warning
A members RAID policy is not set.
Network down
Critical
The network connected to the server running the SAN HQ

Server is down.
Partial SED pool
Warning
A pool contains some members with self-encrypting disks

(SED) and another member with non-self-encrypting disks.
Port at reduced speed
Caution
A network interface, other than one dedicated to a management

network, is connected to a network device with a speed of less
than 1GB.
RAID set verifying
Caution
A member's RAID set is verifying parity data.
Read-only account
authorization failure
for
SupportAssist
Critical
The credentials for the SupportAssist read-only account failed

authorization.
Replica reserve
resize failure
Warning
A replication operation failed because the volume's replica

reserve cannot increase.
Replication authentication failure
Warning
The replication failed because the mutual authentication passwords on the group do not match the passwords on a partner.
Replication failure
Warning
A replication operation has failed.
Replication partner
disallow downgrades
Warning
The replication failed because the secondary group does not

have downgrades disallowed.
Replication partner
not available
Warning
The replication failed because the partner could not be

reached.
Schedule keep count
Warning
A schedule has fewer snapshots or replicas than the expected

number. This alert does not pertain to disabled schedules, ondemand (run once) schedules, deleted volumes, or inactive volumes.
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Alert
Priority
Description
Snapshot reserve
Caution,
Warning,
Critical
The in-use snapshot reserve exceeds the warning level set in

Group Manager.
SNMP poll connection restored
Informational
A previously failed SNMP poll connection is now successful.
TCP retransmit
Caution, Warning,
Critical
A member's ratio of TCP retransmits to sent packets is too

high, indicating a network problem. The threshold ranges from
1% (caution), to 5% (warning), to 10% (critical).
Thin provisioned
volume space
Caution, Warning,
Critical
A thin-provisioned volumes in-use space exceeds the warning

limit set in Group Manager.
Volume RAID
preference
Caution, Warning
A problem occurred with allocating volume space according to

the desired RAID preference.
For example:
A volume cannot be moved to a member with the volumes preferred

RAID level because not enough member free space is available.
The volumes preferred RAID level is oversubscribed.
Volume replication
partner needs upgrade
Warning
Replication failed because the partner is not running the correct

firmware and must be upgraded.
Volume replication
partner paused
Caution
Replication of all volumes to a partner was paused.
Volume replication
paused
Caution
Replication of a volume was paused from the primary group.
Volume replication
remote paused
Caution
Replication of a volume was paused from the secondary group.
Volume replication
space
Caution, Warning
A volumes replication reserve space is insufficient:
When a volume is actively borrowing free space for replication operations
If local replication reserve space falls below 20%
If the remote replication reserve space, as detected by the remote site, is

invalid or low
Volume sync
replication
Caution
The SyncActive pool and SyncAlternate pool do not contain the

same volume data.
Unexpected exception
Critical
The SAN HQ Server has encountered an unexpected exception

when handling SNMP data from a group.
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Alert
Priority
Description
Unreachable network
Critical
The computer running the SAN HQ Server cannot find the

group network due to routing problems.
Unsupported firmware
Critical
The SAN HQ Server is unable to poll a group because the

group firmware is not supported by SAN HQ.
Syslog Events
The SAN HQ Server includes a syslog server. If you use Group Manager to configure a monitored PS Series
group to log events to the SAN HQ Server syslog server, the SAN HQ GUI displays the events.
Note: SAN HQ must successfully poll a group before the group can log events to the syslog server.
See Syslog Event Logging on page 96.
Event Priorities
Table 27 lists event priorities in order of lowest (least severe) to highest (most severe) priority.
Table 27: Event Priorities
Priority
Description
Info
Informational messageIndicates an operational or transitional event that requires no action.
Warning
Potential problemCan become an event with Error priority if administrator intervention does not
occur.
Error
Serious failureIdentify and correct the problem as soon as possible.
Fatal
Catastrophic failureIdentify and correct the problem immediately.
Displaying Events
You can display events that a group logs to the SAN HQ Servers syslog server. From the SAN HQ GUI, either:
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Click the Events tab at the bottom of the GUI window to open the Events panel (Figure 32).
Click Events/Audit Logs in the Servers and Groups tree to display the Events and Audit Logs of Group window (Figure 33). By default, the Show All button is selected. To show only event logs, select the Show
Event Logs only button. To show only audit logs, select Show Audit Logs only (see Displaying Audit Logs
on page 123).
If no events appear, instructions are provided to verify that the group is properly configured to send events and
audit logs to the syslog server on the SAN HQ Server.
Each event message includes the following information:
Event level (see Event Priorities on page 120)
Date and time that the SAN HQ Server received the event from the group
Member on which the event occurred
Message that describes the event
Click a column heading to sort according to the column data. (The Account column appears only when audit logs
are shown. See Displaying Audit Logs on page 123.)
Events that appear in the SAN HQ GUI can include events that occurred after the most recent poll or while the
group was not responding to SNMP requests.
SAN HQ displays events that occurred within the selected time period. To display the latest events, select Show
Latest in the GUI window.
Figure 32: Events Panel
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Figure 33: Events and Audit Logs Window Showing Events
Search Events
You can search the event log for events that include a specific word, words, or text string. You can also use the
Filter Editor for advanced search capabilities.
To display events that include a specific word, words, or text string, in the Events panel (Figure 32) or the
Events window (Figure 33):
1. Enter the text in the search field and click Search. Click Clear to return to the original event display.
2. For advanced search capabilities, click Filter Editor. The Filter Editor dialog box appears.
The Filter Editor enables you to set up a complex search algorithm:
a. Click the first field (defaults to Message) to select what you want to search (message text, priority,
member, or time detected).
b. Click the second field (defaults to Begins with) to select the search parameters. For example, you can
specify that you want to match text or exclude text.
c. Click the <enter a value> field and specify the search string. You can also select text in the Message
column and copy it to the search field.
d. Click And to add additional search criteria.
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Export Events
You can export the event log to an .xls file.
In the Events panel or Events window:
1. Click the Export Event Log icon.
3. Click Save.
Copy Events to the Clipboard

You can copy the event log for one group or all groups to the clipboard:
In the Events panel or Events window, click the Copy Current Event to Clipboard icon or click the Copy the
Selected Event Log to Clipboard icon.
Audit Messages
Audit messages are syslog events about administrator actions. They provide a historical reference to actions
such as logging in, logging out, creating a volume, setting up replication, and so on.
The SAN HQ Server includes a syslog server. If you use Group Manager to configure a monitored PS Series
group to send audit logs to the SAN HQ Server syslog server, the SAN HQ GUI displays the information.
Displaying Audit Logs

You can display audit information that a PS Series group logs to the SAN HQ Servers syslog server. From the
SAN HQ GUI, either:
Click the Audit Logs tab at the bottom of the GUI window to open the Audit Logs panel (Figure 34).
Click Events/Audit Logs in the Servers and Groups tree to display the Events and Audit Logs of Group window (Figure 35). By default, the Show All button is selected. To show only audit logs, select the Show Audit
Logs only button. To show only events, select Show Event Logs only (see Displaying Events on page 120).
If no audit logs are displayed, instructions are provided to verify that the group is properly configured to send
events and audit logs to the syslog server on the SAN HQ Server.
Each audit message includes the following information:
Account to which the audit message pertains.
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Date and time that the syslog server received the audit message from the group. Click the column heading
arrow to sort by ascending or descending date.
Description of the event that occurred at the time the audit message was received. Click the small icon in
the upper-right corner of the Message column header to view the message details.
Events that appear in the SAN HQ GUI can include events that occurred after the most recent poll or while the
group was not responding to SNMP requests.
SAN HQ displays events that occurred within the selected time period. To display the latest events, select Show
Latest in the GUI window.
Figure 34: Audit Logs Panel
Figure 35: Events and Audit Logs Window Showing Audit Logs
Search Audits
You can search the audit log for audit messages containing a specific word, words, or text string. You can also
use the Filter Editor for advanced search capabilities.
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To display audits that include a specific word, words, or text string, in the Audit Logs panel (Figure 34) or the
Events and Audit Logs window (Figure 35):
1. Enter the text in the search field and click Search. Click Clear to return the original audit display.
2. For advanced search capabilities, click Filter Editor. The Filter Editor dialog box appears.
The Filter Editor enables you to set up a complex search algorithm:
a. Click the first field (defaults to Message) to select what you want to search (message text, priority,
member, or time detected).
b. Click the second field (defaults to Begins with) to select the search parameters. For example, you can
specify that you want to match text or exclude text.
c. Click the <enter a value> field and specify the search string. You can also select text in the Message
column and copy it to the search field.
d. Click And to add additional search criteria.
For an example of how the Filter Editor works, see Search Events on page 122.
Export Audit Logs

You can export audit logs to an .xls file.
To export audit logs:
1. Click the Export Audit Logs to Excel icon in the Audit Logs panel.
3. Click Save.
Copy Audit Logs to the Clipboard

You can copy all the audit logs for a group or selected audit logs to the clipboard:
In the Audit Logs panel, click the Copy Current Audit Logs to Clipboard icon or the Copy Selected Audit
Logs to Clipboard icon.
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SAN Headquarters obtains a broad range of data from a PS Series group. By analyzing the data collected by
SAN HQ, you can quickly detect hardware failures, evaluate group performance, and identify areas of concern.
You can also determine if the group can handle an increase in workload.
Prerequisites for Analyzing Data

Before analyzing data shown in the SAN HQ GUI, be sure you understand:
How group data is compressed and therefore how it might be less precise as it ages. See How Data Is Compressed in Log Files on page 101.
Basic performance terminology and the type of data collected by SAN HQ. See Performance and Capacity
Terms on page 107.
The areas in your environment that can be sources of performance problems and which areas SAN HQ monitors. See Potential Sources of Performance Problems on page 127.
How your applications utilize group storage resources. See Understanding Application Storage Utilization on
page 128.
Note: When displaying group data, make sure you select the correct time range. By default, the GUI graphs
display data from the most recent 8-hour time period and the GUI tables display data from the most recent poll.
Use the Zoom links above the timeline to quickly set the value of the time-range selector and also to control the
range of dates seen in the timeline. For example, click Show Latest to show data up to the most recent time. See
Displaying Data from Different Times on page 48.
Potential Sources of Performance Problems

Identifying the source of a performance problem in your environment can be difficult. For example, if response
time is too long, the problem might be caused by a hardware failure, insufficient server resources, or an
improperly configured application.
Performance problems can result from:
HardwarePoor performance can be the result of a hardware failure in the group (for example, a disk failure), the network, or the server.
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Network configurationAlthough network bandwidth is rarely fully utilized, the network can be a source of
performance problems. For example, some parts of the network might not be Gigabit Ethernet, switches
might not be properly configured, or interswitch links might not have sufficient bandwidth.
Servers and applicationsServers that do not have sufficient resources (CPU, memory, bus) can experience
performance problems. Also, applications might not be properly configured.
SAN HQ is a good tool for determining if a performance problem is the result of a hardware failure in a group.
SAN HQ also provides information that can indicate a performance problem in the storage environment (for
example, if the workload exceeds the capability of the group).
However, SAN HQ tracks only a portion of the storage stack through which an I/O operation must pass,
starting with the application I/O request and ending with the data retrieved from the group. Latencies reported by
SAN HQ do not include latencies that occur in the server. To fully diagnose non-group problems, you must use
additional tools.
For more information, see Identifying Performance Problems on page 131.
Understanding Application Storage Utilization

Understanding how your applications utilize storage resources and perform I/O will help you better interpret the
data seen in the SAN HQ GUI. While a typical workload consists of small, random I/O operations, not all
workloads fit this model.
Different applications and workloads result in different performance profiles. Statistics that might indicate a
performance problem in one environment might indicate an efficient use of storage resources in another.
For example, if your application normally generates large I/O operations, a relatively high average latency might
be expected and does not necessarily indicate poor performance.
To characterize how your applications utilize storage resources, you should understand:
Application capacity requirements.
How the applications perform I/O. Consider the following questions:

Are the applications I/O intensive?
Are the I/O operations primarily reads, writes, or a mix of reads and writes?
Are the I/O operations primarily small, large, or a mix of sizes?
Are the I/Os primarily large sequential data transfers, small data transfers, or a mix of different types of
data transfers?
Do the applications require very low latency?
Is the workload consistent or does it vary over time?
Contact your PS Series support provider or your application support provider for more information about
characterizing your application storage utilization.
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Best Practices for Analyzing Data Over Time

Follow these best practices for analyzing SAN HQ data:
1. Start SAN HQ and obtain baseline performance statistics.
For trend analysis, allow SAN HQ to collect data for at least a week. Make sure the environment is under a
normal workload.
Some performance issues are temporary and result from an unusual increase in workload. If the statistics in
the SAN HQ GUI appear to indicate a problem, make sure it is not a temporary condition.
2. Monitor the GUI for hardware problems.
Failed hardware is a common source of performance problems. See Identifying Hardware Problems on page
130.
After you fix a hardware problem, allow time for SAN HQ to collect new data before analyzing the data.
Performance data collected while a hardware failure exists can be regarded as abnormal.
3. Monitor the GUI for common indicators of performance problems.
If you are sure that no hardware has failed, check for statistics that might indicate a performance problem.
See Identifying Performance Problems on page 131.
Be aware that the performance data is subjective and depends on the performance characteristics of your
applications.
4. Continue to monitor the group regularly.
If you have configured email notification, the computer running the SAN HQ Server will generate a message
when an alert related to a hardware failure or a performance problem occurs.
Figure 36 describes the process for analyzing SAN HQ data.
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Figure 36: Analyzing SAN Headquarters Data
Identifying Hardware Problems

Hardware failures are a common cause of performance problems and must be corrected immediately.
Always check for the following hardware-related issues in the SAN HQ GUI:
Hardware alertsCheck the Alerts panel for hardware problems that might affect performance, such as a
failed disk or a network connection that is not Gigabit Ethernet. See Reported Alerts on page 112 for a list of
SAN HQ alerts.
Network retransmissionsA sustained high TCP retransmit rate (greater than 1%) might indicate a network
hardware failure, insufficient server resources, or insufficient network bandwidth.
RAID statusA degraded, reconstructing, or verifying RAID set might adversely affect performance. In
some cases, performance might return to normal after the operation completes.
Low pool capacityMake sure free space in each pool does not fall below the lesser of the following
values:
5% of pool capacity
100GB * number of pool members
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Otherwise, load balancing, member removal, and replication operations do not perform optimally. Low free
space will also negatively affect the performance of thin-provisioned volumes.
Correct hardware problems immediately. See Best Practices for Solving Performance Problems on page 152 for
more information.
After you fix a hardware problem, allow time for SAN HQ to collect new data before analyzing the data.
Identifying Performance Problems

If you are sure that no hardware problems exist, certain performance statistics in the SAN HQ GUI provide a
good indication of overall group performance and should be regularly monitored. The statistics might help you
identify areas where performance can be optimized.
The following statistics are common indicators of performance problems:
Average I/O LatencyLatency must be considered along with the average I/O size, because large I/O operations take longer to process than small I/O operations.
Consider the context of time for latency-sensitive applications when viewing metrics. For example, high
latency might occur without business impact during a large sequential batch program after hours.
Consider the I/O load as well and correlate it to the observed latency. For example, latency over 20 ms during a 2-hour window on a volume doing less than small (8KB) block I/Os might not be relevant.
The following guidelines apply to I/O operations with an average size of 16KB or less:
Less than 20 msIn general, average latencies of less than 20 ms are acceptable.
20 ms to 50 msSustained average latencies between 20 ms and 50 ms should be monitored closely.
You might want to reduce the workload or add additional storage resources to handle the load.
51 ms to 80 msSustained average latencies between 51 ms and 80 ms should be monitored closely.
Applications might experience problems and noticeable delays. You might want to reduce the workload
or add additional storage resources to handle the load.
Greater than 80 msA sustained average latency of more than 80 ms indicates a problem, especially if
this value is sustained over time. Most enterprise applications will experience problems if latencies
exceed 100 ms. You should reduce the workload or add additional storage resources to handle the load.
If the average I/O operation size is greater than 16KB, the previous latency guidelines might not apply.
If latency statistics indicate a performance problem, examine the total IOPS in the pools. The storage array
configuration (disk drives and RAID level) determines the maximum number of random IOPS that can be sustained. Dell Support or your channel partner can help size storage configurations for specific workloads.
Also, check the latency on your servers. If the storage does not show a high latency, but the server does, the
source of the problem might be the server or network infrastructure.
Estimated I/O loadEstimated load, relative to the theoretical maximum capability of the group, pool, or
member. The estimated I/O load is based on latencies, IOPS, hardware, and the RAID configuration. The
load value is an estimate; use it only as a general indicator. The I/O load can be:
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LowMinimal
load. Latencies are low.

MediumTypical load. Usually, either member throughput is greater than 1MB/second or IOPS are
greater than 50, and average latencies are above 20 ms. If this load is sustained, you should monitor the
group carefully.
HighLoad that is approaching the theoretical maximum capability. Usually, member throughput will be
greater than 1MB/second or IOPS will be greater than 50, and average latencies will be above 50 ms. If
this load is sustained, you should investigate further.
UnknownIndicates that SAN HQ cannot currently calculate the I/O load because of invalid SNMP
counters or because of the group workload.
Average IOPSIOPS are a good way to measure overall I/O activity and how much work is being done,
especially if you also consider the average I/O size. However, IOPS do not indicate whether the storage system is overloaded or operating within its limits.
Average I/O sizeIn general, the average size of an I/O operation is 16KB or less. The larger the I/O operation size, the longer it takes to process, which might affect latencies. Also, large I/O operations will generally reduce the total number of IOPS.
I/O size can be useful in understanding workload characteristics, especially when measured at the volume
level.
Network loadThe network load is the percentage of the theoretical maximum network bandwidth that is
being used for sending I/O or receiving I/O, whichever has the highest value. The theoretical maximum bandwidth is based on the negotiated link speed for all active network interfaces.
The network load percentage provides a quick measure of network activity. Network ports are typically fullduplex.
Note: The network is rarely a bottleneck in a SAN. Usually, network bandwidth is underutilized, especially
with random I/O workloads.
Network rateIn general, the network rate should be 100% to 200% of the I/O (iSCSI) traffic. A network
rate that is significantly more than 200% might indicate a problem.
Queue depthSAN HQ displays the queue depth (average number of outstanding I/O operations at the start
of each incoming I/O operation) for each disk drive (raw I/O), volumes (iSCSI traffic only), groups, and
pools. A queue depth of zero indicates no I/O activity. High or sustained queue depths might indicate that the
group is under a high load.
Note: A group must be running PS Series firmware version 4.2 or later to display iSCSI queue depth for a
volume.
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Experimental analysis dataIn the Experimental Analysis windows, SAN HQ provides information about
how the group is performing, relative to a typical workload of small, random I/O operations. This information
is only an estimate and must not be used as the sole measure of group performance. See Access the Experimental Analysis Window on page 133.
The Experimental Analysis window provides information about PS Series group performance, relative to a
specific workload. This information is only an estimate. However, it can help you more fully understand group
performance and also help you plan for storage expansion.
Note: Because the estimated information in the Experimental Analysis window is based on a workload that
might not resemble the actual group workload, the data should not be used as the sole measure of group
performance. The Experimental Analysis window also provides runtime group performance data, so you can
compare the estimates to actual data. Always consider latency when examining estimated performance data.
Access the Experimental Analysis Window

To access the Experimental Analysis window showing estimated performance information:
1. Select a group in the Servers and Groups tree.
2. Expand I/O then select Experimental Analysis.
The Experimental Analysis for Group window appears, as shown in Figure 37.
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Figure 37: Experimental Analysis Data for a Group
Experimental Analysis Data

SAN HQ collects the following information from the group:
Current hardware configuration (including RAID level, controller type, and disk type)
Current distribution of reads and writes (that is, the percentage of IOPS that are reads and the percentage of
IOPS that are writes)
SAN HQ then calculates the performance estimates, based on the previous data and a workload with the
following IOPS characteristics:
Small (8KB)
Random
The Experimental Analysis window (see Figure 37) provides the following group performance estimates:
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Estimated IOPS WorkloadFor the selected time range, the graph shows the percentage of how much work
(IOPS) the group is performing, based on the estimated maximum number of IOPS the group can perform
(estimated maximum IOPS) and the actual number of IOPS performed by the group.The table to the left of
the graph shows how much work (IOPS) the group is performing, averaged over the time range. For example, if the estimate is 50%, the group is performing half the work SAN HQ estimates that the group can perform. This estimate is based on a workload consisting of small, random IOPS and the group hardware
configuration and read/write distribution.
The Estimated IOPS Workload percentage is never more than 100%, even if the group is performing at more
than 100% of the estimated maximum number of IOPS.
Estimated Maximum IOPSFor the selected time range, the graph shows the estimated maximum number
of IOPS the group can perform, based on a workload consisting of small, random IOPS and the group hardware configuration and read/write distribution. To compare the estimated data with runtime data, the graph
also shows the actual number of IOPS (reads and writes) performed by the group.
Because the estimated maximum IOPS data is based on the group hardware configuration and read/write distribution, the estimated data usually tracks the actual number of I/O operations in the group.
Every 7 days, the SAN HQ Server automatically updates the SAN local repository, including newly supported disks and hardware, used for Estimated IOPS calculations. This local repository is also used to verify
member configuration and disk drive support, and can be updated manually.
Occasionally, the SAN HQ Client might show an estimated IOPS value of zero and display a notification
stating, SAN HQ Error: Unknown configuration is detected. Estimated max IOPS cannot be calculated.
This notification typically indicates that the SAN HQ version you are running proceeds a newer drive type in
your PS Series array. Dell recommends that you upgrade to the latest release of SAN HQ (see Upgrading
SAN Headquarters on page 21). Verify that the SAN HQ Server has access to the Internet for upgrading the
SAN HQ software or for updating the local repository.
Occasionally, SNMP timeouts during RAID verification might cause critical information to be temporarily
unavailable. In this case, Estimated IOPS cannot be calculated.
SAN HQ calculates the estimated maximum group IOPS when no disk drives in the group have failed
(orange line in the graph) and also when at least one RAID set is in a degraded state (brown line in the
graph). This information is useful for understanding the performance impact of a disk failure. The degraded
estimate is based on a drive failure in a RAID set that would result in the greatest performance impact.
The table to the left of the graph shows the estimated maximum number of IOPS (under non-failure and
degraded RAID set conditions), averaged over the selected time range.
The degraded estimate does not include the performance impact that might occur during RAID reconstruction (for example, when the array is reconstructing data from parity on a spare drive).
Examples of Interpreting Estimated Performance Data
Estimated IOPS Workload Percentage is below 50% and no performance issues.

If the runtime group data does not indicate a performance problem (that is, latencies are low, applications
complete on time, and user response time is adequate), then you can assume that the group can handle an
increase in workload without a performance degradation.
Estimated IOPS Workload Percentage is more than 80% and no performance issues.
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If the runtime group data does not indicate a performance problem (that is, latencies are low, applications
complete on time, and user response time is adequate), and your workload consists of mainly small, random
I/O operations, you might be nearing the limit of the group. You might want to consider decreasing the load
on the group or adding additional hardware or arrays.
Estimated IOPS Workload Percentage is more than 80% and performance issues exist.
If the runtime group data indicates a performance problem (for example, high latencies or high queue depth,
applications do not complete on time, or response time is slow), you probably have reached the limit of the
group. You should immediately consider decreasing the load on the group or adding additional hardware or
arrays.
Estimated IOPS Workload Percentage is less than 50% and performance issues exist.
If the runtime group data indicates a performance problem (for example, high latencies or high queue depth,
applications do not complete on time, or response time is slow), the group workload probably does not consist of mainly small, random I/O operations.
The data might indicate one of the following situations:
You reached the limit of the groupYou should immediately consider decreasing the load on the group
or adding additional hardware or arrays.
One or more members have degraded RAID setsReplace failed drives as soon as possible.
Network problems existCorrect the network problems immediately.
A server has reached its maximum capabilitiesConsider increasing the I/O capabilities of the server
(for example, install additional network interfaces and configure multipathing).
Member hardware problems existReplace any failed hardware and ensure that you configure all the
network interfaces on all group members.
As these examples show, estimated data must be used with runtime group data to obtain an accurate and
comprehensive understanding of group performance. For runtime group data examples, see Examples of
Interpreting Performance Data on page 136.
Examples of Interpreting Performance Data

No single piece of performance data reported by SAN HQ can provide a complete characterization of group
performance. You must consider a broad range of performance data, in addition to environmental data, user and
application response times, and the group workload.
The examples in the following sections might help you better understand the relationship between different types
of performance data.
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Example 1: Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability

Figure 38 and Figure 39 show the I/O for Group window and the Experimental Analysis for Group window,
respectively, for a group that is performing adequately and has enough unused capability to handle an increase in
workload. Table 28 describes the relevant data.
Figure 38: I/O Window for Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability
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Figure 39: Experimental Analysis Window Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability
Table 28: Performance Data for Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability
Data
Description
Latency
Good (less than 15 ms)
IOPS
Good (performing approximately 50% of the estimated maximum

IOPS)
I/O Size
Typical (approximately 50KB for reads and 6KB for writes)
I/O Rate
Low (approximately 5 to 15 MB/sec)
Overall Assessment
Adequate
Expansion Capability
Might be able to increase workload by 25%
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Data
Description
Queue Depth
Typical range
Example 1 shows a group that is performing well and is within its capabilities. The latencies are all below 20
ms, which is good. The reported number of IOPS is about half the maximum IOPS (small, random) that SAN HQ
estimates the group can easily perform. The I/O sizes are typical, so you do not have to consider any special
circumstances (such as very large I/O sizes). The I/O rate (throughput) is low. The workload appears to be
reasonably static (and thus predictable).
This group probably could handle an increase in the I/O workload of at least 25% before performance problems
might develop.
Example 2: Mainly Idle Group

respectively, for a group that is almost idle. The average queue depth should occasionally show as 0 or 1. Table
29 describes the relevant data.
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Figure 40: I/O Window for an Idle Group
Table 29: Performance Data for an Idle Group

Data
Description
Latency
IOPS
Very low (approximately 15% of estimated maximum IOPS)
I/O Size
I/O Rate
Very low (average of 2.5MB/sec)
Overall Assessment
Group is mainly idle
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Data
Description
Can support an increase in workload
Queue Depth
Low
Figure 41: Experimental Analysis Window for an Idle Group
Example 2 shows a group that is mainly idle. The very low latency and low IOPS values indicate that this group
can handle a larger workload. However, because the current group workload is so low, it is difficult to determine
how large a workload increase the group can handle. Increase the workload gradually and evaluate the group
performance after each increase.
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Example 3: Adequately Performing Group Possibly Near Full

Capability
respectively, for a group that is performing well, but might be near full capability. Table 30 describes the
relevant data.
Figure 42: I/O Window for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability
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Figure 43: Experimental Analysis Window for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability
Table 30: Performance Data for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability
Data
Description
Latency
IOPS
High (at least 100% of the estimated maximum IOPS)
I/O Size
I/O Rate
Low (average 30 to 40 MB/sec)
Overall Assessment
Adequate
Increase workload gradually and with caution
Queue Depth
Moderate
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Example 3 shows some contradictory information. The latencies are low (less than 20 ms). However, the IOPS
are at or above the maximum estimated IOPS (small, random) for the group. Because the I/O size is small (less
than 64KB), the workload might be sequential instead of random. Alternatively, the group might be benefiting
from a high level of control module cache hits.
Because the latencies are low, the group currently appears to be performing well. However, an increase in the
workload might result in performance degradation.
Example 4: Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability

Figure 44, Figure 45, and Figure 46 show the I/O for Group window, the Experimental Analysis for Group
window, and the Network for Group window, respectively, for a busy group that is probably near full capability.
Table 31 describes the relevant data.
Figure 44: I/O Window for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability
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Figure 45: Experimental Analysis Window for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability
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Figure 46: Network Window for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability
Table 31: Performance Data for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability
Data
Description
Latency
Cautionary (above 20 ms, but less than 50 ms)
IOPS
High (approximately 100% of the estimated maximum IOPS)
I/O Size
Smaller than typical (approximately 12KB for reads and 10KB for writes)
I/O Rate
Low (less than 10MB/sec)
Network Load
Low (less than 2%)
Overall Assessment
Busy
Increasing workload will probably result in performance degradation
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Example 4 shows that a group can have a high I/O load and a low network load at the same time. The network is
rarely a bottleneck in a SAN. Usually, network bandwidth is underutilized, especially with random I/O
workloads.
This group has a heavy load, consisting of highly random, small reads and writes. Yet, only a fraction of the
network is being utilized. While this example is extreme, the concept is true for most groups.
Example 5: Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full

Capability
respectively, for a busy group with high latencies that is probably near full capability. Table 32 describes the
relevant data.
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Figure 47: I/O Window for a Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full Capability
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Figure 48: Experimental Analysis Window for a Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full
Capability
Table 32: Performance Data for a Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full Capability
Data
Description
Latency
High (20 to 60 ms, sustained)
IOPS
Very high (above 100% of the estimated maximum IOPS)
I/O Size
I/O Rate
Low (average 45MB/sec)
Overall Assessment
Very busy
Increasing workload will probably result in performance degradation
Queue Depth
Moderate to high
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Example 5 shows a busy group with no excess capacity for expansion. The high latencies, sustained over an 8hour period, indicate that group performance is troublesome. While brief peaks of high latency are acceptable,
high sustained latencies generally have a negative impact on application performance.
In addition, the number of IOPS in this example is two to three times the estimated maximum IOPS. This
increase is probably because the workload is sequential instead of random. Alternatively, the group might be
benefiting from a high level of control module cache hits.
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Example 6: Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads
Figure 49 shows the I/O for Group window for a group that is performing many small write operations but some
large read operations. Table 33 describes the relevant data.
Figure 49: I/O Window for Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads
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Table 33: Performance Data for Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads
Data
Description
Read/Write Distribution
Approximately 32% reads and 68% writes
Read I/O Size
Average 70KB
Write I/O Size
Average 3KB
Read IOPS
Average 170
Write IOPS
Average 350
Read I/O Rate
Average 12MB/sec
Write I/O Rate
Average 1MB/sec
Queue Depth
Moderate
Example 6 shows how the read/write distribution is important for understanding performance statistics. The
read/write distribution is the percentage of read IOPS and the percentage of write IOPS, based on the overall
number of IOPS.
The data in Example 6 indicates a workload that consists mainly of write operations (68% writes). However,
these writes are small (average of 3KB). Because the read operations are large (average of 70KB), compared to
the writes, most of the I/O throughput is read data (average read I/O rate of 12MB/sec).
Best Practices for Solving Performance Problems

Best practices for solving performance problems are as follows:
Fix any failed hardware components in the SAN.

For example, replace failed disks or failed control modules. See Identifying Hardware Problems on page
130.
Configure all network interfaces.

Make sure all the network interfaces on the group members are configured and functional. Dell recommends
configuring redundant network paths using the EqualLogic Multipath I/O (MPIO) Device Specific Module
(DSM), which is part of Host Integration Tools for Microsoft.
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Fix or upgrade network hardware.
Correct any network hardware problems that are causing the poor performance. For example, fix switches or
add network bandwidth. See Network Infrastructure Recommendations on page 153.
Fix or upgrade server hardware.

Correct any server hardware problems that are causing the poor performance. For example, add memory,
update drivers, or use multipathing. See Server and Application Configuration Recommendations on page
154.
Optimize applications.
Correct any application behavior that is causing the poor performance, with the goal of reducing the load on
the group. For example, make sure database volumes are provisioned according to best practices (for example, you might want to place data and log files on different volumes). See Server and Application Configuration Recommendations on page 154.
Modify the group configuration.

For example, change the RAID policy for a member or reassign volumes to different pools. See Group Configuration Recommendations on page 154.
Add more SAN hardware.

For example, add more members to the group, upgrade disks to a higher capacity or speed, or install disks of
a different type.
Network Infrastructure Recommendations

You might be able to improve performance by following these recommendations:
Use network components that are recommended for an iSCSI SAN by Dell EqualLogic.
Use switches and interswitch links that have sufficient bandwidth for the iSCSI I/O. Contact Dell Support
for details about correct sizing and configuration of iSCSI SAN switch infrastructure. Pay careful attention
to sizing interswitch links.
Make sure all member network interface connections are Gigabit Ethernet and make sure driver settings are
correct on the servers. SAN HQ generates an alert if it detects connections that are less than 1GB.
Follow the network requirements and recommendations in the PS Series Installation and Setup guide. In general:
If possible, do not use Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) functionality on switch ports that connect end
nodes.
Enable flow control on switches and NICs.
Disable unicast storm control on switches.
Enable jumbo frames.
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Server and Application Configuration Recommendations

Have sufficient server memory. Adding memory can decrease the read I/O load on the storage.
Use the latest drivers for your operating system.
Add high-performance network interfaces or host bus adapters to servers.
Consider using multipathing (MPIO), which provides a high-performance and highly available path between
a server and storage. Use the Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools/Microsoft for a multipathing solution.
Make sure the server Ethernet ports, PCI bus, and CPU are rated for the workload.
If the server is a cluster node, isolate cluster network traffic from iSCSI storage traffic. Check for other network traffic interference.
Configure the application properly so that I/O is performed efficiently.
Group Configuration Recommendations

Make sure all the network interfaces on the members are configured, functioning, and accessible. Use the
Group Manager CLI ping command to check accessibility.
If you need more network bandwidth for iSCSI I/O, consider not configuring a dedicated management network.
If pool capacity is low, make one or more of the following changes:

Move volumes from the low-space pool to a different pool.
Increase pool member capacity by fully populating the drive bays or upgrading to higher-capacity disks.
Increase pool capacity by adding a member.
Consider changing the RAID policy for a member. Change the policy only if you are sure your applications
will perform better with a different RAID level. Dell recommends using the RAID Evaluator in SAN HQ.
For information, see RAID Policy Evaluation and Reliability on page 83.
In addition, RAID policies with spare disks provide additional protection against drive failures. Also, RAID
10 performs better than other RAID levels when a disk drive fails and when a RAID set is degraded.
You can change a RAID policy for a member only if the new RAID policy uses less disk space than the current RAID policy.
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Assign application volumes to a pool that includes members with the RAID policy that is optimal for the
application.
Replace member disk drives with higher-performing drives. Make sure the array is fully populated with disk
drives.
Make sure member control module caches are in write-back mode. See the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager
Administrators Manual for information about setting cache modes.
Run the latest PS Series firmware on all group members.
Consider not binding volumes to a particular group member and let the group perform automatic performance
load balancing.
Use fewer pools and let the group perform automatic performance load balancing.
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To preserve group data for later analysis, you can:
Create reports from group data. See Group Data Reports on page 157.
Archive group data. See Group Data Archives on page 165.
Export group data. See Group Data Exports on page 169.
You can preserve data at the current time or use a command line to perform the task.
Group Data Reports

You can create reports from one or more groups that SAN Headquarters is monitoring. The reports are based on
the data collected by the SAN HQ Server. You can specify the date and time range for the data used in the
report.
Reports are generated as a background process, so you can continue to use SAN HQ.
You can also create reports from archived group data. Open the archive and follow the instructions for creating a
report.
To create data reports, use either:
SAN HQ GUIUsing the GUI is the easiest method of creating a report. You can display the report, save
the report to a file, or email the report. See Use the GUI to Create a Report on page 159.
Command lineUsing a command to create a report enables you to schedule the creation of reports and regularly capture group data. See Use a Command to Create a Report on page 159.
Reports minimally require approximately 5MB per group per report, depending on the selected time range.
Report Types
You can create the following report types for the selected groups:
Configuration reportIncludes information about the overall group configuration.
Capacity reportIncludes information about group, member, and volume capacity and space usage.
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Thin-provisioned volumes reportIncludes information about thin-provisioned volumes.
Replication reportIncludes information about inbound and outbound replication activity.
Replication report across groupsIncludes information about inbound and outbound replication activity
across multiple selected groups.
Performance reportIncludes group, member, and network port I/O performance information.
Host Connections reportIncludes information about host session iSCSI connections to group targets.
Hardware and Firmware reportIncludes information about the hardware and firmware on the group
members.
Top 10 reportIncludes the 10 volumes with the largest size (capacity), highest IOPS, and highest number
of iSCSI connections from initiators.
Top 10 report across groupsIncludes the 10 volumes with the largest size (capacity), highest IOPS, and
highest number of iSCSI connections from initiators across multiple selected groups.
Alerts reportContains a combined list of all alerts within a selected range for selected groups. The information in the Alerts report is similar to the Alerts panel on a servers All Groups page and the Alerts tab on
the Summary of Group page. For a given group, the Alerts report information includes the priority level of
the alert (informational, caution, warning, or critical), time and date of the poll in which the alert was
detected, the duration of the alert, the status of the alert (active or cleared), and the alert message text.
Group diagnostics reportAnalyzes all selected groups for possible performance and configuration issues
(for example, group members with mismatched firmware or incompatible RAID policies). For information
about the data analyzed by the group diagnostics report, see Group Diagnostics Report Data on page 164.
SyncRep reportReports on selected groups with SyncRep enabled, showing a summary of SyncRep activity for all groups and pools (for example, total SyncRep volumes, SyncRep status, and total and remaining
changes), and specific information per group and pool.
Snapshot Schedules reportFor a selected data range, shows for a group all volume snapshot, volume replication, volume snapshot collection, and volume replication collection schedules, and provides status and
data. Data includes the schedule name, associated volume, type of schedule, when it was last run, when date
and time of next run enabled status, current schedule count, and maximum keep count. For Replication and
Replication Collection schedules, also shows the replication partner.
Volumes Performance reportFor a selected group or groups and a selected data range, shows a volume's
performance summary, which includes read and write IOPS, data sent and received (KB/sec), read and
write latency, and volume count.
Information Required for a Report

Before creating a report, collect the following information:
Type of report to create (see Report Types on page 157).
Groups to include in the report.
Point in time or the time range for the data to include in the report.
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You can specify that the report be based on data collected at the current time, 8 hours ago, 1 day ago, 7 days
ago, or 30 days ago, or you can specify a specific date and time. For some report types, you can specify a
time range; the data in the report will be averaged over the time range.
Report styleYou can select the colors to use in the report.
Title for the reportIf you do not specify a title, SAN HQ uses a default title based on the type of report.
Directory where the report will be located, the report file name, and the report file type (PDF, CSV, HTML,
RTF, TXT, or XLS).
Whether you want to generate the report now or create an XML file that you can use to later generate the
report.
Email settings for distributing the report, including the SMTP server and port, email addresses to receive the
report, email address for the From field, and the text for the Subject field.
Use the GUI to Create a Report

To create a report:
1. From the Reports menu, either select the type of report you want to create or select Report Wizard, which
allows you to select the type of report.
2. A series of dialog boxes appears, prompting you for the information described in Information Required for a
Report on page 158. Enter the necessary information and click Next to continue.
3. In the final Report Wizard dialog box (Title and Generation Settings), select the Generate Report Now
option. SAN HQ generates the report in a background process.
The completed report (usually consisting of multiple pages) appears in the Report Viewer. Use the toolbar at the
top of the Report Viewer window to:
Print the report
Change the page setup for the report, change the report background, or add a watermark to the report
Save the report to a PDF, HTML, MHT, RTF, XLS, CSV, TXT, or BMP file
Save the report to another file type and then email the report
Use a Command to Create a Report

Using a command to create a report enables you to schedule the creation of reports and regularly capture group
data. For example, you can use the Schedule Tasks window in the Windows Control Panel to create reports
regularly.
159
The procedure for creating a report by using a command requires using the SAN HQ GUI to create an XML file
that contains the groups and the type of data that you want in the report. You then run the SAN HQ executable,
specifying the XML file as a parameter.
To use a command to create a report:
1. From the Reports menu, either select the type of report you want to create or select Report Wizard, which
allows you to select the report type.
2. A series of dialog boxes appears, prompting you for the information described in Information Required for a
Report on page 158.
See Use the GUI to Create a Report on page 159 for a description of the dialog boxes. Be sure to select the
Generate Command Line option in the Report Wizard Title and Generation Settings dialog box.
Optionally, you can automatically email the report after it is generated. In the Report Wizard E-Mail
Settings dialog box, select Automatically e-mail report as an attachment after generation and enter
the information in the fields. If you configured email notification for alerts, the fields already contain data.
You can edit the fields as needed.
3. In the Report Wizard Report Generation Ready dialog box, click Generate Command Line. The Report
Generator XML Viewer window appears (Figure 50), displaying the contents of the XML file. You can edit
this file, if necessary, as described in Modifying an XML File for Creating Reports on page 162.
4. When you are satisfied with the contents of the XML file, click Save in the Report Generator XML Viewer
dialog box and specify a file name for the XML file.
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Figure 50: Report Generator XML Viewer
5. To generate the report, navigate to the SAN HQ installation directory and use the following command
format. Be sure to specify the full path for the XML file.
SANHQClient.exe -ReportSettingsFile="xml_file_name"
For example:
> SANHQClient.exe ReportSettingsFile="C:\SANReport_XML.xml"
Schedule Report Creation

If you want to generate reports regularly, use Schedule Tasks in the Windows Control Panel to specify a
schedule for running the following command:
SANHQ_install_directory\SANHQClient.exe -ReportSettingsFile=XML_file_name
The XML_file_name variable specifies the name of the XML file you created in Use a Command to Create a
Report on page 159.
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Modifying an XML File for Creating Reports

In an XML file that is used to create group reports, you can modify:
Report file name
Report type
Report style
Date and time

The time in the XML file is specified in hours, unless you want the latest data (specify span = "0") or a
time range. To specify a time range, specify the beginning and end dates. For example:
begin = "7/15/2013 2:35:31 PM"end = "7/29/2013 2:35:31 PM"
Groups to include in the report (identified by group name)
Email information for the report
The following sample XML file creates a Configuration Report (in PDF format) from data gathered one day ago
(24 hours) for one group:
<SanHQReport>
<ReportFile>
C:\Documents and Settings\sample_user\My Documents\SanHQ_Report.pdf
</ReportFile>
<Title>
SAN Headquarters Configuration Report
</Title>
<Type>
Configuration Report
</Type>
<Style>
Default
</Style>
<DataType>
Point
</DataType>
<GrabNearestPointWithin>
36000000000
</GrabNearestPointWithin>
<Time
span = "24"
/>
<Group>
magic4-grp
</Group>
</SanHQReport>
The following sample XML file creates a Capacity Report (in HTML format) from data averaged over a
specific 2-week time period for two groups:
162
<SanHQReport>
<ReportFile>
C:\sample_user\My Documents\Capacity_Report.html
</ReportFile>
<Title>
SAN Headquarters Capacity Report
</Title>
<Type>
Capacity Report
</Type>
<Style>
Default
</Style>
<DataType>
Point
</DataType>
36000000000
<Time
begin = "7/15/2013 2:35:31 PM"
end = "7/29/2013 2:35:31 PM"
/>
<Group>
thing
</Group>
<Group>
rental17
</Group>
</SanHQReport>
The following sample XML file creates a Top 10 Report (in PDF format) from the latest data for a group and
then emails the report:
<SanHQReport>
<ReportFile>
C:\sample_user\My Documents\TOP_10_Report.pdf
</ReportFile>
<Title>
SAN Headquarters TOP 10 Report
</Title>
<Type>
Top 10 Report
</Type>
<Style>
Default
</Style>
<DataType>
Point
</DataType>
36000000000
<Time
span = "0"
/>
<Group>
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MandaGrp
</Group>
<AutoEmailReport>
<SmtpServer>
10.20.30.40
</SmtpServer>
<Sender>
grouo@company.com
</Sender>
<SmtpPort>
25
</SmtpPort>
<SubjectLine>
SAN Headquarters Top 10 Report
</SubjectLine>
<SendToAddress>
me@company.com
</SendToAddress>
<SendToAddress>
you@group.com
</SendToAddress>
</AutoEmailReport>
</SanHQReport>
Group Diagnostics Report Data

The Group Diagnostics Report analyzes all selected groups and detects known issues by member, hardware or
disk, pool, and port.
Table 34 lists and describes the data analyzed by the Group Diagnostics Report.
Table 34: Group Diagnostics Report Data
Category
Data Analyzed
Member
analysis
Members in the same pool with mismatched firmware

Members in the same pool with mismatched RAID policies
Member not online
Member with free space approaching low threshold (90%)
Member disk is a non-approved disk or a bad disk (offline, failed, or missing
status)
Disk
analysis
Disk models are mismatched

Disk RPMs are mismatched
No spare drives
Drives known to fail
Failed drives
Disks known to be bad or firmware loaded on disks is known to be bad
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Category
Pool
analysis
Data Analyzed
Disk firmware and group firmware are incompatible

Disk protocols are mismatched; occurs when an unapproved combination of
SATA and SAS drives are found on a member
Pools with high I/O loadInforms you to distribute the load to other pools
Pools with number of connections approaching 90% maximum (firmware version 4.2 and higher)
Pools with members offlineDisplays the number of members offline
Pools Total, Free, and In-Use capacity within 90% threshold of the collection
Pool delegated space at 80% threshold
Port
analysis
10Gb Ethernet port operating below maximum link speed of 10Gb

1Gb Ethernet port operating below maximum link speed of 1Gb
Port with an admin status of not up (that is, a user-disabled port or a neverenabled port)
Port with an admin status of up (that is, a user-enabled port) but operationally down (that is, a disconnected port or unresponsive port)
Group Data Archives

You can save group data to a compressed archive file (.grpx file). Any computer running the SAN HQ Client
can open an archive file and view the data in the SAN HQ GUI, even if the client is not connected to the SAN
HQ Server.
You can create reports from archived data.
It can be beneficial to regularly archive group data. SAN HQ maintains group performance data in log files for
up to 1 year. As data ages, the SAN HQ Server compresses the data in the log files, which can make some older
data less precise than newer data. You can periodically archive data to retain more-precise data. See How Data
Is Compressed in Log Files on page 101.
You also might need to archive data if requested by your PS Series support provider.
Group archive data can also be included in a SupportAssist on-demand data collection. See Running an OnDemand Data Collection on page 206.
To archive group data, use either:
SAN HQ GUIUsing the GUI is the easiest method of archiving data. See Use the GUI to Create an
Archive File on page 166.
Command lineUsing a command to archive data enables you to schedule archive operations and regularly
capture group data. See Use a Command to Create an Archive File on page 166.
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A group data archive minimally requires approximately 1.5 to 2 times the log size of the amount of data selected.
Use the GUI to Create an Archive File

To use the SAN HQ GUI to create an archive file of the current data for one or more groups:
1. From the SAN HQ menu, select Create Archive to initiate the Archive Groups wizard.
2. In the first dialog box of the wizard, click Next. The Group Selection dialog box appears.
3. Select the service (if multiple servers are configured) and any groups whose data you want to save. You can
archive groups from only one service at a time. Click Select all groups to archive data for all the
monitored groups.
4. Click Next. Select the time range for the data to include in the archive. By default, Time Range is selected,
allowing you to indicate the latest hour, latest 8 hours, latest 1 day (default), latest 7 days, or latest 30 days
for the time range, or enter a specific range of dates. Alternatively, select All Data to include all data
collected to date in the archive.
5. Click Next. The Archive Generation Type dialog box appears.
6. Select the Generate Now option.
7. Enter a file name for the .grpx archive file. The default name is SANHQ_Archive.grpx.
8. Optionally, check the Trace Files Only checkbox. By selecting this option, the resulting archive is a
compressed archive containing only debug trace files without any group log data. These compressed debug
trace files are designed for easy transmission of important diagnostic information.
9. Click Next. The Summary of Archive dialog box appears.
10. Click Archive now to create the archive.
To open an archive file, see Open an Archive File on page 169.
Use a Command to Create an Archive File

Using a command to archive data enables you to schedule archive operations and regularly capture group data.
For example, you can use the Schedule Tasks window in the Windows Control Panel to archive data regularly.
The procedure for archiving group data by using a command requires using the SAN HQ GUI to create an XML
file that contains the groups whose data you want to archive. You then run the SAN HQ executable, specifying
the XML file as a parameter.
To use a command to archive group data:
1. From the SAN HQ menu, select Create Archive to initiate the Archive Groups wizard.
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3. Select the service (if multiple servers are configured) and any groups whose data you want to save. You can
archive groups from only one service at a time. Click Select all groups to archive data for all the
monitored groups.
4. Click Next. The Archive Generation Type dialog box appears.
5. Select the Generate Command line Archive Settings file option.
6. Enter a file name for the .grpx archive file. The default name is SANHQ_Archive.grpx.
7. Optionally, check the Trace Files Only checkbox. By selecting this option, the resulting archive is a
compressed archive containing only debug trace files without any group log data. These compressed debug
trace files are designed for easy transmission of important diagnostic information.
8. Click Next. The Summary of Archive dialog box appears.
9. Click Generate Command Line. The Create Archive XML Viewer dialog box appears (Figure 51), displaying
the XML file.
Figure 51: Create Archive XML Viewer
10. Examine the XML file. If necessary, you can edit the file as described in Modifying an XML File for
Archiving Data on page 168.
11. Click Save if the file is acceptable and then enter the path and file name for the XML file. Click Cancel to
cancel the operation.
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12. Navigate to the SAN HQ installation directory and use the following command format. Be sure to specify
the full path for the XML file.
SANHQClient.exeArchiveSettingsFile="xml_file_name"
For example:
> SANHQClient.exe ArchiveSettingsFile="C:\SAN_Archive_XML.xml"
To open an archive file, see Open an Archive File on page 169.
Schedule Archived Data

If you want to archive data regularly, use Schedule Tasks in the Windows Control Panel to specify a schedule
for running the following command:
SANHQ_install_directory\SANHQClient.exe ArchiveSettingsFile="XML_file_name"
The XML_file_name variable specifies the name of the XML file you created in Use a Command to Create an
Archive File on page 166.
Modifying an XML File for Archiving Data

You can modify an XML file that is used to archive group data. For example, you can change the groups
(identified by IP address) or the .grpx file name.
The following sample XML file archives data gathered for two groups:
<SanHQArchive>
<Path>
C:\Documents and Settings\sample_user\SANHQ_Archive.grpx
</Path>
<Group>
10.124.9.144
</Group>
<Group>
10.127.14.200
</Group>
</SanHQArchive>
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Open an Archive File

Any computer running the SAN HQ Client can open an archive file and view the group data in the SAN HQ
GUI, even if the client is not connected to the SAN HQ Server. However, archives created by a newer version
of the SAN HQ Client cannot be opened by an older version.
To open an archive file:
1. Make the archive file available to the computer running the SAN HQ Client.
2. Start the SAN HQ GUI.
3. In the All Groups window (Starting the SAN Headquarters GUI on page 5), from the Monitor menu, select
Open archive.
4. Enter the archive file name and location and click Open.
A new SAN HQ GUI window appears, showing the archived group data. The window title bar shows Archive,
and the group Monitoring Status is disconnected.
If you want, you can create reports from archived data. You can also start the Group Manager GUI from an
archive.
You cannot export group data, create an archive, add a group, or change the SAN HQ settings for a group though
an archive.
Group Data Exports

You can export group data from a specific time period into a .csv file that you can open with Microsoft Excel
and other programs. The data for each object and polling period is listed in individual rows, and every
measurement is entered into a column.
It can be beneficial to regularly export group data. SAN HQ maintains group data in log files for up to 1 year. As
the data ages, the SAN HQ Server compresses the data in the log files, which can make some older data less
precise than newer data. You might want to periodically export data to retain the precise information.
SAN HQ enables you to select the date and time range for the exported data. You can choose to include
information about the entire group or more-detailed information about pools, members, volumes, network ports,
replicas, and disks.
To export group data, use either:
SAN HQ GUIUsing the GUI is the easiest method of exporting data. See Use the GUI to Export Group
Data on page 170.
Command lineUsing a command to export data enables you to schedule export operations and regularly
capture group data. See Use a Command to Export Group Data on page 170.
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Exports minimally require approximately 50MB per group, depending on the selected time range, data object,
and size of the groups log files.
Use the GUI to Export Group Data

To use the GUI to export current group data to a .csv file:
1. In the Servers and Groups tree, right-click either All Groups Summary or a specific group and select Export
Group Data to initiate the Export Group Data wizard.
3. In the Export Group Data dialog box, either:
Select the groups for which you want to export data.

Click Select all groups to export data from all the groups shown.
4. Click Next. The Time Range Selection dialog box appears.

5. Select the time range for the data in the log files that you want to export. Alternatively, select Specific
range to enter a range of dates. By default, Time range and latest 1 day are selected. The time range ends
with the most recent time. For example, if you change the default to Latest 7 days, the exported data is
from the most recent 7-day time period.
6. Click Next. The Data Selection dialog box appears.
7. Select the type of data to include. You can include summaries of group, pool, and member data or
information about volumes, volume collections, network interfaces, disks, inbound or outbound replication,
and replication partners.
8. Click Next. The Export Generation Type dialog box appears.
9. Make sure that the Generate Now option is selected.
10. Specify the path and identifier for the .csv file. The actual file name is generated automatically, based on the
file name you enter, the selected group names, and the time range.
11. Click Next. The Summary of Export dialog box appears.
12. Click Export Now to export the data. Click Cancel to cancel the operation.
Use a Command to Export Group Data

Using a command to export group data enables you to schedule export operations and regularly capture group
data. For example, you can use the Schedule Tasks window in the Windows Control Panel to export data
regularly.
170
The procedure for exporting group data by using a command requires using the SAN HQ GUI to create an XML
file that contains the groups and the type of data that you want to export. You then run the SAN HQ executable,
specifying the XML file as a parameter.
To use a command to export group data:
1. In the Servers and Groups tree, right-click either All Groups Summary or a specific group and select Export
Group Data to initiate the Export Group Data wizard.
3. In the Export Group Data dialog box, either:
Select the groups for which you want to export data.

Click Select all groups to export data from all the groups shown.
4. Click Next. The Time Range Selection dialog box appears.

5. Select the time range for the data that you want to export, or select Custom to enter a range of dates. If you
do not select Custom, the time range ends with the most recent time. For example, if you select Latest 7
days, the exported data is from the most recent 7-day time period.
6. Click Next. The Data Selection dialog box appears.
7. Select the type of data to include. You can include summaries of group, pool, and member data or
information about volumes, volume collections, network interfaces, disks, inbound or outbound replication,
and replication partners.
8. Click Next. The Export Generation Type dialog box appears.
9. Select the Generate Command line Export Settings file option.
10. Specify the path and identifier for the .csv file. The actual file name is generated automatically, based on the
file name you enter, the selected group names, and the time range.
11. Click Next. The Summary of Export dialog box appears.
12. Click Generate Command Line. The Export Group XML Editor dialog box appears (Figure 52), displaying
the XML file.
171
Figure 52: Export Group XML Editor
13. Examine the XML file. If necessary, you can edit the file, as described in Use a Command to Export Group
Data on page 170.
14. Click Save if the file is acceptable and then enter the path and file name for the XML file. Click Cancel to
cancel the operation.
15. Go to the SAN HQ installation directory and use the following command format. Be sure to specify the full
path for the XML file.
SANHQClient.exe ExportSettingsFile="xml_file_name"
For example:
> SANHQClient.exe ExportSettingsFile="C:\SAN_Export_XML.xml"
Schedule Exported Data

If you want to export data regularly, use Schedule Tasks in the Windows Control Panel to specify a schedule for
running the following command:
SANHQ_install_directory\SANHQClient.exe -ExportSettingsFiles="XML_file_name"
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The XML_file_name variable specifies the name of the XML file you created in Schedule Exported Data on page
172.
Modifying an XML for Exporting Data

In an XML file that is used to export group data, you can change, for example:
Name and directory for the .csv file
Type of data to include
Time range
The time range in the XML file is specified in hours, unless you want the latest data (specify span = "0").
If you want a time range, specify the beginning and end dates. For example:
begin = "7/15/2013 2:35:31 PM"
end = "7/29/2013 2:35:31 PM"
Groups to include (identified by IP address)
The following sample XML file exports all types of data gathered over the most recent 24-hour time period for
two groups:
<SanHQExport>
<Settings
Path="C:\SANHQ_Export.csv">
<Show
Group="True"
Pools="True"
Members="True"
Volumes="True"
HostedReplicas="True"
ReplicaSites="True"
Disks="True"
Ports="True"
Volume Collections="True"
Outbound Replicas="True"
/>
<Time
Span="24"
/>
</Settings>
<Group>
10.127.137.110
</Group>
<Group>
10.127.14.130
</Group>
</SanHQExport>
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The following sample XML file exports all types of data, except for replication, gathered over a specific date
range for two groups:
<SanHQExport>
<Settings
Path="C:\SANHQ_Export_Range.csv">
<Show
Group="True"
Pools="True"
Members="True"
Volumes="True"
HostedReplicas="False"
ReplicaSites="False"
Disks="True"
Ports="True"
Volume Collections="True"
Outbound Replicas="False"
/>
<Time
Begin=1/01/2013 1:00:00PM
End=1/12/2013 4:08:13PM
/>
</Settings>
<Group>
10.117.127.120
</Group>
<Group>
10.117.141.140
</Group>
</SanHQExport>
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This chapter describes configuring, using, and managing the SupportAssist feature from SAN Headquarters.
The following topics are discussed:
Overview of SupportAssist for EqualLogic PS Series Groups on page 175
Configuring SupportAssist on page 181
Modifying the SupportAssist Configuration on page 195
Using SupportAssist on page 206
Monitoring and Troubleshooting SupportAssist on page 210
SupportAssist Reference Information on page 216
Overview of SupportAssist for EqualLogic PS Series

Groups
SupportAssist is an optional component of SAN HQ that enables you to collect and, optionally, upload PS Series
group configuration diagnostic data to Dell Support for analysis and diagnosis. SupportAssist is bundled with
every SAN HQ Server and configured from the SAN HQ Client.
How SupportAssist Works

SupportAssist communicates directly with a PS Series group to collect diagnostic data. When the data collection
completes, SupportAssist automatically uploads the data to the Dell Support data center.
Data transmission occurs in any of the following ways:
WeeklyAccording to a user-specified day and time.
Event drivenWhenever SAN HQ receives a critical event notification through the syslog mechanism from
a PS Series group. Event-driven data collections occur once every 24 hours. If multiple critical events occur
during the 24-hour period, events are reported but no additional data collection occurs.
On-demandUser-driven on an as-needed basis. Run an on-demand data collection from the SAN HQ
Client.
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Diagnostic data uploaded by the SAN HQ Server is organized such that support personnel can easily view the
data when working on a support case. Dell Support contacts you only regarding issues discovered when
analyzing the data collected by SupportAssist or when you specifically request support.
SupportAssist does not fully replace the E-Mail Home feature or the pssdiag script for diagnostic reporting to
Dell Support. Instead, it reduces the need to use these reporting methods on a frequent basis. SupportAssist
filters health condition event messages from the PS Series group and collects a subset of critical events to upload
to Dell Support. In contrast, various health condition events trigger the E-Mail Home messages, which can be
informational, errors, or warnings.
Similarly, running the PS Series CLI diag command or executing the pssdiag script collects a broader range of
data. You should continue to use these methods when requested by Dell Support.
Note: If pssdiag is running, scheduled and event-driven data collections by SupportAssist cannot override
data collections. For on-demand data collections, SupportAssist first informs you if pssdiag is running
and then lets you either cancel the SupportAssist data collection, or ignore pssdiag and continue with the ondemand data collection.
pssdiag
The accumulated data collected by SupportAssist from many PS Series groups lets Dell Support continually
update its diagnostic analysis. Figure 53 illustrates this process. (See Table 35 for a description of the callouts.)
Figure 53: SupportAssist Components and Process
176

Callout
Description
PS Series group at Site A (blue) and Site B (green)
PS Series SAN arrays
SAN networks (orange)
LAN networks (purple)
SAN HQ servers
SAN HQ clients
SSL Internet links
Internet
Secure SupportAssist web server
10
Dell data center firewall
11
Dell Support and other departments
SupportAssist Features and Benefits

SupportAssist provides you with the following features and benefits:
Fast and automatic data collectionDepending on the size of your group, a scheduled data collection might
take as little as 5 minutes for a typical two-to-four member configuration.
Parallel data collectionWhen you configure multiple groups to use SupportAssist, data collection occurs in
parallel, up to three groups at a time, across all groups.
Preventive diagnosticsBy gathering commonly used diagnostics and configuration information, then making this information available to Dell Support, SupportAssist significantly reduces the time it takes for the
Dell Support organization to help customers who might be experiencing similar difficulties. Dell Support can
use historical data to determine if customers are at risk, without requiring customer intervention.
SecuritySupportAssist uses a special read-only group account (by default, autopilot-ro, which you can
change) to access and gather only diagnostic data from the group. It cannot access user data stored on the
group. Diagnostic data is uploaded on an SSL-encrypted secure channel.
Consistency and accuracyBecause most data analysis occurs on the server-side software, customers who
enable SupportAssist functionality will benefit from consistent automated analysis, free of human error.
177
ResiliencyIf SupportAssist cannot complete an upload due to problems with Internet connectivity or the
server being down, it defers the upload and attempts it at a later time.
Minimal performance impactFor the majority of groups, under normal conditions, using SupportAssist adds
only a 5% to 10% performance impact during the relatively short time when SupportAssist collects data.
Password scrubbingAll user passwords are scrubbed before data is uploaded.
Convenient configuration managementFrom the SupportAssist Configuration Settings page, all groups configured for SAN HQ monitoring are displayed in detailed dialog boxes from which you can enable SupportAssist and set or modify configuration settings.
Communication with Dell SupportSupportAssist receives information about all support cases created for
your groups and conveniently displays the case status and progress on resolution, as well as other critical customer support case information.
User-controllable features:
SupportAssist collects diagnostics according to a weekly schedule that you set up. You can also perform
an on-demand data collection at any time.
SupportAssist gathers diagnostic and configuration data for your own use and inspection, without transmitting it to Dell (see Running an On-Demand Data Collection on page 206).
SupportAssist monitors current and past activity via the SupportAssist activity log.
You can enable SupportAssist for any number of groups, up to the supported maximum of 50.
You can create a custom user name for the SupportAssist read-only account that accesses and collects
diagnostic data from the group.
You can disable SupportAssist at any time.
Data Collected By SupportAssist

Data collection is highly secure. SupportAssist does not read or gather any user data from storage objects such
as iSCSI volumes and NAS containers. SupportAssist also converts passwords to one-way hash values before
uploading data to the Dell Support data center.
SupportAssist collects diagnostics and configuration data from PS Series groups, including but not limited to the
following categories:
Data contained in persistent and dynamic management information bases (MIBs)
Output from various diagnostics commands
Operating system information (such as a process list, CPU, and memory consumption)
iSCSI connections information
Data volume names and access control information
IP addresses and settings for network interfaces
Customer-supplied contact information
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If Dell discovers useful information during analysis, and this information might apply to your configuration,
Dell uses the supplied information to contact you. You can supply only one contact for each monitored group.
Event and audit logs
Application core dumps
Hardware and disk information
Group and replication settings information
SAN HQ host information, such as the operating system name, CPU, memory, and system name
SAN HQ archives (optional)
This section describes the requirements for using SupportAssist:
PS Series Group Firmware and Group Configuration Requirements on page 179
SAN Headquarters Server Requirements on page 180
Network and Bandwidth Requirements on page 180
PS Series Group Firmware and Group Configuration Requirements
FirmwarePS Series array firmware version 5.2 or later release. If you are using a firmware version that is
more recent than the SAN HQ release, you might need to upgrade SAN HQ.
SAN HQ version 3.0 or later release.
Read-only account credentialsYou must supply grpadmin-level credentials for each monitored group to
SAN HQ during the initial setup. The password must contain a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 16 alphanumeric characters, which are case-sensitive. SAN HQ uses these group access credentials one time for
SupportAssist configuration; it does not store the credentials.
SAN HQ does not store your grpadmin-level credentials; it uses them only once to create a dedicated, readonly group account, named autopilot-ro by default. You can rename this account when you configure a group
for SupportAssist data collection, either when adding a group using the Add Group wizard or, when configuring SupportAssist, using the SupportAssist Configuration wizard. SupportAssist uses this read-only
account to connect to the sanmond daemon that gathers diagnostic data from the PS Series group.
You can manage the autopilot-ro account using the PS Series Group Manager GUI (or CLI), allowing you to
disable SupportAssist from Group Manager by changing the SupportAssist account password.
syslog notificationOne free IP address slot to configure syslog notification to the SAN HQ Server. A
group can support up to three IP addresses for syslog notification. If all addresses are in use, you must free
up an address and specify the SAN HQ Server instead. This address is used to monitor critical events on the
PS Series arrays.
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SAN HQ automatically enables syslog event logging for fatal and error events under the Group Manager
GUIs Notifications tab.
You must manually enable these group management features:

SNMPConfigure a read-only SNMP community name under the Group Manager GUIs SNMP tab. If
you are already monitoring your group with SAN HQ, you do not need to configure a name.
SSHEnable SSH under the Group Manager GUIs Administration tab. SSH is enabled by default.
SAN Headquarters Server Requirements
Your environment must meet the minimum requirements for a SAN HQ Server. If your SAN HQ Server is
monitoring more than one group, it might take additional resources to store diagnostic data, encrypt data, and
upload diagnostic packages.
The maximum number of groups per SAN HQ Server is 50.
For data upload, the SAN HQ Server requires access to the Internet.
Do not use multiple SAN HQ servers to manage the same group. To manage multiple groups:
If all the groups share a physical location, use a dedicated SAN HQ Server to monitor all groups, installing multiple SAN HQ clients for the same server.
If groups are spread across different physical locations, use a dedicated SAN HQ Server for each physical location. Install one or more SAN HQ clients, each connecting to multiple SAN HQ servers, to see
all the data from a single client.
You can have a single SAN HQ Server connected to multiple groups, running a single instance of SupportAssist for each group.
Use a static IP address (see Network and Bandwidth Requirements on page 180).
Network and Bandwidth Requirements
The SAN HQ Servers IP address is added to the list of syslog servers for all SupportAssist-configured
groups. Use a static IP address for syslog notification, which prevents the need to update the list of syslog
servers for each group if the address changes dynamically.
The SAN HQ Server must be able to connect to the Dell Support data center via the Internet.
Table 36 presents approximate data transfer rates for the SupportAssist infrastructure.
Table 36: Network and Bandwidth Considerations When Using SupportAssist
Source
Destination
Approximate
Data Transfer
Average per
Member*
SAN HQ Server
Dell Support data
10MB
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Upload Option
Network Type
Scheduled or
Public
Source
Destination
Approximate
Data Transfer
Average per
Member*
center
Upload Option
Network Type
event-driven
(automatic)
SAN HQ Server
Dell Support data

center
120MB
On demand Run
Now (manual).
SAN HQ
archive is selected.
Public
PS Series group
SAN HQ Server
150MB
Scheduled or
event-driven
(automatic)
Internal
PS Series group
SAN HQ Server
300MB
On demand Run
Now (manual).
SAN HQ
archive is selected.
Internal
* The performance data from SAN HQ requires the most bandwidth. Because you manually transfer SAN HQ archive
data on-demand using the Run Now option, the size of the transfer depends on the SAN HQ archive date range you
specify in the wizard. The actual transfer rate might also be impacted by group configurations, the number of groups,
and the log size selected in SAN HQ.
You can configure SupportAssist at various stages when using SAN HQ:
When adding a new group (see Configuring SupportAssist When Adding a New Group on page 184).
By using the SupportAssist Configuration wizard for an existing group (see Configuring SupportAssist for an
Existing Group on page 191).
From the SupportAssist Settings page, when enabling a group for SupportAssist or modifying an existing configuration (see Modifying the SupportAssist Configuration on page 195).
Prerequisites for Configuring SupportAssist

To configure SupportAssist, you must first meet the requirements in SupportAssist Requirements on page 179.
Use the configuration worksheet to record information needed to set up SupportAssist (see the Configuration
Worksheet on page 182).
Obtain the following data for every PS Series group that you intend to configure:
181
Group administration user name and password.
Create a password for the new read-only administration account that SupportAssist will create automatically. See PS Series Group Firmware and Group Configuration Requirements on page 179 for information about this account.
SAN HQ Server IP address. See SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings on page 67. (If the server
settings show a host name, ping the servers host to obtain its IP address.) Dell recommends using a static IP
address.
Contact information for the person that Dell will contact with diagnostic reports. See Updating or Configuring Contact Data on page 203.
Data collection and diagnostic data package transmission settings. See Data Collection and Upload Settings
on page 216.
Each time you configure and enable SupportAssist from the Configuration wizard, you are presented with an
End User License Agreement. You must accept the license to continue running the wizard.
Configuration Worksheet
Use the worksheet shown in Table 37 to gather data and make decisions about configuring SupportAssist.
Table 37: Group and SupportAssist Configuration Worksheet
Data Item
Description or Location in Group Manager
Your Data
Enable SSH
Enable SSH access using the Group Configuration, Administration tab.
[ ] Verified
syslog IP
Specify one free address for syslog servers using the Group Configuration, Notifications tab. (Use a static IP address.)
[ ] Verified
SNMP name
Configure an SNMP community name using the Group Configuration,

SNMP tab, Read-only SNMP community names.
SNMP:
Group IP or
DNS name
Group name or group IP address found with Group Configuration, General tab.
Group:
Group
account name
If using SAN HQ single sign-on, a login account name for the group.
(Optionally, you can use single sign-on to log in to a group.)
Account:
Group
account password
If using SAN HQ single sign-on, a login account password for the

group.
(Do not write

down)
SupportAssist
read-only
account user
name
If you choose not to use the default autopilot-ro user name and provide
a custom user name, enter a name using up to 16 alphanumeric ASCII
characters, which can include period, hyphen, and underscore. The
first character must be a letter or number and the last character cannot
be a period.
User name:
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Data Item
Description or Location in Group Manager
Your Data
SupportAssist
read-only
account password
A password for the read-only account (autopilot-ro) created automatically by SAN HQ for use by SupportAssist. Passwords must contain a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 16 alphanumeric characters,
which are case-sensitive.
(Do not write

down)
Contact
Name
Name of the primary contact person (used only if Dell needs to contact
the groups administrator).
Email
Email address of the primary contact person.
Phone
Preferred telephone number of the primary contact person.
City
City or domicile of the primary contact person.
State
State of the primary contact person.
Company
Employers name for the primary contact person.
Cell Phone
(optional)
Secondary, cellular telephone.
Tel:
Data Collection day
Once-weekly day on which you want SupportAssist data collection to

run. (Select a day when the group is doing the least amount of work.)
Mon|Tues
|Weds|Thurs
Fri|Sat|Sun
Data Collection time
Time at which you want SupportAssist data collection to run. (Select a

time when the group is doing the least amount of work.)
HH:MM:PM/AM:
Retry data
collections
If the data collection fails, decide how often and how many retry
attempts will be made to collect the diagnostic data. This number
includes the initial failure.
Retry:
Frequency:
Retries: Minimum 1, maximum 10

Frequency: Minimum 10 minutes, maximum 120 minutes
Collect critical events
Decide whether you also want to collect data for critical events (in
addition to the regularly scheduled collection).
[ ] Yes [ ] No
Enable data
transmission
Decide whether you want to transmit data to Dell for review.
[ ] Yes [ ] No
Packages
retained
locally
If you do not want to transmit data to Dell for review, decide how
many data packages to retain locally. Locally saved packages are
encrypted. First in, first out; minimum 5 packages, maximum 64 packages; n default packages.
Packages:
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Quick Start Information

Table 38 lists important task information to help you quickly enable the SupportAssist feature.
Table 38: Tasks for Enabling SupportAssist
Task
Procedure
Reference
Install SAN HQ Server

and Client
Follow the SAN HQ installation procedure, noting any specific server requirements for SupportAssist.
Installation Procedure on
page 16
Prepare your group and

gather SupportAssist
information
Use the configuration worksheet.
Configuration Worksheet on
page 182
Read the group requirements and update or configure your group as necessary.
on page 179
If you need to better understand the data collection settings.
Data Collection and Upload

Settings on page 216
If you need to better understand the group settings.
Modifying the SupportAssist

Configuration on page 195
If you need to understand why SupportAssist

requires a primary contact person.
Updating or Configuring
Contact Data on page 203
Click SANHQ, then click Add New Group.
Add a Group from the

SAN Headquarters GUI on
page 52
Add a new group
When Adding a New Group
on page 184
Verify the configuration
View the configuration settings and configure Sup- Modifying the SupportAssist
portAssist from the SupportAssist Configuration
Configuration on page 195
Settings page.
Test the configuration
Run an on-demand data collection.
Running an On-Demand
Data Collection on page 206
Configuring SupportAssist When Adding a New Group

You can configure SupportAssist as you add new groups to SAN HQ for monitoring.
184
To prepare for adding a new group, gather the data as described in Configuration Worksheet on page 182 and
make sure you configure the group as described in SupportAssist Requirements on page 179.
Make sure that your SAN HQ Server is fully functional and not in a degraded state.
Configuration Steps
To add a new group:
1. Click SANHQ and then Add New Group to open the Add Group wizard.
2. Click Next> to open the PS Series Group Information dialog box (Figure 54).
3. In the dialog box:
a. Enter the Group IP address or DNS name.
b. Enter the Group Community SNMP name.
c. Check the Enable SupportAssist functionality box. (You must accept the license in step 4. Depending on whether the TCP/IP initialization is complete, the box might already be checked.)
d. (Optional) Check the Enable Single Sign-On Functionality box.
e. (Optional) Enter the single sign-on Account name and Password.
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Figure 54: Add Group Wizard Group Information Dialog Box
4. Click Next> to open the SupportAssist License Agreement dialog box and click the button to accept the
license terms.
If you decline the license, you can continue to add the group for SAN HQ monitoring, but you cannot enable
SupportAssist.
5. Click Next>. A message dialog box shows that SAN HQ is polling the group and loading group information.
When SAN HQ contacts the group, it opens the PS Series Group Login Credential and Syslog Selection
dialog box (see Figure 55).
Note: If the groups configuration is invalid, or if any problems occur with the SAN HQ Server or its
network connections to the group, the procedure can fail at this point. If the procedure fails, correct the
problem and try again to add the group.
6. Enter the following information:
a. The user name and password as the group admin credentials.
b. A user name for the SupportAssist read-only account. You can accept the default autopilot-ro account
name or enter your own custom account name.
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User names follow the same conventions as the PS Series firmware local account and can contain up to
16 alphanumeric ASCII characters, including period, hyphen, and underscore. The first character must
be a letter or number and the last character cannot be a period.
c. A password for the SupportAssist read-only account
Passwords must contain a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 16 alphanumeric characters, which are casesensitive. Dell recommends a minimum of 6 characters for improved security.
7. Click Test to validate the credentials. Providing that you entered valid credentials, SAN HQ enables the
Group Syslog Servers panel. Note the IP address for Current Syslog Configuration.
8. Scroll through the list and Select SAN HQ Server IP address for Group Syslog Notification
registration. Dell recommends using a static IP address.
Figure 55: Result of Adding Group Login Credentials and Syslog Server Selection
9. Click Next> and enter information in the Customer Contact Information dialog box (Figure 56).
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Figure 56: SupportAssist Customer Contact Information
Dell Support contacts you only if, when analyzing aggregated data, it discovers an issue that is relevant to
your PS Series groups and the service tag has ProSupport, or if you request support. To make sure that Dell
Support contacts the appropriate person, you must supply contact information (for example, for your
SAN administrator). For a description of these fields, see Updating or Configuring Contact Data on page
203.
10. Click Next> and enter your preferred data-collection and upload settings (see Figure 57):
a. Check the box to enable weekly data collection and set the day, time, retry interval, and the total number
of attempts, which includes the initial attempt.
b. Check the box to collect diagnostics data when critical events are detected in addition to scheduled activity.
c. Check the box to allow automatic transmission of diagnostic data to Dell Support for review.
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Figure 57: SupportAssist Data Collection and Upload Settings Dialog Box
Note: If you do not check the box to allow automatic data transmissions, you will not get the benefit of auto-
matically uploading the data to Dell Support for analysis. Dell recommends keeping this setting
selected unless you are in a situation when you are not always connected to the Internet and you want
to store data locally. For more information, see Using a Different Server to Upload Diagnostic Information on page 215. For a description of the fields in Figure 57, see Data Collection and Upload Settings on page 216.
11. Click Next> and, optionally, enter the settings for email notification:
Do not send email alerts (default)

Send email alerts using group settings
Send email alerts using these settings: SNMP server IP address, SNMP port (optional), subject line, sent
from, sent to
Click Test E-mail to verify that the notification settings are valid.
12. Click Next> and use the sliders to specify your preferences for the size of log files and of event and audit log
files.
189
Figure 58: Specifying Log File Sizes
13. Click Next> and review your configuration settings in the Completing the Wizard dialog box (Figure 59).
190
Figure 59: Successfully Added Group with SupportAssist Enabled
14. Click Add Group if the settings are correct, or click <Back to make changes.
SAN HQ connects to the group and starts to poll the group for data. Depending on the group size, this operation
can take several minutes. You can continue to add more groups or perform other monitoring operations.
Configuring SupportAssist for an Existing Group

The SupportAssist Configuration wizard lets you perform the necessary configuration tasks for existing
PS Series groups and automatically begin monitoring your data. Your environment must meet the requirements
described in SupportAssist Requirements on page 179.
Configuration tasks performed by the wizard include:
Selecting and enabling groups for monitoring
Entering group login credentials
Setting up the SAN HQ Server address for syslog notification
Providing contact information
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Configuration Steps
To start and use the SupportAssistConfiguration wizard:
1. Click SupportAssist in the SAN HQ menu bar.
2. Click Configuration Wizard to open the Welcome dialog box.
3. Click Next> to open the license dialog box, and click the button to accept the license terms.
Optionally, click the Print button to create a hard copy of the license.
4. Click Next> to open the PS Series Group Selection for SupportAssist dialog box (Figure 60).
Figure 60: Group Selection for SupportAssist Dialog Box
5. Check the boxes in the Select column to select one or more groups, provided that the SupportAssist Status
column indicates that a group is compatible with SupportAssist.
You can also click the Select all groups button to select or deselect every compatible group.
6. Click Next> to open the PS Series Group Login Credentials dialog box (Figure 61) and enter the following
information:
192
a. The group administration user name and password for the selected groups. To select multiple groups, use
Shift + Select.
b. A user name for the SupportAssist read-only account. You can accept the default autopilot-ro account
name or enter your own custom account name.
User names follow the same conventions as the PS Series firmware local account and can contain up to
16 alphanumeric ASCII characters, including period, hyphen, and underscore. The first character must
be a letter or number and the last character cannot be a period.
c. A password for the SupportAssist read-only account.
Passwords must contain a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 16 alphanumeric characters, which are casesensitive. Dell recommends a minimum of 6 characters for improved security.
Figure 61: SupportAssist Group Login Credentials Dialog Box
Optionally, click Apply & Test to verify the login credentials. If successful, SAN HQ displays Credentials
Validation Succeeded. If unsuccessful, SAN HQ displays One or more groups need validation to continue.
7. Click Next> to open the Syslog Server Configuration dialog box (Figure 62) and select the SAN HQ Servers
IP address from the list of available syslog servers. Dell recommends using a static IP address.
193
Note: PS Series groups support up to three syslog servers. You might need to reconfigure or remove preex-
isting syslog servers to enable SupportAssist.

Figure 62: Syslog Server Configuration Dialog Box
8. Click Next> to open the Customer Contact Information dialog box (Figure 56) and enter your contact
information.
Dell Support contacts you only if, when analyzing aggregated data, it discovers an issue that is relevant to
your PS Series groups and the service tag has ProSupport, or if you request support. To make sure that Dell
Support contacts the appropriate person, you must supply contact information (for example, for your
SAN administrator). For a description of these fields, see Updating or Configuring Contact Data on page
203.
9. Click Next> to open the Data Collection and Upload Settings dialog box (Figure 57) and specify when you
would like data to be gathered and transmitted (or retained locally).
Note: If you do not check the box to allow automatic data transmissions, you will not get the benefit of auto-
matically uploading the data to Dell Support for analysis. Dell recommends keeping this setting
selected unless you are in a situation when you are not always connected to the Internet and you want
to store data locally. For more information, see Using a Different Server to Upload Diagnostic Information on page 215. For a description of the fields in Figure 57, see Data Collection and Upload Settings on page 216.
10. Click Next> to display the Ready to Configure SupportAssist screen (Figure 63) and verify that the
information is correct. Click <Back to make corrections.
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11. Click Configure to configure the groups with SupportAssist.

Figure 63: Ready to Configure SupportAssist Screen
A progress bar shows the configuration in process. It can take up to 2 minutes for each group. If all groups are
successfully configured for SupportAssist, the status indicates the configuration is finished and SupportAssist is
automatically deployed.
If the configuration reveals any errors for a certain group, an error message displays. In this case, rerun the
wizard after correcting any problems. You need to rerun the wizard only for groups that fail, after you correct
any problems.
Modifying the SupportAssist Configuration

Use the SupportAssist Configuration Settings page to modify your SupportAssist configuration. From this page,
you can view and manage settings for all configured and unconfigured groups.
Note: The information presented on the SupportAssist Configuration Settings page is similar to the configuration
information presented when running the Configuration wizard (see Configuring SupportAssist for an Existing
Group on page 191).
To access the SupportAssist Configuration Settings page, either:
Click SupportAssist below the Servers and Groups tree (lower-left panel).
195
Click SupportAssist in the SAN HQ menu bar and then SupportAssist Settings.
The SupportAssist Configuration Settings window appears. The upper-left panel lets you navigate to the activity
log for recent SupportAssist activity (see SupportAssist Activity Log on page 200), to a list of customer support
cases reported back to SupportAssist (Display Support Case Information on page 209), or back to the
SupportAssist configuration page.
You can change the following SupportAssist configuration settings for a group:
Modify data-collection settings
Modify syslog settings
Update contact data
Enable or disable SupportAssist
Enable or disable automatic data uploading
Delete SupportAssist for a group

The SupportAssist Configuration Settings panel shows the current SupportAssist configuration for all groups
monitored by SAN HQ. From this view, you can modify a configured group's configuration settings or enable an
unconfigured group and define the configuration settings.
Defining and Modifying SupportAssist Configuration Settings

Select one of the following options from the Arrange By drop-down menu to sort and filter the list of groups:
Enabled StatusWhether the group is configured and enabled or configured and disabled
FirmwarePS Series firmware revision installed on the group
Group NameAlphabetically by group name, regardless of configured status
ServerSAN HQ Server monitoring the group
When viewing the configuration settings for a large number of groups, use the Collapse All button to condense
the display. The name appears vertically in collapsed format and the button changes to Expand All.
Configured groups are identified as [Configured] after the group name and display full configuration
information. Unconfigured groups are labeled [Unconfigured] and show only the firmware version and server
name. See Figure 64.
To enable SupportAssist for an unconfigured group:
1. Click Enable SupportAssist.
196
2. Accept the End User License Agreement (EULA). SAN HQ expands the panel and displays the modifiable
configuration settings.
3. Enter the data as described in Table 39. For additional information about this data, see Additional Information
for Configuring SupportAssist for a Group on page 200.
Whenever you enable SupportAssist for an unconfigured group or change settings for a configured group, the
settings do not take effect until you click Save in the lower-left corner of the panel.
Figure 64: Groups Available for SupportAssist Panel
A configured group (left panel in Figure 64) shows the configuration information for the group. Table 39
describes this information, along with available user actions. You can enable the unconfigured group (right panel
in Figure 64) and define the SupportAssist configuration settings. Table 40 describes the information and
available user actions for an unconfigured group.
SupportAssist Configuration Settings Reference Information

Table 39 shows the SupportAssist configuration information for a configured group and describes the available
user actions. Table 40 describes the information and available user actions for an unconfigured group.
197
Table 39: SupportAssist Configuration Settings

GUI Field
Function
User Action
Title Bar (group

name)
Bar turns orange when clicked to

indicate the active group
Click the double-arrow icon to expand or minimize

the group SupportAssist settings.
Effective Firmware
Shows the groups installed firmware revision
None.
Server
Shows the SAN HQ Server monitoring this group
None.
Configuration
Describes the SupportAssist configuration status and enables you

to access the credentials
Click to enter or modify the group access credentials and SupportAssist read-only account credentials. The user name defaults to autopilot-ro,
which you can change.
User names follow the same conventions as the
PS Series firmware local account and can contain
up to 16 alphanumeric ASCII characters, including
period, hyphen, and underscore. The first character
must be a letter or number and the last character cannot be a period.
Passwords must contain a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 16 alphanumeric characters, which are
case-sensitive.
Enable Weekly
Data
Collection
Checked when you configure Sup- Uncheck this box to temporarily disable SupportAssist
portAssist.
Day of Week
Lists the days of the week, Monday to Sunday
Select a day for data collection (and optional transmission) by SupportAssist.
Start Time
Specifies the time in the format:
Use the arrows (or type a value) for each field to

modify the time of day for data collection (and
optional transmission) by SupportAssist.
HH:MM AM/PM
Retry After
Integer value in the range 10120
Specify the number of minutes to wait before SupportAssist retries a failed data collection.
Retry Count
Integer value in the range 110
Select the maximum number of data collection

retries (including the initial attempt) that SupportAssist makes before timing out.
Collect Critical
Data
Indicates whether data collection

should occur after a critical syslog event
Check this box to collect diagnostic data after a critical syslog event, in addition to the scheduled
weekly collection.
198
Syslog
IPv4 or IPv6 address
Select the IP address that corresponds to the IP

address of the SAN HQ Server.
Automatic
Upload
Indicates whether diagnostic data

packages are uploaded to the
Dell Support server
Check this box to enable automatic data transmission of the data that SupportAssist collects. If
unchecked, diagnostic data packages are stored
locally. If Internet connectivity is lost and the automatic upload cannot be performed, SupportAssist
retires in six hour intervals for up to 90 days, afterwhich the collection is deleted.
Contact
Lists contacts
Select a different contact.
Person Icon
Current contact information
View and change information for the current contact. See Updating or Configuring Contact Data on
page 203.
Person Plus Icon
Adds contact information
Add new contact information. See Updating or Configuring Contact Data on page 203.
Receive SupportAssist
Emails from
Dell
Email authorization
Authorize Dell Support to send you emails in the

event that they need to contact you.
Save
Saves modifications
Click to save any changes that you made.
Discard Changes
Removes modifications
Click to remove any changes that you made.
Delete
Deletes the configuration
Click to permanently delete the SupportAssist configuration for this group.
An unconfigured group shows only the group information described in Table 40.
Table 40: Group Not Configured for SupportAssist
GUI Field
Function
User Action
Title Bar
(group name)
Bar turns orange when clicked to

indicate the active group
Click the double-arrow icon to expand or minimize

the group SupportAssist settings.
Enable SupportAssist
Shows the group's SupportAssist

configuration state
Click to enable SupportAssist.
Firmware
Shows the group's installed firmware revision
None.
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Server
Shows the SAN HQ Server monitoring this group
None.
Additional Information for Configuring SupportAssist for a Group

You can perform the following tasks for groups displayed on the SupportAssist Configuration Settings page:
Modify SupportAssist data collection settings for a group. See Modifying SupportAssist Data Collection Settings for a Group on page 202.
Enable or temporarily disable SupportAssist for a group. See Enabling and Disabling Weekly Data Collection
on page 204.
Enable or disable automatic uploading of diagnostic data packages to Dell. See Enabling and Disabling Automatic Upload for a Group on page 204.
Modify the SupportAssist syslog server IP address. See Modifying SupportAssist Syslog Settings for a Group
on page 202.
Choose, update, or add new SupportAssist contact person settings. See Updating or Configuring Contact
Data on page 203.
Permanently delete (unconfigure) the SupportAssist settings for a group. See Deleting the SupportAssist Configuration for a Group on page 205.
SupportAssist Activity Log

The Activity Log panel displays all recent SupportAssist activity from each monitored SAN HQ Server,
including syslog events, on-demand collection events, and weekly data collection events (see Table 41).
To view the activity log, either:
Click the SupportAssist link below the Servers and Groups tree and then click Activity Log in the upperleft panel.
From the SAN HQ menu bar, select SupportAssist and then click Activity Log.
You can sort and filter the data using the sort keys for each column. Click any column header to display the sort
filter key icon. Click Custom to display the Custom Auto Filter dialog box. Right-click any column header to
display the Sort, Fit, and Filter options.
From this view, you can also:
Use buttons to:

Copy the current activity log to the clipboard
Copy all activity logs to the clipboard
Export the activity logs to Excel
200
Retry all pending uploads

Delete all pending uploads
Enter search criteria to locate activity by group, date, activity type, status, or description
When a group's activity count exceeds the configured maximum, the group's activity log overwrites the oldest
entries in the log.
Table 41: SupportAssist Activity Log Information
Title
Data
Sort and Filter Keys*
Description
Group
Group name
(string)
Custom, Blanks,
Non-Blanks, Group
Name
Name of the group monitored by SAN HQ. You

can right-click a line item to copy to the clipboard
or export all activity logs as a Microsoft Excel .xls
file.
Timestamp
MM/DD/YYYY
HH:MM:SS
AM/PM
Custom, Blanks,
Non-Blanks, Timestamp
Time that the activity completed.
Activity
Type
String
Custom, Blank, NonBlanks, Activity

Type
Type of activity logged.
Status
String
Custom, Blank, NonBlanks, Failed, Success, Underway,

Aborted
Status of the activity.
Description
String
Custom, Blank, NonBlanks, Description

string
Description of the activity.
Duration
nn h nn m nn s

Aborted
Duration of the activity in hours, minutes, and seconds.
Payload ID
nnn (integer)

Aborted
Group-unique integer assigned by the Dell Support

data center for this payload.
Server
SAN HQ Server
name (string)
Custom, Blank, NonBlanks, Server name
SAN HQ Server (monitoring this group) that performed the logged activity.
*Click column headers to sort alphabetically. For other sort options, see Data Sorting Options on page 217.
Table 42 lists potential activity types that you might encounter.
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Table 42: SupportAssist Activity Types

Activity Type
Activity Type
Diag Data - On
Demand collection
Log entry relates to an on-demand (Run Now) diagnostic data collection. See Running an On-Demand Data Collection on page 206.
Diag Data - Event collection/upload
Log entry relates to a reactive (syslog event driven) diagnostic data collection and
automatic upload.
Diag Data - Scheduled

collection/upload
Log entry relates to a scheduled diagnostic data collection and automatic upload.
Event Message ID
Message identifier for a syslog event.
Modifying SupportAssist Data Collection Settings for a Group

To modify SupportAssist data collection settings from the SupportAssist Configuration Settings page:
1. Navigate to the SupportAssist Configuration Settings page (see Modifying the SupportAssist Configuration on
page 195).
3. Modify one or more of the following settings:
Day of week
Start time
Retry After (Minutes)
Retry Count
Collect critical data
4. Click Save and then click OK in the save confirmation dialog box.
You can also disable automatic uploading of diagnostic data packages to Dell. See Enabling and Disabling
Automatic Upload for a Group on page 204.
Modifying SupportAssist Syslog Settings for a Group

You can modify the SupportAssist syslog IP settings if a group is monitored by an alternate SAN HQ Server.
You must first use the PS Series Group Manager GUI to add the server's IP address to the list of syslog servers.
1. Navigate to the group settings, as described in Modifying the SupportAssist Configuration on page 195.
202
3. From the drop-down menu next to the Syslog field, select the IP address that corresponds to the SAN HQ
Server.
Note: A maximum of three syslog servers are permitted on a group, one of which is the SAN HQ Server. If you
save a configuration and the maximum number of syslog servers already exists, the configuration fails. To delete
or modify the group syslog servers, launch Group Manager.
Updating or Configuring Contact Data

To make sure that Dell contacts the appropriate person, you must supply contact information when you configure
SupportAssist. See How SupportAssist Works on page 175 for an explanation of why this contact information is
required and how it is used by Dell.
You can modify or add contact data for SupportAssist at any time.
To add or update contact information:
2. Select the group. Use the Arrange By menu to organize the group view, and to select and expand groups.
3. Select the name of a configured group.
4. Select or add details for contact as follows:
Select an existing contact group from the menu.

Click the Person icon to modify existing contact data.
Click the Person Plus icon to add a new contact.
Table 43 describes the contact information fields and data.

Table 43: Contact Information for SupportAssist
Data Field
Data
Description
Contact Name
User-supplied
Name of the primary contact person, using at least 2 characters
Email Address
User-supplied
Email address for the contact person
Work Phone
User-supplied
Work (land line) telephone number for the contact person
Cell Phone
User-supplied
Cell telephone or alternate number for the contact person
City
User-supplied
City where the contact person resides
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Data Field
Data
Description
State
User-supplied
State or region where the contact person resides
Country
Select from menu
Location where the contact person resides
Timezone
Select from menu
Time zone where the contact person resides
Language
Select from menu
Primary language of the locale
Company
User-supplied
Name of the contact persons corporation or employer
Contact Times
User-supplied
Best time for contacting contact person
Enabling and Disabling Weekly Data Collection

You can enable or disable SupportAssist for weekly data collection without changing its configuration settings.
Disabling SupportAssist will suspend data collection and transmission, but retain any stored diagnostic data
packages. You can still run on-demand data collection at any time using the Run Now option (see Running an
On-Demand Data Collection on page 206).
3. Either:
Uncheck the Enable weekly data collection box to disable weekly data collection. The Run Now
option is still available.
Check the Enable weekly data collection box to enable weekly data collection.
You can also:
Permanently delete the SupportAssist configuration for a group. See Deleting the SupportAssist Configuration for a Group on page 205.
Enable or disable automatic uploading of diagnostic data packages to Dell. See Enabling and Disabling Automatic Upload for a Group on page 204.
Enabling and Disabling Automatic Upload for a Group

You can enable or disable SupportAssist data transmission (automatic upload) for a group without changing its
configuration settings. When you disable automatic uploads, SupportAssist encrypts and locally stores all
collected diagnostic data packages in your SAN HQ log directory (see Decrypting Local Data Packages on page
204
207). Disabling automatic uploads does not affect data collection operations, which continue as configured.
3. Either:
Uncheck the Automatic Upload box to disable data transmission.

Check the Automatic Upload box to reenable data transmission.
4. (If disabling) Enter a number for Diagnostic data packages to retain in the range of 5 to 64. The
diagnostic data packages are saved in a SAN HQ offline folder (typically,
C:\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\Auto-Pilot\GroupUUID\Offline).
You can also:
Permanently delete the SupportAssist configuration for a group. See Deleting the SupportAssist Configuration for a Group on page 205.
Enable or disable SupportAssist for a group. See Enabling and Disabling Weekly Data Collection on page
204.
Deleting the SupportAssist Configuration for a Group

When you delete the SupportAssist configuration for a group and remove the group from SAN HQ, data
collections stop and pending uploads of diagnostic data are deleted. Local data packages are retained.
Note: Pending diagnostic package uploads are also deleted when you remove a group from SAN HQ without
deleting the SupportAssist configuration, provided that you have a valid TCP/IP connection. For more
information, see General Troubleshooting on page 210.
To delete the SupportAssist configuration for a group:
1. Navigate to the group SupportAssist settings, as described in Modifying the SupportAssist Configuration on
page 195.
3. Click Delete to open the confirmation dialog box.
4. (Optional) Check Remove pending uploads to cancel any uploads that are in progress.
5. Click Delete to confirm or click Cancel to abort the deletion.
The group reverts to its unconfigured state.
You can also:
205
Temporarily disable and then reenable the SupportAssist configuration for a group. See Enabling and Disabling Weekly Data Collection on page 204.
Temporarily disable and reenable automatic uploading of diagnostic data packages to Dell. See Enabling and
Disabling Automatic Upload for a Group on page 204.
Using SupportAssist
This section explains how to use the SupportAssist on-demand data collection and data-decryption options.
Running an On-Demand Data Collection on page 206
Decrypting Local Data Packages on page 207
Running an On-Demand Data Collection

You can run an on-demand data collection (Run Now) at any time. When you run an on-demand data collection,
you can opt to include the SAN HQ archive, and to store the data package locally without transmitting it to Dell
Support for analysis.
On-demand data collections are useful when you want to manually inspect the diagnostic data collection before
uploading the data to Dell Support. SAN HQ encrypts and stores local data packages in a folder on your system
under Auto-Pilot. For example:
C:\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\Auto-Pilot
Before running an on-demand data collection, you should decide whether you want to include a SAN HQ archive
file in the data collection (see Group Data Archives on page 165) and whether you intend to transmit the data
file to Dell for analysis, or retain it as a local data package.
When you run an on-demand data collection, SupportAssist first informs you if pssdiag is running. If pssdiag is
running, SupportAssist lets you either cancel the operation, or ignore pssdiag and continue with the on-demand
data collection.
Note: Scheduled and event-driven data collections do not override pssdiag.
If you click the Cancel button on the Run Now dialog box while the progress bar is on step 2 or 3, the diagnostic
data uploads are not aborted. However, if you click Cancel in step 1, the data collections are aborted and the
uploads are not created.
After you run an on-demand collection, you can decrypt and analyze local data packages. See Decrypting Local
Data Packages on page 207.
If required for analysis and diagnosis, you can manually upload on-demand data packages to Dell if the packages
are requested by Dell Support.
206
Unlike scheduled data collections, an on-demand data collection does not automatically retry if it fails. You must
manually rerun the on-demand data collection.
Procedure for Running an On-Demand Collection

1. From the SupportAssist menu, select Run Now to open the wizard.
2. Check one or more boxes to select PS Series groups, or click the Select all groups button.
3. Select one of the following data transmission options:
Diagnostic data and SAN HQ archive (default)

Diagnostic data only
SAN HQ archive only
4. For a SAN HQ archive, specify a date range for the archive. Options are 1 day, 7 days, or 1 month.
5. Check the box to allow automatic transmission of diagnostic data to Dell Support for review. This
transmission can include SAN HQ archive data.
6. Click Start to begin data collection.
Status messages appear in the Status column for each selected group. A progress bar at the bottom of the
next dialog box indicates the status of the data collection and, if selected, transmission. Optionally, click the
Run in Background button to close the wizard while running the on-demand process in the background. You
can continue using SAN HQ.
7. When the process completes, click Close to complete the wizard. (Click Cancel to abort the data collection
job.)
Decrypting Local Data Packages

You can decrypt and view local data packages for diagnostic data not configured for automatic uploading to Dell
Support. The local data packages can be from on-demand, event-driven, or scheduled collections.
You might need the following information before decrypting a data package:
The name of one or more PS Series groups that are configured for SupportAssist and have existing local data
packages. (That is, you have run at least one data collection on one or more of your PS Series groups.)
If you have many local data packages, you might need to know the date and time that you created a particular local data package. You can view or search the SupportAssist activity log. See SupportAssist Activity
Log on page 200.
Before decryption, SAN HQ stores local data packages in a folder named Auto-Pilot. For example:
C:\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\Auto-Pilot
207
By default, decrypted data packages are stored in the current user's documents folder. For example, on Windows 7 systems:
C:\ Users\user_name\My Documents
Data packages have unique alphanumeric strings as file names, using the .dg extension, such as:
0b614094-db00-4868-a0cd-e64441006fdd.dg
Procedure for Decrypting One or More Local Data Packages

1. From the SupportAssist menu, select Decrypt Local Data Packages to open the wizard.
2. Click Next> to open the Group Selection dialog box and identify PS Series groups with data packages that
are ready to decrypt.
3. Check one or more boxes to select PS Series groups, or click the Select all groups button.
4. Click Next> to open the Local Data Packages dialog box.
5. Check one or more boxes to select packages for decryption, or click the Select all Packages button.
6. Specify a folder in the Save To panel. This folder is where packages are stored after decryption. This path is
relevant to the SAN HQ Client from which you request the decryption.
7. Click Next> to open the Decrypting and Saving Local Data Packages dialog box and begin decryption.
A progress bar at the bottom of the wizard indicates the status of the decryption and, if successful, completes
with the message: Diagnostics Local Data packages Complete.
8. Click Next> to complete the wizard, optionally checking the Automatically open output folder on
completion of Wizard box. Click Finish to exit the wizard.
Decrypted files are located in the folder specified in step 7 of the procedure. The file name is similar to the
following example:
279729dc-c98a-425b-9800-20f78341e5d8.dg
The decrypted file is a Unicode plain text file. You can temporarily change its file extension to .txt, and use a
text editor to view or search the data package content.
Note: Changing the file extension to .xml might enable you to review the file using an editor or other tool
capable of formatting XML for ease of reading.

If a package does not decrypt, verify that the file still exists in the log directory and that you have the proper
permissions to access the SAN HQ log directory.
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Display Support Case Information

When cases are created by Dell Support from SupportAssist diagnostic data uploads and from traditional support
calls, SupportAssist displays information about all open cases for your PS Series groups.
To view customer support cases, either:
Click the SupportAssist link below the Servers and Groups tree and then select Customer Support Cases
in the upper-left panel.
Note: The number that appears on the link indicates the total number of cases reported back to Sup-
portAssist. When you leave the page and return to other views, the number is cleared and updated as
new cases are logged.
From the SAN HQ menu bar, select SupportAssist and then Customer Support Cases.
The Customer Support Cases page appears (see Figure 65). By default, the Exclude closed cases checkbox is
selected to only show active cases. Figure 65 shows the checkbox deselected, with all cases displayed.
Figure 65: Customer Support Cases
Figure 65 presents the following information:
Case numberSupport request (SR) number for your support case opened at Dell
Case statusCurrent status of the case at Dell Support (for example, open, closed, and reopened)
Case titleTitle when referring to this case
ProgressCurrent disposition of this case
Service levelYour service level contract
209
Service contractYour service warranty status
Service tagPS Series array service tag for which this case was opened
Date openedDate the case was opened by Dell Support
Last updatedDate the case was last updated in the Dell Support system
Group namePS Series group for which the case was opened
Member nameMember name for the service tag
Monitoring and Troubleshooting SupportAssist

This section provides information to help you monitor how data collection is functioning and helps you
troubleshoot problems. The following information is provided:
General Troubleshooting on page 210
Considerations When Enabling SupportAssist on page 211
Impact of Firmware Updates on SupportAssist on page 211
Performance Impact When Using SupportAssist on page 211
SupportAssist Alerts on page 211
Displaying Groups Configured for SupportAssist on page 212
Using a Different Server to Upload Diagnostic Information on page 215
General Troubleshooting
This section describes configuration policies and restrictions to help in general troubleshooting of your
SupportAssist environment.
Multiple SAN HQ servers cannot monitor the same PS Series group. As such, you cannot set up SupportAssist on multiple SAN HQ servers to collect diagnostic data from the same group.
Pending diagnostic data uploads are deleted when you delete a group configured for SupportAssist from SAN
HQ. Note the following scenarios:
If you remove a group from SAN HQ and choose to delete the log files, SupportAssist log files and pending uploads are also deleted.
If you remove a group from SAN HQ and choose to keep the log files, SupportAssist log files are kept
but pending uploads are deleted.
210
Considerations When Enabling SupportAssist

The following considerations apply when enabling SupportAssist:
SAN HQ creates a read-only user account (by default, autopilot-ro) on the PS Series array that it uses to collect the diagnostic data. You can change the name of this account when enabling SupportAssist.
SAN HQ installs the sanmond daemon (if it does not already exist) on all group members to gather diagnostic
data. While sanmond is being installed, you can expect minimal or no performance impact to your group.
SAN HQ configures the syslog settings on the PS Series array to receive the critical events.
The group configuration and diagnostic data collected by SAN HQ is saved locally after scrubbing the user
passwords. SAN HQ deletes this data from the local machine after successfully transmitting it to the Dell
data center.
If you consider any of the data collected by SupportAssist to be restricted (see Data Collected By SupportAssist on page 178), access to SAN HQ should be limited to authorized personnel.
SupportAssist does not automatically adjust scheduled collections to account for daylight saving time (DST).
To update the data-collection schedule and account for daylight saving time,you must rerun the SupportAssist
Configuration wizard. Only new activity log entries will reflect the new time.
Impact of Firmware Updates on SupportAssist

When upgrading the PS Series firmware from version 5.0.8 to newer releases, SAN HQ requires that you rerun
the SupportAssist Configuration wizard. However, if you are upgrading from firmware version 5.1, you do not
need to reconfigure SupportAssist.
Performance Impact When Using SupportAssist

The performance impact of collecting diagnostic data varies from one configuration to the next. For the majority
of groups operating under normal conditions, you can expect a 5% to 10% performance impact during the
relatively short time that SupportAssist collects data.
SupportAssist Alerts
SAN HQ generates specific alerts for SupportAssist-configured groups. Table 44 describes these alerts and
trigger mechanisms. For a description of all SAN HQ alerts, see SAN Headquarters Alerts on page 115.
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Table 44: Alerts Generated by SAN HQ for SupportAssist

Alert Name
Type
Description
Trigger
Member Added
with SupportAssist
Informational
Notification alert that the SupportAssist configuration was

updated with a new member and
that the member contains a valid version of sanmond.
The SupportAssist-configured
group detected that a new
member was added to the group
during a SAN HQ data poll.
Group Incompatible with

SupportAssist
Warning
An incompatibility has been

detected between the group and the
installed version of
SupportAssist on the SAN
HQ Server.
SupportAssist detected a discrepancy between the version of

SupportAssist deployed on the
server and the version running on
the group.
The credentials for the

SupportAssist read-only account
failed authorization.
The SupportAssist-configured
group had an authorization failure
during a data collection.
Read-Only
Critical
Account Authorization Failure
for SupportAssist
Displaying Groups Configured for SupportAssist

To view all groups that are configured for SupportAssist for a specific SAN HQ Server:
1. Click Servers and Groups in the lower-left panel.
2. Select the server name.
3. Click SupportAssist Status to sort on configuration status. See Data Sorting Options on page 217 for sort
options.
Offline Data Uploads Using SupportAssist

SupportAssist can collect and later upload diagnostic data from environments where the SAN HQ Server
collecting diagnostic data is not always connected to the Internet. For example, servers on a cruise ship might
have Internet access while in port but not while at sea. During temporary offline periods, the SAN HQ Server
with SupportAssist enabled for automatic data uploads continues to run collections on a regular schedule, but
will not upload the data until an Internet connection is re-established.
212
About Offline Pending Uploads

When Internet connectivity is lost, SupportAssist cannot complete the weekly data upload to Dell Support. Data
continues to be collected while in an offline state and SupportAssist encrypts and stores the data on the local file
system.
Local data packages are created in the following situations:
The Retry Count maximum is reached. This value indicates the number of times SupportAssist attempts to
collect diagnostic data from the PS Series group, after which an automatic upload can occur.
The automatic upload cannot complete, after which SupportAssist stores the data before attempting another
upload six hours later. If the Internet is still unavailable, SupportAssist continues to upload the data on sixhour intervals until successful. (If unsuccessful after 90 days, the data is deleted.)
The SupportAssist Configuration Settings page shows groups configured or unconfigured for SupportAssist.
Figure 66 shows a group configured to retry data collection three times and perform an automatic upload.
Figure 66: Group Configured for SupportAssist
When the Internet connection is re-established, the stored offline data will be uploaded as a single collection.
213
Note: Optionally, you can disable automatic uploads for a group and retain all data collections locally. Later,
you can manually upload the data. For more information, see Enabling and Disabling Automatic Upload for a
Group on page 204.
Prerequisites for Offline Data Uploads

This process assumes the following prerequisites have been met:
You have SAN HQ v3.0 or higher installed (see Chapter 2). Your SAN HQ Client and Server meet the
requirements in Requirements for Running the SAN Headquarters Client on page 13 and Requirements for
Running the SAN Headquarters Server on page 12.
All TCP/UDP ports are open as listed and described in Table 2.
From SAN HQ, you have configured your groups to use SupportAssist for automatic diagnostic data uploads
(see Configuring SupportAssist on page 181).
The Group Manager has these features enabled:

SNMPA read-only SNMP Community name is configured under the Group Manager GUI's SNMP
options. If already configured for SAN HQ, you do not have to create one.
SSHSSH is enabled in the Group Manager GUIs Administrators options.
Access Pending Uploads

Diagnostic data collections that are unable to upload are stored locally and displayed as Waiting for Retry in
the Activity Log. To access pending uploads from the SupportAssist Activity Log:
1. Click SupportAssist in the lower left panel. The Support Assist Configuration Settings page displays.
2. In the upper left panel, click Activity Log.
The status of the activity will show Waiting for Retry, as in Figure 67
Figure 67: Activity Log Showing One Pending Upload
After Internet connection is re-established, SupportAssist will automatically attempt to upload pending
data. You can also manually upload pending data:
1. Right click in the Activity Log table.
214
2. Select Retry All Pending Uploads (Figure 68).

Figure 68: Retry All Pending Uploads
SupportAssist displays a message acknowledging the request to upload the data. When the operation completes,
the Activity Log shows a payload ID for the data collection. (Figure 69).
Figure 69: Successful Diagnostic Data Upload
The above example is for a single pending upload. Support Assist can also upload multiple collections that are
pending. When you select Retry All Pending Uploads, all uploads are transmitted, regardless of their order
they appear in the Activity Log.
After a successful upload, the Retry All Pending Uploads menu option appears grayed out, indicating that
there are no uploads with Waiting For Retry status.
Using a Different Server to Upload Diagnostic Information

SupportAssist can upload the diagnostic data collections from SAN HQ environments where the SAN
HQ Server collecting diagnostic data is not connected to the Internet.
To support this environment, you must set up two separate SAN HQ servers:
A SAN HQ Data Collector Server that will run the data collections on a regular, weekly schedule and
then save the output to the local file system. This server does not require Internet access; it does not upload
the diagnostic collections directly to Dell.
A SAN HQ Data Uploader Server that has Internet connectivity. This server does not need to collect diagnostic data directly from the PS Series arrays.
The import process consists of adding the group if it does not already exist, creating upload job definitions as
needed (upload requests), and moving the data collection output directory (run directory) to the
215
directory. This directory is

considered complete when the data collection output directory has been copied and is separate from the running
of the upload jobs.
C:\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\Auto-Pilot\GroupUUID\Online
If the import process fails to import a run directory, it moves it to the failed import directory (typically,
C:\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\FailedImport) on the SAN HQ Data Uploader Server.
Requirements for the deployment scenario include:
Import script:
You must write a script to move the data collection output directories that you want to upload from the
SAN HQ offline folder (typically,
C:\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\Auto-Pilot\GroupUUID\Offline) on the SAN HQ Data Collector Server (the server without Internet connectivity) to the
C:\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\Inbox folder on the SAN HQ Data Uploader Server (the
server with Internet connectivity).
Use the following format for naming the data collection output directories: yyyymmddhhMMss_runid guid.
After the files are copied to the output directory, the copy script must create a file named importready.txt in the same directory. This file informs SAN HQ that the copy operation has completed and
that the run directory is ready for import.
On the SAN HQ Data Collector Server, you must configure the groups that collect data and not automatically upload the data.
On the SAN HQ Data Uploader Server, if the group that has data to be uploaded already exists, you must
configure the group to automatically upload data to Dell Support.
You can import only those data collections that contain diagnostic data. Verify that a collection contains data
by confirming that the diagnostics.dg file exists in the run directory.
SupportAssist Reference Information

This section provides the following reference information for configuring and using SupportAssist:
Data Collection and Upload Settings on page 216
Data Sorting Options on page 217
Data Collection and Upload Settings

Setting
Field
Data
Description
Check
Box
None
Enable weekly data collection
Check this box to enable weekly data collection. (Temporarily enable or disable SupportAssist.)
216
Day of
Week
day
Accept the current day or select a

day from the menu
Select the day on which SupportAssist collects

data (defaults to current weekday).
Start
Time
HH:MM
AM/PM
time
Accept the current time or modify

the HH:MM and AM/PM fields
Select the time at which SupportAssist collects data (defaults to current clock time).
Retry
After
NNN
minutes
10120 minute intervals
Time interval in minutes that SupportAssist

must wait before retrying a data transmission.
Retry
Count
NN
times
110 retry times
Maximum number of retries (including the initial attempt) that SupportAssist can make
before timing out.
Check
Box
None
Allow automatic transmission of

SupportAssist data to Dell Support
for review
Check this box to enable automatic data transmission.
Packages
to Retain
NN
number
Number of SupportAssist diagnostic packages to retain
Select a value for the number of retained packages (from 5 to 64).
Data Sorting Options

When available, you can sort and filter data in information screens such as the SupportAssist Activity Log tab
(see SupportAssist Activity Log on page 200). Custom sort and filter options are described in Table 45. Sort, fit,
and filter options are described in Table 46.
Table 45: Custom Data Sort and Filter Options
GUI
Element
Data
Type
Description
Column
Header
Label
Group, Timestamp, Activity Type, Status, Description
Menu
operator
Select an operator: Equals, Does not equal, Is like, Is greater than, Is greater than or
equal to, Is less than, Is less than or equal to, Is null, Is not null, Is blank, Is not
blank
Field
string
Text string for the operand, such as BigGroup
Button
and
Mutually exclusive boolean operators
operator
Button
operator
or
217
GUI
Element
Data
Type
Menu
operator
Select an operator: Equals, Does not equal, Is like, Is greater than, Is greater than or
equal to, Is less than, Is less than or equal to, Is null, Is not null, Is blank, Is not
blank
Button
OK
Performs the sort operation
Button
Cancel
Aborts the sort operation
Description
Table 46: Sort, Fit, and Filter Options

Option
Description
Sort Ascending
Sorts alphabetically or numerically from lowest to highest value
Sort Descending
Sorts alphabetically or numerically from highest to lowest value
Clear Sorting (if sorted already)
Removes any existing sort results
Best Fit
Fits the column width to the data for the selected column
Best Fit All Columns
Fits the column width to the data for all columns
Clear Filter (if filtered already)
Removes any existing filter results
Show/Hide Find Panel
Displays or hides the search option
Show/Hide Auto Filter Row
Displays or hides the auto filter row
218
Index
configuration
A
SupportAssist 181
wizard 182
worksheet 182, 192
Connection status
alarms
degraded 67
displaying 112
contact information 178
alerts 7, 112
displaying 7, 112-113
email notification 72
hiding disabled email 67
list of 115
notifications 20, 53
priorities 113
RAID policy reliability 89
SupportAssist 211
SupportAssist 188, 194, 203
context link bar options 44

credentials
grpadmin-level 179
read-only account 179
critical event 175

D
applications
characterizing workload 128
solving performance problems 154
archives 179
creating
with command 166
with GUI 166
modifying XML files 168
opening 169
preserving group data 165
scheduling 168
audit logs 7, 123, 179

copying to clipboard 125
displaying 7
exporting 125
audit messages 123

autopilot-ro 179
C
capacity data 107-108
monitoring 130
capacity information 32
inbound replicas 32-33
recoverable volumes 34
space borrowing 34
capacity requirements 130

capacity summary 28
circle graph 50
client startup
controlling settings 65
command line
launching SAN HQ from 8
components 176
data
capacity 107, 130
displaying from different times 48
experimental analysis 133
exporting 170
graph 49
I/O 109
network 111
performance 107
TCP retransmission 102
uploading 175, 212, 215
automatic 204
data analysis
best practices 129
examples 136
prerequisites 127
problems
identifying hardware 130
identifying performance 131
solving 152
data collection 178

manual inspection 206
on-demand 206
run now 206
data graph 49
missing data points 51
data package
decrypting local 206-207
data points
missing 51
data sorting options

SupportAssist 217
data tables 49-50

debug trace files 166-167
delegated space 108
219
Index: Dell Support data center groups
Dell Support data center 175

diagnostics 175
commands 178
Favorites
disks
adding 77
information 37
queue depth 111
firewall
detecting 65
display settings
firmware
controlling chart 66
GUI appearance 64
temperature 66
group requirement 11
information 35, 37
updates 211
documentation
full installation 17
displaying 8
E
email notification
configuring 72
customizing alerts 73
hiding disabled alerts 67
modifying configuration 73
requirements 73
testing 73
End User License Agreement 182

EQLXPerf
assigning domain user name 15
restarting 20
user requirements 15
Ethernet port
statistics 111
EULA See End User License Agreement

event information 35
event logs 179
events 7
copying to clipboard 114, 123
displaying 120
exporting 114, 123
logging 120
priorities 120
searching 122
syslog server 96
experimental analysis data 39, 133-134

examples 135
monitoring 132-133
typical workload 133
exporting data
scheduling 172
using command 170
using GUI 170
220
general settings 64
graph data 49
graphs
circle 50
combined 35
data 49
group data
preserving 165
Group Manager
launching 19, 74
groups
adding
from CLI 54
from GUI 52
alerts 7
configuring new for SupportAssist 184
DNS name 52
email notification 53, 72
filtering view 70
hiding 70
IP address 52
log file size 54
management address 52
monitoring 52
prerequisites 52
resuming 74
stopping 69
stopping temporarily 74
network address 52
modifying 100
preserving data 157
requirements 11
single sign-on 53
logging in 74
SNMP community name 53, 72
Index: grpadmin-level credentials management network
summary 26-27
syslog event logging 96
grpadmin-level credentials 179

GUI
changing appearance 64
controlling
client startup 65
time range 48
tooltips 66
data description 107
help 8
navigating 23
objects 26
setting timeline 48
starting 6
terminology 107
procedure 16
requirements 15
software location 6, 64
update notifications 22
upgrades 21
installation procedure 16
client-only 18
client and server 17
IOPS 109
estimated maximum 135
estimated workload 134
monitoring 132
versus latency 110
iSCSI connections 111, 178

information 40
L
H
latency 109, 128
hardware
analyzing 131
monitoring 131
monitoring 130
unsupported 51
hardware alarms 112

hardware information 35
hardware/firmware summary 28
help
displaying 8
I
I/O data 109
I/O information 37
experimental analysis 39
live view sessions 39
RAID evaluation 40
SyncRep 40
I/O load 110

monitoring 131
I/O Load Space Distribution 110

I/O size
average 110
monitoring 132
I/O summary 30
information categories 26
installation
changing log file location 65
considerations 22
displaying settings 64
obtaining software 15
prerequisites 11
link speed 111

Live View session
displaying live data 81
example 83
prerequisites 81
running 82
saving 82
viewing previous 82
local data package

decrypting 206-207
local replication reserve 108

log files 2
accessing 15
changing directory 65
compressing data 101
increasing size of 71
keeping after removing software 21
location 64
maintaining 101
requirements 14
reusing
after reinstallation 16
after upgrade 19
security 14
sizing 14, 54, 101
space utilization 64
M
management network 111
221
Index: monitoring replication reserve
monitoring
performance data 107
best practices 129

capacity 130
experimental analysis data 132
hardware 130
I/O load 131
I/O size 132
IOPS 132
network load 132
network rate 132
performance 131
problems 127
queue depth 132
sorting 70
stopping 69
TCP retransmissions 130
troubleshooting 100
version dependencies 105
polling period 102

adjusting 102, 112
default 3
displaying 49, 102
polling status 112

displaying 112
ports
active 111
preserving group data

archives 165
exporting data 169
options 19, 157
reports 157
PS Series group firmware 179

Q
N
queue depth 111
network
handling address changes 100
network data 111

network information 41
network load 111
monitoring 132
requirement 132
quick start
SupportAssist 184
monitoring 132
network port 43
RAID
information 43
evaluation 83
monitoring 130
network rate 111

monitoring 132
RAID Evaluator 83, 85, 87
network traffic 111

notifications
using 84
RAID policy reliability 83, 85, 87, 91
alerts 20, 53
update 22
O
on-demand data collection 206
run now 175
read-only account
credentials 179
operating system requirements 12-13

P
percentile reporting - 95th 46
performance
impact when using SupportAssist 211
problems
monitoring 131
solving 152-154
222
alerts 89
meter 85, 87
reporting 85
score 85
unknown status 90
read/write distribution 110

received traffic 111
recent updates 22
recoverable volumes 108
displaying 93
replica reserve 108

replication partner 108
replication reserve See local replication
reserve
Index: replication summary software
replication summary 29
reports
data required 158
generating
with GUI 159
with XML file 159
scheduling 161
types 157
requirements
capacity 130
email notification 73
EQLXPerf 15
group 11
installation 15
log files 14
SAN Headquarters Client 13, 15
SAN Headquarters Server 12
single sign-on 75
SupportAssist 179
syslog server 97-98
volume queue depth 111
run now
on-demand data collection 175, 206
GUI
starting 6
understanding data 107
installing 16
launching from command line 8
log files 2, 101
monitoring groups 52
operation 3
performance impact 102
restarting SAN HQ Server 20
servers
adding 57
removing 58
settings 63
software
obtaining 15
removing 21
syslog server 4, 96
uninstalling 21
SAN HQ installation 11
sanmond 179, 211
security
SupportAssist 177
sent traffic 111

servers
S
sampling period 49
SAN Headquarters Client 2
cache directory 64
identifying if running 64
installing 11, 16
log file access 14
requirements 13, 15
SAN Headquarters See SANHQ

SAN Headquarters Server
identifying if running 64
installing 11, 16
maintaining log files 101
requirements 12
log file 14
user 15
restarting 20
syslog server 96
SAN HQ 1
analyzing data 127
archives 179
client/server configuration 2
command line 8
getting started 23
settings
chart display 66
email 73
favorites 77
general 64
GUI appearance 64
log file directory 65
temperature display 66
timeline 48
single sign-on 19
configuring 53, 74
disabling 76
enabling 75
login credentials
deleting 76
modifying 75
requirements 75
snapshot reserve 108

space borrowing 95
SNMP 180
SNMP community name
modifying 72
requirement 11
specifying for a group 53
software
installing 15
223
Index: space borrowing timeline
obtaining 15
removing 21
upgrading 21
space borrowing 95, 108

free 95
snapshot reserve 95
space utilization 109

log files 64
SSD Space 110

SSH 180
statistics
Ethernet port 111
thin-provisioning 109
summary information 27
capacity 28
hardware and firmware 28
replication summary 29
SyncRep volumes 29
volume capacity 30
volume I/O 30
SupportAssist 175
activity log 200-201
adding sanmond 211
alerts 211
automatic data uploads 204
components (fig.) 176
configuring 181
contact data 203
new group 184
data collected 178
data collection 206, 216
modifying settings 202
on-demand 206
data sorting options 217
enabling 196
features and benefits 177
impact
firmware updates 211
performance 211
preventive diagnostics 177
quick start 184
run now 206
security 177
settings
upload 216
viewing 195
syslog settings
modifying for a group 202
troubleshooting 210
using 175, 206
224
SupportAssist configuration 175

deleting 205
modifying 195
steps 192
wizard 182, 191
worksheet 182
SupportAssist configuration settings 68, 196

defining and modifying 196
reference information 197
SupportAssist groups
configuring new 184
disabling 204
displaying 212
enabling 204
modifying syslog settings 202
SupportAssist information
contact 188, 194, 203
reference 216
support case 209
SupportAssist requirements 179

network and bandwidth 180
SAN HQ server 180
synchronous replication 40, 111

SyncRep 78
volumes 111
displaying 79
summary 29
syslog
event logging 180
modifying settings for SupportAssist 202
notification 179
syslog server 4
changing configuration 98
configuring 96-97
disabling 97, 99
event logging 120
events 96
requirements 97-98
T
TCP retransmission 111
data 102
monitoring 130
thin provisioning
statistics 109
time range selector 49

timeline
setting 48
zoom links 49
Index: tooltips zoom links
tooltips
controlling behavior 66
displaying 49-50
settings 66
Z
zoom links
setting timeline 49
troubleshooting
general 210
group monitoring 100
U
update notifications 22
upgrades
performing 21
reusing log files 16, 21
uploading data 175, 212, 215

automatic 204
V
view
filtering group 70
volume reserve 109

volume summary
capacity 30
I/O 30
SyncRep 29
volumes
queue depth 111, 132
recoverable 108
displaying 93
reported size 108
SyncRep
displaying 79
monitoring 78
types 109
identifying 51
undeleting 92
viewing deleted 92
W
weekly schedule 175
wizard
add group 54
workload
characterizing 128
worksheet
225

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Copyright 20092014 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.

Dell and EqualLogic are registered trademarks of Dell, Inc.

2 Installing SAN Headquarters

Uninstall the SAN Headquarters Software

Upgrading SAN Headquarters

3 Getting Started with SAN Headquarters

Add a Group for Monitoring

Manage Server Monitoring

SAN HQ Installation and Users Guide

4 Configuring and Managing the Group Monitoring Environment

SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings

SupportAssist Configuration Settings

Launch Group Manager with Single Sign-On

Adding and Managing Favorite Views

Monitoring Synchronous Replication Volumes

RAID Policy Evaluation and Reliability

Viewing Recoverable Volumes

Snapshot Space Borrowing

Handling Group Network Address Changes

SAN HQ Installation and Users Guide

How Data Is Compressed in Log Files

5 Understanding SAN Headquarters GUI Data

6 Analyzing Group Data and Solving Problems

Best Practices for Analyzing Data Over Time

Examples of Interpreting Performance Data

Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability

Best Practices for Solving Performance Problems

7 Preserving Group Data

SAN HQ Installation and Users Guide

Use the GUI to Create a Report

Group Data Archives

Group Data Exports

8 Configuring and Using SupportAssist

Modifying the SupportAssist Configuration

Monitoring and Troubleshooting SupportAssist

SupportAssist Reference Information

Basic networking concepts

Current network environment

Disk storage space requirements

Disk storage management

Dell Online Services

Dell EqualLogic Storage Solutions

Technical Support and Customer Service

SAN HQ Installation and Users Guide

1 Overview of SAN Headquarters

SAN Headquarters Features

Quickly be informed of hardware, capacity, and performance-related problems.

Improve performance by identifying performance obstructions (bottlenecks).

More effectively allocate group resources by identifying underutilized resources.

SAN HQ Installation and Users Guide

1 Overview of SAN Headquarters

Visualize synchronous replication volumes and NAS containers.

Display space consumed by recoverable volumes in the recovery bin.

Display space available for snapshot borrowing.

View events, audits, and group alerts.

Preserve group performance data for later analysis by creating archives.

Create customized reports of group performance data.

Export group performance data to a spreadsheet.

Specify favorite views.

SAN Headquarters Environment

SAN HQ Installation and Users Guide

1 Overview of SAN Headquarters

SAN Headquarters Operation