110-6235-EN-R1 SANHQ Guide v3.2 PDF

Dell EqualLogic SAN Headquarters
Version 3.2
Installation and User's Guide
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you
how to avoid the problem.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
Copyright 2016 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and
intellectual property laws. Dell and the Dell logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. in the United States and/or other
jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
2016 - 04
Rev. 110-6235-EN-R1
Contents
Preface....................................................................................................................... 9
Audience................................................................................................................................................ 9
Related Documentation........................................................................................................................9
Dell Online Services.............................................................................................................................. 9
Dell EqualLogic Storage Solutions........................................................................................................9
Technical Support and Customer Service .........................................................................................10
Contacting Dell....................................................................................................................................10
1 Overview of SAN Headquarters........................................................................ 11

SAN Headquarters Features.................................................................................................................11
SAN Headquarters Environment......................................................................................................... 12
SAN Headquarters Operation..............................................................................................................13
Start SAN Headquarters GUI................................................................................................................15
Start SAN Headquarters from Windows........................................................................................15
Start SAN Headquarters GUI Using a Command Line.................................................................. 17
2 SAN Headquarters Installation......................................................................... 19

Prerequisites for Installing SAN Headquarters....................................................................................19
PS Series Group Requirements..................................................................................................... 19
Requirements for Running SAN Headquarters Server................................................................. 20
Requirements for Running SAN Headquarters Client.................................................................. 21
Log File Directory Requirements...................................................................................................21
Required Installation Information................................................................................................. 22
Pre-installation Review....................................................................................................................... 23
Installation Procedure......................................................................................................................... 23
Full Installation Server and Client............................................................................................. 24
Client-Only Installation.................................................................................................................24
Post-Installation Tasks........................................................................................................................ 25
Preserve Data ................................................................................................................................25
Configure Single Sign-On............................................................................................................. 25
Set Up Notification Mechanisms.................................................................................................. 26
Restart the SAN Headquarters Server...........................................................................................26
Uninstall SAN Headquarters Software................................................................................................26
Retain Log File Data...................................................................................................................... 26
Uninstallation Procedure...............................................................................................................27
Uploading Log File Backup Data From an Earlier Build............................................................... 27
Upgrade SAN Headquarters................................................................................................................28
Considerations When Updating SAN HQ Software..................................................................... 28
Obtain SAN HQ Update Notifications.......................................................................................... 28
3
3 Get Started with SAN HQ.................................................................................. 30
SAN HQ Client GUI Navigation...........................................................................................................30
All Groups Summary Information................................................................................................. 33
Group Information Categories..................................................................................................... 38
Context Link Bar Options..............................................................................................................49
95th Percentile Reporting............................................................................................................. 51
Display Data from Different Times............................................................................................... 53
Missing Data Points in Graphs...................................................................................................... 56
Identify Volumes............................................................................................................................56
Add a Group for Monitoring................................................................................................................57
SAN Headquarters Prerequisites for Adding a Group.................................................................. 57
Add a Group from the SAN Headquarters GUI.............................................................................57
Add a Group to the Monitoring List from the Command Line....................................................58
Manage Server Monitoring................................................................................................................. 60
Add a Server................................................................................................................................... 61
Change the Default Server............................................................................................................ 61
Remove a Server............................................................................................................................ 61
Upgrade the Client Monitoring Multiple Servers..........................................................................62
Verify and Modify Access to Log Files.......................................................................................... 63
4 Configure and Manage the Group Monitoring Environment.................... 64

SAN Headquarters Settings.................................................................................................................64
Control GUI Appearance...............................................................................................................65
Display Installation Settings.......................................................................................................... 65
Change the Log File Directory......................................................................................................66
Control Client Startup Settings to Detect Firewall Rules.............................................................66
Control Tooltips............................................................................................................................ 66
Control Chart Display....................................................................................................................67
Control Temperature Display Settings......................................................................................... 67
Hide Disabled Email Alerts............................................................................................................ 67
SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings..............................................................................67
Degraded Connection Status....................................................................................................... 68
SupportAssist Configuration Settings ................................................................................................69
Manage Group Monitoring................................................................................................................. 69
Remove a Group from Monitor List............................................................................................. 69
Sort the List of Monitored Groups................................................................................................70
Hide Groups in the SAN HQ GUI.................................................................................................. 70
Increase the Log File Size.............................................................................................................. 71
Modify the SNMP Community Name for a Group........................................................................71
Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts............................................................................. 72
Stop Group Monitoring................................................................................................................. 73
4
Launch Group Manager with Single Sign-On.................................................................................... 73
Single Sign-On Requirements.......................................................................................................74
Enable Single Sign-On and Modify Login Credentials.................................................................74
Disable Single Sign-On for a Group............................................................................................. 75
Delete Login Credentials for a Group...........................................................................................75
Launch Dell Storage Update Manager from SAN HQ........................................................................75
Dell Storage Update Manager Overview and Prerequisites.........................................................76
Options for Launching Dell Storage Update Manager.................................................................76
Launch Dell Storage Update Manager for Standalone Firmware Updates................................. 77
Add and Manage Favorite Views......................................................................................................... 77
Add a View to the Favorites List.................................................................................................... 78
Set a View As the Home Page.......................................................................................................78
Monitor Synchronous Replication Volumes...................................................................................... 78
About Synchronous Replication................................................................................................... 79
Display SyncRep Volumes in SAN Headquarters..........................................................................79
Live View Data..................................................................................................................................... 81
Prerequisites for Establishing a Live View Session....................................................................... 82
Run a Live View Session................................................................................................................ 82
RAID Policy Evaluation and Reliability................................................................................................84
Use the RAID Evaluator................................................................................................................. 84
RAID Policy Reliability Reporting.................................................................................................. 85
SSD Usage Statistics............................................................................................................................ 92
View SSD Usage Statistics............................................................................................................. 92
View Recoverable Volumes ............................................................................................................... 98
About the PS Series Firmware Volume Undelete Feature........................................................... 98
Display Recoverable Volumes in SAN Headquarters................................................................... 99
Space Borrowing...............................................................................................................................100
Snapshot Space Borrowing Overview........................................................................................ 101
Space Borrowing Statistics.......................................................................................................... 101
Snapshot and Replica Compression................................................................................................ 103
Compression Overview...............................................................................................................103
Prerequisites and Considerations .............................................................................................. 103
SAN HQ Compression Reporting............................................................................................... 104
Syslog Event Logging........................................................................................................................ 107
Configure Syslog Event Logging for a Group............................................................................ 107
Disable Syslog Event Logging for a Group.................................................................................108
Change the Syslog Configuration to Use Specific Interfaces................................................... 108
Disable the SAN Headquarters Syslog Server.............................................................................109
SNMP Notifications........................................................................................................................... 109
About SNMP Notifications...........................................................................................................110
SAN HQ SNMP Notification Configuration.................................................................................110
SNMP Notifications Configuration File....................................................................................... 110
5
Requirements for SNMP Notifications.........................................................................................111
Configure SNMP Notifications.....................................................................................................111
Test and Troubleshoot SNMP Notifications............................................................................... 114
SAN HQ Support for VMware Virtual Volumes.................................................................................114
Storage Container Information................................................................................................... 114
Virtual Volume Information......................................................................................................... 116
Virtual Machine Information........................................................................................................ 117
SAN HQ Support for Delegated Space in Multiple Pools.................................................................118
Delegated Space in Capacity of Group View............................................................................. 119
Manage Group Network Address Changes......................................................................................120
Diagnose and Solve Monitoring Problems....................................................................................... 121
Additional Group Monitoring Concepts........................................................................................... 121
How Data Is Compressed in Log Files........................................................................................ 121
How Group Performance Affects SNMP Polling........................................................................122
How Your Group Monitoring Environment Affects TCP Retransmission Reporting................ 123
Dependency on Software and Firmware Versions.....................................................................125
5 SAN Headquarters GUI Data........................................................................... 126

Information Provided By the SAN HQ GUI.......................................................................................126
Performance and Capacity Terms....................................................................................................126
Capacity and Replication Terms................................................................................................. 126
I/O Terms.....................................................................................................................................128
Network Terms............................................................................................................................129
Polling Status.....................................................................................................................................130
Reported Alerts..................................................................................................................................130
Alert Priorities............................................................................................................................... 131
Display Alerts................................................................................................................................131
Export Alerts................................................................................................................................ 134
Copy Alerts to the Clipboard...................................................................................................... 135
SAN Headquarters Alerts............................................................................................................. 135
Threshold Criteria For Performance Alerts.................................................................................141
Set Alert Thresholds.................................................................................................................... 143
Syslog Events.....................................................................................................................................144
Event Priorities.............................................................................................................................144
Display Events..............................................................................................................................145
Search Events.............................................................................................................................. 146
Export Events............................................................................................................................... 147
Copy Events to the Clipboard.....................................................................................................147
Audit Messages.................................................................................................................................. 147
Display Audit Logs....................................................................................................................... 147
Search Audits...............................................................................................................................148
Export Audit Logs........................................................................................................................ 149
6
Copy Audit Logs to the Clipboard.............................................................................................. 149
6 Analyze Group Data and Solving Problems.................................................150

Prerequisites for Analyzing Data.......................................................................................................150
Potential Sources of Performance Problems.............................................................................150
Application Storage Utilization.................................................................................................... 151
Best Practices for Analyzing Data Over Time................................................................................... 151
Hardware Problems.....................................................................................................................152
Identifying Performance Problems.............................................................................................153
Experimental Analysis..................................................................................................................154
Examples of Interpreting Performance Data....................................................................................157
Example 1 Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability......................................... 157
Example 2 Mainly Idle Group.................................................................................................. 160
Example 3 Adequately Performing Group Possibly Near Full Capability............................... 161
Example 4 Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability........................................................... 164
Example 5 Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full Capability...................................167
Example 6 Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads.......................................169
Best Practices for Solving Performance Problems.......................................................................... 170
Network Infrastructure Recommendations................................................................................ 171
Server and Application Configuration Recommendations........................................................ 171
Group Configuration Recommendations................................................................................... 171
Disk Performance Metrics........................................................................................................... 172
7 Preserve Group Data........................................................................................ 174

Group Data Reports.......................................................................................................................... 174
Report Types................................................................................................................................174
Information Required for a Report..............................................................................................175
Use the GUI to Create a Report.................................................................................................. 176
Use a Command to Create a Report.......................................................................................... 176
Group Diagnostics Report Data..................................................................................................180
Group Data Archives.........................................................................................................................180
Use the GUI to Create an Archive File........................................................................................ 181
Use a Command to Create an Archive File................................................................................ 182
Open an Archive File................................................................................................................... 184
Group Data Exports...........................................................................................................................184
Use the GUI to Export Group Data............................................................................................. 185
Use a Command to Export Group Data..................................................................................... 185
8 Configure and Use SupportAssist..................................................................189

Overview of SupportAssist for EqualLogic PS Series Groups..........................................................189
How SupportAssist Works...........................................................................................................189
SupportAssist Features and Benefits........................................................................................... 191
7
Data Collected By SupportAssist................................................................................................ 192
SupportAssist Requirements....................................................................................................... 192
Configure SupportAssist................................................................................................................... 194
Prerequisites for Configuring SupportAssist.............................................................................. 194
Configuring SupportAssist When Adding a New Group............................................................ 197
Configuring SupportAssist for an Existing Group...................................................................... 203
Configure SupportAssist From the CLI.......................................................................................207
Modify the SupportAssist Configuration..........................................................................................208
SupportAssist Configuration Settings........................................................................................ 208
SupportAssist Activity Log........................................................................................................... 212
Modify SupportAssist Data Collection Settings for a Group......................................................213
Modifying SupportAssist Syslog Settings for a Group................................................................214
Update or Configure Contact Data............................................................................................ 214
Enable and Disable Weekly Data Collection.............................................................................. 215
Enable and Disable Automatic Upload for a Group................................................................... 215
Delete the SupportAssist Configuration for a Group.................................................................216
Use SupportAssist..............................................................................................................................216
On-Demand Data Collection..................................................................................................... 216
Decrypt Local Data Packages......................................................................................................217
Procedure for Decrypting One or More Local Data Packages..................................................218
Display Support Case Information..............................................................................................218
Monitor and Troubleshoot SupportAssist........................................................................................ 219
General Troubleshooting........................................................................................................... 220
Considerations When Enabling SupportAssist...........................................................................220
Performance Impact When Using SupportAssist...................................................................... 220
SupportAssist Alerts.................................................................................................................... 220
Display Groups Configured for SupportAssist............................................................................221
Offline Data Uploads Using SupportAssist................................................................................. 221
Use a Different Server to Upload Diagnostic Information........................................................ 224
SupportAssist Reference Information.............................................................................................. 225
Data Collection and Upload Settings......................................................................................... 225
Data Sorting Options...................................................................................................................225
SupportAssist Command Reference.......................................................................................... 226
8
Preface
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 support site at eqlsupport.dell.com.
Dell Online Services

You can learn about Dell products and services using this procedure:
1. Visit 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: delltechcenter.com/page/EqualLogic. Here you can also see articles, demos, online
discussions, and more details about the benefits of our product family.
9
Technical Support and Customer Service
Dell support service is available to answer your questions about PS Series arrays and FS Series appliances.
Contacting Dell
If you are a customer in the United States or Canada in need of technical support, call
1-800-945-3355.
If you are outside of the United States or Canada, visit eqlsupport.dell.com/.
If you have an Express Service Code, have it ready. The code helps the Dell automated support
telephone system direct your call more efficiently.
10
1
Overview of SAN Headquarters
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

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 percent 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.
Monitor group performance data from multiple servers from a single SAN HQ Client.
Configure the SAN HQ Server to send SNMP notifications to an SNMP management console.
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.
Allocate group resources more effectively by identifying underutilized resources.
View SSD-specific usage to compare the performance of solid state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drives
(HDDs) at the group, pool, and member level.
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.
Launch the Dell Storage Update Manager tool to update controller firmware, disk drive firmware, and
language packs.
Obtain 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.
Apply different RAID policies for a group, pool, or member to analyze the performance benefits and
determine the reliability of your current RAID policy.
Overview of SAN Headquarters 11

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 member and for each volume in the
group.
Visualize synchronous replication volumes and NAS volumes.
Analyze data for groups configured for snapshot and replication compression.
Visualize storage pools with storage containers comprising one or more virtual volumes (VVols)
mapped to a virtual machine (VM). For each VVol, identify the VVol type, capacity information, and I/O
performance. For each VM, list connected VVols, report capacity information, for mapped VVols, and
I/O performance for mapped VVols.
Set and display threshold criteria for performance and capacity alerts.
Show detailed space borrowing statistics, which include: volume snapshots borrowing from replica
reserve and delegated space, and replicas borrowing from other from other replica reserves,
delegated space, and snapshot reserve.
Display space consumed by recoverable volumes in the recovery bin.
Report delegated space for replication allocated by a secondary group to a primary group in multiple
pools.
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 monitor 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.
12 Overview of SAN Headquarters

SAN Headquarters Operation
After you install the SAN HQ Server, 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 period the time between
consecutive polling operations is two 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. Single-Server Environment shows the general layout of a SAN HQ single-server environment.
Figure 1. Single-Server Environment
In Figure 1. Single-Server Environment, 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, two minutes), averaging the data from these consecutive
polling operations. (For more information about polling, see Polling Status.)
The SAN HQ Server also includes a Syslog Server to which a PS Series group can log events (see Syslog
Event Logging).
Figure 2. Multi-Server Environment shows an example of a SAN HQ multi-server environment.
Figure 2. Multi-Server Environment
In Figure 2. Multi-Server Environment, a remote SAN HQ Client accesses two SAN HQ servers at different
sites. Both SAN HQ servers are monitoring groups on separate networks. The SAN HQ Client can access
the data and log files 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.

Start SAN Headquarters GUI
You can start SAN HQ from Windows, or from a command-line interface. 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 Programs EqualLogic
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 Start SAN Headquarters GUI Using a Command
Line.
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. Servers and Groups Window 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 SAN HQ Client GUI Navigation.
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 that 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 SAN HQ cannot reach the group
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, Syslog Events, and Audit Messages.
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
Contact groups settings
E-Mail settings

Group settings Single sign-on functionality and SNMP community name
Hidden group settings
Favorites settings
SupportAssist settings SupportAssist settings do not show information until you enable
SupportAssist data collection for a group
Server settings Server settings appear when you do a full installation of the SAN HQ Server and
Client
SNMP notification settings
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.
Callout 8 Help Button
Displays SAN HQ documentation and support information.
You can also display tool tip help in the GUI windows by placing the pointer on a graph legend or on the
question mark next to a table title.
Start SAN Headquarters GUI Using a Command Line

A command-line interface (CLI) 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. SAN HQ Command-Line Options 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:" Specifies the group. Options for value include:
value" 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"

Option Supported Values
"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 24 hour 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 table describes the actions that occur if the command line contains any errors when you
enter it.
Table 2. Results of Command-Line Errors
Error Resulting Display

Wrong group name or All Groups summary window
IP address specified
Wrong page name Summary window for the specified group

specified
Wrong time specified Time period is selected as default 8 hours

2
SAN Headquarters Installation
For each set of servers that contain the groups that you want to monitor, you must install SAN HQ Server
on one computer. You can also install 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 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.
2. Identify the computer that will run SAN HQ Server and monitor the previously identified groups. SAN
HQ Server stores group data in log files that must be accessible to the computers running SAN HQ
Client.
See Requirements for Running SAN Headquarters Server and Log File Directory Requirements.
NOTE: Do not have multiple computers running SAN HQ Server monitor the same group.
3. Identify the computers that will run SAN HQ Client. SAN HQ Client enables you to run SAN HQ GUI,
which obtains group data from the log files maintained by SAN HQ Server and formats the data in
graphs and tables.
NOTE: If you install SAN HQ Server, SAN HQ Client is also installed on the computer.
See Requirements for Running SAN Headquarters Client.

4. Collect the information you need for the installation. See Required Installation Information.
PS Series Group Requirements

A PS Series group must meet the following requirements to be monitored by SAN HQ:
PS Series firmware version 7.0 or later.

FS Series firmware version 3.0 or later. 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 SAN HQ
Server.
At least one SNMP community name must be configured in the group. See the Dell EqualLogic Group
Manager Administrator's Guide 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.
SAN Headquarters Installation 19

Requirements for Running SAN Headquarters Server
To run SAN Headquarters Server, you need a computer that has the following software installed, and
meets the following requirements:
Microsoft Windows operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)

Microsoft Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)
Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 (64-bit operating system)
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 configuration SAN HQ must have access to at least one Ethernet
port on each member
Dedicated management configuration SAN HQ must have access to the dedicated
management port configured on each member
Microsoft .NET 4.5 or later
NOTE: 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. SAN Headquarters Server stores group data in the log files. The directory must
meet the requirements described in Log File Directory Requirements.
Table 3. Protocol and Port Information for Standard SAN HQ Functionality lists the protocols and
ports for standard SAN HQ functionality.
Table 3. Protocol and Port Information for Standard SAN HQ Functionality
Protocol (Port)1 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).
HTTP (80) SAN HQ Client communication to the Web for retrieving recent updates
information (http://psonlinehelp.dell.com/V8.1/. For more information, see
Obtain SAN HQ Update Notifications.
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 SAN HQ Server and PS Series array for standard data
collection.
SSH (22) Secure Socket Shell communication between 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.
20 SAN Headquarters Installation

Protocol (Port)1 Description
HTTPS (443) SAN HQ Server communication to the Dell Support server for uploading
SupportAssist data and weekly updates to local repository (including newly
supported disks and hardware).
1ForSAN 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.
SupportAssist must also have direct access to the internet.
Requirements for Running SAN Headquarters Client

To run SAN Headquarters Client, which enables you to run SAN Headquarters GUI, you need a computer
that has the following software installed, and meets the following requirements:
Microsoft Windows operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)

Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 (64-bit operating system)
Microsoft .NET 4.5 or later.
NOTE: 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 512MB base memory, plus 20MB RAM per
member for each monitored group
Local directory for cached data (at least 30MB of free space for each monitored group)
512MB 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.
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. For information about audit logs, see
Audit Messages

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.
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 Universal Naming Convention (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.
By default, the SAN HQ Server (EQLXPerf) runs as a local user with the name LocalSystem. 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:
a. In the Windows Control Panel, click Administrative Tools and then Services.
b. Right-click EqlxPerf in the list of services and select Properties.
c. Click the Log On tab.
d. 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.
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), 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

SAN Headquarters installation requires the following information:
Location of 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.

Log file directory and optional network share name (if installing the SAN HQ Server). See Log File
Directory Requirements.
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 SAN HQ Client)
Local cache directory (if installing only SAN HQ Client). For each monitored group, you need 30MB of
free space
This version of SAN HQ requires the Microsoft .NET 4.5 Client Profile or later. As a convenience, it is
included in the installation application. Dell recommends that you use .NET 4.5 to update all SAN HQ
Server and Client installations. Otherwise, the .NET 4.5 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 4.5 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
Pre-installation Review
For each set of groups that you want to monitor, you must install SAN HQ Server on one computer. You
can install 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 SAN HQ software installation, review the prerequisites for installing SAN HQ described in
Prerequisites for Installing SAN Headquarters and perform the necessary pre-installation tasks.
If you are upgrading from a previous version of SAN HQ, see Upgrade SAN Headquarters before installing
the software.
Installation Procedure
To begin installing SAN Headquarters:
1. Double-click the SAN HQ executable file, SANHQSetup32And64.exe. This file can be found in the
Downloads area of the Dell support site at eqlsupport.dell.com.
The welcome screen appears. Click Next.
NOTE: The SAN Headquarters installation application installs the Microsoft .NET 4.5 Client
Profile if it is not detected on the host system.
2. Accept the end-user license agreement (EULA).
3. Accept the default directory for the application files (C:\Program files\EqualLogic\SAN HQ), then
click Next.
4. Choose to install the SAN HQ Server and Client. See Full Installation Server and Client.

Full Installation Server and Client
1. Specify the directory for the log files and optional network share name. The default directory is C:
\Program Data\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs.
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:
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 Server
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.
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
An installation dialog box displays as the application is installed.

3. When complete, click Finish.
After the installation completes, the SAN HQ GUI is launched automatically. (See Post-Installation
Tasks.)

Post-Installation Tasks
After the installation completes, by default, the SAN HQ GUI starts. To manually start the GUI, see Start
SAN Headquarters GUI.
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 Get Started with SAN Headquarters 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)

Archive group data (see Group Data Archives)
Export group data (see Group Data Exports)
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.
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.

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 Start SAN Headquarters GUI)
Alerts panel at the bottom of each window (see Reported Alerts)
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.
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.
Optionally, you can set up audit logs to track administrator actions. See Display Audit Logs.
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 Services.

2. Right-click EqlxPerf in the list of services and select Restart.
Uninstall SAN Headquarters Software

Before uninstalling SAN HQ software, decide whether to keep the SAN HQ data and log files, and then
perform the uninstallation procedure.
Retain Log File Data

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). This section provides the following procedures:
Record Location of Log File Data
Back Up Log Files and User Configuration File Before Uninstalling SAN HQ
Record Location of Log File Data

You can record the location of your log file data from the General Settings panel.
1. Click Settings in the lower-left GUI panel.

The General Settings panel is displayed.
2. In the Installation Settings pane, click the Log Files Directory link.
SAN HQ opens the Windows directory containing the log files. If log files are in a subdirectory,
navigate to that location.
NOTE: You need Windows administrator privileges to change the log file directory.
3. Record the location of the log files. You will need to specify the location of the log files when
reinstalling SAN HQ.

NOTE: When you uninstall SAN HQ (see Uninstallation Procedure), you can choose the option
to keep the current log file.
Back Up Log Files and User Configuration File Before Uninstalling SAN HQ
You might want to back up the log files and the user.config user configuration file before uninstalling
the software. Dell recommends that you back up your log file data, particularly before performing a full
client/server 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. To
locate the log files, see Record Location of Log File Data.
The user configuration file is located 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.
The SAN HQ uninstall wizard launches and asks you if you want to delete or keep the backup log
files.
4. Choose whether to keep the log files. By default, Keep log files is selected.
NOTE: 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.
5. Click Uninstall.
The Windows console displays as the SAN HQ service (EQLXPerf) is stopped. The wizard indicates
SAN HQ has been uninstalled.
6. Click Exit.
Uploading Log File Backup Data From an Earlier Build

After uninstalling SAN HQ, you can upload backup data from an earlier build when you reinstall SAN HQ.
To upload backup data from an earlier build:
1. Uninstall the SAN HQ software as described in Uninstallation Procedure.

2. Reinstall SAN HQ using the procedure in Installation Procedure. When asked to select the installation
type, click the Install SAN HQ Server and Client button and continue with the steps below.
The installer will ask you to enter the directory for the log files.
3. Click the ellipsis button.
The Browse for Folder dialog box is displayed.
4. Navigate to the location of the backup log files.
5. Select the log file directory, which will display in the Enter the directory for the log files field in the
installation wizard.
6. Click Next and continue with step 2 of the full installation (see Full Installation Server and Client).

By default, SAN HQ launches the client when the installation completes. The log file directory you
selected will display under Installation Settings on the General Settings page (see Display Installation
Settings).
Upgrade 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
When you upgrade SAN HQ, the SAN HQ Server attempts to reconnect to the groups via SNMP. You
should expect minimal to no performance impact to your groups.
Considerations When Updating SAN HQ Software

The following considerations apply when you update 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 and later of SAN HQ, the installation automatically archives all data from
previous versions.
NOTE: After upgrading, the oldest supported compressed archive file (.grpx) from the previous
version of SAN HQ will not be viewable.
Obtain SAN HQ 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, displaying recent updates. Click OK to

apply the updates. You can disable this option by selecting Never from the Check for updates drop-
down menu.

3
Get Started with SAN HQ
After you install SAN HQ, you can start monitoring PS Series groups.
SAN HQ Client GUI Navigation

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. SAN HQ GUI
Navigation).
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 detailed group data in different contexts.
Figure 4. SAN HQ GUI Navigation
30 Get Started with SAN HQ

The following numbered items correspond to the callouts in Figure 4. SAN HQ GUI Navigation
Callout 1 Menu Bar Items and Tool Bar Buttons
Table 4. SAN HQ Menu Bar shows the menu bar items and where to find additional information.
Table 4. SAN HQ Menu Bar
Menu Item Options / Information

SAN HQ Add New Group See Add a Group for Monitoring
Add New Server See Add a Server
Create Archive See Group Data Archives
Open Archive See Open an Archive File
Export All Group Data See Group Data Exports
Exit
SupportAssist Configuration Wizard See Configuring SupportAssist for an Existing

Group
Run Now See On-Demand Data Collection
SupportAssist Settings See SupportAssist Configuration Settings
Activity Log See SupportAssist Activity Log
Customer Support Cases See Display Support Case Information
Decrypt Local Data Packages See Decrypt Local Data Packages
Trigger Information NR
Group Launch Group Manager See Launch Group Manager with Single Sign-
On.
Launch Dell Storage Update Manager See Launch Dell Storage Update
Manager from SAN HQ
Export Group Data See Group Data Exports
Stop Monitoring See Stop Group Monitoring
Start Monitoring See Add a Group for Monitoring
Increase Log File Size See Increase the Log File Size
Remove from Monitoring List See Remove a Group from Monitor List
Hide Group Information See Hide Groups in the SAN HQ GUI
Settings General Settings See SAN Headquarters Settings

E-Mail Settings See Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts
Group Settings See Configure and Manage the Group Monitoring
Environment
Hidden Group Settings See Hide Groups in the SAN HQ GUI
Favorite Settings See Add and Manage Favorite Views
Server Settings See SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings
SNMP Notification Settings See SNMP Notifications
Reports Configuration , Capacity, Thin-Provisioned Volumes, Replication, Replication

Report Across Groups, Performance, Host Connections, Hardware and
Get Started with SAN HQ 31

Menu Item Options / Information
Firmware, Top 10, Top 10 Report Across Groups, Alerts, Group Diagnostics,
SyncRep, Snapshot Schedules, Volumes Performance, VVol, and VVol
Connections by VM reports See Report Types
Favorites Add to Favorites See Add a View to the Favorites List
Manage Favorites See Add and Manage Favorite Views
Make This Home Page See Set a View As the Home Page
Default Home Page
Help About, Navigation Help, User Guide, Release Notes, and Check for Updates
See Start SAN Headquarters GUI
Under the menu bar, the tool bar buttons perform the following actions:
Back or Forward Returns 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 Server Adds an extra server to monitor groups on that server. Similar to selecting SAN HQ
from the menu bar, and then Add New Server.
Add Group Adds a new group to monitor. Similar to selecting SAN HQ from the menu bar, and then
Add New Group.
New Window Produces a new window displaying the current view. When you exit from the new
window, the original window remains open.
Launch Group Manager When 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, and then Launch Group Manager.
Launch Dell Storage Update Manager Launches the Dell Storage Update Manager tool that analyzes
your current Dell EqualLogic storage configuration and guides you through the PS and FS Series
firmware update process.
Create Archive Saves group data to a compressed archive (.grpx) file. Similar to selecting SAN HQ
from the menu bar, and then Create Archive.
Print Prints the current window.
Callout 2 Servers 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
analyses 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.
Callout 4 Information 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, volume collections and
optionally, storage containers, VVols, and VMs.
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 Disks. For more information about all
subcategories, see Group Information Categories.
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, delete it, or rename it. See Add and Manage Favorite Views.
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 7 Context Link Bar Options
Within each information category, you can view groupwide data (Group), or data that is restricted to a
specific group object: Pools, Members, Volumes, Volume Collections, and optionally, Storage Containers,
VVols, and VMs. For more information, see Context Link Bar Options.
All Groups Summary Information

From the Servers and Groups tree and All Groups Summaries page (see Figure 5. All Groups Summaries),
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 Summary Provides a quick look at the total number of alerts by severity level: Critical,
Warning, Caution, and Information. The color of this panel indicates alert severity (for example, green
when no alerts exist, red for critical alerts). 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.
Capacity Summary Displays the capacity information gathered from the most recent poll of each
group. For more information, see Capacity Information.
Hardware/Firmware Summary Displays the Hardware/Firmware information gathered from the
most recent poll of each group. For more information, see Hardware_Firmware Summary.
Replication Summary Displays outbound replication information gathered from the most recent
poll of each group. For more information, see Replication Summary.
SyncRep Summary Displays synchronous replication information per group or individual volume,
gathered from the most recent poll of each group. For more information, see SyncRep Summary.
Volume Capacity Summary Displays volume capacity information per group or individual volume,
gathered from the most recent poll of each group. For more information, see Volume Capacity
Summary.
Volume I/O Summary Displays the individual volume I/O information gathered from the most
recent poll of each group. For more information, see Volume I/O Summary.
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:

Group capacity Total, in use, and free space of the group.
Volume reserve Total, in use, and free space allocated to the volume.
VVol reserve Total amount of virtual volume reserve. Displays if you configured virtual machines on
your array.
Storage container reserve Total, in use, and free space allocated to the storage container for the
group. Displays if you configured virtual machines on your array.
Snapshot reserve Total, in use, and free space of the group snapshot reserve.
Delegated space Total, in use, and free space delegated on the replication partner. This value is the
sum of all delegated space across storage pools.
Replication reserve Total, in use, and free space allocated for the a replicated volume.
Thin provisioning:
Unreserved Space Amount 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 Space Percentage of free group space required to fulfill the maximum in-use space for all
thin-provisioned volumes.
Thin Provisioned Volumes Number of thin-provisioned volumes in the group. The reported size
of a thin-provisioned volume can be larger than the volume reserve.
Template Volumes Number of thin-provisioned volumes in the group that are template
volumes.
Thin Clone Volumes Number of thin-provisioned volumes in the group that are thin clone
volumes.
SyncRep Utiliaztion Total, in use, and free space allocated for synchronous replication volumes, and
the number of active synchronous replication (SyncActive) volumes in the group.
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.
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 and Member Name of the group where the Hardware/Firmware information is displayed.
Expand the group name to display individual members of the group
Firmware Full firmware revision number on the group or member
Model of the PS Series array
Controller List of controller models for the group or member
Member Status Summary 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 Tag Service tags of the groups and members
RAID status and RAID policy The 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 rating A SAN HQ feature that helps you make decisions
about the resilience of the RAID policy on your group, reported both as a numerical score, and starred
rating. For information, see RAID Policy Reliability Reporting.

Enclosure Serial numbers for the group or members
Controller count Total number of controller models for the group or member
Disks Disks present on the group or member
Member uptime Uptime 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 Hardware Problems.
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/Volume Group or volume name. Expand a group to display individual volumes configured
for replication.
Replication Partner List of all groups currently configured as an outbound replication partner
Status Current 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 Replicas Active 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 Replicas Outbound 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 Replicas Number 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.
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.
For conceptual information about SyncRep, see About Synchronous Replication. To display SyncRep
volumes from the Servers and Groups tree, see Display SyncRep Volumes in SAN Headquarters.
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 thin-provisioned 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/Volume Name of the group displaying the volume capacity information. Expand the group/
volume name to display the individual volumes for the group.

Volume type Template for a template volume; Thin Clone for a thin clone of a template volume;
Thin for a thin-provisioned volume; Standard for a standard, fully provisioned volume, or VVol for a
virtual volume.
Total Capacity Volume 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 Space Total, 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 Space Total, in-use, and free snapshot space for the volume or group
Compressed Size Total space in use by snapshot and replication compression, virtual space if
compression was not enabled, and ratio of compressed space to non-compressed space.
Expanded Size Amount of space that would be taken if compression was not enabled.
Space Savings Amount of space saved by compression.
Replication Space Total, in-use, and free replication space for the volume or group
Replication Status Current 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.
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/Volume Name of the group displaying the volume I/O information. Expand the group/
volume name to display the individual volumes for the group.
Volume type Template for a template volume; Thin Clone for a thin clone of a template volume;
Thin for a thin-provisioned volume; Standard for a standard, fully provisioned volume, or VVol for a
virtual volume
Pool Name of the pool containing the volume
Member Names of the members contained in the volume
Storage Container Name of the storage container containing the virtual volume.
Average I/O rate Average rate of iSCSI read and write data transfers to and from the volume
Volume average latency Average time it takes to complete the iSCSI read and write operation for the
volume
Volume average I/O size Average size of the I/O read and write operations for the volume
Volume average queue depth Average 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 and write percentages Read and write operations for the volume, expressed as
percentages of the total I/O for the volume
Volume member binding Member 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.

Group Information Categories
The Servers and Groups tree (Figure 6. Group Information Categories) 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).
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), 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) to show inbound replicas for all
pools in the group, members in the group, volumes, and volume collections.
Table 5. Inbound Replicas describes the information below the inbound replicas chart.
Table 5. 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 or pools 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 GBs. The replica reserve is
the portion of delegated space reserved for storing replicas of the volume.
Reserved Current amount of replica reserve for the volume, shown as a percentage.
percent
Reserve free Amount of replica reserve that is not in use (not storing replicas of the volume), shown
in GB.
Reserve free Amount of replica reserve that is not in use, shown as a percentage.
percent
Reserve in use Amount of replica reserve in use (storing replicas of the volume), shown in GB.
Compressed Amount of space used by compression.

size
Expanded size Amount of space that would be taken if compression was not enabled.
Space savings Amount of space saved by compression.
Reserve in- Percentage of replication reserve in use.

use percent
Replicas Total number of inbound 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
Guide.
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) to show outbound replicas for all pools in the group, members in the
group, volumes, and volume collections.
Table 6. Outbound Replicas describes the information below the outbound replicas chart.
Table 6. 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.
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 thin-provisioned 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 Amount of space on the replication partner delegated to the group.
Partner
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 Duration The amount of time to complete the most recent volume replication.
Most Recent Transfer Amount of data transferred during the most recent volume replication.
Size
Space Borrowed on Amount of space borrowed from remote delegated space for replicas of the
Partner selected volume.
For complete information about replication, see the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators
Guide.
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. For conceptual
information about recoverable volumes, see About the PS Series Firmware Volume Undelete Feature.
You can also set the context link bar option (see Context Link Bar Options) 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.
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.
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. Except for capacity information (Capacity pane), all information
presented is at the group level and will be the same when you select a context link bar option (see
Context Link Bar Options) .
The combined graphs show the following information:
Network and I/O Presents 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 and
Network Information). For information about I/O terms, see I/O Terms. For information about network
terms, see Network Terms.
Capacity For the selected time period, shows total capacity; in-use, free, and total snapshot reserve
capacity; and snapshot reserve in-use and free space. This information will change when you select a
different context (for example, VVols), from the context link bar.
Total Counts For 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 and Display
Audit Logs.
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).
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

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 7. Disk Status describes the information below the Disk Status chart.
Table 7. 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.
RAID Status Status of the members RAID array.
RAID Policy RAID level (RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 50, RAID 6, or RAID 6 Accelerated)
configured on the members disk drives and number of spare drives.
Enclosure Serial PS Series array serial number, set if the supported firmware is running on that
Number member.
Disk 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).
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 8. Disk Information provides information about all disks for the member.

Table 8. Disk Information
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.
Disk Number of disks present on the group or member.
Description Disk capacity, speed, and interface type.
Average IOPS Average number of I/O operations processed each second.
Read I/O Rate Average read rate in KB/Sec.
Write I/O Rate Average write rate in KB/Sec.
Status Member status, either online, offline, unconfigured, initializing, vacating-in-

progress, or vacated.
Average Disk Queue The queue depth for the disk measured as the average number of outstanding
Depth I/O operations at the start of each incoming I/O operation. A queue depth of
zero indicates no outstanding I/Os are present.
Model PS Series array model number, set if the supported firmware is running on that
member.
Firmware Revision PS Series firmware version on the active control module.
Serial Number The serial number of the disk drive.
Sector Size The smallest physical storage unit on the disk.
Disk Type Specifies the disk type as either a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive
(SSD).
LifeTime Remaining (SSDs only) The estimated lifetime of the drive based on manufacturers
specifications and the number of write operations performed on the drive.
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 9. I/O for Group Information describes the I/O information in the panels on the left side.
Table 9. I/O for Group Information
General Information Percentage of read and write IOPs for the group. Shows the group
estimated I/O load, relative to the maximum capability of the group.
Average I/O size Average I/O size of the iSCSI read and right operations in the group.
Average IOPs Average number of iSCSI read and write processed each second in the
group.

Average latency Average time to complete a read or write operation in the group.
Average I/O rate Average rate of iSCSI read and write data transfers in the group.
Average queue depth Average number of outstanding I/Os at the time of each incoming I/O.
Table 10. Group I/O describes the group I/O rate information displayed in the Group I/O chart.
Table 10. Group I/O
Column Description
Group average I/O size Average size of the iSCSI read and write operations for the group.
Group inbound replication Average size of the iSCSI operations associated with inbound replication
I/O size to the group (for PS Series groups running firmware version 5.0 and
later).
Group average IOPS Average number of iSCSI read and write operations processed each
second in the group.
Group inbound replication Number of write operations processed each second by the group for
IOPS inbound replication (for PS Series groups running firmware version 7.0
and later).
Group average latency Average time it takes to complete iSCSI read and write operations in the
group.
Group inbound replication Average time to complete an inbound replication iSCSI operation to the
latency group (for PS Series groups running firmware version 7.0 and later).
Group average I/O Average rate of iSCSI read and write data transfers in the group.
Group inbound replication Average rate of iSCSI data transfers for inbound replication to the group
I/O (for PS Series groups running firmware version 7.0 and later).
Table 11. Group I/O Load Space Distribution describes the group I/O rate information displayed in the
Group I/O Load Space Distribution chart.
Table 11. Group I/O Load Space Distribution
Column Description
Total Load Total amount of I/O load space.
High load1 Amount of I/O load space with a large number of I/Os running
at a given time.
Medium load1 Amount of I/O load space with an average number of I/Os
running at a given time.
Low load1 Amount of I/O load space with a low number of I/Os running at
a given time.
SSD space If the array includes SSD drives, amount of space available on all
SSD drives (displayed only on groups with at least one member
using tiered storage).

Column Description
1 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 more information about I/O terms used on the I/O for Group window, see I/O Terms.
Expand the tree to show the subcategories of I/O information.
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 type Either volume, member, or VVol

Session length Length of the data collection session, from 1 minute to 10 minutes
Poll interval Length of time SAN HQ polls the group, from 1 second to 15 seconds
Number of polls Total number of polls during session length
Session started Date 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 Live View Data.
For prerequisites for running a Live View session, see Prerequisites for Establishing a Live View Session.
For step-by-step instructions for running a Live View session, see Run a Live View Session.
Experimental Analysis
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 a theoretical potential, 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 workload For 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 IOPS Estimated 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.

For more information about estimated Experimental Analysis data, see Experimental Analysis Data. 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.
For information about accessing the Experimental Analysis view, see Access the Experimental Analysis
Window. For examples of interpreting Experimental Analysis estimated performance data, see Examples
of Interpreting Performance Data.
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.
For information about using the RAID evaluator, see Use the RAID Evaluator.
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. 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.
For more information about the SyncRep for Group view, see Display SyncRep Volumes in SAN
Headquarters.
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).
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 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 12. All iSCSI Connections describes the group iSCSI connection information provided for each iSCSI
target.

Table 12. 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).
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 13. General Network Configuration Information describes the general configuration information
provided for the group.
Table 13. General Network Configuration Information
Column Description
Number of iSCSI Number of iSCSI connections to the group, which includes snapshots,
connections volumes, active inbound replication, replication management, and host
control management. For a detailed look at all iSCSI connections to the
group, see iSCSI Connection Information.
Management network Yes or no. If yes, the group has configured a dedicated management
enabled network, which separates iSCSI traffic from group network management
traffic. If no, a management network is not configured.
Ports with DCB support Total number of Ethernet ports with data center bridging enabled and
active active.
Ports with DCB support Total number of Ethernet ports with data center bridging enabled but
inactive inactive.
Ports incompatible with Total number of Ethernet ports with data center bridging disabled.
DCB

Table 14. Network Load Information describes the network load information provided for the group.
Table 14. 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 of all retransmitted TCP segment packets sent by the group.
percentage 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.
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 15. Network Rate Information describes the network rate information provided for the group.
Table 15. 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).
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).

Table 16. Network Port Information describes the network port information provided for the group.
Table 16. 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.
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 Indicates whether the Ethernet port is compatible and enabled for DCB, or
Status disabled.
Retransmit Percentage of all retransmitted TCP segment packets sent by an individual

Percentage network port.
Context Link Bar Options

Within each information category (see Group Information Categories), 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 drop-down menu to further restrict the view to a particular item. Figure 7. Context Link Bar
Options shows the context link bar options when they are expanded.

Figure 7. Context Link Bar Options
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 Identify Volumes).
Volume CollectionsDisplays data for all volume collections or for individual volume collections.
In some cases, the Volume Collections windows display data for the group. Click the GUI tooltip for
details.
If you have groups with VMware virtual volumes, the context link bar options shown in the following
figure are displayed. These options show storage containers, virtual volumes, and virtual machines.

Figure 8. Context Link Bar Options for Groups With Virtual Volumes
Figure 8. Context Link Bar Options for Groups With Virtual Volumes provides the following information:
Storage containers Displays data for all storage containers. Lists all storage containers in the drop-
down menu; select among the list
VVols Displays all virtual volumes in the selected storage container or in all storage containers.
Select a VVol from the drop down menu
VMs Displays all VMs on the group
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. If your group does not
contain virtual volumes, these context link bar options do not display.
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 17. 95th Percentile Reporting
shows where you can set the display to the 95th percentile for summary or detailed data in the SAN HQ
GUI.
Table 17. 95th Percentile Reporting
Object 95% Reporting appears in:

Group Summary data of the selected group
I/O data for the specific group

Object 95% Reporting appears in:
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 Summary data of all volume collections on the selected group

Collections I/O data for all volume collections on the selected group
I/O data for a specific volume collection on the selected group
By default, SAN HQ sets the view to Standard. For example, the standard view for group I/O might
resemble the example in Figure 9. Standard View for Group I/O, where write I/O data spikes reach 30KB
and write IOPS spikes are 1100 seconds.
Figure 9. Standard View for Group I/O
To set 95th percentile reporting, click the 95th% button. . When you set the view to 95th% in the example
in Figure 9. Standard View for Group I/O, SAN HQ filters out the data spikes so the view looks like Figure
10. 95th Percentile View for Group I/O. In this case, the maximum write I/O is under 12KB and write IOPS
under 900 seconds). For more information, see Control Chart Display.

Figure 10. 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.
Display 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 11.
GUI Timeline, Graphs, and Tables.

Figure 11. GUI Timeline, Graphs, and Tables
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:
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, failover, 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:
Successful Indicates that the SNMP poll was successful

Failed Indicates 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 Rebooted Indicates a member reboot
An increasing polling period might indicate that the group has prioritized other high use activities on the
group (for example, replication in progress, rebuilding RAID, and so on.). As such, an increasing polling
period does not always indicate something is wrong with the group. Based on the responsiveness of the
array, 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.
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, 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.
Identify 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 18. Volume Type
Icons). For information about these volume types, see the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators
Guide.
Table 18. 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
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. 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.
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.

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.
To configure single sign-on for the group when adding a group, you must meet the requirements
described in Single Sign-On Requirements. 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.
Add a Group from the SAN Headquarters GUI

To add a group for monitoring from the SAN HQ Client GUI:
Select Disable if you do not want to configure single sign-on at this time.
1. Start the SAN HQ GUI (see Start SAN Headquarters GUI).

2. Select a server if more than one is available (see Add a Server).
3. Select SAN HQ 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:
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 name This 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, and 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.

Single sign-on credentials Optionally, 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 for more information and requirements.
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 for accepting the EULA, and then follow
the remaining steps in that section to configure SupportAssist when adding a new group.
6. In the Email Notification dialog box, you can optionally set up email notification of alerts. In the
dialog box, you can select:
Send email alerts using group settingsUse the email notification settings already configured in
the group for email notification of alerts
Send email 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 for more information.
7. Click Next.
8. In the Size Information for Log Files and Event and Audit Log Files dialog box, enter:
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.
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.
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 Add a Group to the
Monitoring List from the Command Line.
Add a Group to the Monitoring List from the Command Line

The SAN HQ Client 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).

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 19. AddGroup CLI Command Options defines the command-line options and associated
parameters.
Table 19. AddGroup CLI Command Options
Option Command Parameter Description

Server DefaultServer Requests that the group be added to the current
Selection default SAN HQ Server.
ServerName= server-name Requests that the group be added to a specific server
by its display name.
Log= server-log-directory Requests that the group be added to a specific server
by its log directory path
Operation AddGroup Specifies that you are adding a group. Use the optional
and required parameters listed in Table 18: Optional
and Required Parameters for AddGroup for this
command parameter.
Group IPAddress= group-IP-address Specifies the groups well-known address for
Identifier identification and initial detection.
Name= group-DNS-name Specifies the groups DNS name for identification or
initial detection.
Table 20. Optional and Required Parameters for AddGroup defines the required and optional
parameters for the -AddGroup parameter.
Table 20. Optional and Required Parameters for AddGroup
AddGroup Parameter Description

Parameter
Required Parameters
AddGroup Community= snmp- Specifies the groups read-only SNMP community
community-name name used to collect detailed group data during
SAN HQ polling.
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 -

AddGroup Parameter Description
Parameter
Use-GroupEmailSettings. Do not use with
SMTPServer.
UseGroupEmailSettings Specifies that the group should be configured for

alert email notification using the current email
options configured on the group. Equivalent to
UseGroupEmail. Do not use with SMTPServer.
SMTPServer=SMTP-server-IP Specifies that the group should be configured for

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-list 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.
Add Group Email SMTP Port= SMTP-servers- Specifies the port number to be used when
port-number sending alert email notifications to the specified
SMTP server. This command cannot be used with
UseGroupEmail or Use-
GroupEmailSettings.
Subject=subject-line 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 Upgrade the Client Monitoring Multiple Servers).
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.
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. To remove a server, see Remove a Server. Note that you cannot
remove the default server, nor the last server monitored. To upgrade the client monitoring the server, see
Upgrade the Client Monitoring Multiple Servers.

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, and 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, and
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 connectivity 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 login
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. 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).
Change 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, and 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.

Upgrade the Client Monitoring Multiple Servers
After adding servers to monitor groups (see Add a Server), 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 12. Scenario 1: SAN HQ Client Requires
Upgrade).
Figure 12. Scenario 1: SAN 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
13. Scenario 2SAN HQ Client Requires Upgrade).
Figure 13. Scenario 2SAN HQ Client Requires Upgrade
Scenario 3: In this scenario, SAN HQ detected a newer version of two servers running the client. The
non-default 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 14. Scenario 3Incompatible 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. Scenario 3Incompatible Server Removed).
Figure 14. Scenario 3Incompatible Server Removed
Verify and Modify Access to Log Files

When you start the SAN HQ client, it verifies that all log directory paths are accessible.
Figure 15. Log Directory Path Verification Dialog Box 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.
Figure 15. Log Directory Path Verification Dialog Box

4
Configure and Manage 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 view and modify the following types of settings:
General Settings Set 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

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
Email Settings View and modify the settings for configured email notification of alerts for a group
(see Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts ). Optionally, disable notification. From the
Notifications tab, change the level of notification (informational, caution, warning, or critical) for
which you will be notified. For applicable alerts, set threshold criteria for an alert (see Threshold
Criteria For Performance Alerts).
Group Settings Enable or disable single sign-on, which lets you run Group Manager as a standalone
application from the current domain account and computer, and modify the session timeout for
single sign-on (see Enable Single Sign-On _ Modify Login Credentials). View all groups monitored by
the server and per group, launch the Dell Storage Update Manager, modify or delete single sign-on
functionality, and change the amount of disk space used by the group for storing log data.
Hidden Group Settings 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).
Favorites Settings Display all views that have been added to the favorites list, navigate to the view,
or delete a view (see Add and Manage Favorite Views).
64 Configure and Manage the Group Monitoring Environment

Server Settings View and modify the parameters used by the SAN HQ Server (see SAN Headquarters
Server Configuration Settings). You must perform a full installation of the SAN HQ Server and Client
for the Server Settings option to display.
SNMP Notifications Settings Configure SAN HQ to send SNMP notifications an SNMP management
console (see SNMP Notifications).
The SupportAssist link below the Servers and Groups tree on the main page lets you navigate to the
SupportAssist Configuration Settings page, from which you can view and enable SupportAssist for your
groups, and view an activity log for groups monitored by SupportAssist (see SupportAssist Configuration
Settings). You can also view Dell Support customer cases created for your groups and reported back to
SupportAssist (see Display Support Case Information). Use the navigation links in the upper-left pane to
access these views. For more information about setting up and using SupportAssist to collect and upload
PS Series group diagnostics, see Configure and Use SupportAssist.
The Help link shows the current versions of the SAN HQ Client and Server, links to the Dell EqualLogic
support site, and provides the SAN HQ user guide and release notes PDF documentation from the
software kit.
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. 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.
Configure and Manage the Group Monitoring Environment 65

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.
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 Directory Restart 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.
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 view. 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 95th Percentile Reporting.
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.
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, with the following options:from which you can change the startup settings,
connection settings for the client, server email notification settings, and PS Series group connectivity test
settings.
Startup Settings Start the Windows service used by SAN HQ using either 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.
Connection Settings for Client Change the communication settings for advanced features.
The SAN HQ Server is capable of using an advanced communication infrastructure. 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.)

Server E-Mail Notification Frequency Adjust the time that email notifications are sent for alerts that
are active on the 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.
PS Group Connectivity Test Setting Before SAN HQ initiates a new cycle of data collection, it
verifies the connection using ICMP ping requests.You can specify the ping timeout in seconds and the
number of times to retry if the ping request fails.
Client Support Case Refresh Time Update the refresh time interval for collecting customer support
case data for SupportAssist. Select the refresh interval from drop-down menu. either 1, 2, 4, 6
(default), 8, 10, or 12 hours.
Dell Storage Update Manager Update the local copy of the Dell Storage Update Manager. Last
Updated shows the most recently saved copy.
Click Browse to locate and select the standalone Dell Storage Update Manager kit on a local drive.
If you previously configured a local kit, click Delete to remove the older version.
When you launch the Dell Storage Update Manager, you will be directed to the Dell Support to obtain
the latest kit (see Options for Launching Dell Storage Update Manager).
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
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. Degraded Connection
Status Verify Connection Credentials.
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 the SAN 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.
SupportAssist Configuration Settings

To access the SupportAssist configuration settings, either:
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.
For information about recent SupportAssist activity reported in the activity log, see SupportAssist Activity
Log. For information about open Dell Support cases reported to SupportAssist, see Display Support Case
Information.
Manage Group Monitoring

Monitoring a PS Series array group involves several management tasks:
Remove a Group from Monitor List

Sort the List of Monitored Groups
Hide Groups in the SAN HQ GUI
Increase the Log File Size
Modify the SNMP Community Name for a Group
Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts
Stop Group Monitoring
Remove a Group from 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.
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. SAN HQ GUI Navigation).
2. (Optional) To preserve logged data, create an archive. See Group Data Archives.
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.
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 SAN HQ 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, and then click Hidden Group Settings. The Edit Hidden Groups page appears.
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, and then from the Group menu, select Increase Log
File Size. You can also right-click a specific group in the Servers and Groups tree, and 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 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.
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, and 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 Requirements.

To change the SNMP community name for a group:
1. From Settings, select Group Settings. The Group Settings page appears.
NOTE: Do not use the special character # in the SNMP community name. If the page is
labeled 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.
NOTE: If an issue that generates a SAN HQ alert is resolved within a polling period, email notification
does not occur.
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 Requirements.
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 EMail Settings. The EMail Settings page appears.
NOTE: If the page is labeled as read-only, you do not have the correct credentials for
configuring email notification.
2. In the row with the group name, select the checkbox in the Enabled column.
3. In the EMail Settings panel, select Send EMail Alerts.
4. Select Use group email settings if you want to populate the fields with the email notification settings
already set up in the group. Select Use these email 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 EMail 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 EMail to send a test email message.
7. To customize the type of alerts that result in notification, click the Notifications tab on the EMail
Settings page. The EMail 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 EMail 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.
You can also change the alert selections in the EMail 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 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, 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.

b. From the SAN HQ menu bar, select Settings 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 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. For information
about deleting login credentials for a group, see Delete Login Credentials for a Group on page lxxvi.
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).
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 and Modify Login Credentials

You can enable single sign-on when adding the group to the monitoring list (see Add a Group to the
Monitoring List from the SAN HQ GUI). 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.
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 re-enable single sign-on for the group:
a. From the Settings menu, select Group Settings. The Group Settings page appears.
b. Select the group in the table.
c. Below Single Sign-On Settings, select Enable.
d. 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:
2. Select the group in the table.
3. Click Modify/Delete.
4. In the Single Sign-On dialog box, click Delete and confirm that you want to delete the credentials.
Launch Dell Storage Update Manager from SAN HQ

The Dell Storage Update Manager application helps you analyze your current Dell EqualLogic storage
environment to determine which firmware, disk, and language pack components need updating.
In SAN HQ v1.4 and later, you can launch the Dell Storage Update Manager from the Client GUI. This
section provides the following information:
Dell Storage Update Manager Overview and Prerequisites

Options for Launching Dell Storage Update Manager

Launch Dell Storage Update Manager for Standalone Firmware Updates
Dell Storage Update Manager Overview and Prerequisites
The Dell Storage Update Manager is deployed as a Java application and runs independently from the
Group Manager and SAN HQ. Java 6 and later are supported, with certain constraints. For information,
see "Usage Constraints in this Release" in the Dell Storage Update Manager Release Notes, available from
the Dell EqualLogic Support Site: https://eqlsupport.dell.com
The Dell Storage Update Manager targets groups running PS Series firmware 7.0 and later and FS Series
firmware version 3.0 and later, and updates the following components:
PS Series array firmware

FS Series controller firmware
PS Series disk drive firmware (excludes SED disk drives and FS Series disk drives)
Language packs
NOTE: For updating PS Series firmware prior to version 5.0, you must use either the Group Manager
or CLI. For updating FS Series firmware prior to version 3.0, you can only use the Group Manager
CLI.
The Dell Storage Update Manager supports both 32-bit and 64-bit browsers.
For complete information on using the Dell Storage Update Manager, see the Dell Storage Update
Manager User's Guide.
Options for Launching Dell Storage Update Manager

SAN HQ provides the following options for launching the Dell Storage Update Manager:
SAN HQ menubar
Servers and Groups tree
Context link bar options menu
Group settings for server panel
SAN HQ Menubar
Perform these steps to Launch Dell Storage Update Manager from the SAN HQ menubar:
1. Select an active group from the Servers and Groups tree

2. Select Group from the menubar.
3. Select Launch Dell Storage Update Manager.
Servers and Groups Tree

Perform these steps to Launch Dell Storage Update Manager from the Servers and Groups tree:
1. Right click on an active group

A popup menu displays.
2. Select Launch Dell Storage Update Manager.

Tool Bar Buttons
Perform these steps to Launch Dell Storage Update Manager from the tool bar:
1. Select an active group from the Servers and Groups tree.

2. Click the Launch Dell Storage Update Manager tool bar button.
Group Settings for Server Panel

Perform these steps to Launch Dell Storage Update Manager from the Group Settings for server-name
Server panel:
1. Click the Settings button in the lower left-hand pane or use the Settings menubar option.
The General Settings panel displays.
2. Click the Group Settings link in the left-hand panel
3. For the desired group in the grid, click Launch in the Dell Storage Update Manager column.
SAN HQ links to the Dell EqualLogic support site and launches the Dell Storage Update Manager. If you
configured a standalone kit, SAN HQ launches the local copy of the Dell Storage Update Manager (for
more information, see xref Launch Dell Storage Update Manager for Standalone Firmware Updates).
Launch Dell Storage Update Manager for Standalone Firmware Updates

For sites isolated from the internet (offline or standalone), you can configure SAN HQ to launch Dell
Storage Update from a local firmware update kit.
Pre-requisite: Download the standalone kit from Dell EqualLogic Support (https://eqlsupport.dell.com) .
1. Click the Settings link below the Servers and Groups tree or the select Settings from the menubar.
The General Settings page is displayed.
2. Select Server Settings.
The Dell Storage Update Manager panel displays on the bottom of the screen. Choose among the
following options:
Click Browse to locate and select the standalone Dell Storage Update Manager kit on a local
drive.
If you previously configured a local kit, optionally click Delete to remove it. Use this feature to
remove the older version. When you launch the Dell Storage Update Manager (see Options for
Launching Dell Storage Update Manager), you will be directed to the Dell Support to obtain the
latest kit.
Last Updated indicates the date of the downloaded standalone kit. If a newer kit is available from
Dell Support, download the newer version, delete the older version, and browse for the new local
kit.
For information about using the Dell Storage Update Manager, see the Dell Storage Update Manager User
Guide and Dell Storage Update Manager online help.
Add and Manage 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.
Add 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.
Add 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
drop-down menu available from the Favorites menu on the toolbar and under the Favorites node in the
Group view.
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.
Monitor 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)

How to access information for SyncRep volumes from the SAN HQ GUI (see Display SyncRep
Volumes in SAN Headquarters)
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:
SyncActive The active copy of the volume to which iSCSI initiators connect when reading and
writing data.
SyncAlternate When data is written to the SyncActive volume, the group simultaneously writes the
same data to this copy of the volume in the alternate pool.
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 sync SyncActive and SyncAlternate copies of a volume contain the same data.
out of sync SyncActive 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.
paused Administrator 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 Guide.
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. SyncRep for All Volumes on a Group). 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.

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. SyncRep for Volume
Window.

Figure 18. SyncRep for Volume Window
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.
Live View Data

The SAN Headquarters Live View feature allows you to monitor, save, and later analyze group member,
volume, or virtual 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 or virtual volumes by changing the target and selecting a
volume or virtual volume to monitor. Volume 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 (default), 3, 5, 8, 10, or 15 seconds and session length to 1 (default), 2, 3, 5, or 10
minutes for volume and member. For VVols, you can set the poll interval to 35 (default) or 60 seconds
and session length to 1 (default), 2, 3, 5, or 10 minutes.

NOTE: Live View sessions are in effect for the currently selected time range (see Display Data from
Different Times) and shows members, volumes, and virtual volumes available at that time. Any
members, volumes, or virtual volumes added after the selected time range are not presented in the
drop down list for the target (see Run a Live View Session).
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). 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. 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.
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, volume, or VVol 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. c)In the upper-right corner of the I/O for Member (or I/O for Volume or VVol) 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.

The Live View Session window appears.
2. In the Live View Session window, set the following session parameters:
a. Choose the target, either Member, Volume, or VVol.
b. Choose the individual member, volume, or virtual volume.
c. Set the session length; the default is 1 minute. You can select session lengths of 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10
minutes.
d. Set the poll interval; the default is 1 second for volume and member intervals and 35 seconds for
VVol intervals. You can select values of 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 or 15 seconds for volume and member
intervals. For VVols, you can select intervals of 35 or 60 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 time frame.
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:
a. 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.
b. Select the saved session. The session name includes the member, volume, or virtual 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. Completed Live View Session for a Volume 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, 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).
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 ). You can also
restrict data to a specific pool or member in the group from the context link bar (see SAN HQ Client

GUI Navigation). 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 temporarily 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
drop-down 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 Evaluate the Reliability of Your Current
RAID Policy.)
NOTE: 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.
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).
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.
Evaluate 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 ) indicates the RAID policy reliability score (see RAID Policy
Reliability Score) 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
Evaluate Possible RAID Policy Improvements).

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).
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.
Figure 20. RAID Reliability Initial View shows the initial view when you first access the RAID Evaluator.
Figure 20. RAID Reliability Initial View

The numbered items correspond to the callouts in Table 21. Callouts for RAID Reliability Initial View
Figure correspond to the callouts in Figure 20. RAID Reliability Initial View.
Table 21. Callouts for RAID Reliability Initial View Figure
Callout Description
1 Access RAID Evaluator from the Servers and Groups tree.
2 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.
3 RAID policy reliability scores are indicated in the Possible Statistics table and in the reliability
meters.
4 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.
5 A link to Dell Support provides information for remedying a suboptimal RAID policy. In this
case, 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
Evaluate Possible RAID Policy Improvements).
7 The data graph shows current and possible estimated maximum IOPS. In this example, the
maximum IOPS are the same.
Evaluate Possible RAID Policy Improvements

In the RAID Evaluator view shown in , 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. Possible RAID Reliability Improvements).
For example, Figure 21. Possible RAID Reliability Improvements 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
The numbered items in Table 22. Callouts for Possible RAID Reliability Improvements Figure correspond
to the callouts in Figure 21. Possible RAID Reliability Improvements.
Table 22. Callouts for Possible RAID Reliability Improvements Figure
Callout Description
1 Select a new RAID policy from the drop-down list. In this example, RAID 6 is selected.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 The data graph shows a lower Max IOPS rate, but ample headroom with the new RAID
policy.
6 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 21. Possible RAID Reliability Improvements).
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 (seeFigure 22. Possible RAID Reliability
Improvements on Member).

Figure 22. Possible RAID Reliability Improvements on Member
The numbered items in Table 23. Callouts for Possible RAID Reliability Improvements on Member Figure
correspond to the callouts in Figure 22. Possible RAID Reliability Improvements on Member.
Table 23. Callouts for Possible RAID Reliability Improvements on Member Figure
Callout Description
1 The Max IOPS Growth rate is lower at the member level.
2 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. Changed RAID Policy for Member Shows Improvements).
Figure 23. Changed RAID Policy for Member Shows Improvements
The numbered items in Table 24. Callouts for Changed RAID Policy for Member Figure correspond to the
callouts in Figure 23. Changed RAID Policy for Member Shows Improvements.
Table 24. Callouts for Changed RAID Policy for Member Figure
Callout Description
1 RAID 10 is selected for evaluation.
2 The table shows an improved Possible Max IOPS rate.

Callout Description
3 This RAID policy continues to show an excellent rating, even though the reliability score
dropped slightly from 5.00 to 2.33.
4 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:
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. Unknown RAID Policy Reliability, 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
The numbered items in Figure 24. Unknown RAID Policy Reliability correspond to the callouts in Table 25.
Callouts for Unknown RAID Reliability Figure.
Table 25. Callouts for Unknown RAID Reliability Figure
Callout Description
1 No RAID policy reliability scores are indicated in the Possible Statistics table.
2 The current RAID policy reliability score is rated as unknown and no reliability score can
be calculated.
3 The More Info link provides additional information about possible causes of the unknown
configuration.
4 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 PS6510E 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 PS6510X 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.
Question: 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.
SSD Usage Statistics

The SSD Usage Statistics view provides a dedicated view of the performance metrics associated with SSD
drives only. This allows for the comparison of I/O rates between SSDs and HDDs at the group, pool, and
member level so that you can make informed decision whether to choose SSD or HDD based on the
work load.
View SSD Usage Statistics

To view the performance statistics of SSD drives:
1. Select a group from the Servers and Groups tree, then Hardware / Firmware, and then Disks.
The Disks on Group window is displayed.
2. From the drop-down list, select the type of data you want to view:

All Disk IOPS: Displays disk performance data consisting of read and write IOPS over a period of
time.
All Disks I/O Rate: Displays color-coded line charts for all SSDs and all HDDs representing read
and write IO rates for each type of drive over a period of time.
3. From the menu bar, select the level of data you want to view (either group, pool, or member). Under
the Pools menu you can choose to view all pools or just the default pool. Under the Members menu,
you can select a specific member to view or all members in the group. Once a selection is made, a
specific pool or member can be selected by clicking on the hyperlink inside the Member or Pool
column in the Summary table.
4. Refer to the Summary table at the bottom of the window for detailed information and performance
data about each drive. For SSDs, the LifeTime Remaining column shows the remaining lifetime for
the SSD as a percentage. For HDDs, this column displays Not Applicable.
The following figures show the All Disks IOPS view at the group, pool, and member levels, followed by
the All Disks I/O Rate views.
Figure 25. All Disks IOPS at Group Level
All Disk IOPS at Member level. The graph in Figure 25. All Disks IOPS at Group Level shows IOPS for reads
and writes for all disks in the group.
NOTE: Firmware currently does not report IOPS at disk level so instead of IOPS this feature uses I/O
Rates. The total IOPS at disk level includes all the reads and writes to all disks. These reads/writes
can be due to either a direct read/write from the host or due to internal RAID realignments/
balancing and such. In the above screens at Group/Pool/Member level, IOPS are getting displayed
which is the sum of reads and writes (inbound and outbound).This cannot be computed at the
individual disk level.

Figure 26. All disks IOPS at the Pool level
The graph in Figure 26. All disks IOPS at the Pool levelshows IOPS for reads and writes for all disks in the
selected pool.

Figure 27. All Disks IOPS at the Member level
The graph in Figure 27. All Disks IOPS at the Member level shows IOPS for reads and writes for all disks in
the selected member.

Figure 28. All Disks I/O Rate at Group level
The graph shown in Figure 28. All Disks I/O Rate at Group level shows reads (read I/O rate) and writes
(write I/O rate) for all HDDs and SSDs in the group.

Figure 29. All Disks I/O Rate at Pool level
The graph shown in Figure 29. All Disks I/O Rate at Pool level shows reads (read I/O rate) and writes (write
I/O rate) for all HDDs and SSDs in the selected pool.

Figure 30. All Disks I/O Rate at Member level
The graph in Figure 30. All Disks I/O Rate at Member level shows reads (read I/O rate) and writes (write
I/O rate) for all HDDs and SSDs in the selected member.
View 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.
Overview of the PS Series firmware Volume Undelete feature, including the types of volumes
supported (see About the PS Series Firmware Volume Undelete Feature)
How to access information for recoverable volumes using the SAN HQ GUI (see Display Recoverable
Volumes in SAN Headquarters)
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 Guide.
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 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 SAN HQ Client GUI Navigation).
Figure 31. Recoverable Volumes Window shows information about recoverable volumes for a group.

Figure 31. Recoverable Volumes Window
In Figure 31. Recoverable Volumes Window, 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:
Volume Name of the deleted volume

Pool Pool on which the deleted volume resides
Size on Disk Amount of space borrowed by the deleted volume
Deleted Date and time when the volume was deleted
The Original data table shows information about the volume before it was deleted:
Reported Size Size 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.
Type Original volume type, either Thin for a thin-provisioned volume or Standard for a fully
provisioned volume.
Due to Be Purged Date 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.
Space Borrowing
SAN HQ provides snapshot space borrowing statistics for volumes and replication borrowing statistics for
replicas.

Snapshot Space Borrowing Overview
Space borrowing prevents the oldest snapshots or replicas in your collection from being deleted
automatically because the system can temporarily increase the available space for a volume by
borrowing from other sources.
When additional space is required, the firmware first borrows from free space, then any available space in
the pool. SAN HQ graphically displays percentages borrowed from each of category and provides table
data with space borrowing statistics. For groups running firmware versions prior to version 8.0, SAN HQ
displays space borrowing statistics for volume snapshots. For groups running firmware version 8.0 and
later, it also displays space borrowing statistics for replicas.
Space is borrowed as follows:
Volume snapshots can borrow from replica reserve and delegated space
Replicas can borrow from other replicas reserves, delegated space, and snapshot reserve
NOTE: The firmware can delete snapshots that are borrowing space when that space is needed for
other functions. Because of this potential deletion, you should always be aware of when snapshots
are borrowing space.
For complete information on snapshot space borrowing and replication borrowing, see the Dell
EqualLogic Group Manager Administrator's Guide.
Space Borrowing Statistics

You can obtain space borrowing statistics from the following locations:
From the Space Borrowing on Group window, view space borrowing statistics for volumes and
replicas
From the All Outboutn Replicas for Group window, view statistics for replica sets and partners.
From the SAN HQ Top 10 Report Across Groups and SAN HQ Top 10 Report
Space Borrowing on Group View

You can obtain space borrowing statistics for volumes and replicas from the Space Borrowing on Group
view.
To access space borrowing statistics for volume and replica snapshots, perform the following steps:
1. Select a group from the Servers and Groups tree.

2. Select Capacity Space Borrowing
The Space Borrowing on Group window appears showing the actual free space for borrowing and
percent borrowed (see Figure 32. Space Borrowing Statistics for a Group).

Figure 32. Space Borrowing Statistics for a Group
In Figure 32. Space Borrowing Statistics for a Group, 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:
Reclaimable Space Utilization
Actual Free Amount of total group capacity that is not reserved, used, or being actively
borrowed
Borrowed Free Amount of unreserved group capacity that is temporarily being used for volumes
that are oversubscribed or in the volume recovery bin
Snapshot Reserve Borrowing
Actual Free Amount of snapshot reserve space that is not used or actively being borrowed
Borrowed Free Amount of snapshot reserve free space that is temporarily being used for
volumes or replicas that are oversubscribed or in the volume recovery bin
The information data table below the graph shows the following information:
Volume Name of the volume.

Pool Pool on which the volume resides.
Borrowing Enabled Shows Enabled status when a volume is configured to support snapshot
borrowing for oversubscription.
Total Snapshot Reserve Total amount of group space allocated to the volume's snapshot reserve.
In Use Amount of volume snapshot reserve currently in use.
Free Amount of volume snapshot reserve not currently in use.
Borrowed Amount 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 Percentage Percentage of borrowed volume snapshot reserve compared to the total
volume snapshot reserve.

In Use Percent Percentage of borrowed volume snapshot reserve currently in use.
Borrowable from Pool Amount of available space on the pool for borrowing.
Space Borrowed on Partner Amount of space borrowed on the replication partner.
Outbound Replicas for Group View

You can obtain space borrowing statistics for replica sets and partners from the All Outbound Replicas for
Group view. This view shows the amount of space borrowed from remote delegated space for replicas of
the selected volume.
To access borrowing statistics for replica sets and partners, perform the following steps:
1. Select a group from the Servers and Groups tree.

2. Select Capacity Outbound Replicas.
The All Outbound Replicas for Group window appears.
For a description of the statistical information in the data table below the graph, see Outbound Replicas.
Snapshot and Replica Compression

SAN HQ provides statistical information for PS Series arrays enabled for snapshot and replica
compression. SAN HQ accesses compression data at the member level and presents compression
statistics for groups, pools, members, and volumes, as well as in summary views.
Compression Overview
Compression maximizes available space within the storage pool by targeting inactive snapshots and
replicas and compressing them to reduce their size. Compressed snapshots and replicas are
decompressed when the array needs to access that information.
Compression is disabled by default on the array. When enabled, the array periodically monitors activity to
determine which snapshots and replicas can be safely compressed and to provide access to
decompressed data.
The firmware presents three main compression statistics that SAN HQ presents for group, member, pool,
and volume views:
Expanded/uncompressed size Amount of snapshot data a volume can hold when fully
uncompressed.
Compressed size Amount of physical disk space consumed.
Space savings Space savings achieved by compression, actual and as a percentage of
uncompressed space.
For complete information about snapshot and replica compression, see the Dell EqualLogic Group
Manager Administrators Guide.
Prerequisites and Considerations

Before using SAN HQ to view compression statistics, you must manually activate compression either
through the Group Manager interface or the command-line interface (CLI). The compression feature is
available only on is PS6210 and PS6610 arrays running firmware version 8.0 or greater. Also note the
following considerations:

After starting compression, it might take several hours before SAN HQ displays any compression
activity.
Compression can be suspended and resumed, but not cancelled. When you suspend compression,
new snapshots are not compressed and previous compressed snapshots remained compressed.
When you move compressed data from one array to another, the data must be decompressed. This
might result in a permanent condition, unless the new array supports compression.
Compressed data is not accessible until it is decompressed.
For complete information on activating and using snapshot and replica compression, see the Dell
EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Guide.
SAN HQ Compression Reporting

Compression occurs on the pool level, which includes the collection of members/volumes in the pool.
Compression statistics presented at the member and pool level is actual size of the compressed or
uncompressed data. These statistics are rolled up to the group level and SAN HQ calculates an
approximation.
SAN HQ displays compression statistics across all major views and the following information:
Compression states (running, not started, suspended, no-capable-hardware, or unknown ) For

information, see Member Compression States in the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators
Guide.
Compressed Size Amount of space in use by compression.
Expanded Amount of space that would be consumed if compression were not enabled.
Space Savings Amount of space saved by compression, shown as both actual (MB, GB) and
percentage of total storage.
The statistics reported depends on the view and context you selected. Table 26. SAN HQ Compression
Reporting lists the SAN HQ views and contexts showing compression statistics.
Table 26. SAN HQ Compression Reporting
SAN HQ View Context For more information:

All Groups Summaries Group/Volume Volume Capacity Summary
Volume Capacity Summary Compression Statistics
Group Summary Group, Pools, Members Group Summary Compression

Statistics
Group Capacity Group, Pool(s), Member(s), Capacity of Group Compression

Volume(s) Statistics
Group Capacity Group, Pool(s), Member(s), Inbound Replicas Compression

Inbound Replicas Replica Set(s) Statistics
Volume Capacity Summary Compression Statistics

The All Groups Volume Capacity Summary view lists groups and volumes and displays compressed size,
expanded size, and space savings when compression is enabled.
The All Groups Volume Capacity Summary view also shows the amount of replication space on the
volume for group, which might also be compressed.

NOTE: The compression statistics shown on the summary level are calculated from the individual
members in the pool and represent an approximation. The most accurate space saving statistics is
at the pool and member level.
To access this information, from the Servers and Groups tree, select All Groups Summaries Volume
Capacity Summary.
Figure 33. Volume Capacity Summary View Showing Compression Statistics shows the All Groups
Volume Capacity Summary view with compression statistics in the Compressed Size, Expanded Size, and
Space Savings columns.
Figure 33. Volume Capacity Summary View Showing Compression Statistics
Group Summary Compression Statistics

The Summary of Group view provides a Capacity summary panel that displays the compression state,
compressed size, expanded size, and space savings when compression is enabled. The compression state
can show multiple states for members in the group, for example 1 Running, 1 Not Started, as in Figure 34.
Group Summary Compression Statistics Panel:
Figure 34. Group Summary Compression Statistics Panel
To access this information, select a group from the from the Servers and Groups tree. By default,
information displays on the group level.
NOTE: The compression statistics shown on the group level are calculated from the individual
member(s) in the pool and represent an approximation. The most accurate space saving statistics is
at the pool and member level.
Select the Pools context link bar option (see Context Link Bar Options) to view space savings statistics for
all pools.
Select the Members context link bar option to view space savings for all members.

Capacity of Group Compression Statistics
The Capacity of Group view displays a Compression panel showing the compression state, compressed
size, expanded size, and space savings when compression is enabled. The compression state can show
multiple states for members in the group, for example 1 Running, 1 Not Started, as in Figure 35. Capacity
of Group Compression Statistics Panel
Figure 35. Capacity of Group Compression Statistics Panel
To access this information, from the Servers and Groups tree, select a group then Capacity.
Select the Pools context link bar option to view space savings statistics for the capacity of all pools on the
group. Select a single pool to view more details: the compression state, compressed size, expanded size,
and space savings. Select an individual pool from the grid in the lower panel to see specific compression
statistics for that pool.
Select the Members context link bar option to view space savings statistics for the capacity of all
members in the group. Select an individual member from the grid in the lower panel to see specific
compression statistics for that member.
Select the Volumes context link bar option to view space savings statistics for the capacity of all volumes
on the group. Select an individual volume from the grid in the lower panel to see the status of
compression on the volumes pool.
Inbound Replicas Compression Statistics

SAN HQ shows space savings for all replica sets in the pool.
To access this information, select a group then Capacity Inbound Replicas. The All Inbound Replicas
on Group view is displayed, showing the compressed size of the replica, expanded size, and space
savings.
Select the Pools context link bar option to view space savings statistics for all inbound replicas of all pools
of the group. Select a member from the context link bar Pools menu to see similar details for all inbound
replicas in that pool. Figure 36. Summary of Pool Statistics Panel Showing Compression Statistics shows
an example.

Figure 36. Summary of Pool Statistics Panel Showing Compression Statistics
Select the Members context link bar option to view space savings statistics for all inbound replicas of all
members on the group. Select a pool from the context link bar Pools menu to see similar details for all
inbound replicas on that member.
Select the Volumes context link bar option to view space savings statistics for all inbound replicas of all
volumes on the group. Select an individual replica set from the grid in the lower panel to see the status of
compression on that replica sets pool.
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 HQ 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.
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.
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 disable part of the functionality for SupportAssist data collections. For more
information, see SupportAssist Requirements.
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:
ANY Specifies that any network interface can be used as a listening UDP socket. This option is
the default.

IP address Specifies that only the network interface associated with the IP address can be used
as a listening UDP socket.
Empty string Disables 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.
If the SyslogConfig.xml file has a syntax error or some other problem, SAN HQ 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.
NOTE: If the SyslogConfig.xml file has a syntax error or some other problem, SAN HQ logs the
event to the Windows event log.
SNMP Notifications
In SAN HQ version 3.1 and later, you can configure the SAN HQ Server to send SNMP notifications to an
SNMP management console.
Description of SNMP notifications (see About SNMP Notifications)

SAN HQ SNMP configuration information (see SAN HQ SNMP Notification Configuration)
Settings for SNMP configurations (see SNMP Notifications Configuration File)
Requirements for SNMP Notifications
Configure SNMP notifications from the SAN HQ Client GUI

Modify the SNMP Alert Notification Configuration File
Test and Troubleshoot SNMP Notifications
About SNMP Notifications

SNMP notifications are unsolicited event messages sent to a management console from an agent.
Notifications can be in the form of SNMPv2C traps, one-way UPD packet communication, or SNMPv2C
informs, UDP packet communication that the SNMP destination must acknowledge.
Management Information Bases (MIBs) describe the data that can be passed in SNMP messages between
the agent and managers. The PS Series array provides its own MIBs that contain information about SNMP
traps and trap thresholds. For information about the PS Series Array MIBs, see the Group Manager online
help.
SNMP notifications are identified using a unique object identifier (OID). The SNMP manager looks up the
OID in the MIB to determine its placement in a logical hierarchy of all SNMP notifications.
For information about configuring SNMP access to a PS Series group, see the Group Manager online help.
SAN HQ SNMP Notification Configuration

The SAN HQ Server sends SNMP notifications (traps or informs) to an SNMP management console.
You can configure SNMP notifications from SAN HQ in either of two ways:
From the Settings page in the SAN HQ Client GUI

By modifying the SNMP notifications configuration file (AlertNotificationConfig.xml)
To configure SNMP notifications, you specify the type of notification (trap or inform), the PS Series group
receiving the notification, and notification priorities.
SAN HQ version 3.1 and later provides a MIB file (eqlsanhq.mib) that describes the SNMP notifications.
This file is dependent on the eqlgroup.mib, which is part of the PS Series array MIBs.
The SAN HQ Server creates the AlertNotificationConfig.xml file in the log share path when it
starts. The Server attempts each SNMP notification three times. If all attempts fail for any SNMP
notification, the SNMP management console is ignored for the rest of the polling cycle. This behavior
prevents the retries from delaying other notifications and prevents interference with SNMP polling or alert
processing. Failures are logged in the SAN HQ Servers alertnotifications trace log.
If an alert condition continues to exist, the SAN HQ Server sends follow-up SNMP notifications using the
same interval as email notifications (by default, 6 hours). A single notification is sent per alert instance;
multiple alerts are not combined in a single notification.
SNMP Notifications Configuration File

The AlertNotificationConfig.xml file defines settings for SAN HQ SNMP notifications.
Table 27. Alert Notifications Configuration File Contents describes the contents of the Alert Notifications
configuration file.

Table 27. Alert Notifications Configuration File Contents
Setting Description
Groups Specifies one or more PS Series groups for which SAN HQ Server will send
SNMP notifications.
Destinations Specifies one or more SNMP notification destinations. Each

notifiationdestination must contain the IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) or DNS
name for an SNMP notification destination. Each notification destination
can also include one UDP port. If not specified, SANHQ Server uses
default port 162.
Origin (Optional) Defines which IP address and port the SANHQ Server binds
locally to send SNMP notifications. Origin includes one address and one
port.
Notification Type (Optional) Defines the type of SNMP notification sent: SNMP-
Inform(default) or SNMP-Trap.
Community Specifies the SNMP community name, sent as part of the notification
message.
Enabled Enables the SNMP Alert Notification. If set to False, the feature is
disabled.
Alerts Includes one settings for each alert priority (Critical, Warning, Caution,
and Information):
All Sends notifications for all alert priorities
None Does not send notifications for any alerts of this priority.
UseEmailSettings Uses the email notification settings for each group
to determine whether or not an SNMP notification will be sent for alert
of this priority.
Requirements for SNMP Notifications

Your environment must meet the following requirements to implement SNMP notifications:
SANHQ Server running SAN HQ version 3.1 or later

SAN HQ Server must be monitoring at least 1 group
SNMP management console capable of receiving SNMPv2C traps or informs
NOTE: If you choose to load the eqlSanHq.mib into your management console, you must also
load the PS Series firmware MIBs (eqlgroup mib).
Configure SNMP Notifications

This section describe how to configure SNMP notification from the SAN HQ Client GUI or by modifying
the SNMP Alert Notification Configuration file.
Configure SNMP Notifications from the SAN HQ Client GUI

To display SNMP notification settings from the SAN HQ Client GUI:
1. Click the Settings button in the far-left panel or from the Settings menu.

The General Settings page is displayed.
2. Click SNMP Notifications Settings in the far-left panel.
The SNMP Notification Settings page (Figure 37. SNMP Notifications Settings Page) is displayed.
Figure 37. SNMP Notifications Settings Page
Table 28. Callouts for SNMP Notifications Settings Figure describes the callouts in Figure 37. SNMP
Notifications Settings Page.
Table 28. Callouts for SNMP Notifications Settings Figure
Callout Description
1 SNMP Notifications Settings link Displays the SNMP Notifications Settings page.
2 Send SNMP Notifications Select the checkbox and then define SNMP notification
type: informs or traps. Group selection in the right-hand pane becomes active.
Specify the SNMP community name configured in the PS Series group.
3 SNMP Notification Destinations Enter at least one IPv4/IPv6 address or the DNS
name for the SNMP notification destination. You can specify up to 5 destinations.
Destinations can be:
IPv4 or IPv6 address
hostname

Callout Description
hostname with domain
Optionally, you can override the default destination port.
4 Notification Priorities For each priority level:

Select to use the corresponding groups email settings when sending
notifications. Alerts must be enabled for email notifications for the
corresponding group (see Configure Email Notification for Group Alerts).
Select send all alert notifications available for that priority for all SNMP
notification-enabled groups
Select send none to block all alert notifications for that priority for all SNMP
notification-enabled groups
For more information, see Alert Priorities.
5 Local Binding Optionally, enter a different port to override the source port. The
IPv4/IPv6 address or DNS name corresponds to an SNMP destination defined in
Callout 3. Use the local binding option if you want to force sending notifications to
a specific Ethernet NIC or to satisfy firewall requirements.
Click the download link to open the Windows File Explorer and select the SAN HQ
MIB (eqlSanHq.mib).
6 Groups Select to enable a group or groups; the SAN HQ Server will send SNMP
notifications to the group(s). Use the toggle button to select all groups or deselect
all groups.
7 Revert Changes, Test SNMP, and Apply buttons

Click the Revert Changes button to reset to the currently active settings on the
SAN HQ server. This button initially does not display until you enter and apply
new settings.
Click Test SNMP to send a test notification to the specified destinations. SAN
HQ indicates success or failure. You should also verify that each SNMP
management console received the test notification. For more information, see
Modify the SNMP Alert Notification Configuration File

You can modify SNMP notification settings by editing the SNMP Alert Notification Configuration file.
The SAN HQ Server creates an AlertNotificationConfig.xml file in the log file network share path
when it starts.
NOTE: Your system running SAN HQ must have read/write permission to the log file network share
and directory to edit the AlertNotificationConfig.xml file
1. Access the AlertNotificationConfig.xml file from the log file network share path.
2. Modify the settings for SNMP notifications described in SNMP Notifications Configuration File.
The changes will take effect when you restart the SAN HQ Server.

After configuring a group for SNMP notification, the Test SNMP feature sends a test notification to SNMP
destination configured to receive notification. A successful test indicates that the notification was sent. A
test failed message indicates a connection failure.
Failed connection causes include:
SNMP destination failed to respond after three attempts during the polling cycle
Connected host failed to respond after a period of time
To troubleshoot and fix a failed connection:
On the SNMP Notifications Settings page, verify that the IP address or DNS name of the SNMP
destination is correct.
On the SNMP Notifications Settings page, verify that the PS Series group is enabled to receive SNMP
notiifications.
Verify that the PS Series group is in a connected state.
SAN HQ Support for VMware Virtual Volumes

VMware virtual volumes (VVols) provide a storage management and integration framework for your PS
Series arrays. VVols present virtual disks as native storage containers and enables array management at
the virtual disk level. SAN HQ version reports data for VMware virtual volumes on groups running PS
Series firmware 8.0 and later.
SAN HQ provides information for the following VMware object types:
Storage container Storage made available for virtual volumes (VVols). One or more storage
containers can reside in a pool. Dell recommends that you use the Dell Virtual Storage Manager (VSM)
to create storage containers.
Virtual Volume (VVol) Virtual volumes you configure in a storage container. A storage container can
include one or more VVols.
Virtual machine (VM) A virtual system created by VMware vSphere. In EqualLogic environments,
VMs are managed by the Dell Virtual Storage Manager for VMware (VSM), which creates the VM
entities on the array. A virtual volume is mapped to a VM.
For information about Group Manager support for VMware virtual volumes, see the VMware Group
Access Panel chapter in the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrator's Guide.
Storage Container Information

SAN HQ reports the following information for storage containers:
Storage container name and pool in which it resides

Number of virtual volumes
Capacity information including Reported Size, In Use, and Unused space
Aggregate I/O performance data for virtual volumes
Table 29. Storage Container Information Provided in the Client GUI shows the location of this information
in the Client GUI.

Table 29. Storage Container Information Provided in the Client GUI
Client GUI View Path Storage Container Information

All Groups Capacity All Groups Summary Storage Container Reserve column Shows the
Summary Capacity Summary amount of group storage container reserve,
amount of group storage container reserve in
use, and amount that is free
All Groups Volume All Groups Summary Group/Volume column Shows VVols per
Capacity Summary Volume Capacity Summary group, type of VVol
All Groups Volume IO All Groups Summary Storage container column Shows storage
Summary Volume IO Summary containers in the associated group
Capacity of Group Group in the Servers and Storage Container Reserve panel Total GB
Groups tree and percentage amount of free and in-use
storage container reserve
Unused Space panel Storage container
reserve not used
Space Allocation chart Storage container
reserve allocated in percentage
Unused Space chart Storage container
reserve not in use
Capacity of All Storage Group in the Servers and Graph shows total storage container reserve and
Containers on Group Groups tree Capacity amount in use
Storage Container context
Table lists the storage containers, pool, number
link bar object of VVols, total physical space allocated, physical
space free, total logical space, and logical space
free
Capacity of Storage Group from Servers and Graph shows total capacity and amount of
Container Groups tree Capacity storage container reserve
Storage Container context Storage Container Physical Space panel
link bar object Select a Amount of storage container physical space
that is free and currently in use.
storage container
Storage Container Logical Space panel
Amount of storage container logical space
that is free and currently in use.
VVols and Snapshots Total number of
virtual volumes in the storage container and
snapshots
Combined Graphs of Group in the Servers and Combined information for network and I/O
All Storage Containers Groups tree Combined activity, capacity information, and total counts for
on Group Graphs Storage iSCSI connections, snapshots, and replicas for all
Containers context link bar storage containers on the group
object
Combined Graphs of Group in the Servers and Combined information for network and I/O
Storage Container Groups tree Combined activity, capacity information, and total counts for
Graphs Storage iSCSI connections, snapshots and replicas for the
Containers context link bar selected storage container

Client GUI View Path Storage Container Information
object Select a storage
container
Virtual Volume Information

SAN HQ reports the following information per VVol:
Name of VVol, type, and storage container in which it resides

Capacity information including reported size and snapshot count
I/O performance data including I/O rate, latency, IOPs, and queue depth
Table 30. Virtual Volume Information Provided in the Client GUI shows the location of this information in
the Client GUI.
Table 30. Virtual Volume Information Provided in the Client GUI
Client GUI View Path VVol Information

All Groups Capacity Summary All Groups Summary VVol Reserve column Shows
Capacity Summary amount of space reserved for virtual
volumes on the group
All Groups Volume Capacity All Groups Summary Type column Shows type of VVol
Summary Volume Capacity Summary (Data,Swap, and Config)
All Groups Volume IO Summary All Groups Summary Type column Shows type of VVol
Volume IO Summary (Data,Swap, and Config)
Capacity of All VVols on Group Group in the Servers and Graph shows total storage container
Groups tree Capacity reserve and total VVol space used
VVols context link bar object
Table lists the virtual volumes, VVol
type, storage container in which it
resides, reported size of the VVol,
status (for example, available), and
number of snapshots of the VVol
Capacity of VVol Group in the Servers and Description panel Name and type
Groups tree Capacity of the VVol, storage container in
which it resides, and status
VVols context link bar object
Select a VVol Details panel Size of the virtual
volume and number of snapshots of
the VVol
Combined Graphs of All VVols Group in the Servers and Combined information for network
on Group Groups tree Combined and I/O activity, capacity
Graphs VVols context link information, and total counts for
bar object iSCSI connections, snapshots, and
replicas for all VVols on the group
Combined Graphs of VM Group in the Servers and Combined information for network
Groups tree Combined and I/O activity, capacity
information, and total counts for

Client GUI View Path VVol Information
Graphs VVols context link iSCSI connections, snapshots and
bar object Select a VVol replicas for the selected VVol
Live View Session Group in the Servers and Specify VVol as target and an
Groups tree IO Live View individual VVol, and then run a Live
Sessions View session to obtain I/O data
captured in brief session intervals at
quick polling rates. For more
information on Live View sessions,
see Live View Data.
Virtual Machine Information

SANHQ reports following information for VMware virtual machines:
Name of the VM, guest operating system installed on the VM, total space allocated for the VM, and
description of the VM
List of connected VVols
Capacity information including reported size of the VM
Aggregate capacity information for mapped VVols
Aggregate I/O performance data for mapped VVols
Table 31. Virtual Machine Information Provided in the Client GUI shows the location of this information in
the Client GUI.
Table 31. Virtual Machine Information Provided in the Client GUI
Client GUI View Path VM Information

Capacity of All VMs on Group Group in the Servers and Graph shows total storage container
Groups tree Capacity VMs reserve and total space used by the
VM
context link bar object
Table shows the name of the VM,
guest operating system installed on
the VM, total space allocated for the
VM, and description of the VM
Capacity of VM Group in the Servers and Graph shows total storage container
Groups tree Capacity VMs reserve and total space used by the
VM
context link bar object
Select a VM Table shows the name of the VM
and associated VVols, type of VVol,
storage container in which the VVols
reside, status, number of snapshots,
reported size of the VM and
individual VVols
Combined Graphs of All VMs Group in the Servers and Combined information for network
on Group Groups tree Combined and I/O activity, capacity
Graphs VMs context link bar information, and total counts for
object

Client GUI View Path VM Information
iSCSI connections, snapshots, and
replicas for all VMs on the group
Combined Graphs of VM Group in the Servers and Combined information for network
Groups tree Combined and I/O activity, capacity
Graphs VMs context link bar information, and total counts for
object Select a VM iSCSI connections, snapshots and
replicas for the selected VM
SAN HQ Support for Delegated Space in Multiple Pools

Prior to PS Series firmware version 8.0, delegated space for replication from a primary group was
restricted to one storage pool on the secondary group.
For firmware version 8.0 and later, the secondary group administrator can allocate delegated space
across up to four storage pools on the replication partner, which will:
Increase the amount of storage for replication

Spread replica sets across multiple pools
SAN HQ reports the aggregate of delegated space from all pools on the replication partner to the primary
group. Figure 38. Delegated Space for Replication in Multiple Pools illustrates this concept.
Figure 38. Delegated Space for Replication in Multiple Pools

Table 32. Callouts for Delegated Space in Multiple Pools Figure
Callout Description
1 Primary group with two pools has replication established to the secondary group
(replication partner). Replication is considered outbound from the perspective of the
primary group. The primary group must have enough free space for the local
replication reserve for each replicated volume. Local replication reserve is located in
the same pool as the volume.
2 Secondary group with two pools configured as the replication partner. The
secondary group administrator allocates space across both pools. Replication is
considered inbound from the perspective of the secondary group. The secondary
group must have enough free space to delegate to the primary group. For groups
running firmware v8.0 and later, delegated space can be across multiple pools. Both
primary and secondary groups must be running compatible firmware versions.
3 Primary group contains two pools with two volumes each.
4 Delegated space in the Default pool contains two replica sets.
5 Delegated space in Pool B contains four replica sets.
In SAN HQ 3.1 and later, the values shown for delegated space and unused space in the Capacity of
Group view show the sum of delegated space from all pools (see Delegated Space in Capacity of Group
View).
These values are also reflected in the delegated space statistics on the All Groups Capacity Summary view
(see Capacity Summary ).
Delegated Space in Capacity of Group View

The Capacity of Group view shows delegated space statistics that are the sum of all delegated spaces
across all participating pools in the group.
Figure 39. Delegated Space Reporting in Capacity of Group View shows the aggregated data for
delegated space across multiple pools in the Capacity of Group view. Click on the Distribution of
Delegated Space link or the associated pie chart to see total size of used and free delegated space.

Figure 39. Delegated Space Reporting in Capacity of Group View
The Space Allocation chart (see Figure 40. Space Allocation Chart) shows the aggregate delegated space
from multiple pools from their respective replication sites.
Figure 40. Space Allocation Chart
Manage 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.
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 Stopping Group Monitoring. 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 Removing a Group from the Monitor List.
3. Add the group to the list of monitored groups, specifying the new network address. See Add a Group
to the Monitoring List from the SAN HQ GUI.
Diagnose and Solve Monitoring Problems

The following list describes some common problems in the SAN HQ environment and provides possible
solutions:
Cannot connect to a group Make 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 group Make 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 name Make sure the computer
running the SAN HQ GUI has read and write access to the log file directory.
Additional Group Monitoring Concepts

The following concepts are helpful when monitoring groups using SAN HQ:
How Data Is Compressed in Log Files

How Group Performance Affects SNMP Polling
Dependency on Software and Firmware Versions
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 one 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 two
minutes, another log file contains data that was polled every four 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 33. Compression Impact on Performance Data 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 for a description of the
terms used in .
Table 33. Compression Impact on Performance Data
Latency Throughput IOPS I/O Size Read/Write Distribution

Understated No Yes Yes No No
over time
Less volatile Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
over time
For related information about increasing the size of the log file, see Increase the Log File Size.
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.
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). 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 41. TCP Retransmission
Rates for a Group shows TCP retransmission rate information at the group level.
Figure 41. TCP Retransmission Rates for a Group
Network Ports View

The Network Ports for Group window (see Figure 42. TCP Retransmission Rates for a Volume ) 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 42. TCP Retransmission Rates for a Volume
All iSCSI Connections View

The All iSCSI Connections to Group window (see Figure 43. TCP Retransmission Rates for an iSCSI
Target) 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 43. 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 44. TCP Packet Retransmissions in Multiserver Environment, 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.
Figure 44. 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.

5
SAN Headquarters GUI Data
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 SAN HQ GUI

Before you can analyze performance data, you should understand the type of data that the SAN HQ GUI
displays:
Performance and capacity dataTo analyze the group data in the GUI, you must understand the
terminology. See Performance and Capacity Terms.
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.
AlertsAlerts notify you when hardware or performance issues occur in a group so that you can take
action to prevent problems. See Reported Alerts.
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 and Audit Messages.
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 SAN HQ Client GUI Navigation.
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.
See the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrators Guide 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
126 SAN Headquarters GUI Data

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.
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 user-defined 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
SAN Headquarters GUI Data 127

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 rate Average 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 IOPS Average 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 latency Average 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.
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 for information about interpreting latency values.
Average I/O size Average 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 IOPS Percentage 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 load Estimated 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 for information about interpreting the estimated I/O load.
I/O Load Space Distribution Shows 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 latency Relationship 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.
Queue depth Average 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 IOPS Number of write operations processed each second for inbound replication.
Synchronous replication Simultaneous writing of data to two pools in the same PS Series group,
resulting in two hardware-independent copies of the volume data.
SyncRep volumes Volumes 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 ports Number of active member network interfaces.

Ethernet port last modified date Date when the network interface configuration was changed or
the member restarted.
iSCSI connections Connections to iSCSI targets (volumes and snapshots).
NOTE: Where the number of iSCSI connections appears in the GUI, the value includes
connections to volumes and snapshots, in addition to connections due to replication and
Microsoft Service operations.
Link speed Negotiated link speed for all the active network interfaces. Link speed is reported at the
half-duplex data transmission rate. Double the rate to obtain the full-duplex rate.
Management network Whether a dedicated management network is enabled in the group.
Network load 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 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 rate Throughput for all Ethernet traffic sent and received, including traffic from iSCSI
initiators, mesh traffic, and SNMP requests.
Sent and Received traffic Average per-second rate of network traffic sent and received.
TCP retransmissions Retransmitted 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.
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 Live View
Data.
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.
The SAN HQ GUI displays the status of the group polling activity (Last Poll Status) at the top of the
window.
Table 34. Polling Status describes the polling status.
Table 34. Polling Status
Status Description
Successful SNMP poll was successful.
Increasing polling Group performance or a network problem prevented the group from responding
period 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. 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 Guide for a list of hardware alarms.
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.

Alert Priorities
Alerts reported by SAN HQ can include any of the following priorities:
Informational Normal, operational events in the group that do not require any administrator action.
Informational alerts are unique to SAN HQ.
Caution Low-level conditions that, if not addressed, might lead to performance issues or unwanted
results. Caution alerts are unique to SAN HQ.
Warning Conditions that will affect group operation unless addressed immediately. Warning alerts
correspond to Warning events and Warning alarms in the group.
Critical Serious 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.
NOTE: 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.

For a description of the Alerts panel, see Table 35. Alerts Panel Description.
2. Click a column heading to sort the panel according to that columns 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.
Understanding the Alerts Panel

The Alerts panel is the view where users can monitor and analyze various alerts generated by SAN HQ for
a selected time range. See Alerts Panel.

Figure 45. Alerts Panel
Table 35. Alerts Panel Description
Column Description
Priority Shows the priority of the alert, either Informational, Caution, Warning or Critical
Alert ID An assigned numeric value based on different Alert classes implemented in SAN
HQ. This should display the same number as is present in the email configuration
settings tabs
Estimated Time The time stamp of estimated first occurrence of the alert when it was seen as
Detected Active for selected time range
Duration The duration for which the respective alert was Active in synchronization with the
Estimated Time Detected
Status The status of the alert for selected time range. If, at the end of selected time range,
the alert is active, it will show it as Active, else the status will be Cleared
Description The alert description in a defined format
About Estimated Time Detected and Duration
The following sample data is extracted from the Alerts Panel and provides additional explanations and
examples of the information in the panel.
Example 1:
Figure 46. Alerts Example 1
In Alert Example 1, the top alerts Estimated Time Detected is shown as 04/01/2016 15:41 and duration as
2 m 15s and status as Cleared. This implies that the alert was raised on 04/01/2016 15:41 and was active
for 2 minutes and 15 seconds before getting cleared.

The lower alerts Estimated Time Detected is shown as 04/01/2016 15:38 and duration as 4 m 53s and
status as Cleared. This implies that the alert was raised on 04/01/2016 15:38 and was active for 4 minutes
and 53 seconds before getting cleared.
Example 2:
In Alert Example 2 the top alerts Estimated Time Detected is shown as 03/30/2016 11:50 , the Duration as
2 d 4 hr 9 m, and the status as Active. This implies that this alert has been raised on 03/30/2016 11:50 and
has been active since 2 days 4 hours and 9 minutes ago.
The lower alerts Estimated Time Detected is shown as 03/31/2016 12:30, with a Duration of 1 d 3 hr 29 m
and the status as Active. This implies that this alert has been raised on 03/31/2016 12:30 and has been
active since 1 day 3 hours and 29 minutes ago.
Example 3:
In Alert Example 3 the Estimated Time Detected is shown as in Figure 49 04/05/2016 09:15 and duration
as 1 d 2hr 28m. Upon further observation, we see that its Estimated Time is the same as the beginning of
the selected time range (though it is showing a 4 min difference, which is explained below). This implies
that there might be two situations here; either this alert has been raised at the given estimated time, or it
has been raised before the selected time range.
NOTE: In Alert Example 3 the Estimated Time Detected [1d 2 hr 28 min] is more than the beginning
of the selected time range[1d 2 hr 24 min]; this is because the system was not polled exactly at the
beginning of the selected time range. Therefore, it went one poll before the beginning of the
selected time range and considers that time to be the start of that particular alert. This is an
expected behavior. The time difference between the Estimated Time Detected and the beginning of
the selected time range should not be more than the polling interval at the beginning of selected
time range.
Based on the SAN HQ existing framework, the alert list will display only the alerts which were active at
least one time in the selected time range. If any alerts were raised before the beginning time of the
selected time range, it will display the Estimated Time Detected of the alert as the same as the selected
time range (with the time difference as explained above in few cases). Therefore, if the Estimated Time
Detected of an alert is same as the beginning time of the selected time range, there might be either of
two situations.
Either the Alert actually was raised at that time

or
The alert was raised earlier, but due to selected time range constraint, it is showing the same time as
of beginning of selected time range.

If by the end of a selected time range an alert is still active, it will be seen as Active. If it is not seen on the
last poll of the selected time range, it will be displayed as Cleared.
Duration is the time period through which an alert was active in a selected time range, starting from its
estimated time detected.
There might be cases where an alert might have more than one presence in a selected time range
because it got raised, cleared at some poll, then raised again. This type of activity could occur multiple
times.
Analysis of Alert Descriptions

Example 4:
As shown in Alert Example 4, there are some alerts whose alert ID is seen as 14.x. These are systems alerts
which will not calculate duration. These alerts will eventually vanish from the list as the alert issue
resolves.
Some alert descriptions might contain some criteria message inside square brackets [] . This implies that
when the alert was last seen as active, it met the criteria given in the brackets. In Alert Example 5, this
pool has 37.1 % free space which met the criteria of <= 50% at the last poll when it was seen active. Note
that the criteria might be different on the first estimated time detected (or in between) during which the
alert was active. It will display the criteria [<= 50%] which was found on the last poll of it in an active state
as it displays its value (37.1 %) found on last poll as active.
The square brackets [] also imply that an alert has customizable threshold settings.
Example 5:
Figure 51. Alert Example 6
You might observe some alert description which will not include square brackets [] inside its description,
as seen in Alert Example 6. This implies that the alert does not have customizable threshold settings and
that the meeting criteria for this alert is fixed.
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:
In the Alerts panel, click the Copy Selected Alerts to Clipboard icon or the Copy All Alerts to
Clipboard icon.
SAN Headquarters Alerts

In addition to alerts that correspond to hardware alarms in a group, SAN HQ displays performance-
related alerts for all groups it monitors. These alerts appear on the Alerts Summary for all groups
monitored by the server, the Alerts tab when you select a group, and from Email Settings Notifications
tab.
Table 36. SAN HQ Alerts shows a list of SAN HQs alerts. See the Dell EqualLogic Group Manager
Administrators Guide for a list of hardware alarms.
Table 36. SAN HQ Alerts
Alert Alert ID Priority Description

Collection schedule 1.16 Warning A collection schedule has fewer snapshot or
keep count 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 14.2 Warning A SAN HQ Server SNMP request to the group
failed.
Controller failover 3.2 Caution A members active control module failed,

resulting in failover to the secondary control
module.
Controller 3.4 Caution SNMP requests for control module information

information not in timed out, due to the group workload. Therefore,
SNMP poll the number of control modules reported might
not be accurate.
Controller not 3.3 Warning A member control module has failed or is not
detected installed.
Critical member 2.5 Critical A member has a RAID policy reliability that is
RAID policy rated as poor. Dell recommends changing the
reliability RAID policy.
Critical pool RAID 3.31 Critical The pool has a RAID policy reliability that is rated
policy reliability as poor. Dell recommends changing the RAID
policy.

Disk information 3.20 Caution Some SNMP requests for member disk drive
not in SNMP poll information timed out, due to the group
workload. The number of reported drives might
not be accurate.
DNS resolution 14.8 Critical The DNS name for the group network address
failure cannot be resolved by the server running the
SAN HQ Server.
Disk mirroring 3.9 Warning Due to detected drive problems, a member is

copying data to a spare.
Disk not found 3.19 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 3.13 Warning A disk has a status other than online or spare and
requires administrator attention.
Drive failure 3.14 Warning A disk drive failed.
Firmware not 1.3 Warning A group member is running a supported

recommended firmware version that is not recommended in this
case.
Group firmware 3.8 Critical A groups firmware is incompatible with the disks
and member disk firmware.
incompatibility
Group 1.15 Informational, An incompatibility has been detected between

incompatible with Warning the group and the installed SupportAssist version
SupportAssist on the SAN HQ Server.
Group mixed 1.2 Informational, Group members are running different firmware
firmware Warning versions.
Group non-WKA 1.6 Warning A group has been added using the non-Well
address Known Address (WKA) address.
ICMP ping to group 14.11 Critical The SAN HQ Server was unable to contact a
failed group, so it canceled the poll.
Incomplete SNMP 14.3 Warning The SNMP request was not complete, making
poll the poll unusable.
Low free member 3.32 Caution, Warning, A members free space is less than the
space Critical recommended minimum.
Maximum replicas 4.8 Warning Replication failed because the partner reached
and snapshots the maximum number of replicas and snapshots.
Member added 1.4 Warning A member has been added to the group.

Member added 1.13 Informational A member has been added to the group and is
with SupportAssist configured for SupportAssist diagnostic data
gathering and the member contains a valid
version of sanmond.
Member controller 3.5 Informational A members control module rebooted.

reboot
Member disk added 3.6 Caution A disk has been added to a member.
Member disk 3.10 Critical A member contains an unsupported combination

protocol mismatch of SATA-II and SAS disks.
Member disk 3.11 Caution A disk has been removed from a member.
removed
Member disk 3.7 Critical A disk has been detected with out-of-date
firmware out of firmware.
date
Member disk RPM 3.12 Warning A member contains drives with mismatched
mismatch RPMs.
Member firmware 3.16 Informational A member has been upgraded with new
upgrade firmware.
Member firmware 3.17 Informational The firmware on a control module has been
upgrade reboot upgraded.1
pending
Member health 3.18 Warning, Critical A health condition exists, and is probably related
status to a hardware failure.
Member mixed 3.15 Warning A member has different PS Series firmware

firmware versions running on its control modules.
Member network 5.1 Warning A network port on a member failed.

port failure
Member network 5.3 Warning, Critical Send, receive, or both send and receive traffic for
port load the network interface is approaching the caution
(80% load), warning (90% load), or critical
threshold (99% load).1
Member network 3.23 Warning An SNMP request to a members network port

port unreachable failed.
Member offline 3.21 Critical A member is offline.
Member RAID 3.24 Caution A members RAID status has changed.

status changed
Member removed 1.5 Caution A member was removed from the group.
Member spare disk 3.25 Critical A member's spare drive is mismatched from
mismatch active drives.

Member status 3.26 Caution A members status changed, such as from online
changed to offline.
Member 3.27 Warning A members RAID policy is not set.

unconfigured RAID
Network down 14.10 Critical The network connected to the server running
the SAN HQ Server is down.
Partial SED pool 2.3 Warning A pool contains some members with self-
encrypting disks (SED) and another member with
non-self-encrypting disks.
Pool performance 2.2 Caution, Warning, A pool's performance and capacity (storage
and capacity alert Critical containers capacity, pool capacity) has
exceeded the defined threshold values. 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
Threshold criteria you can set are:

Low free pool space Default 15% (caution),
10% (warning), 5% (critical)
Low free storage container space
Port at reduced 5.4 Informational A network interface, other than one dedicated to
speed a management network, is connected to a
network device with a speed of less than 1GB.
RAID set verifying 3.29 Caution A member's RAID set is verifying parity data.
Read-only account 1.14 Critical The credentials for the SupportAssist read-only
authorization account failed authorization.
failure for
SupportAssist
Replica reserve 4.14 Warning A replication operation failed because the

resize failure volume's replica reserve cannot increase.
Replication 4.4 Warning The replication failed because the mutual

authentication authentication passwords on the group do not
failure match the passwords on a partner.
Replication failure 4.5 Warning A replication operation has failed.
Replication partner 4.12 Warning The replication failed because the secondary
disallow group does not have downgrades disallowed.
downgrades
Replication partner 4.6 Warning The replication failed because the partner could
not available not be reached.

Schedule keep 4.18 Warning A schedule has fewer snapshots or replicas than
count the expected number. This alert does not pertain
to disabled schedules, on-demand (run once)
schedules, deleted volumes, or inactive volumes.
Sending SNMP 14.14 Warning The SAN HQ Server failed to send an SNMP
Notification error notification for the corresponding group.
SNMP poll 14.4 Informational A previously failed SNMP poll connection is now
connection successful.
restored
SNMP Notification 14.13 Warning The SAN HQ Server is unable to process the
Configuration SNMP notification configuration and could not
read the AlertNotificationConfig.xml file.
(All groups are notified.)
SNMP Notification 14.14 Warning The SAN HQ Server encountered a failure when
Failure sending an SNMP notification.
Storage Container 2.6 Caution, Warning, Low free storage container space was detected.
performance and Critical The alert will not generate until you provide a
capacity threshold value. Dell recommends that you set a
warning alert threshold value to provide
adequate time to allocate space for your storage
containers.
SupportAssist 1.17 Warning, Critical The most recent diagnostic data upload attempt
Uploads Failing has failed or is retrying over a period of at least
two weeks.
TCP retransmit 3.28 Caution, Warning, A member's ratio of TCP retransmits to sent
Critical packets is too high, indicating a network
problem. The threshold ranges from 1%
(caution), to 5% (warning), to 10% (critical). 1
Thin provisioned 4.16 Caution, Warning, A thin-provisioned volumes in-use space

volume space Critical exceeds the warning limit set in Group Manager.
Volume 4.2 Caution, Warning, A volume's performance and capacity (Volume

performance and Critical in-use space, Snapshot reserve, Average latency,
capacity Average IOPS, Average I/O size, and Estimated
I/O load) has exceeded the defined values.
Volume in-use space defaults are 85% (caution),
90% (warning), and 95% (critical).2
Volume RAID 4.3 Caution, Warning A problem occurred with allocating volume
preference 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 4.9 Warning Replication failed because the partner is not
partner needs running the correct firmware and must be
upgrade upgraded.
Volume replication 4.10 Caution Replication of all volumes to a partner was

partner paused paused.
Volume replication 4.11 Caution Replication of a volume was paused from the
paused primary group.
Volume replication 4.13 Caution Replication of a volume was paused from the
remote paused secondary group.
Volume replication 4.7 Warning A volumes replication reserve space is

space 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
VVol performance 4.19 Caution, Warning, A virtual volumes performance and capacity
and capacity Alert Critical (Average Latency, Average IOPS, Average I/O
Size, Read IOPS, Write IOPS, and Estimated Read/
Write I/O Load) threshold exceeds the defined
threshold values.
Volume sync 4.17 Caution The SyncActive pool and SyncAlternate pool do
replication not contain the same volume data.
Unexpected 14.1 Critical The SAN HQ Server has encountered an

exception in service unexpected exception when handling SNMP data
from a group.
Unreachable 14.9 Critical The computer running the SAN HQ Server

network cannot find the group network due to routing
problems.
Unsupported 14.7 Critical The SAN HQ Server is unable to poll a group

firmware because the group firmware is not supported by
SAN HQ.
1By default, the Group Manager sends this alert hourly after which an email notification is generated.
When the threshold criteria is met, the alert might not immediately be triggered until the hour interval is
reached.
2 By default, the Group Manager uses a delete oldest snapshot policy for newly created volumes and
manages space accordingly. A 4.2 alert is not generated in this case. However, if the volume uses a "Set

volume offline" policy, a 4.2 alert will be generated for that volume when the snapshot reserve
threshold criteria is met.
Threshold Criteria For Performance Alerts
For certain performance alerts, SAN HQ lets you specify a value for threshold criteria. When a threshold
criteria is met, SAN HQ will generate an alert. Initially, default values for some threshold criteria appear
blank (see Table 37. Alerts With Threshold Criteria ) and the alert will appear unchecked (not enabled for
notification). If you specify a value for an alert criteria and later upgrade SAN HQ, these values are
retained. See the Dell EqualLogic SAN Headquarters Release Notes Version 3.2 for more information.
You can set values for alert threshold criteria at different alert priorities: Caution, Warning, and Critical.
When you set a value for a threshold criteria, be sure to check other priority levels for previously-set
values.
When a threshold is reached, SAN HQ generates an alert with a Caution, Warning, or Critical priority after
comparing the threshold value you set to the parameter (X) returned by the array, as follows:
For alerts where you set incremental values, such as Volume In-Use Space criteria (seeTable 37. Alerts
With Threshold Criteria) , SAN HQ generates the alert priority as follows:
Caution if X is greater than or equal to Caution and less than Warning

Warning if X greater than or equal to Warning and less than Critical
Critical if X greater than or equal to Critical
For alerts where you set values in descending order, such as Low Free Member Space criteria, SAN HQ
generates the alert priority as follows:
Critical if X is less than or equal to Critical

Warning if X is less than or equal to Warning and greater than Critical
Caution if X is less than or equal to Caution and greater than Warning
For example, assume you set Low Free Member Space criteria with threshold values of 30% (caution),
20% (warning), and 10% (critical). SAN HQ generates alerts as follows:
Critical alert When free space is less than 10%

Warning alert When free space is between 10% and 20% (for example, 15%), the threshold is less
than warning and greater critical
Caution alert When free space is between 20% and 30% (for example, 25%), the threshold is less
than Caution and greater warning
Table 37. Alerts With Threshold Criteria shows the alerts with threshold criteria for which you can specify
a value. For threshold criteria that are blank by default, SAN HQ generates an alert only after you specify a
value and when the threshold criteria is met.

Table 37. Alerts With Threshold Criteria
Alert Name Alert ID Threshold Criteria / Default Value

Volume performance and 4.2 Volume in-use space Default 85% (caution), 90%
capacity (warning), and 95% (critical)
Snapshot reserve1, 2
Average latency1
Average IOPS1
Average I/O size1
Estimated Read/Write I/O load1
VVol performance and 4.19 Average latency1

capacity
Average IOPS1
Average I/O size1
Read IOPS1
Write IOPS1
Estimated Read/Write I/O load1
Storage container 2.6 Low free storage containers space1

performance and capacity
NOTE: Dell recommends that you set a warning alert
threshold value to provide adequate time to allocate
space for your storage container.
Member Network Port Load 5.3 Network load percentage Default 80% (caution), 90%
(warning) 99% (critical)3
Low Free Member Space 3.32 Low free member space1
TCP Retransmit 3.28 TCP retransmit percentage Default 1% (caution), 5%

(warning), 10% (critical)3
Pool performance and 2.2 Low free pool space Default 15% (caution), 10%
capacity (warning), 5% (critical)
Low free storage containers space1
1No default value for this criteria (threshold value displays as blank). You must enter a value for SAN HQ
to generate an alert when the threshold is met.
2 By default, the Group Manager uses a delete oldest snapshot policy for newly created volumes and
manages space accordingly. A 4.2 alert is not generated in this case. However, if the volume uses a "Set
volume offline" policy, a 4.2 alert will be generated for that volume when the snapshot reserve
threshold criteria is met.

Alert Name Alert ID Threshold Criteria / Default Value
3 By default, the Group Manager sends this alert hourly after which an email notification is generated.
When the threshold criteria is met, the alert might not immediately be triggered until the hour interval is
reached.
To set threshold values for SAN HQ alerts, see Set Alert Thresholds. For a complete listing of all SAN HQ
alerts, see SAN Headquarters Alerts.
Set Alert Thresholds

The Notifications tab on the Email Settings page lets you enable SAN HQ alerts by setting values for
threshold criteria.
For certain alerts (see Threshold Criteria For Performance Alerts), you can set threshold limits that when
reached, trigger an alert. These configurable alerts appear with a plus sign (+) in the Enabled column for
the list of alerts.
To set alert thresholds:
1. Select Settings in the lower-left GUI panel.

The General Settings page appears.
2. Select Email Settings.
The Email Settings page appears.
3. Select the Notifications tab.
4. Select the tab for the alert priority level for which you want to enable the alert. You can set alert
threshold values for Caution, Warning, and Critical alerts. When setting alert threshold values, be sure
to check other priority levels for previously-set values. (See Alert Priorities for descriptions of these
priority levels and information about the conditions for which these alerts are generated.)
5. Choose an alert to enable and check the box in the Enabled column if not enabled.
6. Select the plus sign to expand a list of criteria for that alert.
7. Set the criteria for the alert.
8. Click Apply.
The Alert Notification Confirmation dialog box displays, allowing you to select either of the
following options:
Update the alert for the selected group
Update the alert for all groups being monitored
For example, Figure 52. Alert Configuration Tab for Volume Performance and Capacity Alert shows the
criteria for the Volume Performance and Capacity alert when expanded.

Figure 52. Alert Configuration Tab for Volume Performance and Capacity Alert
The Alert Configuration tab shows the following information.
Criteria The name of the threshold criteria that can be set.

Threshold Numerical values for the condition for which the alert is generated. For example, if
average IOPS exceeds 25000 IOPS, a critical alert is generated. You can leave this field and no alert
will be generated for that criteria.
Unit The unit of threshold for the criteria, for example, percentage, actual size, IOPS, and so on.
When you exit the SAN HQ Client and later restart it, the threshold criteria is preserved.
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.
Event Priorities
Table 38. Event Priorities lists event priorities in order of lowest (least severe) to highest (most severe)
priority.

Table 38. Event Priorities
Priority Description
Info Informational message Indicates an operational or transitional event that requires no
action.
Warning Potential problem Can become an event with Error priority if administrator
intervention does not occur.
Error Serious failure Identify and correct the problem as soon as possible.
Fatal Catastrophic failure Identify and correct the problem immediately.
Display Events
You can display events that a group logs to the SAN HQ Servers syslog server. From the SAN HQ GUI,
either:
Click the Events tab at the bottom of the GUI window to open the Events panel (Figure 53. Events
Panel).
Click Events/Audit Logs in the Servers and Groups tree to display the Events and Audit Logs of Group
window (Figure 54. Events and Audit Logs Window Showing Events). 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 Display Audit Logs).
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)

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 Display Audit Logs.)
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 53. Events Panel
Figure 54. 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 or the Events
window:
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 Add to add additional search criteria.
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

In the Events panel or Events window, copy the event log for one group or all groups to the clipboard in
either of the following ways:
Click the Copy Current Event to Clipboard icon

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.
Display 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 55.
Audit Logs Panel).
Click Events/Audit Logs in the Servers and Groups tree to display the Events and Audit Logs of Group
window (Figure 56. Events and Audit Logs Window Showing Audit Logs). 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 Display Events).
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.

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 55. Audit Logs Panel
Figure 56. 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.
To display audits that include a specific word, words, or text string, in the Audit Logs panel or the Events
and Audit Logs window:
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 Add to add additional search criteria.
For an example of how the Filter Editor works, see Search Events.
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

From the Audit Logs panel, copy audit logs to the clipboard in either of the following ways:
All audit logs for a group: click the Copy Current Audit Logs to Clipboard icon
Selected audit logs for a group: click the Copy Selected Audit Logs to Clipboard icon

6
Analyze Group Data and Solving
Problems
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.
Basic performance terminology and the type of data collected by SAN HQ. See Performance and
Capacity Terms.
The areas in your environment that can be sources of performance problems and which areas SAN
HQ monitors. See Potential Sources of Performance Problems.
How your applications utilize group storage resources. See Application Storage Utilization.
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.
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.
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.
150 Analyze Group Data and Solving Problems

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.
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.
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.
Analyze Group Data and Solving Problems 151

Failed hardware is a common source of performance problems. See Identifying Hardware Problems.
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. 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 57. Analyzing SAN Headquarters Data describes the process for analyzing SAN HQ data.
Figure 57. Analyzing SAN Headquarters Data
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 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
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 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:

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 full-duplex.
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.
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 Experimental Analysis.
Experimental Analysis
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 58. Experimental Analysis Data
for a Group.
Figure 58. 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 ) provides the following group performance estimates:
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 Upgrade SAN Headquarters). 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.
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
Experimental Analysis Data.
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.
Example 1 Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability

Figure 59. I/O Window for Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability and Figure 60.
Experimental Analysis Window Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability 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. describes
the relevant data.

Figure 59. I/O Window for Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability

Figure 60. Experimental Analysis Window Adequately Performing Group with Excess Capability
Table 39. 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%
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

Figure 61. I/O Window for an Idle Group and Figure 62. Experimental Analysis Window for an Idle Group
show the I/O for Group window and the Experimental Analysis for Group window, respectively, for a
group that is almost idle. The average queue depth should occasionally show as 0 or 1. Table 40.
Performance Data for an Idle Group describes the relevant data.
Figure 61. I/O Window for an Idle Group
Table 40. Performance Data for an Idle Group
Data Description
IOPS Very low (approximately 15% of estimated maximum IOPS)
I/O Rate Very low (average of 2.5MB/sec)

Data Description
Overall Assessment Group is mainly idle
Expansion Capability Can support an increase in workload
Queue Depth Low
Figure 62. 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.
Example 3 Adequately Performing Group Possibly Near Full Capability

Figure 63. I/O Window for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability and Figure 64. Experimental Analysis
Window for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability show the I/O for Group window and the Experimental
Analysis for Group window, respectively, for a group that is performing well, but might be near full
capability. Table 41. Performance Data for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability describes the relevant
data.

Figure 63. I/O Window for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability

Figure 64. Experimental Analysis Window for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability
Table 41. Performance Data for a Group Possibly Near Full Capability
Data Description
IOPS High (at least 100% of the estimated maximum IOPS)
I/O Rate Low (average 30 to 40 MB/sec)
Overall Assessment Adequate
Expansion Capability Increase workload gradually and with caution
Queue Depth Moderate
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. You might also view disk IOPs to see the disks
are oversaturated or underutilized.
Example 4 Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability

Figure 65. I/O Window for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability, Figure 66. Experimental Analysis
Window for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability, and Figure 67. Network Window for a Busy
Group Probably Near Full Capability 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 42. Performance Data for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability describes the
relevant data.
Figure 65. I/O Window for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability

Figure 66. Experimental Analysis Window for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability

Figure 67. Network Window for a Busy Group Probably Near Full Capability
Table 42. 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
Expansion Capability Increasing workload will probably result in performance degradation
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
Figure 68. I/O Window for a Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full Capability and Figure 68. I/O
Window for a Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full Capability show the I/O for Group window
and the Experimental Analysis for Group window, respectively, for a busy group with high latencies that is
probably near full capability. Table 43. Performance Data for a Group With High Latencies Probably Near
Full Capability describes the relevant data.
Figure 68. I/O Window for a Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full Capability

Figure 69. Experimental Analysis Window for a Group With High Latencies Probably Near Full Capability
Table 43. 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 Rate Low (average 45MB/sec)
Overall Assessment Very busy
Expansion Capability Increasing workload will probably result in performance degradation
Queue Depth Moderate to high
Example 5 shows a busy group with no excess capacity for expansion. The high latencies, sustained over
an 8-hour 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.

Example 6 Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads
Figure 70. I/O Window for Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads shows the I/O for Group
window for a group that is performing many small write operations but some large read operations. Table
44. Performance Data for Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads describes the relevant
data.
Figure 70. I/O Window for Group With Many Small Writes But Some Large Reads

Table 44. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Modify the group configuration.

For example, change the RAID policy for a member or reassign volumes to different pools. See Group
Configuration Recommendations.
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 a Dell EqualLogic iSCSI SAN.
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 Dell EqualLogic 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.
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. 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.
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 Guide 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.
Disk Performance Metrics
Comparing HDD and SSD Performance

You can compare the performance of SSDs and HDDs in your environment at the group, pool, and
member level. This can help you judiciously choose the drive types you want to use based on your work
load. Consider the following scenarios:
NOTE: The Read I/O Rate and the Write I/O Rate for members are retrieved from the MIB table. For
group and pool levels, these values are computed by adding these values from all members (for
pools) and by adding these values from all pools (for groups).
Case 1: A user wants to identify the difference in usage metrics for workloads on SSD and HDD disks at
the member level.
2. Select All Disks I/O Rate from the combo box.
3. In the menu bar, click on Members and select a specific member to monitor or all members in the
group.
The line chart containing SSD Reads, SSD Writes, HDD Reads and HDD Writes series displays at the
member level.
the pool level.
3. In the menu bar, click on Pools and select either All pools or the default pool to set the scope of the
data.
member level.

the group level.
3. In the menu bar, click on Group.
group level.
Case 4: A user wants to know which type of disks (HDD or SSD) are being used.
2. In the All Disks Summary window, refer to the Disk Type column. This information is available
regardless of the group, pool, or member selection.
Case 5: A user wants to know the percentage of lifetime remaining on the SSDs.
2. In the All Disks Summary window, refer to the Lifetime Remaining column. This information is
available regardless of the group, pool, or member selection. The Lifetime Remaining data is not
applicable to HDDs.
NOTE: Disks are considered to be of type SSD if they are SAS_SED, SAS_SSD, or SATA_SSD.
Otherwise they are considered HDD. These values are directly retrieved from the MIB table.
The Lifetime Remaining values are retrieved directly from the MIB table and are the same as the
manufacturing value.

7
Preserve Group Data
To preserve group data for later analysis, you can:
Create reports from group data. See Group Data Reports.

Archive group data. See Group Data Archives.
Export group data. See Group Data Exports.
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 Using the GUI to Create a Report.
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.
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 report Includes information about the overall group configuration.

Capacity report Includes information about group, member, and volume capacity and space usage.
Thin-provisioned volumes report Includes information about thin-provisioned volumes.
Replication report Includes information about inbound and outbound replication activity.
Replication report across groups Includes information about inbound and outbound replication
activity across multiple selected groups.
Performance report Includes group, member, and network port I/O performance information.
Host Connections report Includes information about host session iSCSI connections to group
targets.
174 Preserve Group Data

Hardware and Firmware report Includes information about the hardware and firmware on the
group members.
Top 10 report Includes the 10 volumes with the largest size (capacity), highest IOPS, and highest
number of iSCSI connections from initiators.
Top 10 report across groups Includes the 10 volumes with the largest size (capacity), highest IOPS,
and highest number of iSCSI connections from initiators across multiple selected groups.
Alerts report Contains 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 report Analyzes 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.
SyncRep report Reports 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 report For 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 report For 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.
VVol report Provides a summary information for all virtual volumes for the selected group(s).
VVol Connections by VM report Provides a summary information for all virtual volumes
connections to VMs for the selected group(s). For a groups virtual volume connections, reports virtual
volume name, type, VM name, and last bound time. Per VM, reports the virtual volume name and type.
Information Required for a Report

Before creating a report, collect the following information:
Type of report to create (see Report Types).

Groups to include in the report.
Point in time or the time range for the data to include in the report.
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, XLS, or XLSX).
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.
Preserve Group Data 175

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. 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, XLSX, 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.
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. See Use the GUI to Create a Report 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 71. Report Generator XML Viewer), displaying
the contents of the XML file. You can edit this file, if necessary, as described in Modify an XML File for
Creating Reports.
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.

Figure 71. 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.
Modify 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:
<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>
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 45. Group Diagnostics Report Data lists and describes the data analyzed by the Group Diagnostics
Report.
Table 45. 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
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
Pool analysis 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 later)
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 never-
enabled 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.
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 On-Demand
Data Collection.
To archive group data, use either:
SAN HQ GUIUsing the GUI is the easiest method of archiving data. See Using the GUI to Create an
Archive File.
Command lineUsing a command to archive data enables you to schedule archive operations and
regularly capture group data. See Using a Command to Create an Archive File.
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.
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.
3. 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.
4. Click Next. The Archive Generation Type dialog box appears.
5. Select the Generate Now 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 Archive now to create the archive.
To open an archive file, see Open an Archive File.

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.
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.
3. Click Next. The Archive Generation Type dialog box appears.
4. Select the Generate Command line Archive Settings file option.
5. Enter a file name for the .grpx archive file. The default name is SANHQ_Archive.grpx.
6. 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.
7. Click Next. The Summary of Archive dialog box appears.
8. Click Generate Command Line. The Create Archive XML Viewer dialog box appears (Figure 72.
Create Archive XML Viewer), displaying the XML file.

Figure 72. Create Archive XML Viewer
9. Examine the XML file. If necessary, you can edit the file as described in Modify an XML File for
Archiving Data.
10. 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.
11. 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.
Schedule Archived Data

If you want to archive data regularly, use Schedule Tasks in the Windows Control Panel to specify a
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.
Modify 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>
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:
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.
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), 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.
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 GUI Using the GUI is the easiest method of exporting data. See Using the GUI to Export
Group Data.
Command line Using a command to export data enables you to schedule export operations and
regularly capture group data. See Using a Command to Export Group Data.
Exports minimally require approximately 50 MB 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.
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.
a. Select the groups for which you want to export data.
b. 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 73. Export
Group XML Editor), displaying the XML file.
Figure 73. Export Group XML Editor
a. Examine the XML file. If necessary, you can edit the file, as described in Use a Command to Export
Group Data.

b. 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.
c. 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
SANHQ_install_directory\SANHQClient.exe -ExportSettingsFiles=" XML_file_name
The XML_file_name variable specifies the name of the XML file you created in Using a Command to
Export Group Data.
Modify 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>
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>

8
Configure and Use SupportAssist
This chapter describes configuring, using, and managing the SupportAssist feature from SAN
Headquarters. The following information is provided:
Overview of SupportAssist for EqualLogic PS Series Groups

Configure SupportAssist
Modify the SupportAssist Configuration
Use SupportAssist
Monitor and Troubleshoot SupportAssist
SupportAssist Reference Information
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:
Weekly According to a user-specified day and time.

Event driven Whenever 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-demand User-driven on an as-needed basis. Run an on-demand data collection from the SAN
HQ Client.
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.
Configure and Use SupportAssist 189

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 pssdiag 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 on-demand data collection.
The accumulated data collected by SupportAssist from many PS Series groups lets Dell Support
continually update its diagnostic analysis. illustrates this process.
Figure 74. SupportAssist Components and Process
Table 46. Callouts for SupportAssist Components and Process Figure
Callout Description
1 PS Series group at Site A (blue) and Site B (green)
2 PS Series SAN arrays
3 SAN networks (orange)
4 LAN networks (purple)
5 SAN HQ servers
190 Configure and Use SupportAssist

Callout Description
6 SAN HQ clients
7 SSL Internet links
8 Internet
9 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.
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 On-Demand Data Collection).
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 volumes. 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
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)
SupportAssist Requirements
This section describes the requirements for using SupportAssist:
PS Series Group Firmware and Group Configuration Requirements

SAN Headquarters Server Requirements
Network and Bandwidth Requirements
PS Series Group Firmware and Group Configuration Requirements
Firmware PS Series array firmware version 7.0 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 credentials You must supply grpadmin-level credentials for each monitored
group to SAN HQ during the initial setup.
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.
The password must contain a minimum of 3 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, read-only group account, named autopilot-ro by default.
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 notification One 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.
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:
SNMP Configure 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.
SSH Enable 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).
Network and Bandwidth Requirements

Network and bandwidth requirements for SupportAssist.
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 47. Network and Bandwidth Considerations When Using SupportAssist presents approximate
data transfer rates for the SupportAssist infrastructure.

Table 47. Network and Bandwidth Considerations When Using SupportAssist
Source Destination Approximate Data Upload Option Network Type

Transfer Average
per Member1
SAN HQ Server Dell Support data 10MB Scheduled or Public
center event-driven
(automatic)
SAN HQ Server Dell Support data 120MB On demand Run Public
center Now (manual). SAN
HQ archive is
selected.
PS Series group SAN HQ Server 150MB Scheduled or Internal
event-driven
(automatic)
PS Series group SAN HQ Server 300MB On demand Run Internal
Now (manual). SAN
HQ archive is
selected.
1Theperformance 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.
Configure SupportAssist
You can configure SupportAssist at various stages when using SAN HQ:
When adding a new group (see Configuring SupportAssist When Adding a New Group).
By using the SupportAssist Configuration wizard for an existing group (see Configuring SupportAssist
for an Existing Group).
From the SupportAssist Settings page, when enabling a group for SupportAssist or modifying an
existing configuration (see Modify the SupportAssist Configuration).
Prerequisites for Configuring SupportAssist

To configure SupportAssist, you must first meet the requirements in SupportAssist Requirements.
Use the configuration worksheet to record information needed to set up SupportAssist (see the
Configuration Worksheet).
Obtain the following data for every PS Series group that you intend to configure:
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 for information
about this account.
SAN HQ Server IP address. See SAN Headquarters Server Configuration Settings. (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 Update or
Configure Contact Data.

Data collection and diagnostic data package transmission settings. See Data Collection and Upload
Settings.
Each time you configure and enable SupportAssist from the Configuration wizard, you are presented
with a SupportAssist License Agreement. You must accept the license to continue running the wizard.
Configuration Worksheet
Use the worksheet shown in Table 48. Group and SupportAssist Configuration Worksheet to gather data
and make decisions about configuring SupportAssist.
Table 48. Group and SupportAssist Configuration Worksheet
Data Item Description or Location in Group Manager Your Data

Enable SSH Enable SSH access using the Group [ ] Verified
Configuration, Administration tab.
syslog IP Specify one free address for syslog servers [ ] Verified
using the Group Configuration, Notifications
tab. (Use a static IP address.)
SNMP name Configure an SNMP community name using SNMP:
the Group Configuration, SNMP tab, Read-
only SNMP community names.
Group IP or Group name or group IP address found with Group:
DNS name Group Configuration, General tab.
Group account If using SAN HQ single sign-on, a login Account:
name account name for the group. (Optionally,
you can use single sign-on to log in to a
group.)
Group account If using SAN HQ single sign-on, a login (Do not write down)
password account password for the group.
SupportAssist If you choose not to use the default User name:
read-only autopilot-ro user name and provide a
account user custom user name, enter a name using up to
name 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.
SupportAssist A password for the read-only account (Do not write down)
read-only (autopilot-ro) created automatically by SAN
account HQ for use by SupportAssist. Passwords
password must contain a minimum of 3 and a
maximum of 16 alphanumeric characters,
which are case-sensitive.
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.

Data Item Description or Location in Group Manager Your Data
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 Secondary, cellular telephone. Tel:
(optional)
Timezone Timezone of the companys facility
Language Primary language of the contact person
Data Collection Once-weekly day on which you want Mon|Tues |Weds|Thurs Fri|Sat|Sun
day SupportAssist data collection to run. (Select
a day when the group is doing the least
amount of work.)
Data Collection Time at which you want SupportAssist data HH:MM:PM/AM:
time collection to run. (Select a time when the
group is doing the least amount of work.)
Retry data If the data collection fails, decide how often Retry: Frequency:
collections and how many retry attempts will be made
to collect the diagnostic data. This number
includes the initial failure. Retries: Minimum
1, maximum 10 Frequency: Minimum 10
minutes, maximum 120 minutes
Collect critical Decide whether you also want to collect [ ] Yes [ ] No
events data for critical events (in addition to the
regularly scheduled collection).
Enable data Decide whether you want to transmit data to [ ] Yes [ ] No
transmission Dell for review.
Packages If you do not want to transmit data to Dell Packages:
retained locally 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.
Quick Start Information

Table 49. Tasks for Enabling SupportAssist lists important task information to help you quickly enable the
SupportAssist feature.
Table 49. Tasks for Enabling SupportAssist
Task Procedure Reference

Install SAN HQ Server Follow the SAN HQ installation Installation Procedure
and Client procedure, noting any specific

Task Procedure Reference
server requirements for
SupportAssist.
Prepare your group and Use the configuration Configuration Worksheet
gather SupportAssist worksheet.
information
Read the group requirements SupportAssist Requirements
and update or configure your
group as necessary.
If you need to better Data Collection and Upload Settings
understand the data collection
settings.
If you need to better Modify the SupportAssist Configuration
understand the group settings.
If you need to understand why Update or Configure Contact Data
SupportAssist requires a primary
contact person.
Add a new group Click SANHQ, then click Add Add a Group from the SAN Headquarters
New Group. GUI
Configuring SupportAssist When Adding a
New Group
Verify the configuration View the configuration settings Modify the SupportAssist Configuration
and configure SupportAssist
from the SupportAssist
Configuration Settings page.
Test the configuration Run an on-demand data On-Demand Data Collection
collection.
Configuring SupportAssist When Adding a New Group

You can configure SupportAssist as you add new groups to SAN HQ for monitoring.
To prepare for adding a new group, gather the data as described in Configuration Worksheet and make
sure you configure the group as described in SupportAssist Requirements.
Make sure that your SAN HQ Server is fully functional and not in a degraded state.
Configuration Steps When Adding a New Group

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 75. Add Group Wizard
Group Information Dialog Box).
3. In the dialog box:
a. Type the Group IP address or DNS name.
b. Type 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.
Figure 75. Add Group Wizard Group Information Dialog Box
4. Click Next to open the SupportAssist License Agreement dialog box and 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 76. Result of Adding Group Login Credentials and Syslog
Server Selection). 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. 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 case-sensitive. Dell recommends a
minimum of 6 characters for improved security.

7. Click Test to validate the credentials. If 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 the SAN HQ Server IP address for group syslog notification
registration. Dell recommends using a static IP address.
Figure 76. Result of Adding Group Login Credentials and Syslog Server Selection
9. Click Next and type information in the Customer Contact Information dialog box (Figure 77.
SupportAssist Customer Contact Information).

Figure 77. 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 Update or Configure
Contact Data.
10. Click Next and enter your preferred data-collection and upload settings (see Figure 78. SupportAssist
Data Collection and Upload Settings Dialog Box):
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.

Figure 78. 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 automatically 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 Use a Different Server to Upload Diagnostic Information. For a description of the fields
in Figure 78. SupportAssist Data Collection and Upload Settings Dialog Box, see Data
Collection and Upload Settings.
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.

Figure 79. Specifying Log File Sizes
13. Click Next and review your configuration settings in the Completing the Wizard dialog box (Figure
80. Successfully Added Group with SupportAssist Enabled).

Figure 80. 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.
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

Configuration Steps for an Existing Group
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 81. Group
Selection for SupportAssist Dialog Box).
Figure 81. 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 82. SupportAssist Group
Login Credentials Dialog Box) and enter the following information:
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 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 case-sensitive. Dell recommends a
minimum of 6 characters for improved security.
Figure 82. SupportAssist Group Login Credentials Dialog Box
Optionally, click 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 83. Syslog Server
Configuration Dialog Box) and select the SAN HQ Servers IP address from the list of available syslog
servers. Dell recommends using a static IP address.

Figure 83. Syslog Server Configuration Dialog Box
NOTE: PS Series groups support up to three syslog servers. You might need to reconfigure or
remove preexisting syslog servers to enable SupportAssist.
8. Click Next to open the Customer Contact Information dialog box 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 Update or Configure
Contact Data.
9. Click Next to open the Data Collection and Upload Settings dialog box 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 automatically 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 Use a Different
Server to Upload Diagnostic Information. For a description of the fields in Figure 83. Syslog
Server Configuration Dialog Box, see Data Collection and Upload Settings.
10. Click Next to display the Ready to Configure SupportAssist screen (Figure 84. Ready to Configure
SupportAssist Screen) and verify that the information is correct. Click Back to make corrections.
11. Click Configure to configure the groups with SupportAssist.

Figure 84. Ready to Configure SupportAssist Screen
A progress bar shows the configuration in process. It can take up to two 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.
Configure SupportAssist From the CLI

The SANHQClient.exe executable file, along with command parameters and options, lets you configure
and enable SupportAssist from the CLI. The CLI command parameters and options provide the same
configuration settings as when running the SupportAssist Configuration Wizard from the SAN HQ Client
GUI.
The SupportAssist CLI parameters and options include the following main command parameters:
DisplaySALA Displays the SupportAssist license agreement

AddSupportAssist Configures and enables SupportAssist diagnostic data collection
AddContact Adds a contact to the Customer Contact Information list
For information on the CLI command parameters, see SupportAssist Command Reference.

Modify 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).
To access the SupportAssist Configuration Settings page, either:
Click SupportAssist below the Servers and Groups tree (lower-left panel).
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), to a list of customer support
cases reported back to SupportAssist (Display Support Case Information), 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
SupportAssist Configuration Settings

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.
Define and Modify 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 Status Whether the group is configured and enabled or configured and disabled
Firmware PS Series firmware revision installed on the group
Group Name Alphabetically by group name, regardless of configured status
Server SAN 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.

To enable SupportAssist for an unconfigured group:
1. Click Enable SupportAssist.

2. Accept the SupportAssist License Agreement. SAN HQ expands the panel and displays the modifiable
configuration settings.
3. Enter the data as described in Table 50. SupportAssist Configuration Settings. For additional
information about this data, see Additional Information for Configuring SupportAssist for a Group.
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 85. Groups Available for SupportAssist Panel
A configured group (left panel in Figure 85. Groups Available for SupportAssist Panel) shows the
configuration information for the group. describes this information, along with available user actions. You
can enable the unconfigured group (right panel in ) and define the SupportAssist configuration settings.
describes the information and available user actions for an unconfigured group.
SupportAssist Configuration Settings Reference Information

Table 50. SupportAssist Configuration Settings shows the SupportAssist configuration information for a
configured group and describes the available user actions. describes the information and available user
actions for an unconfigured group.

Table 50. SupportAssist Configuration Settings
GUI Field Function User Action

Title Bar (group name) Bar turns orange when clicked to Click the double-arrow icon to expand or
indicate the active group minimize the group SupportAssist settings.
Effective Firmware Shows the groups installed None.

firmware revision
Server Shows the SAN HQ Server None.

monitoring this group
Configuration Describes the SupportAssist Click to enter or modify the group access
configuration status and enables credentials and SupportAssist read-only
you to access the credentials 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 Checked when you configure Uncheck this box to temporarily disable
Collection SupportAssist SupportAssist.
Day of Week Lists the days of the week, Select a day for data collection (and
Monday to Sunday optional transmission) by SupportAssist.
Start Time Specifies the time in the format: Use the arrows (or type a value) for each
HH:MM AM/PM field to modify the time of day for data
collection (and optional transmission) by
SupportAssist.
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 Check this box to collect diagnostic data
should occur after a critical syslog after a critical syslog event, in addition to
event the scheduled weekly collection.
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 Check this box to enable automatic data
packages are uploaded to the Dell transmission of the data that SupportAssist
Support server 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 GRAPHIC Current contact information View and change information for the
current contact. See Update or Configure
Contact Data.
Person Plus Icon Adds contact information Add new contact information. See Update
GRAPHIC or Configure Contact Data.
Receive SupportAssist Email authorization Authorize Dell Support to send you emails
Emails from Dell 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 51. Group Not Configured
for SupportAssist.
Table 51. Group Not Configured for SupportAssist

Title Bar (group Bar turns orange when clicked to Click the double-arrow icon to expand or
name) indicate the active group minimize the group SupportAssist settings.
Enable Shows the group's SupportAssist Click to enable SupportAssist.

SupportAssist configuration state
Firmware Shows the group's installed firmware None.

revision
Server Shows the SAN HQ Server monitoring None.

this group
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 Modify SupportAssist Data Collection
Settings for a Group.

Enable or temporarily disable SupportAssist for a group. See Enable and Disable Weekly Data
Collection.
Enable or disable automatic uploading of diagnostic data packages to Dell. See Enable and Disable
Automatic Upload for a Group.
Modify the SupportAssist syslog server IP address. See Modifying SupportAssist Syslog Settings for a
Group.
Choose, update, or add new SupportAssist contact person settings. See Update or Configure Contact
Data.
Permanently delete (unconfigure) the SupportAssist settings for a group. See Delete the SupportAssist
Configuration for a Group.
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 52.
SupportAssist Activity Log Information).
To view the activity log, either:
Click the SupportAssist link below the Servers and Groups tree and then click Activity Log in the
upper-left 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
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 52. SupportAssist Activity Log Information
Title Data Sort and Filter Keys* Description

Group Group name (string) Custom, Blanks, Non- Name of the group monitored
Blanks, Group Name 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 Custom, Blanks, Non- Time that the activity
HH:MM:SS AM/PM Blanks, Time-stamp completed.

Title Data Sort and Filter Keys* Description
Activity Type String Custom, Blank, Non- Type of activity logged.
Blanks, Activity Type
Status String Custom, Blank, Non- Status of the activity.
Blanks, Failed, Success,
Underway, Aborted
Description String Custom, Blank, Non- Description of the activity.
Blanks, Description string
Duration nn h nn m nn s Custom, Blank, Non- Duration of the activity in hours,
Blanks, Failed, Success, minutes, and seconds.
Underway, Aborted
Payload ID nnn (integer) Custom, Blank, Non- Group-unique integer assigned
Blanks, Failed, Success, by the Dell Support data center
Underway, Aborted for this payload.
Server SAN HQ Server name Custom, Blank, Non- SAN HQ Server (monitoring this
(string) Blanks, Server name group) that performed the
logged activity.
*Click column headers to sort alphabetically. For other sort options, see Data Sorting Options.
Table 53. SupportAssist Activity Typeslists potential activity types that you might encounter.
Table 53. SupportAssist Activity Types
Activity Type Description

Diag Data - On Demand Log entry relates to an on-demand (Run Now) diagnostic data
collection collection. See On-Demand Data Collection.
Diag Data - Event collection/ Log entry relates to a reactive (syslog event driven) diagnostic data
upload collection and automatic upload.
Diag Data - Scheduled Log entry relates to a scheduled diagnostic data collection and
collection/upload automatic upload.
Event Message ID Message identifier for a syslog event.
Modify 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 Modify the SupportAssist
Configuration).
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 Enable and Disable
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 Modify the SupportAssist Configuration.

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.
Update or Configure Contact Data

To make sure that Dell contacts the appropriate person, you must supply contact information when you
configure SupportAssist. See How SupportAssist Works 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.
Click the Person Minus icon to remove an existing contact.
Table 54. Contact Information for SupportAssist describes the contact information fields and data.
Table 54. 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

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
Enable and Disable 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 On-Demand Data Collection).

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 Delete the SupportAssist
Enable or disable automatic uploading of diagnostic data packages to Dell. See Enable and Disable
Enable and Disable 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 Decrypt Local Data
Packages). 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 Delete the SupportAssist
Enable or disable SupportAssist for a group. See Enable and Disable Weekly Data Collection.
Delete 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.
To delete the SupportAssist configuration for a group:
1. Navigate to the group SupportAssist settings, as described in Modify the SupportAssist Configuration.
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:
Temporarily disable and then reenable the SupportAssist configuration for a group. See Enable and
Disable Weekly Data Collection.
Temporarily disable and reenable automatic uploading of diagnostic data packages to Dell. See Enable
and Disable Automatic Upload for a Group.
Use SupportAssist
This section explains how to use the SupportAssist on-demand data collection and data-decryption
options.
On-Demand Data Collection

Decrypt Local Data Packages
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) 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 Decrypt
Local Data Packages.
If required for analysis and diagnosis, you can manually upload on-demand data packages to Dell if the
packages are requested by Dell Support.
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.
1. Check one or more boxes to select PS Series groups, or click the Select all groups button.
2. Select one of the following data transmission options:
Diagnostic data and SAN HQ archive (default)

Diagnostic data only
SAN HQ archive only
3. For a SAN HQ archive, specify a date range for the archive. Options are 1 day, 7 days, or 1 month.
4. Check the box to allow automatic transmission of diagnostic data to Dell Support for review. This
transmission can include SAN HQ archive data.
5. 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.
6. When the process completes, click Close to complete the wizard. (Click Cancel to abort the data
collection job.)
Decrypt 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.

Before decryption, SAN HQ stores local data packages in a folder named Auto-Pilot. For example: C:
\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\Auto-Pilot
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 check 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.
Display Support Case Information

When cases are created by Dell Support from SupportAssist diagnostic data uploads or from traditional
support calls, SupportAssist displays information about all open cases that match the service tags of the
PS Series groups being monitored by SAN HQ.
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
SupportAssist. 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 86. Customer Support Cases). By default, the
Exclude closed cases checkbox is selected to only show active cases. shows the checkbox deselected,
with all cases displayed.

Figure 86. Customer Support Cases
Figure 86. Customer Support Cases 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
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
Monitor and Troubleshoot 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
Considerations When Enabling SupportAssist
Performance Impact When Using SupportAssist
SupportAssist Alerts
Display Groups Configured for SupportAssist
Use a Different Server to Upload Diagnostic Information

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.
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), 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.
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 55. Alerts Generated by SAN HQ for SupportAssist describes these alerts and trigger mechanisms.
For a description of all SAN HQ alerts, see SAN Headquarters Alerts.
Table 55. Alerts Generated by SAN HQ for SupportAssist
Alert Name Type Description Trigger

Member Added with Informational Notification alert that the The SupportAssist-
SupportAssist SupportAssist configuration was configured group
updated with a new member detected that a new

Alert Name Type Description Trigger
and that the member contains a member was added to
valid version of sanmond. the group during a SAN
HQ data poll.
Group Incompatible with Warning An incompatibility has been SupportAssist detected a

SupportAssist detected between the group and discrepancy between the
the installed version of version of SupportAssist
SupportAssist on the SAN HQ deployed on the server
Server. and the version running
on the group.
Read-Only Account Critical The credentials for the The SupportAssist-

Authorization Failure for SupportAssist read-only account configured group had an
SupportAssist failed authorization. authorization failure
during a data collection.
SupportAssist Uploads Warning The most recent diagnostic data The group has had a
Failing upload attempt has failed or is successful upload, the
retrying over a period of at least last upload has failed or
two weeks. is retrying, and the failure
has continued for at least
two weeks.
SNMP Notification Warning The SAN HQ Server is unable to A fatal error occurred
Configuration process the SNMP notification when attempting to read
configuration and could not the
read the AlertNotificationCo
AlertNotificationConfig.x nfig.xml file.
ml file. (All groups are notified.)
Sending SNMP Warning The SAN HQ Server failed to SNMP notification failure
Notification Error send an SNMP notification for
the corresponding group.
Display 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 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.

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 six-hour 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 87. Group Configured for SupportAssist shows a group configured to retry data
collection three times and perform an automatic upload.
Figure 87. Group Configured for SupportAssist
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 Enable and Disable
Prerequisites for Offline Data Uploads

This process assumes the following prerequisites have been met:
You have SAN HQ v3.0 or later installed (see Chapter 2). Your SAN HQ Client and Server meet the
requirements in Requirements for Running the SAN Headquarters Client and Requirements for
Running the SAN Headquarters Server.

All TCP/UDP ports are open as listed and described in .
From SAN HQ, you have configured your groups to use SupportAssist for automatic diagnostic data
uploads (see Configure SupportAssist).
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 88. Activity Log Showing One
Pending Upload:
Figure 88. 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:
3. Right click in the Activity Log table.
4. Select Retry All Pending Uploads (see Figure 89. Retry All Pending Uploads).
Figure 89. 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 (see Figure 90. Successful
Diagnostic Data Upload ).
Figure 90. 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.
Use 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 C:\ProgramData\EqualLogic\SAN HQ\Logs\Auto-Pilot\ GroupUUID\Online 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.
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

Data Sorting Options
Data Collection and Upload Settings

Table 56. Data Collection and Upload Settings
Setting Field Data Description

Check Box None Enable weekly data Check this box to enable weekly
collection data collection. (Temporarily
enable or disable SupportAssist.)
Day of Week day Accept the current day Select the day on which
or select a day from the SupportAssist collects data
menu (defaults to current weekday).
Start Time HH:MM AM/PM time Accept the current time Select the time at which
or modify the HH:MM SupportAssist collects data
and AM/PM fields (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 Check this box to enable

transmission of automatic data transmission.
SupportAssist data to Dell
Support for review
Packages to NN number Number of SupportAssist Select a value for the number of

Retain diagnostic packages to retained packages (from 5 to 64).
retain
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). Custom sort and filter options are described in Table 57. Custom Data
Sort and Filter Options. Sort, fit, and filter options are described in Table 58. Sort, Fit, and Filter Options.

Table 57. 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 operator Logical conjunctive boolean operator
Button or operator Logical disjunctive boolean operator
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

Table 58. 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 Removes any existing sort results

already)
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 Removes any existing filter results

already)
Show/Hide Find Panel Displays or hides the search option
Show/Hide Auto Filter Displays or hides the auto filter row

Row
SupportAssist Command Reference

SAN HQ provides a SANHQClient.exe executable file you can run from a CLI to configure and enable
SupportAssist. This section provides reference information about the SupportAssist command
paramenters and options. Brackets in the command syntax indicate an optional parameter.
Display SALA
Use the following command to display SupportAssist license agreement (SALA).
Syntax

# SANHQClient.exe DisplaySALA
Add SupportAssist
SupportAssist command referenceUse the -AddSupportAssist command parameter to configure and
enable SupportAssist.
Syntax
# SANHQClient.exe
-DefaultServer or -ServerName=server-name
-AddSupportAssist
-AcceptSALA
-UserName=host-user-name
-Password=host-password
IPAddress=group-IP-address
-GroupAdminUserName=group-admin-user-name
-GroupAdminPassword=group-admin-password
-ROUserName=read-only-user-name
-ROPassword=read-only-password
-ROPasswordVerify=read-only-password-verify
[-Schedule
-Day=day-of-week
-Hour=time-hour
-Minute=time-minutes
-MaxRetryCount=max-retry-count
-RetryAfter=retry-after-x-minutes]
[-CollectCriticalData]
[-IncludeArchive]
-SysLogServer=IP-address-of-sys-log-server
[-ContactId=default-email-address-to-contact]
[-AutoUpload]
[-UploadKeepCount=number-of-diagnostic-data-package-to-retain]
[-ReceiveEmail]
Table 59. Command Parameters for Enabling SupportAssist describes the command parameters for
enabling SupportAssist. All parameters are required unless indicated as optional.
Table 59. Command Parameters for Enabling SupportAssist
Function Command Parameter Description

Server selection DefaultServer Requests that the SupportAssist is enabled
on the current default SAN HQ Server.
ServerName=server-name Requests that the SupportAssist is enabled

on a server you specify.
Operation AddSupportAssist Enables SupportAssist.
License AcceptSALA Specifies that you have read and accept the
Agreement SupportAssist license agreement.
User Credentials UserName=host-user-name User name required for connecting to the

SAN HQ Server.

Password=host-password User Password required for connecting to
the SAN HQ Server.
Group Identifier IPAddress=group-IP-address Specifies the groups well-known address

for identification and protection. The group
IP address can be in the Group Managers
Group Configuration, General tab.
Configuration GroupAdminUserName=group- Group administrator user name. For

details admin-user-name information on group administration
accounts, see the Dell EqualLogic Group
Administrators Guide.
GroupAdminPassword=group- Group administrator password.

admin-password
ROUserName=read-only-user- SupportAssist read-only account user name.

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.
ROPassword=read-only-password SupportAssist read-only account password.

Passwords must contain a minimum of 3
and a maximum of 16 alphanumeric
characters, which are case-sensitive.
ROPasswordVerify=read-only- SupportAssist read-only password for

password-verify additional verification.
Schedule Schedule Optional. Specifies that you are providing

parameters data collection schedule information.
Day=day-of-week Day of the week information. Example:

Day=Thursday. Required when Schedule is
specified.
Hour=time-hour Time in hours; specify values between 0

23. Required when Schedule is specified.
Minute=time-minutes Time in minutes; specify values between 0

59. Required when Schedule is specified.
MaxRetryCount=max-retry-count Maximum number of retries (including the

initial attempt) that SupportAssist can make
before timing out.
Specify values from 1 10. Required when

Schedule is specified.

RetryAfter=retry-after-x-minutes Time interval in minutes that SupportAssist
must wait before retrying a data
transmission
Specify values between 10 120 minutes.

Required when Schedule is specified.
Additional CollectCriticalData Optional. Specifies that critical event driven

parameters data will be included in the 24-hour upload.
If multiple critical events occur during the
24-hour period, events are reported but no
additional data collection occurs.
IncludeArchive Optional. Specifies that an archive will be

included in the data upload.
SysLogServer=IP-address-of-sys- IP Address of the syslog server

log-server
ContactId=default-email-address- Optional. Email address of one of the added

of-contact contacts for default contact.
AutoUpload Optional. Specifies that you allow automatic

uploads
UploadKeepCount=number-of- Number of SupportAssist diagnostic

diagnostic-data-package-to-retain packages to retain. Specify values from 5
64.
Required if AutoUpload is not specified.
-ReceiveEmail Optional. Specifies that you want to receive

SupportAssist emails from Dell.
Examples
Example 1 Enable SupportAssist without a schedule.
SANHQClient.exe -DefaultServer -AddSupportAssist -UserName=*** -Password=***

-IPAddress=*** -GroupAdminUserName=grpadmin -GroupAdminPassword=***
-ROUserName=autopilot-ro -ROPassword=*** -ROPasswordVerify=*** -SysLogServer=***
-UploadKeepCount=6 -ReceiveEmail
Example 2 Enable SupportAssist with a schedule.

-UploadKeepCount=6 -ReceiveEmail -Schedule -Day=Tuesday-Hour=7 -Minute=34
-MaxRetryCount=6 -RetryAfter=49

Example 3 Enable SupportAssist with a schedule and default contact ID.

-AutoUpload -ReceiveEmail -Schedule -Day=Tuesday -Hour=21 -Minute=34
-MaxRetryCount=6 -RetryAfter=49 -ContactId=Mr_A@Dell.com
Add Contact
SupportAssist command referenceUse the following command to add customer contact information for
SupportAssist.
Syntax
# SANHQClient.exe
-DefaultServer or -ServerName=server-name
-AddContact
-UserName=host-user-name
-Password=host-password
IPAddress=group-IP-address
-ContactName=customer-contact-name
-EmailAddress=customer-email-address
-WorkPhone=customer-telephone-number
-CellPhone=Alternate-customer-telephone-number
-City=customer's-city
-State=customer's-state
-Country=customer's-country
-Timezone=customer's-timezone
-Language=customer's-local-language
-Company=company-name
-ContactTimes=preferred-contact-time
Table 60. Command Parameters for Adding a Contact describes the command parameters for adding
contact information. All parameters are required unless indicated as optional.
Table 60. Command Parameters for Adding a Contact

Server selection DefaultServer Requests that the SupportAssist is enabled
on the current default SAN HQ Server.
ServerName=server-name Requests that the SupportAssist is enabled

on a server you specify.
Operation AddContact Specifies that you are adding contact

information for a customer.
User credentials UserName=host-user-name User name required for connecting to the

SAN HQ Server.
Password=host-password User Password required for connecting to

the SAN HQ Server.
Group identifier IPAddress=group-IP-address Specifies the groups well-known address for

identification and protection. The group IP

address can be in the Group Managers
Group Configuration, General tab.
Contact ContactName=customer-contact- Customer name.

information name
EmailAddress=customer-email- Email address of the primary contact person.

address
WorkPhone=customer-telephone- Customers company telephone number.

number
CellPhone=Alternate-customer- Optional. Alternate cellular number.

telephone-number
City=customer's-city City of the primary contact person.
State=customer's-state State of the primary contact person.
Country=customer's-country Country of the primary contact person.
Timezone=customer's-timezone Time zone where the contact person

resides. For example,
TimeZone="(UTC-10:00) Hawaii"
Language=customer's-local- Primary language of the locale.

language
Company=company-name Name of the contact persons corporation or

employer.
ContactTimes=preferred-contact- Best time for contacting contact person.

time
Example
SANHQClient.exe -DefaultServer -AddContact -UserName=*** -Password=***

-IPAddress=*** -ContactName="Mr_A" -EmailAddress="Mr_A@Dell.com"
-WorkPhone="5678" -CellPhone="3210" -City="Kailua Kona" -State="HA"
-Country="United States" -TimeZone="(UTC-10:00) Hawaii"
-Language="English (United States)" -Company="Dell"
-ContactTimes="10:00AM 02:00PM"

Index
A compression statistics
capacity of group 106
Add Contact 230 group summary 105
Add Group wizard 57, 58 inbound replicas 106
Add SupportAssist 227 volume capacity summary 104
Alert Configuration tab 143 connection status
AlertNotificationConfig.xml 110 degraded 68
alerts unavailable 69
examples 132 context link bar options 33, 49
alerts panel 131 customer contact data
description of SAN HQ 135 configure for SupportAssist 214
description of SupportAssist 220
displayed in GUI 16
displaying 130, 131
D
duration 132 data analysis 157, 160, 161, 164, 167, 169
email notification 58 data archiving
estimated time detected 132 scheduling 183
hiding disabled email alerts 67 data collection
priority levels 131 event driven 189
set up notifications 26 on-demand 189
setting threshold criteria 143 weekly 189
threshold criteria 141 data preservation 25
all disk IOPS 93 delegated space
all disks I/O rate 93 group capacity view 119
archives reporting 119
creating from GUI 181 delegated space in multiple pools 118
opening 184 Dell Storage Update Manager
scheduling 183 launch from Servers and Groups tree 76
using command to create 182 launch from tool bar 77
audit logs launch standalone kit 77
audit messages 147 options for launching 76
copying to clipboard 149 overview 76
exporting 149 prerequisites for using 76
searching 148 disk information 42
disk performance metrics 172
C drive performance 172
capacity information
outbound replicas 39
E
summary 34 email alerts
chart display 67 hiding disabled 67
CLI email notification
adding a group using 58 configure 72
start SAN HQ GUI from 17 customizing alerts 73
combined graphs 41 requirements 72
command-line interface, EQLXPerf
See CLI assigning domain user name 22
compression event logging 107
overview 103 event priorities 144
prerequisites and considerations 103 events
reporting 104 copying to clipboard 135, 147
232
displaying 145 average I/O rate 128
exporting 134, 147 average I/O size 128
searching 146 average IOPS 128
experimental analysis average latency 128
examples 157, 160, 161, 164, 167, 169 estimated I/O load 128
experimental analysis data I/O load space distribution 128
examples 156 queue depth 128
replication IOPS 128
synchronous replication 128
F I/O information
favorites list experimental analysis 45
add and manage 77 I/O load
add node 78 space distribution 128
add view 78 inbound replicas 39
firewall rules 66 installation
full installation 24 change log file directory 66
configure single sign-on 25
considerations when updating 28
G directory location 65
displaying settings 65
group data log file directory requirements 21
preserving 174 post-installation tasks 25
group data exports pre-installation review 23
export from GUI 185 prerequisites 19
modifying XML file 187 required information 22
using command to export 185 restarting the SAN HQ Server 26
group diagnostics report 180 SAN HQ Client requirements 21
group manager SAN HQ Server requirements 20
launch with single sign-on 73 software location 15, 65
group monitoring update notifications 28
affect on SNMP polling 122 installation procedure
log file data compression 121 client and server 24
manage 69 client only 24
removing a group 69 installation type 65
resuming 73 IOPS
software and firmware dependencies 125 read-write distribution 128
sort list of groups 70 versus latency 128
stopping 73 IP address for group 57
TCP retransmissions 123 iSCSI connection information 46
troubleshooting 121 iSCSI connections view 124
group network address
manage changes 120
group performance 122 L
grpadmin credentials 192
latency 128
Live View
H data 81
prerequisites 82
hardware alarms running a session 82
displaying 130 local replication reserve 126
hardware/firmware information 41 Local Service
hardware/firmware summary 35 SAN HQ Server run as 22
HDD vs SSD performance 172 log file directory
change 66
I location 65
requirements 21
I/O data log files
233
access to 63
data compression 121
directory requirements 21
R
increasing size 71 RAID evaluator
modify 63 evaluate current RAID policy 85
retaining 23 evaluate RAID policy reliability 87
retaining data 26 RAID policy reliability
size 58 alerts 90
uploading backup data 27 FAQs 91
using after SAN HQ update 25 reporting 85
login credentials unknown status 90
deleting 75 recoverable volumes 98, 99, 126
replica compression 103
N replica reserve 101, 126
replication
network inbound replicas 39
infrastructure recommendation 171 replication borrowing 101
managing address changes 120 replication partner 126
requirements for SupportAssist 193 replication summary 36
network data reports,
active ports 129 creating from GUI 176
Ethernet port 129 See also SAN HQ reports
iSCSI connections 129 requirements
link speed 129 PS Series group 19
management network 129 SupportAssist 192
network load 129
network rate 129
TCP retransmissions 129 S
traffic 129
SAN HQ
network for group view 123
compression reporting 104
network information 47
features 11
network load information 48
installation procedure 23
network port information 48
obtaining software 22
network ports view 123
start from CLI 17
network rate 129
start from Windows 15
network rate information 48
SAN HQ alerts 135
notifications 26
SAN HQ Client
accessing log files 22
P cache directory 65
navigation 30
percentile reporting 95th 51 startup settings 66
performance data upgrade 62
capacity data 126 SAN HQ GUI
polling period adding a group 57
sampling period 55 circle graph 55
polling status 130 control appearance 65
post-installation tasks 25 control tooltips 66
PS Series group data description 126
adding from CLI 58 data table 55
requirements 19 display data from different times 53
summary information 33 group information categories 38
pssdiag 189 hiding groups 70
information categories 33
Q navigation 30
network for group view 123
queue depth 128
234
network ports view 123 storage container
summary views 32 information presented by SAN HQ 114
zoom links 54 SupportAssist
SAN HQ reports activity log 212
group data report 174 activity types 213
information required 175 alerts 220
modify XML file for archiving data 183 autopilot read only account 192
modifying XML file 177 command reference 226
types of 174 components and process 189
using a command to create 176 configuration settings 209
SAN HQ Server configuration steps for existing group 204
adding 61 configuration steps when adding new
changing the default server 61 group 197
configuration settings 67 configuration worksheet 195
identifying a running 65 configure contact data 214
pending restarts 69 configure from CLI 207
protocols and ports 20 configuring for an existing group 203
requirements 20 considerations when enabling 220
run as local service 22 customer contact information 200
syslog server 107 data collection 189
settings data collection settings 225
control GUI appearance 65 data sorting options 225
control temperature settings 67 decrypting local data packages 218
control tooltips 66 firmware requirements 192
email 72 general troubleshooting 220
installation 65 group configuration requirements 192
single sign-on network and bandwidth requirements 193
configuring 25 offline data upload prerequisites 222
delete login credentials 75 on-demand data collection 216
disabling 75 on-demand data collection procedure 217
enable 74 prerequisites for configuring 194
entering credentials 58 quick start information 196
launch group manager with 73 read-only account 192
modifying credentials 74 reference information 225
snapshot compression 103 troubleshooting 219
snapshot reserve upload settings 225
space borrowing 101 SupportAssist alerts 220
SNMP community name 19, 192 SupportAssist command reference
SNMP notification Display SALA 226
about 110 SupportAssist configuration settings
configuration file 110 reference information 208
configure from GUI 111 SupportAssist configuration wizard 204
modify configuration 113 SupportAssist data collection
requirements 111 run now 216
troubleshooting 114 Synchronous replication (SyncRep)
SNMP polling 122 about 79
space borrowing states 79
outbound replicas 103 SyncRep 79
statistics for group 101 SyncRep volumes
view statistics 101 monitoring 78
space utilization 126 syslog event logging
SSD usage statistics 92 disabling 108
SSD vs HDD performance 172 syslog notification 192
SSH 192 syslog server
statistics change configuration 108
thin provisioning 126 configure event logging 107
235
disabling 109 information presented by SAN HQ 116
requirements 108 support for 114
syslog server requirements 107 VM,
See virtual machine
T Volume I/O summary 37
volume reserve 126
TCP retransmissions 123 volumes
thin provisioning displaying recoverable 99
statistics 126 displaying SyncRep 79
time range selector 54 identifying by type 56
tooltips queue depth 128
controlling 66 recoverable 126
displaying 55 reported size 126
troubleshooting support for virtual 114
group monitoring problems 121 types 126
SupportAssist 220 undelete 98
VVol,
See virtual volume
U
update notifications 28
X
V XML file
modify to archive data 183
virtual machine modify to create a report 177
information presented by SAN HQ 117 modify to export data 187
virtual volume
236

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Dell EqualLogic SAN Headquarters

1 Overview of SAN Headquarters........................................................................ 11

2 SAN Headquarters Installation......................................................................... 19

4 Configure and Manage the Group Monitoring Environment.................... 64

5 SAN Headquarters GUI Data........................................................................... 126

6 Analyze Group Data and Solving Problems.................................................150

7 Preserve Group Data........................................................................................ 174

8 Configure and Use SupportAssist..................................................................189

Basic networking concepts

Dell Online Services

1. Visit dell.com or the URL specified in any Dell product information.

Dell EqualLogic Storage Solutions

SAN Headquarters Features

Using SAN HQ, you can:

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

Overview of SAN Headquarters 11

SAN Headquarters Environment

12 Overview of SAN Headquarters

Figure 1. Single-Server Environment

Overview of SAN Headquarters 13

Figure 2. Multi-Server Environment shows an example of a SAN HQ multi-server environment.

Figure 2. Multi-Server Environment

14 Overview of SAN Headquarters

Start SAN Headquarters from Windows

Figure 3. Servers and Groups Window

The numbered callouts correspond to the following items.

Callout 1 Menus and Toolbars

Overview of SAN Headquarters 15

Callout 2 Servers and Groups Tree

Callout 3 Servers and Groups Table

Callout 4 Alerts, Events, and Audit Logs Table

Callout 5 Servers and Groups Button

Callout 6 Settings Button

Enables you to modify:

16 Overview of SAN Headquarters

Callout 7 SupportAssist Button

Callout 8 Help Button

Displays SAN HQ documentation and support information.

Start SAN Headquarters GUI Using a Command Line

SanHQClient.exe -NavigateToGroup:"value" [-View:"value"] [-TimeRange:"value" |

Option Supported Values

Overview of SAN Headquarters 17

If not specified, the view loads in the Summary view.

-TimeAll Loads all the data available for that group.

SanHQClient.exe -NavigateToGroup:"SanHQ-D" -View:"Capacity"

Table 2. Results of Command-Line Errors

Error Resulting Display

Wrong page name Summary window for the specified group

Wrong time specified Time period is selected as default 8 hours

18 Overview of SAN Headquarters

Prerequisites for Installing SAN Headquarters

See Requirements for Running SAN Headquarters Client.

PS Series Group Requirements

PS Series firmware version 7.0 or later.

SAN Headquarters Installation 19

Microsoft Windows operating systems:

Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)

Table 3. Protocol and Port Information for Standard SAN HQ Functionality

Protocol (Port)1 Description

20 SAN Headquarters Installation

Requirements for Running SAN Headquarters Client

Microsoft Windows operating systems:

Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit operating systems)