So what is Storage Resource Management Suite 3.0? As defined by our friends at EMC, it is a software solution that provides multi-vendor capacity, performance, and configuration dashboards and reports for traditional and software-defined storage resources.
It provides powerful analytics to meet the challenges facing today's enterprise IT organizations with rapid data growth. According to Gartner, there is a reduction in the forecast for external controller-based storage which has contributed to the cut in data center systems spending growth outlook for 2014 to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent. This is nothing new to IT leadership, again they are faced with having to provide more to their line of business partners with a flat budget. An investment in a tool like EMC Storage Resource Management Suite can be a significant benefit.
Storage Resource
Management (SRM) Suite 3.0 is an exciting release because they have combined the
functionality of the three products ProSphere, Storage Configuration Advisor
and Watch4net, into one product with a single architecture.
EMC Storage Resource Management Suite also works with EMC ViPR to institute the framework you need to abstract, pool, and automate storage resources for delivering a more agile infrastructure with lower and more predictable costs. This fits nicely into the "aaS" mindset that is helping drive business value.
The Storage Resource Management Suite enables you to:
- Understand application to storage dependencies by mapping topology and relationships from the host, through the switch, down to the LUN on the array.
- Troubleshoot performance problems, analyze performance trends, and create performance reports for key stakeholders.
- Create application charge-back or show-back reports to better align the cost of storage services with business requirements.
- Analyze capacity consumption and performance trends to improve utilization and optimize resources.
- Monitor compliance with configuration best practices and the EMC support matrix to ensure the environment is always configured right to meet service levels.
- Provide line of business stakeholders with reports that demonstrate SLA compliance.
- Monitor compliance with data replication policies for EMC replication technologies to enhanced data protection.
- Analyze capacity consumption trends to improve capacity planning and purchasing processes.
I was delighted to learn that I was recognized by my peers in the IT community for my contributions and that I was selected for the EMC Elect 2014. It really is a privilege to be associated with such a fantastic group of IT influencers and an honor to have been chosen.
Also, I want to congratulate the other members of the EMC Elect 2014. The recognition is very well-deserved. We're all fortunate to benefit from your contributions to the community!
One thing is certain, there are definite benefits to blogging and community
involvement for most IT professionals. Blogs are a great medium for discussion and collaboration that is not always possible in one’s immediate physical
surroundings.
In addition to the general intellectual exchange many of us likely find of
value (or hopefully we would not be spending so much time on it) is the
feedback we receive on specific technical related posts that has the potential
to influence our thinking and writing. This has certainly happened to me in my career and I
consider it a tangible benefit, although one that only shows up
indirectly.
To start off the New Year, I wanted to go over some networking basics for virtualization. This will be a multi-part series. First, lets go over some of the key networking terms.
Network Definitions
- Network: Physical connection that allows computers to communicate
- Packet: Unit of transfer, bits carried over the network
- Protocol: Agreement between two parties as to how information is to be transmitted
- Broadcast Network: Shared communication medium
- Arbitration: Act of negotiating the use of a shared medium
- Point-To-Point Network: A network in which every physical wire is connected to only two computers
- Switch: A bridge that transforms a shared-bus (broadcast) configuration into a point-to-point network
- Router: A device that acts as a junction between two networks to transfer data packets among them
- Gateway: A device that connects two networks communicating over different protocols
Next, lets take a look at the OSI structure and the associated devices for the network connection.
The OSI layers start at the application layer, presentation layer, and session layer which are generally considered as one block from a networking standpoint; followed by transport layer, network layer, datalink layer, and physical layer. You can think of the NIC and operating system at the physical layer, datalink layer, network layer, and transport layer; and everything above the operating system in the session layer, presentation layer, and application layer.