use case scenarios for virtual connect enterprise manager - v.0 8 7.pdf

8/16/2019 Use Case Scenarios for Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager - v.0 8 7.pdf

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Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager for c-Class BladeSystem – Use-case ScenariosVersion 0.8.7- October 2007

HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager 1.0

Use-Case Scenarios – Getting Started!

Version (Draft) 0.8.7


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Table of Contents…………

1.0 Why Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager?___________________________ 3

2.0 A Word on MAC Addresses and WWNs_____________________________ 3

3.0 Use-case Scenarios for Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager_____________ 4

3.1 Licensing and Authorization of an Enclosure for Use by VCEM ________ 4

3.2 Create a VC Domain Group from an Existing VC Domain_____________ 8

3.3 Add an Existing Virtual Connect Domain to a VC Domain Group _____ 11

3.4 Add a “Bare Metal” Virtual Connect module to a VC Domain Group___ 15

3.5 Moving a VC Server Profile within a VC Domain Group _____________ 21

3.6 Copying a VC Server Profile within a VC Domain Group ____________ 23

3.7 Removing a VC Domain from a VC Domain Group _________________ 25

3.8 Modifying a Virtual Connect Domain Network or SAN Configuration _ 27

Appendix A: Rules for Domain Group Membership_________________________ 33

A.1 Rules for Adding Existing VC Domains to a VC Domain Group _______ 33

A.2 Rules for Adding Unconfigured VC modules to a VC Domain Group___ 34

Appendix B: Licensing Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager __________________ 35


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1.0 Why Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager?

Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager (VCEM) enables centralized management of multiple Virtual Connect enabled c-Class enclosures. In addition, VCEM resolves someof the following Virtual Connect management challenges with the use of the embedded

Virtual Connect Manager. These challenges include:

1. All Virtual Connect Domains require a separate instance of the embedded VirtualConnect Manager to maintain, configure, and control its domain. No singlemanagement tool to control Virtual Connect across domains.

2. Virtual Connect allows for up to 64 ranges of VC-Managed MAC addresses andWWNs. After 64 Virtual Connect Domains are created, duplicate MACaddresses and WWNs will be used.

3. Virtual Connect (current generation) profiles cannot be copied or moved betweenBladeSystem Enclosures.

Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager solves each of these challenges by becoming thefocal-point tool for managing and monitoring Virtual Connect Domains at an Enterprise-wide level.

2.0 A Word on MAC Addresses and WWNs

During the creation of a Virtual Connect Domain, a user must choose whether to use theburned-in MAC addresses/WWNs, “VC-Managed” MAC-Addresses/WWNs, or “user-defined MAC Addresses/WWNs. The large majority of customers choose to use “VC

Managed” MAC Addresses/WWNs in order to take advantage of Virtual Connect’s abilityto manage and assign these addresses directly to the NIC/HBA respectively.

When a Virtual Connect Domain becomes “managed” by Virtual Connect EnterpriseManager (VCEM), the MAC Address and WWN ranges that were previously in use bythe VC Domain become managed by VCEM.

If a user releases a previously VCEM-managed VC Domain back to the integrated VCManager (i.e. deleting the VC Domain Group or removing the VC Domain from the VCDomain Group in VCEM), the user may be able to select the same address ranges thatwere previously in use (provided that no server profiles were moved from this VCDomain to another VCEM-managed Domain). It is important to note that the address

type will change from HP-Predefined to User-Defined. However, this address typechange will not impact any VC Operations.

If the user wants to change the address type, they can do so with the followingrequirements:

1. No server profiles can be defined in the VC Domain


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2. VC Domain is not managed by VCEM (i.e. remove the VC Domain Group andthen remove the VCEM “authorization”).

The above concepts are critical and should be well understood. If a customer were toattempt to manage a VC domain with VCEM as a “test” and then try to “undo” thismanagement by VCEM; the customer may be forced to walk through some time

consuming steps (i.e. remove server profiles, make the address type change, recreateserver profiles) in order to ensure that the VC Domain functions exactly as it did beforeVCEM began managing the VC Domain. This process can be frustrating and timeconsuming. That said, changing the address type will not impact any VC operations.

The concept of managing and changing the address range type and reclaiming MAC Addresses/WWIDs is a key reason as to why HP highly encourages their customers toleverage a test or development environment for the purpose of validating their VCEMsolutions. A decision to implement VCEM in a production environment followed by adecision to remove VCEM from the same environment could result in additional andpotentially cumbersome MAC Address/WWID changes within their data center.

3.0 Use-case Scenarios for Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager

The scenarios outlined on the following pages are typical scenarios that may beencountered when working with BladeSystem VC customers. These scenarios assumethat the VCEM user has already configured the pool of Mac Addresses/WWNs to matchthe needs of the data center.

3.1 Licensing and Authorization of an Enclosure for Use by VCEM

Purpose: In order for an enclosure to be managed by VCEM the enclosure must be“licensed”. After an enclosure is licensed, the VC modules and subsequent VC Domainneed to be “authorized” for use with VCEM. The authorization step prompts for theusername and password used to gain access to the VC module and enclosure OAmodule for use by VCEM. This step creates an external VCEM “lock user” (VC Manageruser account) used exclusively by VCEM.

To license an enclosure(s), select the VC Domain(s) and click on the “License…” buttonfrom the “VC Domains” tab. Note: If the user selects “Set Authorization…” on a non-licensed enclosure, this button will redirect the user to the same license page shown

below.


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Next, select the enclosure(s) and click the “Apply License” button. This will consume 1VCEM license for each enclosure. See below:

After the enclosure is “licensed”, the VC domain must be “Authorized” for use by VCEM.To perform this step, simply select the VC Domain name to authorize for VCEM usageand click on the “Set Authorization...” button. See below:


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Next, specify the credentials used by VCEM to communicate with the VC Domain. Seebelow:

Note: If this VC is unconfigured (bare metal), then Onboard Administrator credentials arealso required. You may need to click the plus sign (+) associated with the VC domain inorder to enter these credentials


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The following dialog box is displayed:

The Job Status can be displayed by selecting the “Jobs” tab. See below:


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The step creates an external VC Manager “lock user” for exclusive use by VCEM. Withthe creation of the external lock-user, the VC Domain is now prepared to be fully

managed by VCEM and become a member of a VC Domain Group.

Another way to verify that the VC Domain is being managed by VCEM is to login to theembedded VC Manager directly. The user will receive the following warning containingthe address of the “controlling” VCEM:

Even though the VC Domain is now managed by VCEM, the user can still use theembedded VC Manager to manage the domain. As soon as the Domain is added to aVC Domain Group the VCEM fully manages the VC Domain and the embedded VCManager can no longer be used to manage (or change) the Domain. The embedded VCManager can only be used to view the VC Domain in a “read-only” fashion.

3.2 Create a VC Domain Group from an Existing VC Domain

Purpose: A VC Domain Group is a construct that is used to manage VC Domains andServer Profiles. Creating a VC Domain Group from an existing domain is most oftenused by customers that have existing VC Domains and wish to transition those VC


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Domains to a Domain Group for management by VCEM. Since all VC Domains in a VCDomain Group must be configured identically, it is important to choose a VC Domain thatexemplifies the VC Domain “standard” configuration desired by the customer. It isimportant to note that once a VC Domain is part of a VC Domain Group, all theunassigned Server Profiles from the VC Domain now belong to the VC Domain Group(instead of the individual VC Domains).

To create a VC Domain Group from an existing VC Domain, select the “New VC DomainGroup…” button. See below:

Note: The VC domain selected in the new group UI becomes the standard domainconfiguration in the group. As a result the VC domains that are added to the group lateron need to have the identical hardware configuration as the one selected below. See

Appendix A for more detail.


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Describe the VC Domain Group by naming it and selecting the MAC Address / WWNrange types as below:

Again, monitor the progress by selecting the “Jobs” tab like below:


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Once the VC Domain Group is created, select the “VC Domain Groups” tab to verify thecreating of the VC Domain Group and list all VC Domain Groups like below:

3.3 Add an Existing Virtual Connect Domain to a VC Domain Group

Purpose: A Domain Group is a construct that is used manage VC Domains and ServerProfiles. Adding an existing VC Domain to an existing VC Domain Group is most oftenused by customers that have existing VC Domains and wish to transition those VCDomains to a “common” VC Domain Group for management by VCEM.

When adding an existing VC Domain to a VC Domain Group, the rules for domainmembership (as outlined in Appendix A) must be strictly followed. Failure to do so willresult in a failed job and group membership will not be attained.

To begin this process, complete the licensing and authorization steps as outlined in

section 5.1.

After the licensing and authorization steps are complete, select the domain to add to theDomain Group and click “Add to VC Domain Group”. See below:


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Next, select the destination VC Domain Group be choosing the VC Domain Group in thedrop-down box shown below. Then select OK to begin the validation process.


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Again, go to the “Jobs” tab to view the status of the job. See below:

After a successful addition to a VC Domain group, the results can be validated by goingto the “VC Domains” tab. See below:

Similarly, membership can be further validated by selecting the “VC Domain Groups” taband then selecting the Domain Group from the list. A pop-up window will be displayedlike the one shown below:


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Upon the addition of the VC Domain to the VC Domain group, a user who is currentlylogged into the embedded VC Domain Manager will see the following message alerting

the user that the VC Domain is now being managed by VCEM.

If the user logs out of the embedded VC Manager and then subsequently logs back in tothe embedded VC Manager, the user will see a message indicating that the VC Domainis being managed by VCEM. In this message, the address of the controlling “VCEM” willbe stated.


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Even though the VC Domain is now fully managed by VCEM, the user can still use theembedded VC Manager to view the domain. Since the domain has been added to a VCDomain Group the VCEM fully manages the VC Domain and the embedded VCManager can no longer be used to change the Domain. The embedded VC Managercan only be used to view the VC Domain in a “read-only” fashion.

3.4 Add a “Bare Metal” Virtual Connect module to a VCDomainGroup

Purpose: Adding a “Bare Metal” (or unconfigured) VC module to a VC Domain group ismost commonly used to “provision” a VC Domain and make it part of a common VCDomain Group.

When adding a “bare metal” or unconfigured VC module to a VC Domain Group, therules for domain membership (as outlined in Appendix A) must be strictly followed.Failure to do so will result in a failed job and group membership will not be attained.

To begin this process, complete the licensing steps as outlined in section 5.1. Toauthorize a “bare metal” VC module, select the VC module from the VC Domains list andclick the “Set Authorization…” button. See below:


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Since the VC module is a brand new (unconfigured) module, the toe-tag password mustbe used for VCEM to authenticate. In addition, OA credentials must be specified tocomplete the process. Be sure to expand the VC System Name so that a separate lineitem is displayed for the OA credentials. See below:

The authentication job can be monitored by selecting the “Jobs” tab. See below:


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After the licensing and authorization steps are complete, the new VC module is ready tobe added to the Domain Group.

To add the “bare metal” domain to the domain group, select the unconfigured domainand click “Add to VC Domain Group”. See below:


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Next, enter the desired VC Domain name in the text box shown below (make sure theVC Domain name is unique across the customer’s data center). Then, select thedestination VC Domain Group by choosing the VC Domain Group in the drop-down boxshown below. Then select OK to begin the validation process.

Again, go to the “Jobs” tab to view the status of the job. See below:


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After a successful addition to a VC Domain group, the results can be validated by goingto the “VC Domains” tab. See below:

Similarly, membership can be further validated by selecting the “VC Domain Groups” taband then selecting the Domain Group from the list. A pop-up window will be displayedlike the one shown below:


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If a user were to log in to the embedded VC Manager, the user will see a message

indicating that the VC Domain is being managed by VCEM. In this message, theaddress of the controlling “VCEM” will be stated.

Even though the VC Domain is now fully managed by VCEM, the user can still use theembedded VC Manager to view the domain. Since the domain has been added to a VCDomain Group the VCEM fully manages the VC Domain and the embedded VCManager can no longer be used to change the Domain. The embedded VC Managercan only be used to view the VC Domain in a “read-only” fashion.


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3.5 Moving a VC Server Profile within a VC Domain Group

Purpose: Moving a VC Server profile allows a customer to migrate the personality (MAC Addresses, WWNs, network assignments, SAN assignments) for a given bladeenclosure slot to another blade enclosure slot. Absolutely all connectivity characteristics

that were part of the source blade enclosure slot will be migrated to the destination bladeenclosure slot. The source blade enclosure slot will be left with no assigned serverprofile.

To begin, select the “Profiles” tab. To move a server profile from one enclosure toanother enclosure (in the same VC Domain Group) select the Profile to move and clickon the “Move…” button. See below:

Next, choose a destination bay from the drop-down box shown below. See below:


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The status of the move can be monitored by selecting the “Jobs” tab. See below:

The domain and physical location of the moved profile is shown below:

After this profile is moved, any blade placed in the destination slot will take on the exactsame characteristics of the original source slot. The MAC Addresses and WWNs aremoved as well. In addition, the same (as the source profile) network and SANconnectivity will be applied to the blade occupying this slot.


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3.6 Copying a VC Server Profile within a VC Domain Group

Purpose: Copying a VC Server profile allows a customer to duplicate the personality(network assignments, SAN assignments) of a given blade enclosure slot to anotherblade enclosure slot. All network and SAN mappings that were part of the source blade

enclosure slot will be migrated to the destination blade enclosure slot. The source bladeenclosure slot will be left with the original assigned server profile. Note: New MAC Addresses and WWNs are assigned to the destination server profile.

To begin, select the “Profiles” tab. To copy a server profile from one enclosure toanother enclosure (in the same VC Domain Group) select the Profile to copy and clickon the “Copy…” button. See below:

Next, select a name for the target profile and choose a bay from the drop-down boxshown below. Additional, boot-from-SAN parameters can be entered as well. Seebelow:


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The status of the Copy process can be monitored by selecting the “Jobs” tab. Seebelow:

The new profile is shown below:

After this profile is copied, the BladeSystem Administrator can place a blade in the slotdesignated by the new server profile. The same (as the source profile) network andSAN connectivity will be applied to the blade occupying this slot.


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3.7 Removing a VC Domain from a VC Domain Group

Purpose: A customer may wish to discontinue managing a VC Domain with VCEM andbegin managing the VC Domain with the integrated VC Manager. In order to accomplishthis, VCEM must relinquish control of the VC Manager. This is a two part process. The

first part requires that the VC Domain be removed from any VC Domain Group.Secondly, the VCEM must be de-authorized so that the embedded VC Manager canhave exclusive control over the VC Domain.

To begin, select the “VC Domains” tab. Next, select the VC Domain to be removed fromthe Domain Group and click the “Remove from VC Domain Group…” button.

Next, select the MAC and WWN range to be granted back to the embedded VCManager and click the OK button. A job will be submitted to complete the removal of theVC Domain from the Domain Group. See below:


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After the “Removal” job has been completed, the Status of the VC Domain will show inthe VC Domains List as “Authorized to VCEM” and no longer as “Managed by VCEM”.

See below:

To complete the removal process, remove the VCEM Authorization by selecting the VCDomain and clicking the “Remove Authorization…” button.


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Select OK to the pop-up dialog box.

3.8 Modifying a Virtual Connect Domain Network or SAN

Configuration

Purpose: Modifying a Virtual Connect Domain allows a user to add/delete/edit a VCnetwork or SAN.

The VCEM interface does not allow a user to modify the VC Domain directly. Instead,

the VCEM relies on the embedded VC Manager of the “master” VC Domain. The“master” VC Domain is the domain which was used to construct the VC Domain Group.In order to accomplish the desired modifications, VCEM “unlocks” the master VCDomain and launches the interface to the embedded VC Manager (for this domain). Theuser makes the necessary changes directly to the master VC Domain. At the conclusionof these changes, VCEM initiates a replication of these changes to all VC Domains inthe VC Domain Group.


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To begin, select the “VC Domain Groups” tab. Next, select the radio button next to thedesired VC Domain Group and click the “Update Configuration…” button. See below:

Next, the user is given an opportunity to launch the embedded VC Manager for the“master” VC Domain. To launch the embedded VC Manager for the selected VCDomain Group, click the link labeled “Click here to make changes directly to the VCManager web interface”. See below:

Upon selecting the link mentioned above, VCEM will initiate the “unlock” of the VCEMmaster domain as shown below.


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The user will be presented with a login to the embedded VC Manager. The user shouldlogin with their VC Manager user credentials. At the completion of the login sequence,the user is presented with the following screen warning the user that the VC Domain iscurrently “locked” by VCEM.

The user clicks OK and the full VC Manager Interface is displayed. At this point, theuser can make any VC network and SAN configuration changes to the domain. Thescreenshot below shows an example of creating a new VC network called “VLAN_2”using the uplink plugged in the port #2 of the VC-Enet module in bay #1.


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After the changes are made using the embedded VC Manager, the user simply closesthe web browser (for the embedded VC Manager) and the following screen is displayedagain. This time the user selects the “OK” button. to initiate replication to the other VCDomains in the VC Domain Group.


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A window indicating that VCEM has initiated a job to replicate the VC Domain changes isdisplayed. See below:

The status of this job can be monitored by selecting the “Jobs” tab. Replication iscompleted when the progress indicator for the corresponding job shows “FinishingUpdating”. See below:

More detail can be displayed by selecting the “Task” information. See below:


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Appendix

Appendix A: Rules for Domain Group Membership

VC Domain Groups form the construct for managing VC Domains and Server Profiles.

Per the VCEM User’s Guide, a VC Domain Group consists of 1 or more VC Domainsthat have identical network and fibre-channel configurations. The identical nature of VCDomains within a VC Domain Group is very critical. If an attempt is made to add a VCDomain to a Domain Group that does not have a precisely identical network and fibre-channel configuration, the domain add will fail. Below is a list of the rules that governwhether or not a VC Domain can be successfully added to a VC Domain Group.

A.1 Rules for Adding Existing VC Domains to a VC Domain Group

In order to add a configured VC domain to an existing VC Domain Group, the following

criteria must be met:

• VC Domain names do not already exist in VCEM

• Profile names do not already exist in VCEM

• MAC or WWN addresses ranges that are assigned to a profile must be not in useby VCEM or not in a VCEM exclusion list. If the WWN or MAC addresses areuser-defined, then you must define a user-defined range at VCEM.

• If the VC Domain contains Server Profiles, the MAC and WWN addressesallocated (HP-Defined, User-Defined or Factory-Default) of these server profilesmust be compatible with the MAC and WWN range types of the VC DomainGroup:

o A VC Domain containing server profiles with addresses allocated as

Factory-Default range type can only be added to a VC Domain Groupwith the Factory-Default range type.

o A VC Domain containing server profiles with addresses allocated asUser-Defined range type can be added to a VC Domain Group with aUser-Defined or HP-Defined range type. A User-Defined (Custom) MACand WWN range that includes all addresses allocated to Server Profileswithin the VC Domain must be defined in VCEM prior to adding thedomain to the VC Domain Group.

o A VC Domain containing server profiles with addresses allocated as HP-Defined range type can be added to a VC Domain Group with an HP-Defined or a User-Defined range type.

o MAC and WWN address types in all server profiles from the VC Domain

must be identical.o A VC Domain unconfigured or without server profiles have no range type

restrictions when adding in the VC Domain to a VC Domain Group.


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The following table summarizes MAC or WWN address compatibility whenadding a VC Domain to a VC Domain Group.

VC Domain (to be added) hasprofiles with MAC

Address/WWN allocated as

MAC Address/WWN of targetVC Domain Group

Add to VCEMDomainGroup

supported

HP Pre-defined HP Pre-defined or User-Defined Yes

User-Defined HP Pre-defined or User-Defined Yes

Factory Factory Yes

Factory HP Pre-defined or User-Defined No

HP Pre-defined or User-Defined Factory No

• VC Domain configuration must be identical to the VC Domain Group

configuration. Verify the following items are identical:o Interconnect bays location and modelo Enclosure modelo Network and storage uplinkso For each Fibre Channel Fabric verify that the Fibre Channel fabric name,

slot (IO bay), uplink port speed, and uplink port usedo The number of Fibre Channel Fabrics configured in the VC Domaino For each single network uplink, verify that the network name, state, smart

link, network port location, speed/duplex mode, and connection modeo Number of networks configured in the VC Domaino For each shared network uplink, verify that the uplink set name, state,

network port location, and speed/duplex mode, and connection modeo For each VLAN-tagged, verify that the network name, VLAN ID, Native,

and Smart Linko The number of VLANs taggedo Network and Fibre Channel SNMP settings – community and IP

addresses

A.2 Rules for Adding Unconfigured VC modules to a VC Domain

Group

In order to add a bare metal or unconfigured VC module to a VC Domain Group, makesure the following are identical:

• Interconnect bays location and model• Enclosure model• Uplinks connected to each VC-Enet and VC-FC module• Power state of the VC modules


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i l C i f Cl l d S S i

Appendix B: Licensing Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager

Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager is licensed per enclosure. A customer wishing to

use VCEM to Manage a Virtual Connect Domain must purchase a license for eachenclosure managed by VCEM. The VCEM software ties the license to the enclosureserial number. If the enclosure serial number should change, the user must acquire anew VCEM license.

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