EMC PowerVault ME Expander Status Test

This test reports the current status of the expander present in the EMC PowerVault ME storage system and the status of the SES elements available in the expander.

Target of the test : A EMC PowerVault ME storage system

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every expander being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed .

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured. Since the storage device is managed using the IP address of its storage controller, the same will be displayed as host. In case of a dual-controller configuration, the IP address of the primary controller will be displayed here.

Port

The port number at which the specified host listens. By default, this is NULL.

Additional Controller IP

By default, this test always connects to the Host to collect metrics. If the Host is unavailable, then the test will not be able to execute. This is because, the Additional Controller IP is set to none by default.

If the monitored storage device has two controllers, then you can configure the test to connect to an alternate controller, if the host is unreachable. For this purpose, specify the IP address of the alternate controller in the Additional Controller IP text box.

User and Password

In order to monitor a EMC PowerVault ME storage system, the eG agent has to be configured with the credentials of a user who has been assigned the Monitor role. Specify the login credentials of such a user in the User and Password text boxes. To know how to create such a user, refer to Pre-requisites for monitoring the EMC PowerVault ME storage system.

Confirm Password

Confirm the password by retyping it here.

ServicePort

The Management Controller of the EMC PowerVault ME storage system provides access for monitoring and management via the HTTP and HTTPS protocols for XML API request/response semantics. To enable the eG agent to access the management controller, invoke the XML API commands, and collect the required metrics, you need to specify the service port on the controller that listens for HTTP/HTTPS requests for XML API semantics. By default, this is port 80.

Timeout

Specify the time duration for which this test should wait for a response from the storage system in the Timeout text box. By default, this is 60 seconds.

SSL

By default, EMC PowerVault ME system is not SSL-enabled. This is why, this flag is set to False by default. If it is SSL-enabled, then change this flag to True.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Status

Indicates the current status of this expander.

Reads/Sec

The values that this measure can report and the their corresponding numeric values are tabulated below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Enabled - Degraded 0
Disabled 1
Enabled - Healthy 2
Unavailable 3

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned Measure Values while indicating the current status of this expander. However, in the graph of this measure, status will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents only.

Elem status

Indicates the current status of the SES elements available in this expander.

MB/Sec

Most SCSI enclosure products support a protocol called SCSI Enclosure Services (SES). The initiator can communicate with the enclosure using a specialised set of SCSI commands to access power, cooling, and other non-data characteristics. The SCSI initiator communicates with an SES device using two SCSI commands: Send Diagnostic and Receive Diagnostic Results.

Some universal SCSI commands such as Inquiry are also used with standalone enclosure services to perform basic functions such as initial discovery of the devices. These commands can be addressed to a specific SES element in the enclosure. There are many different element codes defined to cover a wide range of devices. The most common SES elements are power supply, cooling fan, temperature sensor, and UPS.

The values that this measure can report and the their corresponding numeric values are tabulated below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Disabled 0
Error 1
Non-critical 2
Unknown 3
OK 4
Not Used 5

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned Measure Values while indicating the current status of the SES elements. However, in the graph of this measure, the same will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents only.

The detailed diagnosis of this measure if enabled, lists the PHY type of the SES element and the primary reason for the health of the SES element.