XIO InfiniBand Switches Test

Multiple X-Brick clusters may consist of:

  • Two, four, six or eight X -Bricks
  • Two InfiniBand Switches

From the hardware perspective of the X-Brick cluster, no component is a single point of failure. Each Storage Controller, DAE and InfiniBand Switch in the system is equipped with dual power supplies. The system also has dual Battery Backup Units and dual network and data ports (in each of the Storage Controllers). The two InfiniBand Switches are cross connected and create a dual data fabric. Failure of any component may trigger a recovery attempt or a failover. For the failover process to be smooth enough, it is necessary that all the components are functioning well. Failure of the Infiniband switch may lead to connection loss to the storage controller and in due course may lead to data loss during failover. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the Infiniband Switchess round the clock! The XIO Infiniband Switches test helps administrators in this regard!

This test reports whether/not each Infiniband Switch is enabled. This test also helps administrators to determine the availability of each Infiniband Switch, the current health of the switches and the state of the ports on the Infiniband Switches. Using this test, administrators can easily identify the Infiniband Switch that is wrongly connected to the storage controllers.

Target of the test : An EMC XtremIO Storage array

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the InfiniBand Switches of the target EMC XtremIO being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the storage device for which this test is to be configured.

Port

The port number at which the storage array listens. The default is NULL.

XtremIO User and XtremIO Password

Provide the credentials of a user who has read only privileges to access the XtremIO storage array in the XtremIO User and XtremIO Password text boxes.

Confirm Password

Confirm the password by retyping it here.

XMS IP

This parameter is applicable only for EMC XtremIO 4.x. By default, None will be chosen from this list. If the target EMC XtremIO storage array is within a XMS Management Server that is auto-discovered, then the IP or host name of that XMS Management Server will be displayed in this list. Select that particular XMS IP to configure this test. If you wish to monitor an EMC XtremIO Storage Array that is either not an integral part of the auto-discovered XMS Management Server or a brand new EMC XtremIO Storage Array, choose the Other option. This will enable you to add a new XMS Managament Server. To know how to add a new XMS Management Server, refer to Adding a new XMS.

SSL

The eG agent collects performance metrics by invoking Restful APIs on the target Storage array. Typically, the Restful APIs can be invoked through the HTTP or the HTTPS mode. By default, the eG agent invokes the Restful APIs using the HTTPS mode. This is why, the SSL flag is set to Yes by default. If the target storage array is not SSL-enabled, then the Restful APIs can be accessed through the HTTP mode only. In this case, set the SSL flag to No.

DD Frequency

Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 2:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every second time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD frequency.

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

Is enabled?

Indicates whether/not this InfiniBand Switch is enabled.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
Yes 0
No 1

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether/not this InfiniBand Switch is enabled. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents only - 0 or 1.

Health status

Indicates the current health of this InfiniBand Switch.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
Healthy 0
Initializing 1
Uninitialized 2
Failed 3
Disconnected 4

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current health of this InfiniBand Switch. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents only - 0 to 4.

Fan drawer status

Indicates the current state of the fan drawer in this InfiniBand Switch.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
Healthy 0
One_fan_failed 1
Failed 2

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current state of the fan drawer in this InfiniBand Switch. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents only - 0 to 2.

Inter-switch port 1 state

Indicates the current state of the Inter-switch port 1 of this InfiniBand Switch.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
Active 0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current state of the Inter-switch port 1 of this InfiniBand Switch. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents only i.e., 0.

Inter-switch port 2 state

Indicates the current state of the Inter-switch port 2 of this InfiniBand Switch.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
Active 0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current state of the Inter-switch port 2 of this InfiniBand Switch. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents only i.e., 0.

Is infiniband switch available?

Indicates whether/not this InfiniBand Switch is available.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
Available 0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether/not this InfiniBand Switch is available. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents only i.e., 0.

Is wrong storage controller connection detected?

Indicates whether any storage controller was not connected to the corresponding InfiniBand Switch.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
None 0
Wrong connection detected 1

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether any storage controller was not connected to the corresponding InfiniBand Switch. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents only - 0 or 1.