Nutanix File Shares Test
Shares (SMB) and exports (NFS) encapsulate file directories. There are two types of shares or exports:
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Distributed: A distributed share ("home") or export ("sharded") spreads data across all of the FSVMs on the file server to improve performance and scalability of client connections.
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Standard: A standard share ("general purpose") or export ("non-sharded" or "non-distributed") contains all of the data on a single FSVM. A standard share or export serves data and connections from a single FSVM.
The client network enables communication between the clients and the FSVMs, allowing clients to access the Files shares. Self-service restore capability is set up in Nutanix Files at the file server level to restore files in case if the files in the file share or file server are corrupted or are exposed to malicious attacks. Individual file shares can be excluded from self-service giving the administrator control of which shares leverage this protection and which don’t. If a file share is not enabled with self-service restore, then files from the file share may be lost forever in case the file is corrupted or lost due to malicious attacks. Similarly, if the file shares are running out of space, users may not be able to store their files. For an administrator, it is essential to keep track on the file shares that are included in the file servers on a daily basis and ensure that the file shares have adequate space for user operations. The Nutanix File Shares test helps administrators in this regard!
This test auto-discovers the file shares on the file servers and reports the type of each file share. Using this test, administrators can easily isolate those file shares on which self-service restore and Access Based Enumeration capabilities are not enabled. Administrators are also alerted to those file shares that are running out of space.
Target of the test : A Nutanix AHV Prism Element
Agent deploying the test : A remote agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for each Nutanix file server:file share on the target the Nutanix AHV Prism Element being monitored
| Parameter | Description |
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Test Period |
How often should the test be executed |
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Host |
The host for which the test is to be configured. |
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Port |
The port at which the specified host listens. By default, this is 9440. |
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Nutanix Prism Element User, Nutanix Prism Element Password and Confirm Password |
To connect to the Nutanix Prism Element and collect metrics from it, the eG agent should be configured with the credentials of a Prism Element user with the Viewer role. The steps for creating such a user are detailed in the Pre-requisites for Monitoring Nutanix Prism Element topic. Confirm the nutanix Prism Element password by retyping itin Confirm Password textbox. |
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SSL |
By default, the Nutanix Prism Element server is SSL-enabled. Accordingly, the SSL flag is set to Yes by default. This indicates that the eG agent will communicate with the Prism Element server via HTTPS by default. |
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WebPort |
By default, the Nutanix Prism Element server listens on port 9440. This implies that while monitoring a Nutanix AHV server via the Prism server, the eG agent connects to port 9440. |
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DD Frequency |
Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every 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. |
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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:
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| Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation | ||||||||
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Type |
Indicates the type of this file share. |
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The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the name of each file server VM, IP address, vCPUs and size of the memory allocated to each file server VM. The values that this measure can take and its corresponding numeric values correspond to the states are as follows:
Note: By default, the test reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the type of the file share. In the graph of this measure however, the state is indicated using the corresponding numeric equivalents mentioned in the table above. |
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Is previous version enabled? |
Indicates whether/not self-service restore (SSR) is enabled on this file share. |
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Self-service restore is set up in Nutanix Files at the file server level. Individual file shares can be excluded from self-service giving the administrator control of which shares leverage this protection and which don’t. Self-service restore leverages snapshots for recovery with frequency settings as often as once per hour. The restore process uses Windows previous version, a feature of Windows that is already available to your end users in their Windows explorer file properties area. An end user who is looking to restore a previous version of a file can right click a folder and bring up the properties window. The Previous Version tab will access the available snapshots on Nutanix Files to give the end user a list of the files available. Users can drill down to find the right file from the right period of time and restore that file in-place or as a new version. This capability is supported across both SMB and NFS shares without changing the user experience. The values that this measure can take and its corresponding numeric values are as follows:
Note: By default, the test reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicatewhether/not self-service resotre is enabled on the file share. In the graph of this measure however, the Measure Values are indicated using the corresponding numeric equivalents only i.e., 0 or 1. |
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Is access based enumeration enabled? |
Indicates whether/not Access Based Enumeration is enabled on this file share. |
Number |
Access Based Enumeration(ABE) is a Microsoft Windows (SMB protocol) feature that filters the list of available files and folders on the file server to only include files and folders that the requesting user has read-access to. The filtering ensures that Files enforces read-and-write privileges for all users and that information can remain confidential. ABE controls the user visibility of shared folders on mounted file system shares based on the user permissions. The values that this measure can take and its corresponding numeric values are as follows:
Note: By default, the test reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicatewhether/not self-service resotre is enabled on the file share. In the graph of this measure however, the Measure Values are indicated using the corresponding numeric equivalents only i.e., 0 or 1. |
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SMB connections |
Indicates the number of SMB connections initiated to this file share. |
Number |
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Space used by snapshots |
Indicates the space used by the snapshots in this file share. |
GB |
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Maximum space |
Indicates the the maximum size of this file share. |
GB |
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Space used |
Indicates the amount of space utilized by this file share. |
GB |
A value close to Maximum space measure indicates that the file share is running out of space. |
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Used space |
Indicates the percentage of space utilized by this file share. |
Percent |
A value close to 100 percentage indicates that the file share is running out of space. |
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Free space |
Indicates the percentage of space available for use in this file share. |
Percent |
A low value is desired for this measure. |
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Quote limit |
Indicates the quota limit of this file share. |
GB |
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