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ServerView Resource Coordinator VE Setup Guide

1.2.1 Available Functions

Table 1.1 Functions Related to Managed Servers

Function

Description

Benefits

Target resource

Physical OS

VM host (*1)

VM guest (*1)

Monitoring

Monitors resources, such as servers, and displays their status (normal, error, etc.) on the RC console.

Helps identifying the cause of a failure and determine its impact on servers, thereby streamlining hardware maintenance.

Yes (*2)

Yes (*2)

Yes

Power Control

Powers on and off managed servers.

Enables remote control of a server's power state without having direct access to it. This simplifies periodic maintenance tasks that involve power control operations.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Backup and Restore

Creates system image backups of servers that can be easily restored when needed.
System images are centrally stored on a disk on the Admin Server.

Creating backups before any configuration change, software installation or patch application can drastically reduces the time to restore a server to its original state when hardware or software problems occur.

Yes

Yes (*3)

No

Hardware Maintenance

Simplifies the re-configuration tasks required after replacement of a hardware part.
In SAN environments, re-configuration of attached storage devices (access paths and other security settings) is no longer required when using I/O virtualization.

Lightens the work load associated with hardware replacement and reduces operational errors.

Yes

Yes

-

Server Switchover

Recover applications upon hardware failure by switching over primary servers with pre-assigned spare servers.

Shortens and simplifies the recovery procedure in the event of a server failure.

Yes

Yes

No

Cloning

Creates a cloning image of a reference server and distribute it to other managed servers.
Cloning images are centrally stored on a disk on the Admin Server.

Simplifies OS and software installation when servers are added. Allows servers with identical OS and software configurations to share common backups.

Yes (*4)

No

No

Yes: Supported
No: Not supported
-: Not applicable
*1: The level of functionality may differ depending on the server virtualization software used for VM hosts and VM guests. Refer to "A.1 Supported Functions" for details.
*2: Depending on the hardware being used, this feature may or may not be available. Refer to the corresponding "Note" in "1.2 Hardware Environment" of the "ServerView Resource Coordinator VE Installation Guide" for details.
*3: When backing up a VM host containing VM guests on its own boot disk, behavior differs according to the server virtualization product used. Refer to "A.3 Functional Differences between Products" for details.

*4: This function is not available for servers running a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating system.


Table 1.2 Functions Related to Blade Chassis

Function

Description

Benefits

Power Control

Powers on and off blade chassis.

Enables remote control of a chassis's power state without needing to connect to its management blade. This simplifies periodic maintenance tasks that involve power control operations.


Table 1.3 Functions Related to the Admin Server

Function

Description

Benefits

Pre-configuration

Systems made up of multiple servers can be easily configured or modified using the pre-configuration function to import a pre-defined system configuration file.

Prevents setup mistakes by performing numerous setup operations in a single action.
System configuration files can be easily edited on machines where Resource Coordinator VE is not installed.

Backup and Restore

Backs up or restores a Resource Coordinator VE installation.

Performing backups after configuration changes are made in Resource Coordinator VE enables prompt recovery of the Admin Server in case its internal data is damaged due to administration mistakes or other problems.

Table 1.4 Functions Related to LAN Switches

Function

Description

Benefits

Monitoring

Monitors LAN switches and displays their statuses (normal or error) graphically.

Simplifies identification of the cause and impact of LAN switch failure on servers and speeds up hardware maintenance.

Network Map

Helps visualize and relate physical networks (between servers and LAN switch blades) together with virtualized networks (from VLANs or virtual switches used in server virtualization software).

Automatically detects and displays network connections (topology) and link statuses for different kinds of resources (network equipment or server virtualization software).

VLAN settings

Automates VLAN settings (port VLAN or tagged VLAN) on LAN switches adjacent to servers.

Simplifies the VLAN configuration of LAN switches when adding new servers. During automatic recovery of a failed server, VLANs are automatically reconfigured to preserve connectivity and avoid manual network re-configurations.

Restore

Restores a LAN switch to its latest VLAN configuration.

Restores the VLAN configuration on a replaced LAN switch to the configuration that was active before replacement.

Table 1.5 Functions related to Power Monitoring Devices

Function

Description

Benefits

Power consumption monitoring

Monitors power consumption trends for devices connected to power monitoring devices. Collects and outputs power consumption data over a given period of time.

This function can be used to measure the effectiveness of environmental policies and cost-saving initiatives on power consumption.

Table 1.6 Functions Related to Virtual Machines

Function (*1)

Description

Benefits

Migration of VM guests between servers

Migrates a VM guest from one physical server to another.

Facilitates optimization of VM guest deployments according to server load or planned maintenance.

VM maintenance mode control

Sets (or releases) VM hosts to (or from) a specific state that allows safe server maintenance.

VM hosts can be easily set out of and back into operation.

*1: Available functions may vary according to the server virtualization software used. Refer to "A.1 Supported Functions" for details.