NetApp Oncommand Unified Manager Tutorial

OnCommand unified manager previously called “the DFM server” makes NetApp storage the best  solution for physical, virtual and cloud environments.


Install the NetApp Command Core Package in windows server.

Accept the EULA.

Select the type of installation like Express or Standard.

Type the license key information.

Installation Started.

Installation Completed successfully.

The following ways, You can access the Unified manager.

1. NetApp oncommand Console
2. Web browser.

Accessing via console.

This is the dash board of Netapp oncommand console.

You can add the storage controller information to monitor and manage.

Storage controller add wizard.

Host name or ipaddress of the NetApp filer.

Login Credentials.

Access via web browser. The Filer is also successfully added.

You can manage the virtual environment.

Adding the cluster information.

Cluster added successfully.

Open Systems SnapVault Best Practices

The Open Systems SnapVault (OSSV) primary agent has extended the reach of NetApp SnapVault technology to the open systems server. OSSV facilitates block-level incremental transfers from the open systems platform directly to a secondary storage system. Various data sets can now be maintained remotely on a common NetApp storage system with or without the NearStore® license.

Open Systems SnapVault is a heterogeneous disk-to-disk data protection solution that is ideal for use with NetApp storage systems. An OSSV primary system corresponds to a backup client in the traditional backup architecture. The SnapVault secondary is always a data storage system running Data ONTAP®. OSSV software protects data residing on a primary, which can be a storage system from a server running an operating system from leading server vendors such as Solaris™, HP-UX, AIX, Windows, VMware® ESX, and Linux®.

Three main components are installed in the OSSV environment:

• The primary system
• The OSSV agent residing on the primary system
• The secondary system

There are two phases to the OSSV backup mechanism:

• Phase 1: File system scan on primary and directory structure built on secondary
• Phase 2: Actual data set transfer

Install the OSSV package in windows server. This windows server act as a primary server (Which data needs to take a backup).

Accept the EULA.

Specify the NDMP user name and password.

Listening Port Number.

Specify the Secondary NetApp Filer hostname or IPaddress.

Select the snapvault agent installation folder.

Select yes to manage this host agent through DFM.

Installation is in progress.

Now successfully OSSV installed in windows server.

Setup the intial configuration using the snapvault configurator.

Check the snapvault status in windows server.

To start the snapvault backup using snapvault start command in secondary netapp filer.

Now check with the snapvault status.

It started the Base Line Transfer to the destination.

Now successfully transferred the base line transfer.

Now you can list the source file (the data from the source).

Check the snapvault status in Windows server.

For testing, delete the source in windows server.

The source folder, ossvbackup successfully deleted.

Now restore using snapvault restore command in windows server.

Now successfully restored.

NetApp Oncommand Balance Tutorial

OnCommand Balance provides performance planning, troubleshooting, and optimization for physical and virtual data centers. Balance helps you manage the performance and workloads of your dynamic shared infrastructure.

OnCommand Balance is an analytics-based IT management software solution that helps you optimize performance and utilization of virtual machines (VM), physical servers, and storage systems. IT organizations can use Balance to quickly isolate performance problems, reduce infrastructure costs, and enable a service-oriented infrastructure. Balance uses agent-less discovery and collection of statistical data from your monitored resources. It provides multi-vendor, heterogeneous support for Linux and UNIX servers, Windows servers, hypervisors (VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V), SAN devices, and storage systems.

OnCommand Balance features

OnCommand Balance routinely collects configuration and performance statistics information from your monitored data center. It uses the statistics to predict and identify performance problems, notify you of current or potential problems, and offers recommendations for troubleshooting the root cause of performance problems and optimizing your data center resources.

OnCommand Balance includes the following features:

• Operates as an agent-less virtual appliance (VA) that runs on an ESX Server.

• Discovers and collects performance statistics from heterogeneous data centers.

• Discovers and collects performance statistics from NetApp storage systems with Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode and Cluster-Mode.

• Analyzes statistics to make recommendations for identifying and troubleshooting performance problems.

• Uses Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to help you determine if server workloads are operating at optimal efficiency.

• Provides detailed graphs that plot performance activity over time, including I/O throughput (IOPS), response time, and resource utilization.

• Includes configurable thresholds that notify you when capacity or utilization levels reach a critical point.

• Displays topology views that map the end-to-end I/O path between associated resources and applications.

• Includes customizable reports and scorecards that offer best practices, analyze trends, and highlight performance problems.

What a multiprovider is

A multiprovider is a connector that Balance uses to access some storage arrays. Balance uses the multiprovider, or a combination of the multiprovider, proxy, and array management software, to discover the storage array and enable data collection. You can add a multiprovider in Balance.

When you add a multiprovider to Balance, Balance uses the configuration information in the multiprovider record to discover the storage system.

Balance uses a multiprovider to access the following storage arrays:

• Engenio

• HP 3PAR

• IBM AIX, VIO, and LPAR

• IBM DS or SVC

Balance uses a multiprovider, the proxy, and array management software to access the following storage arrays:

• EMC Symmetrix

• Hitachi Data Systems

• HP XP

Power on the NetApp Balance VM and access through web browser.

Specify the Mail server information to get an alerts.

Login to NetApp Balance to monitor the NetApp filer.

You can discover the NetApp Filer, Any servers, Vmware esx with Vcenter server and SAN Switches.

Even you can monitor the Applications also.

Add the storage array information.

NetApp Filer successfully added.

Now you can able to create a report. Even you can schedule it also.

Sample array utilization report in pdf format.

You can schedule the report.

You can monitor any other physical servers using NetApp Balance. Just discover add the servers.

You can discover any SAN devices and Monitor it.

You need a capacity license to monitor other vendor storage arrays.

Add the vcenter information then you can monitor all virtual hosts and Hypervisor also.