Storage Management Solutions Architecture - Cisco DS-C9216I-K9 Configuration Manual

Chapter 2 Getting Started with Cisco Fabric Manager
Table 2-1
Management Protocol
ANSI T11 FC-GS3
XML/CIM

Storage Management Solutions Architecture

Management services required for the storage environment can be divided into five "layers," with the
bottom layer being closest to the physical storage network equipment, and the top layer managing the
interface between applications and storage resources.
Of these five layers of storage network management, Cisco Fabric Manager provides tools for device
(element) management and fabric management. In general, the Device Manager is most useful for device
management (a single switch), while Fabric Manager is more efficient for performing fabric
management operations involving multiple switches.
Tools for "upper-layer" management tasks can be provided by Cisco or by third-party storage and
network management applications. The following summarizes the goals and function of each layer of
storage network management:
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OL-7753-01
Supported Management Protocols (continued)
Device management provides tools to configure and manage a device within a system or a fabric.
You use device management tools to perform tasks on one device at a time, such as initial device
configuration, setting and monitoring thresholds, and managing device system images or firmware.
Fabric management provides a system-oriented view of a fabric and its devices. Fabric management
applications provide fabric discovery, fabric monitoring, reporting, and fabric configuration.
Resource management provides tools for managing resources such as fabric bandwidth, connected
paths, disks, I/O operations per second (IOPS), CPU, and memory. You can use Fabric Manager to
perform some of these tasks.

Storage Management Solutions Architecture

Purpose
Fibre Channel-Generic Services (FC-GS)3 in the
definition of the management servers defines the
Fabric Configuration Server (FCS), which is a
standard mechanism to collect information about
platforms (end devices) and interconnecting
elements (switches) building the fabric.
The Cisco MDS 9000 uses the information
provided by FCS on top of the information
contained in the Name Server database and in the
Fibre Channel Shortest Path First (FSPF) topology
database to build a detailed topology view, and
collect information for all the devices building the
fabric.
CIM server support for designing storage area
network management applications to run on Cisco
MDS SAN-OS.
Cisco MDS 9000 Fabric Manager Switch Configuration Guide
2-3