Monitoring Status Through Software - IBM System Storage DCS3700 Installation, User's, And Maintenance Manual

Monitoring status through software

Use the Storage Manager software to monitor the status of the storage subsystem. Run the software
constantly, and check it frequently.
Note:
1. You can monitor only storage subsystems that are within the management domain of the
storage-management software.
2. If you have not installed the Storage Manager Event Monitor service as part of the
storage-management software installation, the Storage Manager Enterprise Management
window must remain open. (If you close the window, you will not receive any alert
notifications from the managed storage subsystems.)
For more information, see the Enterprise Management online help.
Important: See the DS Storage Manager 10 Installation and Host Support Guide for the applicable operating
system for instructions for installing the Storage Manager software. The document is in the
Documentation folder on the IBM Support Software DVD.
To download the latest version of the Storage Manager software, controller firmware,
NVSRAM firmware, and the latest ESM firmware, go to http://www.ibm.com/servers/
storage/support/disk/.
The Storage Manager software provides the best way to diagnose and repair storage-subsystem failures.
The software can help you:
v Determine the nature of the failure
v Locate the failed component
v Determine the recovery procedures to repair the failure
Amber (needs attention) LEDs do not necessarily indicate which component has failed or must be
replaced or which type of recovery procedure you must perform. In some cases (such as when a drive
exceeds its Predictive Failure Analysis [PFA] threshold), the amber LED is not lit. Only the Storage
Manager software can detect the failure.
For example, the recovery procedure for a PFA flag (impending drive failure) on a drive varies depending
on the drive status (hot spare, unassigned, RAID level, current logical drive status, and so on).
Depending on the circumstances, a PFA flag on a drive can indicate a high risk of data loss (if the drive
is in a RAID 0 volume) or a minimal risk (if the drive is unassigned). Only the Storage Manager software
can identify the risk level and provide the necessary recovery procedures.
Note: For PFA flags, the system-error LED and drive status LEDs are not lit, so checking the LEDs will
not notify you of the failure, even if the risk of data loss is high.
Recovering from a storage subsystem failure might require you to perform procedures other than
replacing the component (such as backing up the logical drive). The Storage Manager software provides
these procedures.
Attention: Not following the software-recovery procedures can result in data loss. In addition, always
replace a failing component as soon as possible to minimize additional failures that might occur, causing
loss of data access.
Chapter 4. Operating the DCS3700 storage system and expansion enclosure
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