Analyzing Storage System I/O Using Hp Command View Evaperf; Tips For Using Hp Command View Evaperf - HP 6100 Software Manual

• Criticality of business applications—Ensure that you do not select a time when critical business
applications could be affected.
• I/O load—Selecting a period of low I/O activity helps to ensure that the upgrade completes as
quickly as possible, and avoids disruptions to host and applications due to timeouts.
While there are advantages to performing an online upgrade, there are circumstances when it is not
advisable. Therefore, give careful consideration to the circumstances of your configuration and
application deployment before making an attempt to do an online upgrade.
NOTE:
When determining an appropriate time to do an online upgrade, ensure that no configuration-related
replication tasks (creating or deleting DR groups, snapshots, snapclones, mirrorclones or presenting
to hosts) are being performed.

Analyzing storage system I/O using HP Command View EVAPerf

The HP Command View EVAPerf tool included with HP Command View EVA can be used to gather
and analyze statistics on storage system utilization. This section provides recommendations on using
HP Command View EVAPerf to gather statistics to help identify periods of low storage system activity.
If you are unfamiliar with HP Command View EVAPerf, see the "Monitoring array performance"
chapter of the HP StorageWorks Command View EVA User Guide for more information. See
1 for the link to this guide.

Tips for using HP Command View EVAPerf

Use HP Command View EVAPerf to identify periods of low I/O activity, during which you can safely
perform on online upgrade of the storage system firmware. Use the following tips to ensure that you
select an appropriate period during which I/O is low and remains low.
NOTE:
Before using HP Command View EVAPerf, you may want to configure friendly names to simplify
identifying your storage systems, virtual disks, and hosts. See the HP StorageWorks Command View
EVA User Guide for more information about friendly names.
• Identify a period of time when you anticipate the I/O load on the storage system will be low. This
is the window to focus on when running HP Command View EVAPerf to gather I/O data.
• Run HP Command View EVAPerf to gather I/O data during the chosen window. For example, if
you suspect that I/O load may be low between midnight and 2 AM on Sunday morning, run HP
Command View EVAPerf during this period.
• If the I/O pattern is low, capture the data over the same time period several more times to ensure
the low I/O pattern is repeatable.
• When you have selected a potential time period for the upgrade, perform the following steps to
ensure I/O activity does not increase unexpectedly during the upgrade:
• Alert all system users of the need to minimize the load on the storage system during the time
period you have selected for the upgrade.
• Identify any automated processes that may increase I/O load during the upgrade period, in-
cluding backup applications and scripts. Ensure these processes are suspended for the duration
of the upgrade.
HP StorageWorks 4x00/6x00/8x00 Enterprise Virtual Array Updating Product Software Guide (XCS
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