Recon User

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User Guide
Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4

April 2012
Legal Notices
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Contents
About This Guide 1 Introduction
1.1 1.2 1.3
9 11
1.4 1.5
PlateSpin Recon Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Planning Module Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Supported Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.3.1 Supported Inventory and Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1.3.2 Supported PlateSpin Portability Suite Consolidation Sources and Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Application Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 PlateSpin Recon Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2 Overview of PlateSpin Recon Client Views

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8
21
Data Center Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Report Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Projects Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Raters Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Chart Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Job Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Scheduled Job Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Log Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3 Working with Data Center Explorer

3.1 3.2
27
3.3 3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10
Understanding the Data Center Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Discovering and Inventorying Data Center Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 3.2.1 Inventory and Discovery Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 3.2.2 Inventory Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 3.2.3 Inventory Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 3.2.4 Discovery Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 3.2.5 Viewing Inventory Data and Monitoring Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Working with Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Working with Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 3.4.1 Creating a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 3.4.2 Copying Servers to a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 3.4.3 Deleting a Server from a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Working with Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 3.5.1 Adding a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 3.5.2 Deleting a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 3.5.3 Modifying a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Working with PlateSpin Recon Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 3.6.1 Exporting a PlateSpin Recon Snapshot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 3.6.2 Importing a PlateSpin Recon Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Working with Remote Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Working with Data Collected by Other PlateSpin Recon Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Working with Data Collected by Other Performance Monitoring Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 3.9.1 Required Performance Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Using HP Reporter Data with PlateSpin Recon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 3.10.1 Using Formulas to Convert Metrics to Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Contents
3.11
3.12
3.10.2 Example Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 3.10.3 Working with HP Reporter Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Using Performance Data Import to Import Generic Data into PlateSpin Recon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 3.11.1 Performance Data Import Tables Data Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 3.11.2 Preparing Data for Import into PlateSpin Recon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Collecting Disk Utilization Counters for Windows Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 3.12.1 Deploying an Add-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 3.12.2 Undeploying an Add-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4 PlateSpin Recon Server and Client Tools

4.1 4.2
77
4.3
Server and Client Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Credentials Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 4.2.1 Creating a Credential. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 4.2.2 Deleting a Credential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 PlateSpin Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 4.3.1 Using PlateSpin Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 4.3.2 Inventory and Monitoring Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 4.3.3 Conversion Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5 Generating and Viewing Charts and Reports

5.1
83
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5 5.6
Chart Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 5.1.1 Chart Controls and Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 5.1.2 Expression Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 5.1.3 Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 5.1.4 Data Type Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 5.1.5 Server Instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 5.1.6 Date Range Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 5.1.7 Forecasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Report Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 5.2.1 Report Explorer Template Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 5.2.2 Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 5.2.3 Analysis Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 5.2.4 VM Disk Partition Alignment Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 5.2.5 Working with Report Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Editing Report Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 5.3.1 Report Template Option Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 5.3.2 Chargeback Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 5.3.3 Consolidation Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 5.3.4 Consolidation Project Samples Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 5.3.5 Diagnostics Report Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 5.3.6 Disk Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 5.3.7 Inventory Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 5.3.8 Reclamation Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 5.3.9 Software Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 5.3.10 Virtual Infrastructure Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 5.3.11 Volume Report Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 View Customization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 5.4.1 Creating and Editing Report Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 5.4.2 Histogram Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 5.4.3 Scatter Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 5.4.4 Usage Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Generating Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Document Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 5.6.1 Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 5.6.2 Customizing Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 5.6.3 Viewing Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Contents
5.6.4 5.6.5
Printing and Exporting Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Copying Servers from a Report to a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
6 Server Consolidation
6.1 6.2 6.3
121
6.4 6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
About Server Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Creating Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Creating and Editing Server Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 6.3.1 Creating a New Server Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 6.3.2 Editing an Existing Server Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 6.3.3 Copying a Server Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Identifying Consolidation Candidates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Working with Consolidation Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 6.5.1 Determining the Minimum Number of Servers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 6.5.2 Specifying the Number of Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 6.5.3 Results of Consolidation Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 6.5.4 Editing Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 6.5.5 Deleting Scenarios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Generating Inventory Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 6.6.1 Finding Servers That Meet the Consolidation Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 6.6.2 Selecting Candidates for Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Viewing Consolidation Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 6.7.1 Project Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 6.7.2 Scenario Summary Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 6.7.3 Workload Assignment Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 6.7.4 Unconsolidated Workload Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 6.7.5 Unprotected Workload Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Implementing Scenarios with Portability Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 6.8.1 Implementing Phantom or Existing Target Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
7 IT Chargeback
7.1 7.2
155
7.3
7.4
Understanding Chargeback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Using Raters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 7.2.1 Rater Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 7.2.2 Rater Charges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 7.2.3 Virtual Server Rater Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Managing Raters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 7.3.1 Creating a Rater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 7.3.2 Deleting a Rater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 7.3.3 Editing a Rater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 7.3.4 Attaching Raters to Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 7.3.5 Detaching a Rater from a Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Chargeback Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 7.4.1 Generating a Report to Calculate IT Chargeback Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 7.4.2 Deriving the Calculated Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
8 Virtual Infrastructure Management

8.1 8.2 8.3
165
Virtual Center Inventory and Monitoring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 VM Sprawl Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Virtual Machine State Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Contents
A Troubleshooting B Technical Reference

B.1 B.2
169 191
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 How PlateSpin Recon Collects Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 B.2.1 Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 B.2.2 Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 B.2.3 Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 B.3 Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 B.4 Charts and Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 B.4.1 Chart Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 B.4.2 Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 B.4.3 Workload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 B.5 Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 B.5.1 24-Hour Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 B.5.2 Dual-Core and Multi-Core Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 B.5.3 Hyper-Threading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 B.5.4 Effective Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 B.5.5 Power and Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 B.5.6 CO2 Emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 B.6 CPU Normalization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 B.6.1 SPEC Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 B.6.2 Normalization Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 B.7 PlateSpin Recon VM CPU Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 B.8 Inventory and Monitoring Commands for Linux, Solaris and AIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 B.8.1 Inventory Commands for Solaris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 B.8.2 Inventory Commands for Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 B.8.3 Inventory Commands for AIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 B.8.4 Monitoring Commands for Linux and Solaris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 B.8.5 Monitoring Commands for AIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 B.8.6 Text Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 B.9 Sudo Configuration to Inventory and Monitor Linux Machines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 B.10 Managing Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
C Schedule Options
C.1 C.2
213
Later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Recurrence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
D Quick Reference to PlateSpin Recon Icons and Commands

D.1
215
D.2 D.3
D.4 D.5 D.6 D.7 D.8
Data Center Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 D.1.1 Data Center Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 D.1.2 Data Center Icon Status Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 D.1.3 Data Center Commands and Associated Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Reports Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Projects Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 D.3.1 Project Explorer Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 D.3.2 Project Explorer Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Raters Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Chart Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Job Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Scheduled Job Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Log Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Contents
E Best Practices
E.1
223
Consolidation Planning Workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Contents
Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide
About This Guide

ThisdocumentationprovidesinformationaboutPlateSpinRecon. Chapter 1,Introduction,onpage 11 Chapter 2,OverviewofPlateSpinReconClientViews,onpage 21 Chapter 3,WorkingwithDataCenterExplorer,onpage 27 Chapter 4,PlateSpinReconServerandClientTools,onpage 77 Chapter 5,GeneratingandViewingChartsandReports,onpage 83 Chapter 6,ServerConsolidation,onpage 121 Chapter 7,ITChargeback,onpage 155 Chapter 8,VirtualInfrastructureManagement,onpage 165 Appendix A,Troubleshooting,onpage 169 Appendix B,TechnicalReference,onpage 191 Appendix C,ScheduleOptions,onpage 213 Appendix D,QuickReferencetoPlateSpinReconIconsandCommands,onpage 215 Appendix E,BestPractices,onpage 223
Audience
ThistextisintendedforITstaff,suchasdatacenteradministratorsandoperators,whousePlateSpin Reconinthemanagementandplanningofthedatacenter.
Feedback
Wewanttohearyourcommentsandsuggestionsaboutthismanualandtheotherdocumentation includedwiththisproduct.PleaseusetheUserCommentsfeatureatthebottomofeachpageofthe onlinedocumentation.
Additional Documentation
Inadditiontothisguide,PlateSpinReconcomeswiththefollowingdocumentation: PlateSpinReconGettingStartedGuide AnonlineversionofthePlateSpinReconUserGuideintegratedwiththeproduct ReleaseNotes Forhelpwiththirdpartyvendorproductsordocumentation,pleasecontactyoursalesorsupport representativeforthoseproducts.
About This Guide
Documentation Updates
ForthemostrecentversionofthePlateSpinrecondocumentation,seethePlateSpinRecon3.7.4 documentationWebsite(http://www.novell.com/documentation/ps_recon37/).
Technical Support
ContactTechnicalSupportby: Telephone(NorthAmerica):+18008584000.Thisisatollfreenumber. Email:support@platespin.com;support@novell.com YoucanalsovisittheNovellCustomerCenterWebsite(http://www.novell.com/center/eservice).
10
Introduction
NovellPlateSpinReconprovidesintelligence,visualanalysis,andforecastingforconsolidatingand optimizingthedatacenter.Itcollectshardware,software,andserviceinventorydataforserver workloads.PlateSpinReconcanremotelygatherworkloadutilizationstatisticsforaclearandconcise pictureoftheapplicationservicesrunninginthedatacenter,andtodeterminehowresourcesare beingused. ThePlateSpinReconConsolidationPlanningmoduledeterminestheoptimalfitbetweenserver resourcesupplyandworkloaddemand.Ithelpsyouvisualizethecharacteristicsofserverworkloads beforeandafterconsolidation,determinetheserversrequiredforconsolidation,andexpedite projectsbyautomaticallygeneratingconsolidationplans.Youcanalsoprotectserversbyallocating themtoasuitablevirtualrecoveryenvironmentincaseofaserviceoutage. PlateSpinReconincludesotherfeaturessuchasVirtualInfrastructureManagementcapabilities,as wellasaresourceutilizationbasedITchargebacksystem.Thesecanbeusedtohelpcopewiththe challengespresentedbythevirtualizationandconsolidationofthedatacenter. Section 1.1,PlateSpinReconFeatures,onpage 11 Section 1.2,PlanningModuleFeatures,onpage 12 Section 1.3,SupportedPlatforms,onpage 12 Section 1.4,ApplicationScenario,onpage 16 Section 1.5,PlateSpinReconTerminology,onpage 19
1.1
PlateSpin Recon Features

RemoteDataCollection:PlateSpinRecondoesnotrequiretheinstallationofagentsoftware, eliminatingtheneedtophysicallytouchdatacenterservers.Allperformanceandinventorydatais collectedviastandardOSinstrumentationcapabilities. RichDataModeling:Helpsyoumakeconsolidationchoicesbasedonsophisticatedanalysisof resources,workloads,andutilizationtrends.TightintegrationwithVMwareVirtualCenterprovides greatervisibilityintovirtualinfrastructures,therebyimprovingdatacentermanagementand operations. CustomReportCreationandDelivery:Helpsyoudefineresourceandworkloadparametersand generatecustomvisualreportsfordatacenterassessmentsandserverconsolidations.Youcan quicklyidentifyconsolidationcandidatesbasedonresourceutilizationtrends,andcompare workloadcharacteristicsbeforeandafterconsolidation.ScheduledreportdeliveryviaemailorFTP ensureseasyaccesstoremotedataandprovidesuptodateinformation. FlexibleDataCaptureandExport:YoucanexportPlateSpinRecondatatoanumberofformats, includingHTML,PDF,Word,CSV,Excel,orimages.Rawdatacanbeextracteddirectlyfromthe databaseanddeliveredtobusinessintelligenceapplicationsforadvancedstatisticalanalysis.
Introduction
11
EnterpriseLevelScalability:EachinstanceofPlateSpinReconcanmonitorupto1,500serversto ensureenterprisescalabilityfortheworldslargestdatacenters.Datacanbeaggregatedfrom multiplePlateSpinRecondatacollectorsforcentralizeddatawarehousing,analysis,andplanning,or toaccommodatelargerenterpriseimplementations. MultipleDataCenterSupport:YoucanusePlateSpinReconindifferentgeographicallocationsto remotelycollectdataandprovidescheduledupdatestoamasterPlateSpinReconinstallation.This allowsforcentralizedanalysisandplanningforinitiativessuchasserverordatacenter consolidation. FlexibleChargebackReporting:Becausevirtualizationcreatesasharedpoolofcomputing resources,itcanbedifficulttomanageandmonitorvirtualresourceusage.PlateSpinReconenables organizationstoeffectivelyallocateandsharevirtualresourcesacrossbusinessunitsand departmentalowners.Flexiblechargebackreportingcapabilitiesimprovevirtualinfrastructure managementandfinancialaccountingbyallowingorganizationstoaccuratelycalculateITcosts basedonactualresourceusage. VMGrowthReporting:Youcangeneratereportstomonitortheproliferationofvirtualmachines andavoidtheadministrativeheadachesassociatedwithvirtualinfrastructuresprawl.
1.2
Planning Module Features

Planning:Youcanautomaticallygenerateserverconsolidationanddisasterrecoveryplansbasedon detailedworkloadanalysistoensuretheoptimalfitbetweenserverworkloadsandvirtualresources. Useforecasteddatatoplanforandaccommodatefuturegrowth. WorkloadAnalysis:ThePlateSpinReconPlanningModuleautomaticallyanalyzesfivecritical workloaddimensionsprocessor,memory,diskspace,diskI/O,andnetworkI/Osimultaneously acrossthousandsofservers,providingconsolidationplansthatmaximizeutilizationwhile minimizingresourcecontention. ScenarioModeling:Youcanusecustomscenarioswithuserdefinedtargetserverspecifications, includingservertemplatesorexistingvirtualmachineserverstocreateanoptimalconsolidation plan. PowerandCoolingAnalysis:Youcancompareandcontrastpotentialpowerandcoolingcost savingsandROIderivedfromdifferentconsolidationscenarios.Customfields(maintainedina centraldatabase)letyouinputpowerandcoolingrequirementsformajorhardwareplatforms.This featureletsorganizationsanalyzeandcostjustifygreencomputinginitiatives. TimeBasedAnalysis:Youcanstaggermultipleworkloadsevenlyacrossvirtualhostsandaccount forhourlypeaksandvalleysinherentinserverutilizationtrends. WorkloadandUtilizationForecasting:Youcanpredictfutureworkloadsandresourceutilization basedonhistoricaltrendstobetterplanforserverconsolidationandinfrastructuregrowth,aswellas enablemoreproactivesystemsmanagement.ForecastingdataonCPU,disk,memory,andusage trendsispresentedineasytoreadcharts,reports,andplans.
1.3
Supported Platforms
Section 1.3.1,SupportedInventoryandDataCollection,onpage 13 Section 1.3.2,SupportedPlateSpinPortabilitySuiteConsolidationSourcesandTargets,on page 15
12
NOTE:ForinformationonPlateSpinReconClient/Serversupportedplatforms,seeSystem RequirementsintheNovellPlateSpinRecon3.7.4GettingStartedGuide.
1.3.1
Supported Inventory and Data Collection

PlateSpinReconsupportsdiscovery,inventory,anddatacollection(monitoring)forthefollowing operatingsystemfamilies:MicrosoftWindows,UNIX/Linux,andNovellNetware. SupportedMicrosoftWindowsPlatformsonpage 13 SupportedUNIX/LinuxPlatformsonpage 14 SupportedNovellNetWarePlatformsonpage 14 SupportedHypervisorsonpage 15
Supported Microsoft Windows Platforms

Table 1-1 SupportedWindowsPlatforms
Version Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2003 R2 (SP1 SS/ES, SP2 SS/ES) Windows Server 2008 (SP1, SP2) Windows Server 2003 (SP0, SP1, SP2) Windows Server 2000 (SP0, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4) Windows NT 4.0 Server (SP4, SP6) Windows NT 4.0 Server (SP6a - WMI Core version 1.5 required) Windows XP Professional (SP0, SP1, SP2, SP3)
Bit Spec 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit 32-bit 32-bit 32-bit, 64-bit
PlateSpinReconsupportsthefollowinglocalizedversionsofWindows: French German Japanese
Introduction
13
Supported UNIX/Linux Platforms

Table 1-2 SupportedUNIX/LinuxPlatforms
Version Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES) 2 SP3 Linux
Bit Spec 32-bit, 64-bit
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9.x, 10.0, 10 SP1 (10.1), 10 SP2 (10.2), 10 SP3 32-bit, 64-bit (10.3), 11, 11 SP1, 11 SP2 RedHat Enterprise Linux 3.0 AS/ES, 4.0 AS/ES, 5.0 AS/ES, 5.1 AS/ES, 5.2 ES, 5.3 ES, 5.4 ES, 5.5 ES, 6.0 ES Novell SUSE Linux 8.0 RedHat Linux 7.3, 8.0, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2 RedHat Enterprise Linux 2.x AS/ES Novell OpenSUSE 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 11, 11.1 Fedora Core 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Ubuntu 7.1, 8.04, 8.10 CentOS 2.0 CentOS 3.9, 4.6, 5.1, 5.2 Sun Solaris 8, 9, 10 (SPARC/x86) Sun Solaris 7 (SPARC) IBM AIX 5.2, 5.3, 6.1 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit 32-bit, 64-bit
Supported Novell NetWare Platforms

Table 1-3 SupportedNovellNetWarePlatforms
Version Novell NetWare 6.5 (SP6) Novell NetWare 6.0 (SP5) Novell NetWare 5.1 (SP8)
Bit Spec 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit
IMPORTANT DownloadandinstallthefollowingNovellClientsonthePlateSpinReconservercomputerto enablemonitoringofNetWarecomputers.Theclientdownloadsarefree.Wheninstalling,select CustomInstallationandinstalltheNovellModularAuthenticationService(NMAS)client. NovellClient4.91SP5(http://download.novell.com/Download?buildid=qmMAWSRy5q4~) NovellClient4.91PostSP5NWFS.SYS(http://download.novell.com/ Download?buildid=m7NbjoMFSxU&donotredirect=true)
14
InstallationoftheNovellClientimpactsthestandardWindowslogon.SeetheNovellClient documentationformoreinformation. YoucannotmonitorNetwaremachineswithPlateSpinReconserverinstalledona64bit WindowsServer2003machinebecauseNovellClientisnotsupportedona64bitWindows Server2003machine. OnlytheCPUanddiskutilizationcountersaresupportedforNetware5.1and6.0.Onlythe CPU,disk,andmemoryutilizationcountersaresupportedforNetware6.5andhigher.
Supported Hypervisors
Table 1-4 SupportedHypervisors
Version VMware Virtual Center 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.5, 4, 4.1, 5.0 VMware ESX Server 4.1, 4.1i, 5i VMware ESX Server 2.5.3, 2.5.4, 2.5.5, 3.0.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.0.3, 3.5.0, 3i, 4.0, 4i Xen on Novell SLES 10.0, 10.2, 10.3, 11, 11 SP1, 11 SP2 Windows Server 2008 (SP1, SP2) Hyper-V Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Sun Solaris 10 Zones on Sun Solaris 10 Container Citrix XenServer 4.1, 5.0 VMware GSX Server 3.2 (for Windows) VMware 1.x+ (for Windows) Virtual Server 2005 (version 1.0) All editions. Virtual Server 2005 R2 (SP1)
Bit Spec
64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 64-bit 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit
1.3.2
Supported PlateSpin Portability Suite Consolidation Sources and Targets

Consolidationscenariosforworkloadswiththesupportedoperatingsystemsandtargetscanbe implementedbyusingPlateSpinPortabilitySuite.FordetailedinformationaboutthePortability Suitesupportedsourceandtargetoperatingsystems,seethePlateSpinPortabilitySuite documentationWebsite(http://www.novell.com/documentation/platespin_portabilitysuite_810/). FormoredetailedinformationaboutsourceandtargetoperatingsystemsforPlateSpinPortability Suiteconversions,seeKnowledgeBasearticleQ7005871(http://www.novell.com/support/ viewContent.do?externalId=7005871). FormoreinformationaboutimplementingconsolidationscenarioswithPortabilitySuite,see Section 6.8,ImplementingScenarioswithPortabilitySuite,onpage 152.
Introduction
15
1.4
Application Scenario
PlateSpinReconandPlateSpinPortabilitySuitecombinetoformtheonlysuitethatautomatesthe entirecapacityplanningandserverconsolidationprojectfromstarttofinish.Thefollowingtable illustrateshowtoassess,design,andimplementasolutionforoptimizingandconsolidatingthedata center.
Table 1-5 DataCenterOptimizationandConsolidationWorkflow
Action Assess
Process 1. Inventory
Description Remotely discover server hardware and software assets across the data center
Solution
PlateSpin Recon: Remotely and agentlessly identify server resources and workloads in the data center and create a complete picture of hardware Gather detailed information and software inventory, for each server such as utilization levels, and workload operating system, installed sizes and running applications or services, patch levels, CPU, memory, network and disk resources Connect to the network, then select relevant computers or domains; data on hardware and resources is collected in a centralized database Organize servers by predefined and userdefined groupings for organized analysis
16
Action Assess
Process 2. Collect
Description Identify workloads and collect utilization data over days, weeks or months to determine workload sizes and appropriate resource matching Create dynamic reports to identify workload and resource mismatches and identify candidate workloads for consolidation or resource upgrading Rank and sort server workloads by CPU, network, disk, memory inventory, and/or performance View summary workload sizing data or drill down to point-in-time granular levels Collect and analyze data from multiple sites to create a more complete picture of the data center Export the data to thirdparty tools or copy visual graphs to business presentations
Solution PlateSpin Recon: Remotely and agentlessly identify server resources and workloads in the data center and create a complete picture of hardware and software inventory, utilization levels, and workload sizes
Introduction
17
Action Design
Process 3. Analyze
Description Identify virtualization candidates Create scenarios for distributing workloads across servers to maximize utilization Balance application workloads over time and across hardware resources to minimize resource contention Use what-if modeling to determine different combinations of hardware and virtual hosts required for the project Generate consolidation or disaster recovery plans with detailed project, scenario, and workload assignment reports and charts Compare different scenarios based on total cost of ownership, consolidation ratio, rack space, and power needs
Solution PlateSpin Recon: Generate consolidation scenario plans to optimally combine and allocate workloads to new virtual hosts
Implement
4. Consolidate
Accelerate the server consolidation project by streaming physical servers into virtual environments such as VMware ESX Server, VMware Server, and Microsoft Virtual Server Automate migrations between dissimilar physical servers or from physical servers to blades
PlateSpin Portability Suite: Automatically stream data, applications, and operating systems to any physical or virtual platform over the network
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Action Manage
Process 5. Monitor
Description Keep track of workload performance Identify over- and underutilized workloads for ongoing optimization
Solution PlateSpin Recon
6.Chargeback
Assign customized raters to machines Measure resource usage and bill business owners for usage Create reports on usage and cost
7. Manage Virtual Infrastructure
Monitor VM creation Report on VM growth
1.5
PlateSpin Recon Terminology

Consolidationcandidate:Aworkloadonthenetworkthatyoumightwanttomovetoavirtual machine. DataCenterassets:Acollectivesetofphysicalandvirtualmachines,andphysicalandvirtual workloads. Job:AtaskperformedinPlateSpinRecon. Protectioncandidate:AworkloadtocreatestandbyVMduplicatesfordisasterrecovery. Rater:Ametricusedtoassignabillablechargetotheuseofaresourceorpartofaresourceover asetamountoftime. Scheduledjob:Anactivitysettooccuratagiventimeandfrequency. Virtualhost:Aphysicalmachinethathasthevirtualizationsoftwareinstalled.Forexample, VMwareESX. Workload:Aphysicalorvirtualmachine.
Introduction
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20
Overview of PlateSpin Recon Client Views
NovellPlateSpinReconClientprovidesthefollowingviewstohelpyouorganize,monitor,view,and manageinformationaboutdatacenterassets: Section 2.1,DataCenterExplorer,onpage 21 Section 2.2,ReportExplorer,onpage 22 Section 2.3,ProjectsExplorer,onpage 23 Section 2.4,RatersExplorer,onpage 23 Section 2.5,ChartViewer,onpage 24 Section 2.6,JobExplorer,onpage 24 Section 2.7,ScheduledJobExplorer,onpage 25 Section 2.8,LogExplorer,onpage 25
2.1
Data Center Explorer

TheDataCenterExplorerisoneofseveralmajorPlateSpinReconviews.Itisusedtoorganize, monitor,view,andmanageinformationaboutdatacenterassets.PlateSpinReconusesinformation aboutthemtodisplaydynamiccharts,generateperformancereports,andgenerateperformance forecasts. TheDataCenterExploreristhecentralpointfor: Interactingwithphysicalandvirtualmachinesinthedatacenter Discoveringandinventoryinghardwareandworkloads Adding,monitoring,filtering,grouping,ordeletingservers
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Figure 2-1 DataCenterExplorer
FormoreinformationaboutworkingwithDataCenterExplorer,seeChapter 3,WorkingwithData CenterExplorer,onpage 27.
2.2
Report Explorer
TheReportExplorerallowsyoutoorganizeandgeneratereportsontheinventoryandmonitoring data.TheReportExplorerhierarchyconsistsoftemplatenodesthathavevarioustypesofreport templates.
Figure 2-2 ReportExplorer
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FormoreinformationaboutworkingwithReportExplorer,seeChapter 5,GeneratingandViewing ChartsandReports,onpage 83.
2.3
Projects Explorer
ProjectsaredisplayedintheProjectExplorer.
Figure 2-3 ProjectExplorerTree
Theproject,scenario,andconsolidatedworkloadsarearrangedhierarchically;thatis,workloadsare listedunderaserver,serversarelistedunderascenario,andscenariosarelistedunderaproject.All selectedcandidatesarelistedunderworkloadsinsidetheproject. FormoreinformationaboutworkingwithProjectExplorer,seeChapter 6,ServerConsolidation, onpage 121.
2.4
Raters Explorer
Allowsyoutosetupachargebacksystem.
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Figure 2-4 RatersExplorer
FormoreinformationaboutworkingwithRatersExplorer,seeSection 7.2,UsingRaters,on page 155.
2.5
Chart Viewer
Chartsprovideagraphicalrepresentationofworkloadandutilizationdata. Toviewachartforagivenserver,selecttheserverintheDataCenterExplorerorclickacell belongingtotheserverinareportview.
2.6
Job Explorer
WheneverataskisperformedinPlateSpinRecon,ajobiscreatedforthetask.Informationon running,pausedorcompletedjobsisshownintheJobExplorer,locatedatthebottomofthe PlateSpinReconwindow,bydefault. Ifajobconsistsofseveraltasks,youcanexpandthejobtoseeallofitstasksandthestatusofeach taskbyclickingtheplussignnexttothejobdescription. Youcanalsoseethestepsthatmakeupeachtaskbyselectingthetask.Thestepsaredisplayedinthe panelontherightoftheJobExplorer.
Figure 2-5 TaskstepsdisplayedintheJobExplorer
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Messagesabouttheprogressofajobarecapturedinalogfile. Rightclickanyrunningjobentrytodisplayapopupmenu,orusethetoolbarbuttons,andyoucan Pause,Resume,orAbortanyrunningjob.TheArchivecommandmovesjobstotheArchivedJobslist. ThesejobscanbesubsequentlyviewedbyselectingTools>ArchivedJobs.Youcanviewthesteplogs byrightclickingonastepandselectingViewLogs.TheLogViewerdialogisdisplayed. NOTE:Thedefaultsettingistopurgelogsandjobsevery14days.Tochangethissetting,selectTools >Options.TheOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed.DoubleclickAdvancedundertheMaintenance categoryontheServerpage.
2.7
Scheduled Job Explorer

Ascheduledjobisanactivitysettooccuratagiventimeandfrequency.Forexample,itispossibleto generateaNetworkUsageReporteverymorningat9:00AMforthenextfivedays. Ascheduledjobiscomprisedoftwocomponents:theactiontobeperformed(thejob),andthe scheduleforperformingtheactivity.Thescheduleisareusablecomponentthatcanbeshared amongstmultiplejobs,suchascreatingthreereportsat9:00AM.TheScheduledJobExplorercanbe usedtoviewthestatusofthecompletedjobs.
Figure 2-6 JobstatusdisplayedintheScheduledJobExplorer
Errorsorwarnings,ifany,arealsodisplayed.Inaddition,scheduledjobscanberunmanually,orcan havetheirrecurrencechanged. Rightclickanyrunningjobentrytodisplayapopupmenu,orusethetoolbarbuttons,andyoucan Suspend,Resume,orDeleteanyscheduledjob.TheEditRecurrencecommandallowsyoutocreateor editascheduledjobrecurrencepattern.TheRunNowcommandallowsyoutoimmediatelyrunthe scheduledjob.
2.8
Log Explorer
TheLogExplorerallowsyoutoviewgeneralinformation,warnings,orerrormessages.Messages thataredisplayedherearenotrelatedtoanyparticularjoborserver.Rightclickanylogentryto displayapopupmenuwhereyoucanselectcommandstoViewDetailsofalogentry,Deletealog entry,orViewXMLformatofalogentry. Tosimultaneouslydeletemultiplelogs,selectthelogsusingtheShiftorCtrlkeysandpressthe DeletekeyorclickDelete.
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Figure 2-7 WorkingwiththeLogExplorer
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Working with Data Center Explorer
ThissectionprovidesinformationabouttheNovellPlateSpinReconDataCenterExplorerandthe featuresaccessiblefromit. Section 3.1,UnderstandingtheDataCenterExplorer,onpage 27 Section 3.2,DiscoveringandInventoryingDataCenterResources,onpage 28 Section 3.3,WorkingwithFilters,onpage 49 Section 3.4,WorkingwithGroups,onpage 49 Section 3.5,WorkingwithSites,onpage 50 Section 3.6,WorkingwithPlateSpinReconSnapshots,onpage 52 Section 3.7,WorkingwithRemoteData,onpage 58 Section 3.8,WorkingwithDataCollectedbyOtherPlateSpinReconInstances,onpage 58 Section 3.9,WorkingwithDataCollectedbyOtherPerformanceMonitoringTools,onpage 60 Section 3.10,UsingHPReporterDatawithPlateSpinRecon,onpage 64 Section 3.11,UsingPerformanceDataImporttoImportGenericDataintoPlateSpinRecon,on page 68 Section 3.12,CollectingDiskUtilizationCountersforWindowsMachines,onpage 72
3.1
Understanding the Data Center Explorer

TheDataCenterExplorerisoneofseveralmajorPlateSpinReconviews.Itisusedtoorganize, monitor,view,andmanageinformationaboutdatacenterassets.PlateSpinReconusesinformation aboutthemtodisplaydynamiccharts,generateperformancereports,andgenerateperformance forecasts. IntheDataCenterExplorer,physicalandvirtualserversarerepresentedinahierarchicaltree structure.
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Table 3-1 DataCenterExplorerNodes
Nodes All Discovered Filters Groups Sites
Description Lists all systems Lists servers that have been discovered but not yet inventoried Contains servers listed by built-in criteria, such as domain, operating system, or monitoring status Contains manually grouped servers according to any specific data segregation requirements Contains servers by data site, including a default local site and others you create to work with data about servers monitored by other instances of PlateSpin Recon, or imported from third-party performance monitoring tools
FormoreinformationabouttheDataCenterExplorericonsandcommands,seeAppendix D,Quick ReferencetoPlateSpinReconIconsandCommands,onpage 215.
3.2
Discovering and Inventorying Data Center Resources

PlateSpinRecongetsinformationaboutdatacenterassetsintwostages. Discover:Discoveringmachinesinthenetworkretrievesinformationsuchashostnames,IP addresses,MACaddresses,andportinformation. Inventory:Inventoryingthepreviouslydiscoveredmachinesretrievesdeeperdataforeach server,suchasoperatingsystem,installedapplications,services,processorspeed,memory, network,anddiskresources. Aftermachinesareinventoried,theycanbemonitoredandincludedinallreporttypes,regardlessof whichmethodisusedforinventory. Section 3.2.1,InventoryandDiscoveryMethods,onpage 29 Section 3.2.2,InventoryCredentials,onpage 40 Section 3.2.3,InventoryOptions,onpage 42 Section 3.2.4,DiscoveryOptions,onpage 43 Section 3.2.5,ViewingInventoryDataandMonitoringServers,onpage 44 PlateSpinidentifiesamachinethroughuniqueattributessuchastheIPaddress.IfyouchangetheIP addressofthemachineafterinventoryingamachine,youmustreinventorythemachine. ForinformationaboutportsusedbyPlateSpinRecontoinventoryservers,seeKnowledgeBase articleQ7920571(http://www.novell.com/support/viewContent.do?externalId=7920571).
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3.2.1
Inventory and Discovery Methods

Acommonwaytousediscoveryandinventoryistodiscoveralargenumberofserversonthe network.TheseserversappearundertheDiscoverednodeintheDataCenterExplorer.Next,selectthe discoveredserversandinventorythem.Finally,selectwhichinventoriedserversyouwantto monitor.Itisalsopossibletodiscover,inventory,andstartmonitoringserversinasinglestep. YoucanaddserverstotheDataCenterExplorerbyusingtheInventorybutton .
Thereareseveninventorymethodsavailable.Eachinventorymethodisuniqueandhasdifferent requirements.
Table 3-2 InventoryMethods
Discover and Inventory Machines (page 29) Virtual Center (page 30) From a CSV File (page 31)
Discover and Optionally Inventory Windows Domain (page 34) IP Range (page 35) Subnet (page 37) SNMP (page 38)
Machines
Todiscoverandinventoryphysicalandvirtualservers:
1 ClicktheInventorybutton
>MachinesorclicktheToolsmenu>Inventory>Machines.
TheInventoryMachinesdialogboxisdisplayed.
2 InHostnameorIPofthemachine(s)toinventory,specifythehostnameortheIPaddressofthe
machinesyouwanttoinventory. YoucanspecifymultiplehostnamesorIPaddressesseparatedwithacomma;however,they needtoallusethesamecredentials.

3 SpecifycredentialsforthemachinesyouaddinStep 2.Formoreinformationonhowtospecifya
newcredential,seeSection 3.2.2,InventoryCredentials,onpage 40. ThisenablestheInventorybutton.

4 (Optional)Startmonitoringtheserverswhentheyareinventoriedand/oraddthemtoexisting
groups.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.2.3,InventoryOptions,onpage 42.

5 Configuretheschedulewhenyouwanttoperformtheinventory.
Toimmediatelystarttheinventory,dooneofthefollowing: ClickNowintheInventorydropdownlist. ClickScheduleintheInventorydropdownlist,thenclickNow>OK. Toperforminventoryatalatertime,setupaschedule: 1. IntheInventorydropdownlist,clickSchedule. TheSchedulingOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed.
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2. Selectoneofthefollowingschedules Lateronpage 213 Recurrenceonpage 213 3. Fillinthefields. Fordetailsaboutthefields,clicktheappropriateschedulelistedabove.

6 ClickInventory.
Virtual Center
InventoryingaVirtualCenterinvolvescollectinginformationaboutalltheserversandvirtual machinesintheVirtualCenter.Thisismuchmoreefficientthandiscoveringandinventoryingallthe serversandvirtualmachinesindividually. TodiscoverandinventoryVirtualCenterservers:
>VirtualCenterorclicktheToolsmenu>Inventory>
VirtualCenter. TheInventoryVirtualCenterdialogboxisdisplayed.
2 SpecifythehostnameortheIPaddressoftheVirtualCenteryouwanttoinventory. 3 SpecifycredentialsforthemachinesthatyouaddedinStep 2.Formoreinformationonhowto
specifyanewcredential,seeSection 3.2.2,InventoryCredentials,onpage 40. ThisenablestheInventorybutton.

4 (Optional)Startmonitoringtheserverswhentheyareinventoriedand/oraddthemtoexisting

Toimmediatelystarttheinventory,dooneofthefollowing: ClickNowintheInventorydropdownlist. ClickScheduleintheInventorydropdownlist,thenclickNow>OK. Toperforminventoryatalatertime,setupaschedule: 1. IntheInventorydropdownlist,clickSchedule.
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TheSchedulingOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed. 2. Selectoneofthefollowingschedules Lateronpage 213 Recurrenceonpage 213 3. Fillinthefields. Fordetailsaboutthefields,clicktheappropriateschedulelistedabove.

6 ClickInventory.
VirtualCentercontentsappearintheDataCenterExplorerthesamewaytheyareorganizedinthe VirtualCenter,withallnodes,clusters,resourcepools,andvirtualmachinenodes.Themachinesdo notappearunderAllintheDataCenterExploreruntiltheyareinventoried. Whenusingpercorelicensing,youmustfirstinventoryaVirtualCenterbeforeinventoryingESX Serversthatbelongtoit,orthevirtualmachinesonthoseESXServers.Formoreinformation,seePer CoreintheNovellPlateSpinRecon3.7.4GettingStartedGuide.
From a CSV File

InventoryingmachinesfromaCSVfileallowsyoutoaddserverswhoseinformationresidesina commaseparatedvaluefile.Usethefollowingformattolistthemachinesinthefile: Address,[Username],[Password],[Description],[InventoryType]
Table 3-3 CSVFileRequirements
Field Address Username Password Description
Required Yes Optional Optional Optional
Description IP address or hostname of the machine. Username for the credential. If this is left blank, the default credentials are used. Password for the credential. This is required only when creating a credential. Description for the credential. If the entry for a machine in the CSV file contains username and password, the credential description must be unique.
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Field Inventory type
Required Optional
Description Can be any of the following values. Values must match case and spacing as shown below: UNIX VirtualCenter VMwareESX3 VMwareESX4 VMwareESX5 NetWare CitrixXenServer Windows If the value is unspecified, Windows and UNIX are the defaults and these are determined by the formats of the credentials that you specify in the CSV file: [user],[password] is for UNIX For example, 10.0.0.0,root,password,description [domain\user],[password] is for Windows For example, 10.0.0.0,localhost\administrator,password,description1 This field is also expected to be at the end of the CSV file.
TodiscoverandinventorymachinesfromaCSVfile:
>FromCSVFileorclicktheToolsmenu>Inventory>From
CSVFile. TheInventoryfromCSVdialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 Typethepath(orusetheadjacentbrowsebutton)tolocateaCSVfilecontainingserversto
inventory.
3 (Conditional)IftheCSVfiledoesnotcontainthecredentialsforallthemachines,specifythe
credentialsforthemachinesintheDefaultInventoryParameterpanel. NOTE:TheDefaultInventoryParametersareaisdisablediftheCSVfilecontainscredentialsfor allitsmachines. Formoreinformationonhowtospecifyanewcredential,seeSection 3.2.2,Inventory Credentials,onpage 40. ThisenablestheInventorybutton.

4 (Optional)Startmonitoringthemachinewhentheyareinventoriedand/oraddthemtoexisting

Toimmediatelystarttheinventory,dooneofthefollowing: ClickNowintheInventorydropdownlist. ClickScheduleintheInventorydropdownlist,thenclickNow>OK. Toperforminventoryatalatertime,setupaschedule: 1. IntheInventorydropdownlist,clickSchedule. TheSchedulingOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed. 2. Selectoneofthefollowingschedules Lateronpage 213 Recurrenceonpage 213
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3. Fillinthefields. Fordetailsaboutthefields,clicktheappropriateschedulelistedabove.
6 ClickInventory.
Windows Domain
InventoryingmachinesbyusingtheWindowsDomainoptionallowsyoutoaddalltheservers discoveredinthespecifiedWindowsDomain. TodiscoverandoptionallyinventoryserversinaspecifiedWindowsDomain:
>WindowsDomainorclicktheToolsmenu>Inventory>
WindowsDomain. TheDomainDiscoveryandInventorydialogboxisdisplayed.
2 TypeaWindowsDomainname. 3 IntheMachinestoDiscoverdropdownlist,selectwhichmachinestodiscover.Theavailable
optionsareAllMachines,Servers,orWorkstations(NT4Workstation,WindowsXP).
4 (Conditional)Ifyouwanttodiscoveraspecificpartofadomain,configuretheOrganizational
Unit(OU)filter.Formoreinformation,seeDomainDiscovery:onpage 192.
5 ClicktheOptionsbuttontoconfigurediscoveryoptions.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.2.4,
DiscoveryOptions,onpage 43. Ifyouwanttodiscovermachinesonly,continuewithStep 6.Ifyouwanttodiscoverand inventorymachines,skiptoStep 7.

6 (Conditional)Ifyouwanttoonlydiscovermachineswithoutinventoryingmachinedetails: 6a DeselecttheInventoryoption.
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TheInventoryoptionisselectedbydefault.
6b ClickDiscover. 7 (Conditional)Ifyouwanttodiscoverandinventorymachines,additionallyconfigurethe
followingsettings:
7a SpecifycredentialsforthemachinesyouaddedinStep 3.
Formoreinformationonhowtospecifyanewcredential,seeSection 3.2.2,Inventory Credentials,onpage 40. ThisenablestheInventorybutton.

7b (Optional)Startmonitoringthemachineswhentheyareinventoriedand/oraddthemto
existinggroups.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.2.3,InventoryOptions,onpage 42.

7c Configuretheschedulewhenyouwanttoperformtheinventory.
Toimmediatelystarttheinventory,dooneofthefollowing: ClickNowintheInventorydropdownlist. ClickScheduleintheInventorydropdownlist,thenclickNow>OK. Toperforminventoryatalatertime,setupaschedule: 1. IntheInventorydropdownlist,clickSchedule. TheSchedulingOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed. 2. Selectoneofthefollowingschedules Lateronpage 213 Recurrenceonpage 213 3. Fillinthefields. Fordetailsaboutthefields,clicktheappropriateschedulelistedabove.
7d ClickInventory.
IP Range
TodiscoverandoptionallyinventoryserverswithinaspecifiedIPaddressrange:
>IPRangeorclicktheToolsmenu>Inventory>IPRange.
TheIPRangeDiscoveryandInventorydialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 ConfigurethefollowingsettingsintheDiscoverypane: 2a SpecifytheIPaddressrangeoftheserverstodiscover. 2b ClicktheOptionsbuttontoconfigurediscoveryoptions.Formoreinformation,see
Section 3.2.4,DiscoveryOptions,onpage 43. Ifyouwanttodiscovermachinesonly,continuewithStep 3.Ifyouwanttodiscoverand inventorymachines,skiptoStep 4.

3b ClickDiscover.
ThenumbersthataredisplayedintheDiscoverbuttonindicatehowmanyindividualIP addressesarecontainedwithintherangeyouentered
4 (Conditional)Ifyouwanttodiscoverandinventorymachines,additionallyconfigurethe
followingsettings:

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4d ClickInventory.
ThenumbersthataredisplayedontheInventorybuttonindicatehowmanyindividualIP addressesarecontainedwithintherangeyouentered.
Subnet
Todiscoverandoptionallyinventoryserversinaspecifiedsubnet:
>SubnetorclicktheToolsmenu>Inventory>Subnet.
TheSubnetDiscoveryandInventorydialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 ConfigurethefollowingsettingsintheDiscoverypane: 2a Specifythenetworkaddressandthemaskbitsofthesubnettobediscovered. 2b ClicktheOptionsbuttontoconfigurediscoveryoptions.Formoreinformation,see

3b ClickDiscover.
ThenumbersthataredisplayedintheDiscoverbuttonindicatehowmanyindividualIP addressesarecontainedinthesubnetyouspecified.
4 (Conditional)Ifyouwanttodiscoverandinventorymachines,additionallyconfigurethe
followingsettingsintheInventorypane:


4d ClickInventory.
ThenumbersthataredisplayedontheInventorybuttonindicatehowmanyindividualIP addressesarecontainedinthesubnetyouspecified.
SNMP
TodiscoverandoptionallyinventorymachinesbyusingSimpleNetworkManagementProtocol:
>SNMPorclicktheToolsmenu>Inventory>SNMP.
TheSNMPDiscoveryandInventorydialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 ConfigurethefollowingsettingsintheDiscoverypane: 2a Specifythehostname. 2b SpecifytheSNMPcommunityname.Bydefault,itispublic. 2c InMaximumnumberofHops,specifyhowmanyhopstomakebeyondtheserverfromwhich
thediscoveryislaunched.SelectwhethertoincludePublicSubnets.
2d ClicktheOptionsbuttontoconfigurediscoveryoptions.Formoreinformation,see

3b ClickDiscover. 4 (Conditional)Ifyouwanttodiscoverandinventorymachines,additionallyconfigurethe
followingsettingsintheInventorypane:

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4d ClickInventory.
3.2.2
Inventory Credentials
Toinventorydiscoveredmachines,selecttheInventorycheckboxintheDiscoveryandInventory dialogboxesandthenprovidelogincredentialsforWindows,UNIX,VirtualCenter,VMwareESX, NovellNetWare,orCitrixXenServermachines,dependingonthetypeofmachinesinuse. SpecifyingCredentialsforWindowsorVMwareESX3/4/5onpage 40 SpecifyingCredentialsforUNIXorCitrixXenServeronpage 40 SpecifyingCredentialsforVirtualCenteronpage 41 SpecifyingCredentialsforNovellNetWareonpage 41 Foreverymachineinthelistorrange,PlateSpinRecontrieseachtypeofcredentialprovideduntilit findsonethatmatches.Ifthecredentialsarenotvalid,themachineisnotinventoried.
Specifying Credentials for Windows or VMware ESX 3/4/5

DothefollowingintheDiscoveryandInventorydialogbox:
1 IntheInventorypanel,clicktheWindowsorVMWareESX3/4/5tabdependingonthetypeof
machinesinuse.
2 IntheCredentialsforInventorydropdownlist,selectcredentials.
Toaddanewcredential,click<NewCredential>,andconfiguretheCreateStoredCredentials dialogbox.Fordetailedinformationaboutaddingcredentials,seeSection 4.2,Credentials Manager,onpage 77.
Specifying Credentials for UNIX or Citrix XenServer

1 IntheInventorypanel,clicktheUNIXorCitrixXenServertabdependingonthetypeofmachines
inuse.
2 IntheCredentialsforInventorydropdownlist,selectcredentials.
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Toaddanewcredential,click<NewCredential>,andconfiguretheCreateStoredCredentials dialogbox.Fordetailedinformationaboutaddingcredentials,seeSection 4.2,Credentials Manager,onpage 77.

3 SelecttheUseSudocheckboxtousesuperuserprivilegesforconnections.
PlateSpinReconallowsinventoryingofLinux(RHEL,SLES,Ubuntu,CentOs,SLESwithXen) andCitrixXenServermachinesbyusingsudousercredentials.However,inventoryingofthe AIXandSolarismachinesbyusingsudousercredentialsisnotsupported.PlateSpinRecon userscaninventorymachinesbyusingsudousercredentialsonlyifcertainprerequisitesare met.Formoreinformationontheprerequisites,seeSection B.9,SudoConfigurationto InventoryandMonitorLinuxMachines,onpage 211. LocalpoliciescansometimespreventyoufromestablishinganSSHsessionasarootuser.A userwithsudoprivilegescangetaroundthisrestrictionbyestablishinganSSHsessionasanon rootuserandthenusingsudototemporarilyswitchtorootuserprivileges.Todothis,create thecredentialsusingthatusersusernameandpassword.PlateSpinReconusesthesudo commandtoperformanyoperationsthatrequirerootprivileges.
Specifying Credentials for Virtual Center

1 IntheInventorypanel,clicktheVirtualCentertab. 2 IntheCredentialsforInventorydropdownlist,selectcredentials.
Toaddanewcredential,click<NewCredential>,andconfiguretheCreateStoredCredentials dialogbox.Fordetailedinformationaboutaddingcredentials,seeSection 4.2,Credentials Manager,onpage 77. ForinventoryingaVirtualCenter,credentialsmusthaveaminimumreadonlyuserstatusfor theVirtualCenter. VirtualCenterautomaticallyincludesasusersanyuserwithAdministratorprivilegesforthe machinewhereVirtualCenterisinstalled.
Specifying Credentials for Novell NetWare

Dothefollowing:
1 InNovelleDirectoryontheNetWareserveryouwanttoinventory,createauserwiththesame
logincredentialsasthePlateSpinReconserveradministrator.
2 AssociatethelocalsecuritypoliciestothePlateSpinReconserveradministrator: 2a OnthePlateSpinReconserver,clickthedesktopStartmenu>Settings>ControlPanel. 2b DoubleclickAdministrativeTools>LocalSecurityPolicy.
TheLocalSecuritySettingswindowisdisplayed.
2c ClickLocalPolicies,thendoubleclickUserRightsAssignment. 2d Associatetheadministratorwithfollowingpolicies:
Actaspartoftheoperatingsystem Createatokenobject Logonasabatchjob
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Logonasaservice Replaceaprocessleveltoken
3 EnsurethattherecommendedNovellClientisinstalledonthePlateSpinReconserver.
FormoreinformationontherecommendedNovellClients,seeSupportedNovellNetWare Platformsonpage 14.

4 ThroughtheNovellClient,logintothePlateSpinReconserverastheadministratorusercreated
inStep 1.
5 LaunchthePlateSpinReconClient. 6 IntheInventorydropdownlist(locatedatthetopleftcorner),clickMachines.
7 ClicktheNovellNetWaretab. 8 IntheCredentialsforInventorydropdownlist,select<NewCredential>.
TheCreateStoredMachinesdialogboxisdisplayed.
9 SpecifythelogincredentialsoftheNetWareadministrator,andselectNovellNetWareInventory
asthevalidationtype. EnsurethatyouspecifytheusernameintheUsername.Contextformat. EnsurethattheadministratorhaspermissiontowritetotheNovellSYS:volume.Also,ensure thatTCPport524isopenonthefirewall.Formoreinformation,seeSection 1.3,Supported Platforms,onpage 12.

10 IntheLaunchInventoryProcessasUserdropdownlist,select<NewCredential>.
TheCreateStoredMachinesdialogboxisdisplayed.
11 Fillinthefields:
Username:SpecifytheadministratorusernamecreatedinStep 1.Youmustspecifythe usernameeitherinthehostname\usernameorthedomain\usernameformat.Ifyouchooseto specifytheusernameinthehostname\usernameformat,ensurethatthehostnameisthelocal hostname. Password:Specifythepasswordoftheadministrator. ValidationType:SelectNetwareLSA. HostnameorIPofmachinetovalidateagainst:Specifyitaslocalhost.

12 ClickSave.
3.2.3
Inventory Options
Ifyouwanttostartmonitoringimmediatelyafterinventoryorifyouwanttocopymachinestoa userdefinedgroup,youmustconfigurethePostInventoryoptions.Theoptionsareavailableonlyif youselectedtheInventorycheckboxintheDiscoveryandInventorydialogboxes. ToconfigurethePostInventoryoptions:
1 ClicktheOptionsbuttonintheInventoryarea.
ThePostInventoryOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 SelectStartmonitoringmachinesimmediatelytobeginmonitoringeachmachinediscoveredwhen
theinventoryiscomplete. Tostartmonitoringlater,donotselecttheoption.
3 SelectCopytogroup,thenselectatargetGroupfromthosedisplayedinthelistboxtocopyallthe
inventoriedmachinestothatgroup.
4 ClickOK.
3.2.4
Discovery Options
Youcanconfigureadditionaldiscoveryoptionswhenyouchoosetodiscoverandinventoryinanyof thefollowingInventorymethods: WindowsDomain IPRange Subnet SNMP Toconfigurediscoveryoptions:
1 IntheDiscoverypane,clicktheOptionsbutton.
TheDiscoveryOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 ConfigurethePingAttemptsandPingTimeoutoptionsasdesired. 3 InthePortsubsettypedropdownlist,selectoneofthefollowingsubsettypes:
MostCommon:IncludesportsforcommonWindowsnetworkservices. AllStandard:Includesportsbelow1025usedbystandardprotocols. Custom:Includescustomizedportsthatyouspecify. Toassignindividualscanprotocolstospecificports: 1. InthePortNumbercolumn,clickAddandtypetheportnumber. 2. IntheProtocolcolumn,selecttheprotocoltype(TCPorUDP)fromthedropdowncell. 3. PressEnter. 4. (Optional)Ifyouwanttoaddanewportnumber,repeatStep 1throughStep 3.

4 TofindMACaddressesofmachinesinthesameethernetsegmentasthePlateSpinReconServer,
selectDiscoverMACaddresses.Theoptionisselectedbydefault.
5 Toincludethecomputernamesinthediscoverypoll,selectDiscovercomputernames.Theoption
isselectedbydefault
6 Todiscovercomputerseveniftheyarecurrentlyoffline,selectAddofflinecomputers. 7 ClickOK.
3.2.5
Viewing Inventory Data and Monitoring Servers

Oncompletionofaninventoryoperation,youcanviewinventorydataonserversthatarelistedin theDataCenterExplorertree.Toviewdynamicdata,serversmustbemonitoredforaperiodoftime. ViewingPropertiesonpage 45 RefreshingtheInventoryonpage 46
44
CollectingDynamicDatabyMonitoringServersonpage 46 ViewingDynamicDataonpage 46 ViewingLogsonpage 46 CustomFieldsonpage 46 MonitoringByUsingSudoUserCredentialsonpage 49 IMPORTANT:WhenyoumonitorWindowsServer2003,thememoryutilizationonthemonitored servermightincreasebecausethememoryusageoftheSvchost.exeprocessincreaseswhenother usersremotelycollectperformancedataaboutthemonitoredserver.Thisisaknownissueof WindowsServer2003.Totroubleshoottheissue,seetheMicrosoftKnowledgeBasearticleID969701 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969701).
Viewing Properties
Propertiescanassistwithviewingstaticdataforinventoriedservers.Toviewinventoryinformation, rightclickaserverandclickProperties.
Figure 3-1 SampleViewofthePropertiesDialogBox
ThetabsavailableinthePropertiesdialogboxchangebasedonthetypeofserverbeingviewed.
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Refreshing the Inventory

TorefreshserverinventoryinformationintheDataCenterExplorer,rightclickaserverormultiple serversandclickRefreshInventoryonthemenu. InventoryRefreshjobsarescheduledandrunintheJobExplorer.
Collecting Dynamic Data by Monitoring Servers

1 Tomonitorasingleserver,rightclicktheinventoriedserver,thenclickStartMonitoring.
Tomonitormultipleservers,selectthemortheirparentgroup,filter,orsite,thenclickStart Monitoring. AjobiscreatedintheJobExplorer.Formoredetails,seeSection 2.6,JobExplorer,onpage 24.

2 Afterdataiscollected,clicktheservertoviewthecorrespondingchartintheChartViewer.
Withatleastfiveminutesofdatacollected,theChartViewercandisplayworkloadsand utilizationdata. AlthoughPlateSpinReconmightnotbecurrentlymonitoringaserver,itisstillpossibletoview chartsandreportsshowingthepreviouslycollectedserverdata. Youcanmonitormultipleserversbyselectingthemindividuallyorbyusinggroups,filters,orsites. Tostopmonitoring,rightclickthemonitoredserverandselectStopMonitoring.Intheconfirmation dialogbox,clickYestoconfirmorNotoexitthedialogboxandcontinuemonitoring.
Viewing Dynamic Data

Youcanviewworkloadsandutilizationdatainachartaftercollectingatleastfiveminutesworthof data.AnalysisReportsrequireaminimumofonehoursworthofdata.Ifthereisinsufficientdata, thereportisdisplayedwithoutdynamicdata.Youcanviewcollecteddatainachartbyselectinga monitoredserver. Formoreinformation,seeSection 5.1,ChartViewer,onpage 83andSection 5.2,ReportExplorer, onpage 87.
Viewing Logs
Logfilesreflectthestatusofdatacollectionformonitoredservers. Toinspectalog,rightclickaserver,clickLogs,thenclickViewLogs.
Custom Fields
CustomfieldsareavailableforenteringserverinformationthatcannotbeinventoriedbyPlateSpin Recon.Thesenoninventoryfieldscanassistwithidentifyingcandidatesforplanningand consolidation.Theinformationisstoredinthevisibletablename. Youcanspecifythecustomfieldsinoneofthefollowingways: ManuallySpecifyingtheCustomFieldsonpage 47 ImportingtheCustomFieldsonpage 48
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Manually Specifying the Custom Fields

Tospecifycustomfieldsformultipleservers:
1 SelectaserverormultipleserversintheDataCenterExplorer. 2 RightclicktheselectionandclickPropertiesforasingleserver,orclickSetCustomfieldsfor
multipleservers. ThePropertiesdialogboxisdisplayed.
3 ClicktheCustomFieldstab. 4 Selectafieldtoviewitsdefinitionandparameters.
5 Typeorselectinformationinanyofthefields,includingthosealreadyfilledwithdata. 6 ClickOK.
Ifnecessary,clickResetReferenceValuestoreturnallfieldstotheirdefaultvalues. Thedatabaseisupdatedfortheselectedservers.Reporttemplatescanfilterforparticularcustom fields.
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IMPORTANT:Thenewvaluethatyouspecifyisautomaticallychangedtothedefaultvaluewhen youimportasnapshotcontainingaselectedserverhavingaservertemplatethatalreadyexistsin Recon.Youmustmanuallyresetthevaluesafteryouhaveimportedtheserversnapshot.
Importing the Custom Fields

PlateSpinReconallowsyoutoimportthecustomfieldsforalltheserversinthelocalsite.
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,clickFile>ImportMachineProperties.
TheImportMachinePropertiesdialogboxisdisplayed.
2 Typethepath(orusetheadjacentbrowsebutton)tolocateaCSVfilecontainingcustomfields.
FollowtheseguidelinesasyouworkwiththeCSVfile: Thefirstlinemustcontainthelabelofthecustomfieldsseparatedbyadelimitersuchasa comma(,). ThefirstcustomfieldlabelonthefirstlinemustbeMachine.Youcanlisttheremaining customfieldsinanyorder. Usethefollowingcustomfieldlabelsonly: RackUnits NormalizedSpeed Company Department LocationCity LocationState LocationCountry Function Rack BillingCode Usage LeaseExpires WarrantyExpires Thecustomfieldlabelnamesarecasesensitive.
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Thevaluesforthecustomfieldsmustbespecifiedsubsequenttothefirstline,andmustbe correspondingtothecustomfields. Eachlinemustcontainthecustomfieldsforamachine. ThevaluefortheMachinecustomfieldcanbeIPaddressorthemachinename.The specifiedmachinenamemustbeunique. Thevaluesoneachlinemustbeseparatedbyadelimitersuchasacomma(,). AsampleCSVfileisasfollows:

Machine,Rack Units,Company,Lease Expires,Warranty Expires 1.x.x.x,130,Novell,11/25/2009,1/1/2010 3 SpecifythedelimiterusedintheCSVfile.Bydefault,itisacomma(,). 4 (Conditional)Ifyouwanttoreplacetheexistingcustomfieldswiththevaluescontainedinthe
CSVfile,selecttheOverwriteExistingPropertiesoption.Bydefault,theoptionisselected.
5 Typeorselectinformationinanyofthefields,includingthosealreadyfilledwithdata. 6 ClickImport.
Monitoring By Using Sudo User Credentials

PlateSpinReconallowsmonitoringofLinux(RHEL,SLES,Ubuntu,CentOs,SLESwithXen)and CitrixXenServermachinesbyusingsudousercredentials.However,monitoringoftheAIXand Solarismachinesbyusingsudousercredentialsisnotsupported.PlateSpinReconuserscanmonitor themachinesbyusingsudousercredentialsonlyiftheyhavethepermissiontorunthecommands onthetargetmachine.Formoreinformationonhowtograntpermissiontoperformmonitoringby usingsudousercredentials,seeSection B.9,SudoConfigurationtoInventoryandMonitorLinux Machines,onpage 211.
3.3
Working with Filters

TheFiltersnodecontainsadditionalnodesthatlistinventoriedserversorganizedintologicalgroups basedondomain,servermakeandmodel,operatingsystem,status,subnetmask,virtualmachine servers,andworkgroup. Filterscannotbeaddedorremoved,andserverscannotbeaddedtofilters.
3.4
Working with Groups

TheGroupsnodecontainsuserdefinedcollectionsofservers.Usegroupstologicallygroupservers bylocation,function,application,andsoon.Groupscanbecreated,deleted,andnested.Serverscan belongtomorethanonegroup. Section 3.4.1,CreatingaGroup,onpage 49 Section 3.4.2,CopyingServerstoaGroup,onpage 50 Section 3.4.3,DeletingaServerfromaGroup,onpage 50
3.4.1
Creating a Group
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclickGroupsandclickCreateGroup.
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TheCreateGroupdialogboxisdisplayed.
2 TypeaGroupName. 3 ClickOK.
Thegroupiscreatedandreadyforserverstobecopiedtoit.
3.4.2
Copying Servers to a Group

1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,selectoneormoreservers. 2 Rightclicktheselection,thenclickCopytoGroup. 3 Clickthedesiredgrouponthesubmenuthatisdisplayed.
TheserverisdisplayedundertheselectedgroupintheDataCenterExplorer. YoucanalsodragserversfromundertheAll,FilteredorSitesnodeanddropthemonanexisting grouptocopythemtothatgroup.
3.4.3
Deleting a Server from a Group

1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,dooneofthefollowing:
Rightclicktheserveryouwanttodelete,thenclickDelete. Selecttheserveryouwanttodelete,thenpresstheDeletekey. Aconfirmationdialogboxisdisplayed.

2 (Optional)Topermanentlyremovethemonitoringdatafortheserverwhenitisdeletedfromthe
group,selectDelete<server>andassociatedmonitoringdatafromthedatabase.
3 ClickDelete.
TheserverisremovedfromthegroupintheDataCenterExplorer.
3.5
Working with Sites

TheSitesnodecontainslogicallyorganizedsetsofserversforanalysisandreportingondatacollected frommultiplelocations. EachPlateSpinReconinstallationincludesadefaultLocalsitethatcontainsmachinesthatyouwork withusingthelocalinstanceofPlateSpinRecon. YoucanworkwithdataexternaltothelocalPlateSpinReconinstance,inwhichcaseyoumustfirst createanewsiteoftheappropriatesitetype. NOTE:Machinesimportedfromaremotesitecanbeviewedinreportsandchartsafterthedatahas beensynchronized.However,youcannotinventoryormonitorthemachines.Ifyouwantto inventoryormonitorthemachines,youmustperformtheactionsattheoriginalremotesiteand importthemachinesagain.Subsequently,youneedtosynchronizethedataagain. Thefollowingtableexplainsthedifferenttypesofsitesthatyoucancreate.
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Table 3-4 SiteTypes
Type Local
Description To work with PlateSpin Recon snapshots (*.prs files) exported from other instances of PlateSpin Recon. When it is exported from the local instance of PlateSpin Recon, a snapshot can be imported into the default Local site. For more information, see Section 3.6, Working with PlateSpin Recon Snapshots, on page 52. To connect to and work with data collected by a remote PlateSpin Recon instance. For more information, see Section 3.8, Working with Data Collected by Other PlateSpin Recon Instances, on page 58. To work with data collected by supported third-party performance monitoring tools, such as Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, Windows Performance Monitor (perfmon.exe), HP Reporter, and other generic performance data gathering tools. For more information, see Section 3.9, Working with Data Collected by Other Performance Monitoring Tools, on page 60.
Remote PlateSpin Recon
Remote
UsingPlateSpinReconsites,youcandesignateaPlateSpinReconServerastheMasterServerand carryoutallanalysisandreportingtaskswithinasinglePlateSpinReconenvironment. Section 3.5.1,AddingaSite,onpage 51 Section 3.5.2,DeletingaSite,onpage 51 Section 3.5.3,ModifyingaSite,onpage 52
3.5.1
Adding a Site
1 RightclickanywhereintheDataCenterExplorerandchooseSites>AddSite.
TheAddSitedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 Typeauniquenameforthesite. 3 IntheTypedropdownlist,ensurethatLocalisselected 4 (Optional)Provideadescriptionforthesite. 5 EnsurethattheRunImportSiteSnapshotWizardoptionisdeselected. 6 ClickOK.
ThesiteiscreatedandisdisplayedundertheSitesnodeintheDataCenterExplorer. ForinformationonaddingRemoteorRemotePlateSpinReconsites,seeSection 3.7,Workingwith RemoteData,onpage 58.
3.5.2
Deleting a Site
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,dooneofthefollowing:
Rightclickthesiteyouwanttodelete,thenclickDelete. Selectthesiteyouwanttodelete,thenpresstheDeletekey. AConfirmDeletedialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 ClickYes.
PlateSpinReconremovestheselectedsiteandassociatedresourcesfromtheDataCenter Explorer.
3.5.3
Modifying a Site
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclickthesiteyouwanttomodify,clickSites,thenclickEdit
Site. TheEditSitedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 Maketherequiredmodifications. 3 ClickOK.
3.6
Working with PlateSpin Recon Snapshots

PlateSpinReconsnapshots(*.prsfiles)containdataaboutmachines,raters,reporttemplates, generatedreports,projects,scenarios,andservertemplatesexportedbyotherinstancesofPlateSpin Recon,orfromthecurrentinstanceasabackup. YoucanalsoimportsnapshotsexportedfrompreviousversionsofPlateSpinRecon.Inthiscase,a snapshotupgradeisperformedbeforethedataisbroughtintoPlateSpinRecon.Youneedtoconsider thefollowing: Importingalargesnapshot,forinstanceifthesnapshotwascompressedbeforeexport,requires twotofivetimesthesizeoftheoldsnapshotindiskspace. SnapshotsexportedfromPlateSpinRecon3.0andlateraresupported. SnapshotsfromPlateSpinRecon3.1areonlysupportedifallhotfixeswereappliedtoPlateSpin Reconbeforethesnapshotwasexported. ExportingsnapshotofCitrixXenServerisnotsupported. YoucanimportasnapshoteitherintothedefaultLocalsite,orintoanewlocalsite. Section 3.6.1,ExportingaPlateSpinReconSnapshot,onpage 52 Section 3.6.2,ImportingaPlateSpinReconSnapshot,onpage 55
3.6.1
Exporting a PlateSpin Recon Snapshot

1 RightclickintheDataCenterExplorer,clickSites,thenclickExportSnapshot.
TheExportSiteSnapshotWizardisdisplayed.
2 Selectexportobjectsyouwanttoincludeinthesnapshotbyenablingthecheckboxnexttothe
objects. NOTE:EventhoughyoucanchoosetoexporttheCitrixXenServerobject,theobjectwillnotbe includedinthesnapshotbecauseexportingsnapshotofCitrixXenServerisnotsupported. Whenareporttemplateisincludedinthesnapshot,itsgeneratedreportscanalsobeincluded. Similarly,ifaprojectisincludedinthesnapshot,itsscenarioscanbeincluded.

3 ClickNext.
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IfyouselectedtoexportMachinesaspartofthesnapshot,continuewithStep 4;else,skipto Step 6.

4 IntheStep1bdialogbox,selectsummaryoptionsforthedatatobeexported,suchasadata
rangetimeframeandwhethertoincludeLogsorCredentials.
5 ClickNext.
TheStep2dialogboxisdisplayed.
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6 Specifythefilenamefortheexportedsnapshot: 6a SpecifytheUNC(\\<server>\<path>\<filename>)orfilepath (drive:\directory\filename)whereyouwanttosavethesnapshot.Youcanalsoclick
Browsetobrowseforandselectalocation
6b Selectorcreatetheappropriatecredentialstoaccessthelocationwhereyouwanttosavethe
exportedsnapshot.Youneedwritepermissiontothislocation.
6c ChoosewhethertoCompressthefile. 6d ChoosewhethertoEncryptthefile.Foranencryptedsnapshotfile,specifyandconfirma
passwordfordecryption.
7 ClickNext.
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8 Configurethesnapshotdeliverytypeandthedeliveryschedule: 8a IfyouwantthesnapshotdeliveredtoanetworkorFTPlocationafteritisexported,selecta
deliverytype.Toconfigurethedeliverymethodoptions,clicktheoptionbuttonnexttothe selecteddeliverymethod.Ifyouareunsureofthedeliveryconfigurations,checkwithyour SystemAdministrator. ThefilepathmustbeaccessibletothePlateSpinReconServer.

8b (Optional)Ifyouwanttodeletethesourcesnapshotafteritisdelivered,selecttheDelete
SourceFileAfterDeliverycheckbox.
8c Configuretheschedulewhenyouwantthesnapshottobedelivered.
Toimmediatelydeliverthesnapshot,selectNow. Todeliverthesnapshotatalatertime,selectoneofthefollowingschedules Lateronpage 213 Recurrenceonpage 213

9 ClickExport.
ThedatasnapshotisreadytobeimportedintoanotherinstanceofPlateSpinRecon.
3.6.2
Importing a PlateSpin Recon Snapshot

1 Determinethetypeoflocalsite(thedefaultlocalsiteoranewlocalsite)youwanttoimportthe
requiredsnapshotinto.Toimportintoanewlocalsite,youneedtocreatethesitebefore importingthesnapshot.
2 IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclickthetargetlocalsite,clickSites,thenclickImportSnapshot.
Or RightclickintheDataCenterExplorer,clickSites,thenclickImportSnapshot.
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TheImportSiteSnapshotWizardisdisplayed.
3 IntheStep1dialogbox,configurethefollowing: 3a SpecifyorclickBrowsetobrowseforandselecttheUNCorthelocalfilepathofthe
snapshotyouwanttoimport.
3b Selectoraddthecredentialsneededtoaccessthelocation. 3c Ifthefilewasencryptedonexport,typetheSnapshotPasswordtodecryptit. 4 ClickNext.
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5 Selectthecheckboxesnexttotheobjectsyouwanttoimport. 6 ClickNext.
Iftheimportedobjectsincludemachineswithmonitoringdata,theStep2bdialogboxis displayed.Otherwise,proceedtoStep 9.
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7 Specifythedataoptionsforthemachinesfilter. 8 ClickNext.
9 IntheImporttoSitedropdownlist,selectthetargetsiteyouwanttoimporttherequired
snapshotinto.
10 ClickImport.
Afterthedataisimported,workwithitusingtheDataCenterExplorerundertheSitesnode.
3.7
Working with Remote Data

Workingwithperformancemonitoringandresourceutilizationdataexternaltothelocalinstanceof PlateSpinReconallowsyoutotakeadvantageofthePlateSpinReconcapacityplanning,analysis, reportingandchargebackcapabilities,regardlessofthesourceofinformation.Datacanbeimported onaonetimeorrecurringbasis.
3.8
Working with Data Collected by Other PlateSpin Recon Instances

YoucanuseperformanceandutilizationdatacollectedbyotherinstancesofPlateSpinRecon,suchas inasetupwheremultiplePlateSpinReconinstanceshandlemonitoringanddatacollection,withone actingasacentralPlateSpinReconinstanceforgeneratingreportsanddevelopingconsolidation plans. NOTE:Machinesimportedfromaremotesitecanbeviewedinreportsandchartsafterthedatahas beensynchronized.However,youcannotinventoryormonitorthemachines.Ifyouwantto inventoryormonitorthemachines,youmustperformtheactionsattheoriginalremotesiteand importthemachinesagain.Subsequently,youneedtosynchronizethedataagain. ToworkwithdatacollectedbyanotherinstanceofPlateSpinRecon:
1 CreateanewRemotePlateSpinReconsitetoconnecttotheremotePlateSpinReconinstance: 1a RightclickintheDataCenterExplorer,clickSites,thenclickAddSite.
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1b SelectRemotePlateSpinReconasthenewsiteTypeandspecifytherequiredbasicparameters
forthenewsite,includinganameandanoptionaldescription.
1c SpecifytheURLofthePlateSpinReconserverinthefollowingformat: http://hostname_or_IP_address_of_the_ Recon_ Server[:port]/platespin_374/ recon_374
Forexample,http://10.0.0.0/platespin_374/recon_374
1d IntheCredentialsdropdownlist,selecttheappropriatecredentialsorselect<New
Credential>toaddnewcredentials.
1e Ifyouwantthedatastreamencrypted,ensurethattheEncryptDataStreamcheckboxis
selected.
1f (Optional)Toverifyconnectivitywiththeremoteserver,clickConnectionTest. 1g ClickOK.
ThenewsiteisaddedtotheSitesnodeintheDataCenterExplorer.
2 RightclicktheRemotePlateSpinReconsiteyoucreatedinStep 1,clickSites,thenclickImport
Machines.Themachinenodesareaddedtothesite.
3 RightclicktheRemotePlateSpinReconsiteagain,clickSites,thenclickSynchronizeData.
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3.9
Working with Data Collected by Other Performance Monitoring Tools

Youcanimportandworkwithperformanceandutilizationdatacollectedbyotherperformance monitoringsoftware,suchasMicrosoftOperationsManager(MOM)2005,MicrosoftWindows PerformanceMonitor(perfmon.exe),andHPReporter.YoucanalsousethePlateSpinRecon PerformanceDataImportfeature. NOTE:Machinesimportedfromotherperformancemonitoringtoolscanbeviewedinreportsand chartsafterthedatahasbeensynchronized.However,youcannotinventoryormonitorthe machines.Ifyouwanttoinventoryormonitorthemachines,youmustperformtheactionsatthe originalremotesiteandimportthemachinesagain.Subsequently,youneedtosynchronizethedata again. PlateSpinReconsupportssummarizationofcollecteddatawithin5minuteand60minuteintervals, regardlessofhowtheselectedconnectorsummarizesandcollectsdata.PlateSpinReconrequiresthat datacollectedbyconnectorsbesummarizedoverintervalsof60minutesorless.Werecommend importingconnectordatasummarizedover60minuteintervals,especiallyforsystemswhose utilizationdatacoversaperiodoflongerthanonemonth. ForPlateSpinRecontogeneratereliableconsolidationplans,werecommendthatyoucollect utilizationdataforaperiodofonetothreemonthsbeforeimportingitintoPlateSpinRecon. Forthecapabilitytoworkwithdatacollectedbythirdpartysoftware,youmust: CreateanewRemotesiteoftheappropriatetypeandselectanappropriateconnector. Inventorytheremotemachines. Synchronizedatainthenewsitewiththatcollectedbytheremotemonitoringtool. Section 3.9.1,RequiredPerformanceCounters,onpage 60
3.9.1
Required Performance Counters

YoumustensurethattherequiredperformanceandutilizationdataisactuallygatheredforPlateSpin Reconcountersintherequiredcategories.
Table 3-5 RequiredPlateSpinReconCounters
PlateSpin Recon Counter Processor utilization Memory utilization Disk IO Network IF I/O
Expressed in Percentage of total processor time Total number of free bytes Bytes per second Bytes per second
NOTE:NetWaremachinesonlyrequiretwocounters(CPUanddisk)tobegatheredforsuccessful consolidation.FormoreinformationseeSection 1.3,SupportedPlatforms,onpage 12.
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Whererequired,PlateSpinReconprovidesmechanismsforconvertingthirdpartyperformanceand utilizationdatatotherequiredPlateSpinReconformat. WorkingwithMicrosoftOperationsManager(MOM)2005Dataonpage 61 WorkingwithWindowsPerfMonCounterLogsonpage 62
Working with Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 Data

1 DownloadandinstallthePlateSpinManagementPackforMOM2005(seeKnowledgeBase
ArticleQ7920903(http://www.novell.com/support/viewContent.do?externalId=7920903)and collectdatabyusingMOM.
2 CreateanewRemotesiteforconnectingtoMOM: 2a RightclickintheDataCenterExplorer,clickSites,thenclickAddSite.
2b SelectRemoteastheTypeofthenewsiteandspecifytherequiredbasicparametersforthe
newsite,includinganameandanoptionaldescription.
2c IntheConnectorTypedropdownlist,selectMicrosoftOperationsManager2005.
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2d TypetheDatabaseHostnamefortheremoteserver.DatabaseInstancedefaultstoOnePointand
mustbechangedtoreflecttheMicrosoftOperationManager2005databaseinstanceinuse.
2e Selecttheappropriatecredentialsorselect<NewCredential>toaddnewcredentials. 2f (Optional)Toverifyconnectivitywiththeremotedatabase,clickTestSettings 2g ClickOK.
ThenewsiteisaddedtotheSitesnodeintheDataCenterExplorer.
3 Inventorythemachines: 3a IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktheremotesite,clickSites,thenclickInventory
Machines. TheInventoryMachinesdialogboxisdisplayed.
3b Selectthecheckboxesnexttothemachinesyouwanttoinventory,specifytherequired
inventoryparameters,thenclickOK.
4 Synchronizesitedata: 4a IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktherequiredsiteandselectSites>SynchronizeData. 4b Selectthecheckboxesnexttotherequiredmachines.Toselectallmachinesinasite,select
thecheckboxnexttothesite.
4c Selecttherequireddatarange,scheduling,andrecurrenceoptions. 4d ClickOK.
Working with Windows PerfMon Counter Logs

1 SetupyourWindowsPerformanceMonitor(perfmon.exe)togathercounterdatarequiredby
PlateSpinRecon.SeeSection 3.9.1,RequiredPerformanceCounters,onpage 60.

2 ExportthedatatoaCSVfile.Fordetailedinformation,seetheWindowsdocumentation. 3 CreateanewRemotesitetoworkwithWindowsPerformanceMonitorlogs: 3a RightclickintheDataCenterExplorer,clickSites,thenclickAddSite.
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3b SelectRemoteastheTypeofthenewsiteandspecifytherequiredbasicparametersforthe
newsite,includinganameandanoptionaldescription.
3c IntheConnectorTypedropdownlist,selectPerformanceMonitor. 3d Typethepathto(orbrowsetoandselect)theCSVfilethatcontainsdataexportedfrom
PerformanceMonitor.
3e Selecttherequiredcredentialsorselect<NewCredential>toaddnewcredentials. 3f (Optional)ToverifyUNCorlocalfilepathaccess,clickTestSettings. 3g ClickOK.
ThenewsiteisaddedtoSitesnodeintheDataCenterExplorer.
4 Inventorythemachines: 4a IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktheremotesite,clickSites,thenclickAddSite.
4b Selectthecheckboxesnexttothemachinesyouwanttoinventory,specifytherequired
inventoryparameters,thenclickOK.
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5 Synchronizesitedata: 5a IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktherequiredsite,clickSites,thenclickSynchronize
Data.
5b Selectthecheckboxesnexttotherequiredmachines.Toselectallmachinesinasite,select
5c Selecttherequireddatarange,scheduling,andrecurrenceoptions. 5d ClickOK.
3.10
Using HP Reporter Data with PlateSpin Recon

PlateSpinReconfeaturesaspecializedHPReporterconnector.ItenablesPlateSpinRecontoconnect toanHPReporter3.8databasetoimportperformanceandresourceutilizationdataforcharts, reportsandconsolidationplanning. YoucanuseanyHPReportercollecteddatatogeneratePlateSpinReconchartsandreports. However,forconsolidationplanningyoumustconfigureReportertocollectspecificutilizationdata thatcorrelatestodatacollectedbyspecificPlateSpinReconcounters.Fordetailedinformation,see Section 3.9.1,RequiredPerformanceCounters,onpage 60. YouneedtospecifyappropriateformulastotransformthedatafromReportercollectedmetricsto PlateSpinReconcountersbecauseHPReporterdoesnotcollectdatainexactlythesameformatas PlateSpinRecon. Section 3.10.1,UsingFormulastoConvertMetricstoCounters,onpage 64 Section 3.10.2,ExampleFormulas,onpage 65 Section 3.10.3,WorkingwithHPReporterData,onpage 66 TheHPReporterdatasummarizationintervalisspecifiedduringthecreationoftheHPReporter MetricList.
3.10.1
Using Formulas to Convert Metrics to Counters

YoucanuseaformulatoprovidethefollowinginformationtothePlateSpinReconHPReporter Connector: WhichReportermetriclistcontainsmetricsrequiredbyPlateSpinRecon HowtoconvertdatafrommeasurementunitsusedbyReporterunitstothoserequiredby PlateSpinRecon AvalidHPReporterConnectorformulaconsistsofthenameoftherequiredHPReportermetriclist, followedbyadotcharacter,followedbyanarithmeticexpressionthatconvertsthemetricintoa PlateSpinReconcounter.ArithmeticexpressionscancontainanyofthecollectedReportermetrics, numericconstants,andarithmeticoperations. NOTE:Onlymetricscollectedbythesamemetriclistcanbeusedinoneformula,althoughdifferent formulascanusedifferentmetriclists.
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Forexample,PlateSpinReconrequiresmemoryutilizationdataexpressedinthenumberoffreebytes availabletotheoperatingsystem,whileReportercollectsthesamedatabyusingtwoseparate metrics: Percentageofmemoryutilized(GBL_MEM_UTIL) Totalsizeofthememoryingigabytes(GBL_MEM_PHYS) Inthiscase,theappropriateformulaforconvertingcollectedmetricdataintothePlateSpinRecon counterformatwouldbe:

GBL_MEM_PHYS*(100-GBL_MEM_UTIL))*1024*1024*1024/100
3.10.2
Example Formulas
ThefollowingareexamplesofHPReportermetricsthatyoucancollectusingCODAagents,along withcorrespondingconversionformulas.NotethatTodoconsolidationplanning,PlateSpinRecon requiresdataforallfourcounters.BecauseHPReportercancollectmetricdatawithseveraldifferent agents,andthesamePlateSpinReconcounterscanbecalculatedusingdifferentHPReportermetrics, thislistisnotexhaustiveandservesonlyasanexample.
Table 3-6 ExampleHPReporterMetrics
PlateSpin Recon HP Reporter Metrics Counter Processor GBL_CPU_TOTAL_UTIL Utilization BYCPU_CPU_TOTAL_UTIL Memory GBL_MEM_PHYS and Utilization GBL_MEM_UTIL GBL_MEM_FREE
Conversion Formula
<MetricList>.GBL_CPU_TOTAL_UTIL <MetricList>.BYCPU_CPU_TOTAL_UTIL <MetricList>.(GBL_MEM_PHYS*(100GBL_MEM_UTIL))*1024*1024*1024/100 <MetricList>.(GBL_MEM_FREE)*1024*1024
GBL_DISK_PHYS_BYTE_RATE <MetricList>.GBL_DISK_PHYS_BYTE_RATE Disk Utilization BYDSK_PHYS_READ_BYTE_RATE <MetricList>.BYDSK_PHYS_READ_BYTE_RATE Network BYNETIF_OUT_BYTE_RATE and Utilization BYNETIF_IN_BYTE_RATE <MetricList>.BYNETIF_OUT_BYTE_RATE + BYNETIF_IN_BYTE_RATE
DataforcertainHPReportermetricsandPlateSpinReconcountersiscollectedseparatelyforeach deviceinstance.Forexample,theBYCPU_CPU_TOTAL_UTILmetricgivesaseparateutilization figureforeachCPUinthesystem.Todistinguishamongdifferentdeviceinstances,includeametric withadeviceidentificationstringinthelistwhenyousetuptheHPReportermetriclists. ThePlateSpinReconHPReporterconnectoridentifiesthefollowingmetricsascontainingdevice instancenames:
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Table 3-7 PlateSpinReconHPReporterMetrics
Functional Area Processors Disks Network Interface Cards File Systems
Metric BYCPU_ID BYDSK_DEVNAME or BYDSK_ID BYNETIF_NAME or BYNETIF_ID FS_DIRNAME, FS_DEVNAME or FS_DEVNO
3.10.3
Working with HP Reporter Data

1 ConfigureyourHPReportertocollectdataintherequiredperformanceandutilization
measurementcategories.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.9.1,RequiredPerformance Counters,onpage 60.

2 (Conditional)IfyouareusingOraclewithHPReporter,installOracleclientsoftwareonthe
PlateSpinReconServerhost.Fordetailedinformation,seetheOracledocumentation.
3 CreateanewRemotesiteforconnectingtotheHPReporterdatabase: 3a RightclickintheDataCenterExplorer,clickSites,thenclickAddSite.
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3b Specifyanameand,optionally,adescription. 3c IntheTypedropdown,selectRemote. 3d IntheConnectorTypedropdownlist,selectHPReporter.
TheHPReporterrelatedSettingsandCountersfieldsaredisplayed.
3e OntheSettingstab,providethefollowinginformationrequiredtoconnecttotheHP
Reporterdatabase: Databasehostname Databaseordatabaseinstancename ConnectiontimeoutandtheQuerytimeout. WhenyousynchronizealargedatasetfromHPReporter,youmightneedtosetthe ConnectiontimeoutandtheQuerytimeoutvaluesto0,whichmeansinfinite/unlimited timeout. Databasetype Portnumber,ifanondefaultportnumberisused Validcredentialsforaccessingthedatabase
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3f OntheCounterstab,forthefourrequiredperformanceandutilizationdatacategories,
providecounterformulasforthesystemtousewhenconvertingHPReportermetricsto PlateSpinReconcounters.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.10.1,UsingFormulasto ConvertMetricstoCounters,onpage 64.

3g ClickOK.
4 Inventorythemachines: 4a IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktheremotesiteyoucreatedinStep 3,clickSites,then
clickInventoryMachines. TheInventoryMachinesinSitesite_namedialogboxisdisplayed.
4b Selectthecheckboxesnexttothemachinesyouwanttoinventory. 4c Selecttherequiredcredentialsorselect<NewCredential>toaddnewcredentials. 4d ClickOK. 5 Synchronizesitedata: 5a IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktherequiredsite,clickSites,thenclickSynchronize
Data.
5c Selectrequireddatarange,scheduling,andrecurrenceoptions. 5d ClickOK.
ForindepthinformationaboutusingPlateSpinReconinconjunctionwithHPReporter,see KnowledgeBasearticleQ7920889(http://www.novell.com/support/ viewContent.do?externalId=7920889).
3.11
Using Performance Data Import to Import Generic Data into PlateSpin Recon
PlateSpinhasdevelopedarobustPerformanceDataImportconnectorforPlateSpinReconthat allowsuserstoimportcollectedperformancedatafrommanythirdpartytoolsonthemarketinto PlateSpinRecontotakeadvantageofitscharting,reporting,andconsolidationplanningfeatures. Whencollecteddatahasbeenmovedfromitsproprietarylocationandformatintoasetoftablesin thePlateSpinReconmonitoringdatabase,PlateSpinReconcanimportthedataandmakeuseofit likeanyotherperformancedata.Youcanalsosetupascheduledorrecurringimport,sothe PlateSpinReconanalysisdoesnothavetobeaonetimething. Almostallperformancedatagatheringtoolsuseadifferentmethodandformatforstoringthe gathereddata.ToenablePlateSpinRecontosuccessfullyimportanydata,regardlessofitsoriginal format,youneedtouseanExtract,Transform,andLoad(ETL)tool.Thistypeoftooltakesthedata, reshapesit,andthenloadsitintothetableswherePlateSpinReconexpectstofindit.See Section 3.11.2,PreparingDataforImportintoPlateSpinRecon,onpage 70. TheworkloadsinthedatabeingimportedneedtobeofthetypethatPlateSpinReconcaninventory undernormalcircumstances.AllnecessaryportsbetweenPlateSpinReconandtheworkloadbeing importedmustbeopen.
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Aswithotherremotedataconnectors,datatobeimportedshouldcontainoneormoredatapoints foreveryhour.Also,touseConsolidationPlanning,specificcountersneedtoexistinthedata.See Section 3.9.1,RequiredPerformanceCounters,onpage 60. Section 3.11.1,PerformanceDataImportTablesDataStructure,onpage 69 Section 3.11.2,PreparingDataforImportintoPlateSpinRecon,onpage 70
3.11.1
Performance Data Import Tables Data Structure

Therearefourtablesusedforimportingofgenericperformancedata: ImportComputertable:Containsinformationaboutcomputersthataretobeimportedinto PlateSpinRecon. ImportCountertable:Containsinformationaboutallcountersthatwerecollectedforanyofthe computersintheImportComputertable. ImportCounterInstancetable:Containsinformationaboutnamedinstancesofeachcounterfor eachcomputer.ThecombinationofComputer,CounterandInstanceNamemustbeunique. ImportDatatable:Containsmonitoringdatatobeimported. EachtablecontainsoneIDfield,whichactsasaprimarykeyandisautomaticallygeneratedbythe databaseserverwhenanewrowisinsertedintothetable.
Table 3-8 ImportComputerTable
Column Name ID Name
Type Integer varchar(255)
Description Generated automatically. Network name of computer. This is the address or name of the computer. It allows PlateSpin Recon to address the computer over the network.
Table 3-9 ImportCounterTable
Column Name ID Name
Type Integer varchar(255)
Description Generated automatically. Unique name of the counter. This is the name of the counter as it will be shown in PlateSpin Recon charts. Some predefined counter names exist. See Section 3.9.1, Required Performance Counters, on page 60.
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Table 3-10 ImportCounterInstanceTable
Column Name ID Computer Counter InstanceName
Type Integer Integer Integer varchar(255)
Description Generated automatically. Reference to the ImportComputer table. Reference to the ImportCounter table. Name of the given counter instance on the specific computer.
Table 3-11 ImportDataTable
Column Name ID Instance ObservationDate ObservationValue
Type Integer Integer DateTime float
Description Generated automatically. Tells PlateSpin Recon for which computer, counter and counter instance this data value was collected. Time the data was collected. Value of the counter.
3.11.2
Preparing Data for Import into PlateSpin Recon

TomigratedatafromathirdpartylocationandformatrequiresanExtract,TransformandLoad (ETL)tool.Therearemanysuchtoolsonthemarket: OpenSource:CloverETL,EnhydraOctopus,PentahoDataIntegration,andTalendOpenStudio. Youcanalsowriteproprietarydatamanipulationscripts,suchasSQLqueries,althoughthespecifics ofthesetasksarebeyondthescopeofthisdocument.Forthirdpartytools,seethedocumentation thataccompaniesthosetools.Forscripts,refertoyourinhousereferencematerialonthelanguages andrequirements. Commercial:InformaticaPowerCenter,InaplexInaport,andAltovaMapForce. Regardlessofthetoolyouchoose,thedatatransformationworkflowsarethesame: Retrievehostnamesoftheworkloadsyouwanttoimportandwritethemtothe ImportComputertable WritethenamesoftherequiredcounterstotheImportCountertable Retrieveandwriteallperformancedatarelatedtotheabovecounters Toworkwithgenericimporteddata:
1 Collectdataintherequiredperformanceandutilizationmeasurementcategories.Formore
information,seeSection 3.9.1,RequiredPerformanceCounters,onpage 60.

2 Extract,transform,andloadthecollectedperformancedataintothePlateSpinRecon
PerformanceDataImporttables.
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Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.11,UsingPerformanceDataImporttoImportGenericData intoPlateSpinRecon,onpage 68,Section 3.11.1,PerformanceDataImportTablesData Structure,onpage 69andSection 3.11.2,PreparingDataforImportintoPlateSpinRecon,on page 70.
3 CreateanewRemotesiteforconnectingtothePerformanceDataImporttables: 3a RightclickintheDataCenterExplorer,clickSites,thenclickAddSite.
3b Specifyanameand,optionally,adescription. 3c IntheTypedropdown,selectRemote. 3d IntheConnectorTypedropdownlist,selectPerformanceDataImport.
TheDeletedatafromtableswhendone?checkboxisdisplayed.
3e ToemptythePerformanceDataImporttablesofthedataloadedinStep 2,selecttheDelete
datafromtableswhendone?checkbox. IfyouchoosenottoallowPlateSpinRecontoemptythesetables,youmustmanuallydo thisbeforeperforminganotherimport.
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3f ClickOK
4 Inventorythemachines: 4a IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktheremotesiteyoucreatedinStep 3,clickSites,then
clickInventoryMachines. TheInventoryMachinesinSitesitenamedialogboxisdisplayed.
4b Selectthecheckboxesnexttothemachinesyouwanttoinventory. 4c Selecttherequiredcredentialsorselect<NewCredential>toaddnewcredentials. 4d ClickOK. 5 Synchronizesitedata: 5a IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktherequiredsite,clickSites,thenclickSynchronize
Data.
5c Selectrequireddatarange,scheduling,andrecurrenceoptions.
Toperformarecurringimport,youneedtoalsosetupamatchingrecurringExtract, Transform,andLoadprocesstorefreshthedatainthePlateSpinReconPerformanceData Importtables.Fordetailedinformation,seeyoursoftwarevendordocumentation.

5d ClickOK.
3.12
Collecting Disk Utilization Counters for Windows Machines

InPlateSpinRecon,thedeploymentandundeploymentofWindowsDiskCountersaddononthe targetWindowsmachineisnotcoupledwiththestartingandstoppingofmonitoringoftarget machines.Afteryouinventorythetargetmachines,youcanchoosetocollectdataforadditional monitoringcountersbydeployingtheappropriateaddononthetargetmachine.Subsequently,if youdonotwantPlateSpinRecontocollecttheadditionaldata,youcanundeploytheaddonfrom thetargetmachine.PlateSpinReconcurrentlyprovidesonlytheWindowsDiskCountersaddon.By default,thediskcountersarenotcollectedaspartofmonitoringofthetargetmachines. PlateSpinReconprovidesyoutheflexibilitytochoosethegranularityatwhichyouwanttothe collectthemonitoringdataforinventoriedWindowsmachines.PlateSpinReconallowsyoutocollect additionaldisklevelandvolumelevelcountersfortheinventoriedWindowsmachinesbydeploying theWindowsDiskCountersaddon.IfyoudonotwantPlateSpinRecontocollecttheadditional data,youcanundeploytheaddonfromthetargetmachine.Youcandeployorundeploytheaddon onWindowsmachines.Althoughthedeployandundeployaddonoptionsareavailableforthe CitrixXenServerandVirtualCentermachines,theWindowsDiskCountersaddonisdeployedor undeployedontheWindowsvirtualmachinesthatarehostedontheCitrixXenServerandVirtual Centermachines. TheWindowsDiskCountersaddoncollectsdataforthefollowingadditionaldiskutilization counters: PhysicalDisk_TotalSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_FreeSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_UsedSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_PercentFreeSpace
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PhysicalDisk_PercentUsedSpace PhysicalDisk_UnpartitionedSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_PartitionedSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_PercentUnpartitionedSpace PhysicalDisk_PercentPartitionedSpace LogicalDisk_UsedMegaBytes LogicalDisk_PercentUsedSpace WhenyoudeploytheaddononthetargetWindowsmachines,thediskutilizationanddisk allocationdataofthesemachinesisavailableintheDiskAllocationandVolumeUtilizationreports. Formoreinformationonthereports,seeChapter 5,GeneratingandViewingChartsandReports, onpage 83. NOTE:Bydefault,PlateSpinReconcollectsdatafortheadditionaldiskutilizationcountersfornon Windowsmachines. Reviewthefollowingsections: Section 3.12.1,DeployinganAddOn,onpage 73 Section 3.12.2,UndeployinganAddOn,onpage 74
3.12.1
Deploying an Add-On
YoucandeployaPlateSpinReconaddononatargetWindowsmachineafteryouinventorythe targetmachineandbeforeorafteryoustartmonitoringofthemachine. TodeployanaddononatargetWindowsmachine:
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclickthetargetWindowsmachine,clickAddOn,thenclick
Deploy. TheDeployAddOndialogboxisdisplayed.
2 IntheAddOnNamedropdownlist,selecttheaddonyouwanttodeploy.Bydefault,Windows
DiskCountersAddOnisselected. PlateSpinReconcurrentlysupportsdeploymentoftheWindowsDiskCountersaddononly.
3 (Conditional)IftheRemoteRegistryservicehasdependentservices,decidehowyouwantto
restarttheRemoteRegistryserviceandtheservicesthataredependentontheRemoteRegistry service. IfyouwanttheRemoteRegistryserviceanditsdependentservicestobeautomatically restartedafterthedeploymentoftheaddon,selecttheAutomaticallyrestarttheservices whicharedependentontheRemoteRegistryServicecheckbox. IfyouwanttomanuallyrestarttheRemoteRegistryserviceanditsdependentservicesata latertime,leavetheAutomaticallyrestarttheserviceswhicharedependentontheRemoteRegistry Servicecheckboxdeselected. IMPORTANT:IftheRemoteRegistryservicedoesnothavedependentservices,thedeployment oftheWindowsDiskCountersaddonautomaticallyrestartstheRemoteRegistryserviceonthe targetmachine.
4 ClickOK.
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Afterthedeploymentjobiscompleted,theHWInputMonPofInfo.dllisdeployedonthetarget 32bitWindowsmachineandtheHWInputMonPofInfo64.dllisdeployedonthetarget64bit Windowsmachine.TheDLLsareregisteredtoperfmonthatrunsonthetargetmachinesasan extensionDLLforcollectingtheadditionalcounters.Thecontentof PlateSpinRecon_installation_directory\services\monitoring\windowsdirectory locatedonthePlateSpinReconServeriscopiedtothe%systemroot%\PlateSpinReconDiskUtildirectoryonthetargetmachine.%systemroot%isthecompletepathoftheWINDOWS directorysuchasc:\WINDOWSor c:\WINNT.

5 (Conditional)IfyouchosetomanuallyrestarttheRemoteRegistryserviceandtheservicesthat
aredependentontheRemoteRegistryserviceinStep 3,restarttheservicesonthetarget machine.

6 (Conditional)Ifyoudeployedtheaddonwhilethetargetmachinewasbeingmonitored,
performthefollowingtasks:
6a Stopmonitoringthetargetmachine. 6b Startmonitoringthetargetmachine.
IMPORTANT:Ifyoudonotstopandstartmonitoringthetargetmachine,theWindows diskutilizationcountersdataisnotcollected.
7 Toviewthedeploymentstatusoftheaddon,rightclickthetargetmachineintheDataCenter
Explorer,clickProperties,thenclicktheGeneraltab.Thedeploymentstatusisdisplayedasa messageinNotes. Forexample,thefollowingmessageisdisplayedifthedeploymentoftheaddonissuccessful:

Windows Disk Counter Add-on is deployed.
AfteryoudeploytheWindowsDiskCountersaddononatargetWindowsmachine,ifyoudeletethe machineobjectfromthePlateSpinReconClient,followingistheresultantonthemachine: IfthetargetWindowsmachinedoesnothavedependentsontheRemoteRegistryservice,allthe filespertainingtotheWindowsDiskCountersaddonaredeleted,perfmoncountersare undeployed,andtheRemoteRegistryserviceisrestarted.However,messagesindicatingthese operationsarenotdisplayedintheJobExplorerinthePlateSpinReconClient. IfthetargetWindowsmachinehasdependentsontheRemoteRegistryservice,allthefiles pertainingtotheWindowsDiskCountersaddonaredeletedandperfmoncountersare undeployedbuttheRemoteRegistryserviceisnotrestarted.However,messagesindicating theseoperationsarenotdisplayedintheJobExplorerinthePlateSpinReconClient.
3.12.2
Undeploying an Add-On
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclickthetargetWindowsmachinefromwhichyouwantto
undeploythePlateSpinReconaddon,thenclickAddOn,thenclickUnDeploy. TheUnDeployAddOndialogboxisdisplayed.
2 IntheAddOnNamedropdownlist,selecttheaddonyouwanttoundeploy.Bydefault,
WindowsDiskCountersAddOnisselected. PlateSpinReconcurrentlysupportsundeploymentoftheWindowsDiskCountersaddononly.
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3 (Conditional)IftheRemoteRegistryservicehasdependentservices,decidehowyouwantto
restarttheRemoteRegistryserviceandtheservicesthataredependentontheRemoteRegistry service. IfyouwanttheRemoteRegistryserviceanditsdependentservicestobeautomatically restartedaftertheundeploymentoftheaddon,selecttheAutomaticallyrestarttheservices whicharedependentontheRemoteRegistryServicecheckbox. IfyouwanttomanuallyrestarttheRemoteRegistryserviceanditsdependentservicesata latertime,leavetheAutomaticallyrestarttheserviceswhicharedependentontheRemoteRegistry Servicecheckboxdeselected. IMPORTANT:IftheRemoteRegistryservicedoesnothavedependentservices,the undeploymentoftheWindowsDiskCountersaddonautomaticallyrestartstheRemote Registryserviceonthetargetmachine.
4 ClickOK.
Aftertheundeploymentiscompleted,the%systemroot%\PlateSpinRecon-DiskUtildirectory onthetargetmachineisdeleted.TheHWInputMonPofInfo.dllandHWInputMonPofInfo64.dll areunregisteredfromtheperfmonrunningonthetarget32bitWindowsmachineandthe64bit Windowsmachinerespectively.

5 (Conditional)IfyouchosetomanuallyrestarttheRemoteRegistryserviceandtheservicesthat
aredependentontheRemoteRegistryserviceinStep 3,restarttheservicesonthetarget machine.

6 (Conditional)Ifyouundeployedtheaddonwhilethetargetmachinewasbeingmonitored,
performthefollowingtasks:
6a Stopmonitoringthetargetmachine. 6b Startmonitoringthetargetmachine.
NOTE:Ifyoudonotstopandstartmonitoringthetargetmachine,youencounterthe followingerror:
Category does not exist
Formoreinformationonhowtotroubleshoottheerror,seeMonitoringofaWindows machinedisplaystheCategorydoesnotexisterrorinthemonitoringlogonpage 176. AfteryouundeploytheaddonfromthetargetWindowsmachine,theaddondeploymentmessage isremovedfromthePropertiespageofthetargetmachine(Generaltab>Notessection).
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PlateSpin Recon Server and Client Tools
ThissectionprovidesinformationaboutNovellPlateSpinReconutilitieswhichenableyoutobetter managelogincredentials,analyzedatacenterassets,andmonitoroperations. Section 4.1,ServerandClientOptions,onpage 77 Section 4.2,CredentialsManager,onpage 77 Section 4.3,PlateSpinAnalyzer,onpage 79
4.1
Server and Client Options

ServerandClientsettingsareavailableintheOptionsdialogbox(Tools>Options).Itishighly recommendedthatyouchangetheserversettingvaluesonlywhendirectedtodosobyNovell PlateSpinTechnicalSupport. YoucanconfiguresomeClientsettings.Forexample,itmightbenecessarytospecifyapathfor variousexternalapplicationsortochangetheoptiontocheckforasoftwareupdate. NOTE:IfPlateSpinReconisinstalledona64bitmachine,ensurethatthepathsspecifiedinthe ExternalApplicationSettingspanelfortheVMwareRemoteConsoleandtheVMwareVirtual InfrastructureClientapplicationsare64bitpaths: VMwareVirtualInfrastructureClient:%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\VMware\VMware Virtual Machine Console\vmware.exe VMwareRemoteConsole:%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe ToresetServerandClientoptionstotheirdefaultvalues,clickResetAll.
4.2
Credentials Manager
UsetheCredentialsManagertocreateandmanagethecredentialsrequiredtoaccessservers.Youcan createnewcredentials,deletesavedcredentials,oreditcredentialsintheCredentialsManagerdialog box.
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Figure 4-1 CredentialsManagerdialogbox
4.2.1
Creating a Credential
1 InthePlateSpinReconClient,clicktheToolsmenu>CredentialManager.
TheCredentialManagerwindowisdisplayed.
2 ClicktheNewicon
3 IntheCredentialspane,specifytheusernameandpassword.
NOTE:IfyouwanttoaddaWindowsInventorycredential,youmustspecifythedomainname alongwiththeusernameinanyofthefollowingformats:domain_name\usernameor username@domain_name.Forexample,platespin\reconuser.

4 IntheValidationTypedropdownlist,selectthevalidationtypeappropriatetotheplatform.The
availableoptionsareWindowsInventory,UnixInventory,VirtualCenterInventory,VMware ESX3/4/5Inventory,NovellNetwareInventory,NetWareLSA,CitrixXenServerInventory, DatabaseorOther. Bydefault,Otherisselected

5 (Optional)SpecifythehostnameortheIPaddressofthemachinetovalidatethecredentials
against.ClickTesttovalidatethespecifiedcredentials.
6 (Optional)Todistinguishthecredentialsfromothercredentialswithidenticalusernames,
specifyadescription.
7 ClickSavetostorethecredentials.
ThecredentialisstoredinPlateSpinRecondatabase,andislistedintheleftpaneofthe CredentialManager.
8 (Optional)Toaddanewcredential,repeatStep 1throughStep 7. 9 ClickClose.
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4.2.2
Deleting a Credential
Youcandeleteacredentialonlyifitisnotassignedtoaserver. NOTE:Ifcredentialsareassignedtoservers,aplussign(+)isdisplayednexttothemintheleftpane. Toseewhichmachineshavethosecredentialsassignedtothem,clicktheplussignordoubleclickthe credential. Todeleteacredential:
1 InthePlateSpinReconClient,clicktheToolsmenu>CredentialManager.
TheCredentialManagerwindowisdisplayed.
2 Deletethecredentialinanyofthefollowingways:
Intheleftpane,selectthecredentialyouwanttodelete,thenclicktheDeleteicon orpress theDeletekey. Intheleftpane,rightclickthecredentialyouwanttodelete,thenclickDelete.
4.3
PlateSpin Analyzer
ThePlateSpinAnalyzerquicklyanalyzesnetworksanddetermineswhetherPlateSpinReconcan successfullyinventory,monitor,orconvertthespecifiedWindowsandUNIX/Linuxservers.It performstwodifferenttypesoftests:InventoryandConversion. Section 4.3.1,UsingPlateSpinAnalyzer,onpage 79 Section 4.3.2,InventoryandMonitoringTests,onpage 81 Section 4.3.3,ConversionTests,onpage 82
4.3.1
Using PlateSpin Analyzer

1 ClickTools>AnalyzeServers.
ThePlateSpinAnalyzerwindowisdisplayed.
2 IntheSelectCredentialdropdownlist,youcanchoosetoaddanewcredentialortousethe
credentialsandmachinesspecifiedinaCSVfile. Ifyouchoosetocreateanewcredential,continuewithStep 3.IfyouchoosetousetheCSVfile, skiptoStep 4.

3 (Conditional)IfyouchosetocreateanewcredentialinStep 2,dothefollowing: 3a IntheCreateStoredCredentialsdialogbox,specifytheusernameandpassword.
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Figure 4-2 CreateStoredCredentialsdialogbox
NOTE:IfyouwanttoanalyzeWindowsmachine,youmustspecifythedomainnameor thehostnamealongwiththeusernameinthefollowingformats:domain_name\usernameor hostname\username.

3b IntheValidationTypedropdownbox,selectWindowsTestorUnixTest.
PlateSpinAnalyzerdoesnotsupportanalysisofUnixorLinuxservers,buttheycanbeused forcredentialvalidation.
3c (Optional)Typeadescriptionforthecredentials. 3d ClickSave.
NOTE:IfSaveisdisabled,verifythatthecredentialsareenteredinthecorrectformat.
3e IntheDomainNamedropdownlist,selectoneoftheavailableoptions:DomainName,IP/
HostName,IPRange.
3f TypeavalueintheemptyfieldappropriatefortheselectioninStep 3e.Forexample,ifyou
selectedDomainName,enteryourdomainname.
3g ContinuewithStep 5. 4 (Conditional)IfyouchosetousethecredentialsandmachinesspecifiedinaCSVfileinStep 2,
typethecompletepathoftheCSVfileintheemptyfield.Youcanusetheadjacentbrowse buttontobrowseforandselectthefile. EnsuretofollowtheseguidelinesasyouworkwiththeCSVfile: Thevaluesmustbespecifiedinthefollowingorder: HostnameorIPaddress <HostnameorIPaddressordomainname>\Username Password Description
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Platform TRUEorFALSE ItismandatorytospecifytheTRUEorFALSEvalueforUNIXandWindowsplatformsin theCSVfile.However,thevalueisconsideredonlyfortheUNIXplatform,andisignored fortheWindowsplatform.IfyouspecifythevalueasTRUEforaUNIXplatform,thenthe sudoprivilegesareassignedtothespecifieduser. Eachlinemustcontainthecustomfieldsforamachine. ThevaluefortheMachinecustomfieldcanbeIPaddressorthehostname;however,itmust beunique. Thevaluesoneachlinemustbeseparatedbyadelimitersuchasacomma(,). AsampleCSVfileisasfollows:
DEV-SINISAR, platespin\user1, abc, Description test, Windows, FALSE 5 ClickAnalyzeandwaitfortheprocesstocomplete.
Figure 4-3 PlateSpinAnalyzerAnalysis
Whentheanalysisiscomplete,theleftpanedisplayseitherPassedorFailed.Toviewresultdetails, clicktheTestResultstabintherightpane.Ifanyofthetestsreturnedafailedresult,youmustresolve thecausebeforePlateSpinReconcansuccessfullyinventorythehost.Afailedresulttypically indicatesthatthereareinsufficientpermissionsaorthattherequiredservicesarenotrunning.
4.3.2
Inventory and Monitoring Tests

Inventorytestsaredividedintothreemaingroups,eachcontainingasubsetoftests.
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Table 4-1 InventoryTestgroups
Main Test Group Permission
Test Group Subset Service Manager Access File Access
Description Verifies that the user has permission to open the Service Manager. Verifies that the correct access permission is granted on the System32 directory of the machine being inventoried. Determines whether an RPC connection channel can be established by resolving the DNS/NETBIOS name. Determines whether the WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) service is enabled and running on the client machine(s) being inventoried. Verifies that the Remote Registry service is enabled on the client machine(s). Verifies that the RPC (Remote Procedure Call) Service is enabled on the client machine(s).
Connection
RPC Connection Channel
Service
WMI Service
Remote Registry Service RPC Service
Monitoringtestsaredividedintotwomaingroups,eachcontainingasubsetoftests:
Table 4-2 Monitoringtestgroups
Service
RPC Service DCOM Service
Verifies that the RPC service is running on the client machine(s). Verifies that the DCOM service is running on the client machine(s). Determines whether TCP port 135 and 445 are available. To obtain more conclusive information, consider running Port Scanner for all TCP ports above 1024.
Port
TCP Port 135 TCP Port 445
4.3.3
Conversion Tests
ConversionTestsaresimilartothoseperformedbythePlateSpinPortabilitySuitePlateSpinAnalyzer tool.Formoreinformation,refertoKnowledgeBasearticleQ7920478(http://www.novell.com/ support/viewContent.do?externalId=7920478).
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Generating and Viewing Charts and Reports
WhenPlateSpinReconhascollectedinventoryandmonitoringdata,thedatacanbedisplayedfor analysisinchartsorcustomizablereports.TheChartViewerandtheReportExplorerdisplay collectedinformationinavarietyofformats. Section 5.1,ChartViewer,onpage 83 Section 5.2,ReportExplorer,onpage 87 Section 5.3,EditingReportTemplates,onpage 95 Section 5.4,ViewCustomization,onpage 104 Section 5.5,GeneratingReports,onpage 109 Section 5.6,DocumentViewer,onpage 113
5.1
Chart Viewer
Chartsprovideagraphicalrepresentationofworkloadandutilizationdata.Toviewachartfora givenserver,selecttheserverintheDataCenterExplorerorclickacellbelongingtotheserverina reportview.YoucanalsoselectseveralserversintheDataCenterExplorer(holddownCtrlorShift whileyouselecttheservers)torenderchartsformultipleservers.Inthiscase,achartisnot automaticallyrendered,butaCreateChartbuttonisdisplayedintheChartViewer.ClickCreateChart torenderthechart. Reviewthefollowingsectionstoworkwithcharts: Section 5.1.1,ChartControlsandCommands,onpage 84 Section 5.1.2,ExpressionTypes,onpage 85 Section 5.1.3,LevelofDetail,onpage 85 Section 5.1.4,DataTypeStatistics,onpage 86 Section 5.1.5,ServerInstance,onpage 86 Section 5.1.6,DateRangePresets,onpage 86 Section 5.1.7,Forecasting,onpage 86 AlltimesdisplayedintheChartViewerarelocaltimes.TimesshowninreportsareinUTCtime.
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5.1.1
Chart Controls and Commands

Figure 5-1 ChartControls
Table 5-1 ChartViewerCommands
Command
Description Print Preview. Preview chart before printing. Print. Print the chart. Copy To Clipboard. Copy the chart to the clipboard. Line. Display straight lines between points of continuous data. Curve. Display curved lines between points of continuous data. Candlestick. View the variability of sample data. This button appears only for the candle chart. Stacked Bar. View cumulative workload data from multiple servers. This is enabled for Expression types other than Utilization. Stacked Area. View cumulative workload data from multiple servers. This is enabled for Expression types other than Utilization. Legend Box. Give a visual cue and description for each data object. The legend is very useful for quickly glancing through the data on a chart. Point Labels. Display labels for the values in a chart. Zoom. Switch between normal and magnified view. Zoom In/Out. Adjust the granularity of the chart for the collected data. See Section 5.1.3, Level of Detail, on page 85. Navigate Beginning/Back/Forward/End. Scroll the visible data.
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Command
Description Historical Data Settings. Select the historical data time range upon which to base forecasting. Forecast Settings. Select the forecasting time period and algorithm. This button is only enabled for daily or weekly Series charts or for Profile charts. Refresh All Data From Server. Refresh the view.
5.1.2
Expression Types
Expressionsareindividualdataseriesthatcanbeviewedonthecurrentlydisplayedchart.Selectan availableType/Expressioncombinationandthechartisrenderedtodisplaythenewmetrics.Thelist ofavailableexpressionsvariesdependingontheexpressiontypeandmachineselected.
Table 5-2 Expressiontypes
Type Workload
Expressions Available For a complete list of expressions available for Workload, see Section B.4.3, Workload, on page 200. For a complete list of expressions available for Utilization, see Section B.4.2, Utilization, on page 199. Counter values are named for the Windows Performance Monitor counters used to retrieve them from Windows systems. The name consists of the Performance Monitor category joined by an underscore to the counter name. For example, Memory/ PagesPerSecond becomes Memory_PagesPerSecond. For a complete list of the available counters, see Platform Counters on page 195.
Description The operating system, applications, and data stack running on a server, with the quantified dimensions of Processor Speed, Memory, Disk Space, Network, and Time. Characterizes the fit between workload and resources (% utilization).
Utilization
Counter
Primitive measure of performance collected from the operating system.
5.1.3
Level of Detail
Fromthedropdownlist,selectfromthefollowinglevelsofgranularity(intermsoftime)for collecteddata: 5Min:Averagesofdatacollectedduringfiveminuteintervals.(Serieschartsonly.) 1Hour:Summariesofdatacollectedduringonehourintervals.(SeriesandCandlechartsonly.)
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1Day:Characterizesworkloadsoveraday.Thiscomprises24valuesthatcorrespondtoeach houroftheday(0to23).Eachvalueiscalculatedbytakingthepeakvaluefromallvalues observedforthathour.(Allcharttypes.) 1Week:Characterizesworkloadsoveraweek.(Allcharttypes.)
5.1.4
Data Type Statistics

Thefollowingdatatypestatisticsarecollectedforeachhourandareavailableforselectionwhena1 hourorhigherzoomlevelisselected:Thisoptionisavailableonlyforseriescharts. AVG:Averageofallvalues. MAX:Maximumsustainedload. MIN:Minimumsustainedload. STDEV:Standarddeviation. NOTE:StandarddeviationisnotcalculatedforVirtualCentercounters. PeakAVG::(1Dayor1Weekonly)Peakaveragerepresentstheaveragesofthevaluesforthe highestperiodforeach12hourintervaloreachdayinthereportingperiod.
5.1.5
Server Instance
Clickthedropdownlisttoseealltheinstancesofthecurrentlyselectedresource(expression).Select eachinstancetoseechartdataforthatresource.Ifmultipleserverswereusedtorenderthechart,all instancesoftheresourcesforallserversaredisplayed.Theinstancesaredisplayedaslegendsinthe SeriesandProfilecharts,andinthedropdownlistlocatedinthetoolbarforcandlecharts.
5.1.6
Date Range Presets

SelectfromthedropdownlistLast3days,Last7days,LastMonth,orAllData.Select<Custom>toopen theAdvancedDateFilterSettingsdialogboxformorespecificdaterangeoptions.
5.1.7
Forecasting
Forecastingisavailableforseriesandprofilecharts,forthe1dayand1weeklevelofdetail.Atleast threedaysofmonitoringdataarenecessarytouseforecastingincharts. Toaddforecastingtoachartview:
1 DisplayaProfilechart. 2 ClicktheDateRangedropdownlistandselectatimeperiodtobasetheforecaston. 3 (Optional)ClickHistoricalDataSettings
foradvanceddatefiltersettings.
TheAdvancedDateFilterSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.Chooseanydesiredsettingsandclick OK.
4 ClicktheForecastPerioddropdownlistandselectatimeperiodfortheforecast. 5 (Optional)ClickForecastSettings foradvancedcustomforecastsettings.
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TheAdvancedForecastSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.Chooseanydesiredsettingsandclick OK.
6 ClicktheForecast>Trenddropdownlistandselectaforecasttrendorregressionmethod.
5.2
Report Explorer
TheReportExplorerisusedtoorganizeandgeneratereports. Section 5.2.1,ReportExplorerTemplateNodes,onpage 87 Section 5.2.2,Commands,onpage 90 Section 5.2.3,AnalysisReports,onpage 91 Section 5.2.4,VMDiskPartitionAlignmentReports,onpage 91 Section 5.2.5,WorkingwithReportTemplates,onpage 94
5.2.1
Report Explorer Template Nodes

TheReportExplorerhierarchyconsistsoftemplatenodesthathavevarioustypesofreporttemplates.
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Table 5-3 ReportExplorerTemplateNodes
Template Node Analysis
Report Templates Application - Exchange Workloads Application - SQL Server Workloads Disk - Average 30 Day Forecast Disk - Peak Hardware Utilization - Average 30 Day Forecast Hardware Utilization - Peak Memory - Average 30 Day Forecast Memory - Overutilized Memory - Peak Memory - Underutilized Network -Average 30 Day Forecast Network - Peak Processor - Average 30 Day Forecast Processor - Overutilized Processor - Peak Processor - Underutilized Resource Utilization Trend Volume Utilization - Average Volume Utilization - Peak Workload Size - Average 30 Day Forecast Workload Size - Peak
Node Description For reporting dynamic data such as hardware utilization and workload sizes.
Chargeback
Cost Allocation
For reporting the transfer of charges incurred by the IT department back to the business units that are using services. See Section 7.4, Chargeback Reporting, on page 161. For reporting on projects, scenarios, and servers in the Consolidation Planning Module. See Section 6.7, Viewing Consolidation Reports, on page 147 for information on how to use templates within this node.
Consolidation
Project Scenario Summary Workload Assignment
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Template Node Consolidation Project Samples
Report Templates Good Consolidation Candidates Inventory Summary Poor Consolidation Candidates Utilization Summary Workload List with Conditional Formatting
Node Description Commonly used sample consolidation reports.
Diagnostics
Error Report Missing Data - Detailed Missing Data - Summary
For diagnosing errors that cause monitoring data to be missing from a chart.
Disk
Disk Allocation Disk Inventory
The Disk Allocation report is generated based on the last collected monitored data. For reporting the size and type of physical disks on machines.
Inventory
Hardware - Obsolete Hardware Inventory Power and Cooling Virtual Machine Server Candidates Virtual Machine State VM Files Report VM Snapshots Report VM Sprawl Report
For reporting static data such as operating system, processor speed, memory, disk space, network, power, and cooling.
Reclamation
Disk Reclamation Memory Reclamation Powered On VMs Reclamation Volume Reclamation
For reporting on elements that can be reclaimed to ensure efficient use of resources.
Software
Application > Application Inventory Application Complete > Application Complete Inventory Processes > Process Inventory Service > Service Inventory Service Complete > Service Complete Inventory
For reporting installed applications, services, and running processes.
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Template Node Virtual Infrastructure
Report Templates Cluster Configuration Resource Pool Configuration VI Configuration VirtualCenter Report VM Cluster VM Details Report VM Host Partition Alignment VM Partition Alignment VM Resource Pool VM Virtual Infrastructure
Node Description For reporting on virtual machines and virtual machine hosts.
Volume
Volume Inventory
For reporting the space and file system associated with each logical volume on machines.
AsshowninTable53onpage 88,withineachreportnodeareoneormoretemplatesthatyoucan useasisorthatyoucancustomizewithsorting,filtering,andviewselectionoptions.Youcanadd additionalAnalysis,Chargeback,Disk,Inventory,Software,andVolumereporttemplates.
5.2.2
Commands
ThefollowingReportExplorercommandsareaccessiblebyrightclickingareporttemplateora generatedreport:
Table 5-4 ReportExplorerCommands
Commands
Tooltip/Description Create Report Template. Create a new report template based on the report node selected. Copy Report Template. Copy a report template. Edit Report Template. Edit a report by setting group, views, filters, summaries, and forecasts for a report template or a report. Generate Report. Generate a report based on the report template selected. View Report. View an existing (previously generated) report. Send Report. Send a generated report via e-mail or to an FTP server or network location. Delete. Delete the selected report or template.
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5.2.3
Analysis Reports
Analysisreportsusedynamicdatasuchashardwareutilizationandworkloadsizes.Toview workloadsorutilizationofserversthatarebeingmonitored,generateanAnalysisreport.Thereport isdisplayedwithhistoricaldata,whichisusefulforgettingasinglevalue(maximum,minimum, peak,average)forexpressionsoveraspecifiedperiodoftime.Usethisdatatoidentifyoverutilized orunderutilizedserverresources. NOTE:DatamustbecollectedforatleastonehourbeforeAnalysisreportsaregenerated.Ifthereis insufficientdata,thereportisdisplayedwithoutdynamicdata. Togetdetailedhistoricaldataforeachdatapoint,clickthereportcelltoviewtherelateddetailed chart. MachineswithoutmonitoringdataareincludedinAnalysisreportsbydefaulttoallowcomplete analysisofallinventoriedmachines.
Figure 5-2 SampleAnalysisReport
5.2.4
VM Disk Partition Alignment Reports

PlateSpinReconprovidesthefollowingtworeportsthatshowthealignmentstatusofthedisk partitions: VMHostPartitionAlignmentReportonpage 91 VMPartitionAlignmentReportonpage 93
VM Host Partition Alignment Report

TheVMHostPartitionAlignmentReportdisplaysthediskpartitionalignmentstatusofESXservers thataresupportedbyPlateSpinRecon.Thefollowingtabledescribesthedatathatisgeneratedand displayedbytheVMHostPartitionAlignmentreport:
Category Operating System Disk Fields Version Disk Type Additional Details
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Category
Fields Storage Type Alignment Boundary Size (KB)
Additional Details
Alignment Boundary Size defines the starting offset of a partition. For example, the EMC CLARiiON storage vendor recommends a starting block of 128 to align the partition to the 64-KB boundary. The 64-KB boundary value is used by default according to VMware Recommendations (http://www.vmware.com/pdf/ esx3_partition_align.pdf). However, every disk or disk array does not have the alignment boundary at 64 KB. To know the alignment boundary of the disk of your machine, refer to your storage vendor recommendations or refer to the system guides.
Partition
Name File System Starting Offset (bytes) Alignment Status The disk partition alignment status is one of the following: Aligned Unaligned Indeterminate: Indicates that the starting offset value of the partition has not been inventoried properly or the value is set to zero (0).
TheVMHostPartitionAlignmentreportdisplaysthealignmentstatusforexternaldisksthatmight havedifferentboundarysizes;however,thealignmentstatusmightnotbecorrect.Toobtainthe correctalignmentstatus,ensurethattheboundarysizeofthedisksinthereporttemplateiscorrect. Tovieworchangetheboundarysizeofthedisksinthereporttemplate:

1 IntheReportExplorer,browsetoVirtualInfrastructure,rightclicktheVMHostPartition
Alignmentreporttemplate,thenclickEditReportTemplate. TheEditReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 ClicktheCustomAttributestab. 3 VerifyandmodifytheAlignmentBoundarySizeofthepartitiondisk,ifnecessary.
Thedefaultalignmentboundarysizeis64KB.Toknowthealignmentboundarysizeofan externaldisk,contactyourstorageadministratororthediskvendor.
4 ClickOK.
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VM Partition Alignment Report

TheVMPartitionAlignmentReportdisplaysthediskpartitionalignmentstatusoftheWindowsand LinuxvirtualmachinesthatrunontheESXhostmachinesupportedbyPlateSpinRecon.Thedisk partitionalignmentstatusisapplicableforthedisksthatresideontheVMFSpartitionoftheESXhost machine.Thehostmachinecanbeinventoriedornot.Thedataoftheinventoriedvirtualmachinesis groupedundertheirhost,andthedataofvirtualmachineswhosehostisnotinventoriedisgrouped asVMs without Host. ThefollowingtabledescribesthedatathatisgeneratedanddisplayedbytheVMPartition Alignmentreport:
Category Operating System Fields Type Edition Version Disk Disk Type Storage Type Alignment Boundary Size (KB) Alignment Boundary Size defines the starting offset of a partition. For example, the EMC CLARiiON storage vendor recommends a starting block of 128 to align the partition to the 64-KB boundary. The 64-KB boundary value is used by default according to VMware Recommendations (http://www.vmware.com/pdf/ esx3_partition_align.pdf). However, every disk or disk array does not have the alignment boundary at 64 KB. To know the alignment boundary of the disk of your machine, refer to your storage vendor recommendations or refer to the system guides. Partition Name File System Starting Offset (bytes) Alignment Status The disk partition alignment status is one of the following: Aligned Unaligned Indeterminate: Indicates that the starting offset value of the partition has not been inventoried properly or the value is set to zero (0). Additional Details
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Althoughreportingofthealignmentstatusforexternaldisksattachedtothevirtualmachinesthat runonESXhostisnotsupported,theVMPartitionAlignmentreportalsodisplaysthealignment statusforexternaldisks.However,thealignmentstatusoftheexternaldisksmightnotbecorrectif theboundarysizeofthedisksaredifferent.Toobtainthecorrectalignmentstatus,ensurethatthe boundarysizeofthedisksinthereporttemplateiscorrect. Tovieworchangetheboundarysizeofthedisksinthereporttemplate:

1 IntheReportExplorer,browsetoVirtualInfrastructure,rightclicktheVMPartitionAlignment
reporttemplate,thenclickEditReportTemplate. TheEditReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 ClicktheCustomAttributestab. 3 VerifyandmodifytheAlignmentBoundarySizeofthepartitiondisk,ifnecessary.
Thedefaultalignmentboundarysizeis64KB.Toknowthealignmentboundarysizeofan externalpartitiondisk,contactyourstorageadministratororthediskvendor.
4 ClickOK.
5.2.5
Working with Report Templates

CreatingaReportTemplateonpage 94 CopyingaReportTemplateonpage 94 DeletingaReportTemplateonpage 94
Creating a Report Template

1 RightclickthereporttypenodeintheReportExplorerforthetypeofreportthatyouwantto
create,thenselectCreateReportTemplatefromthemenu. TheCreateReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 Definethetemplatesettings,usingtheproceduresandguidelinesforeditinganexisting
template.SeeSection 5.3,EditingReportTemplates,onpage 95.

3 ClickOK.
ThenewtemplateisdisplayedunderthereporttypenodeintheReportExplorer.
Copying a Report Template

1 RightclickthereporttemplateyouwanttocopyintheReportExplorerandselectCopyReport
Templatefromthemenu. TheEditReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayedwith(COPY)addedtothetemplatename.
2 (Optional)Editthetemplatename. 3 ClickOK.
ThenewcopyofthetemplateisdisplayedintheReportExplorer.
Deleting a Report Template

1 RightclickthereporttemplateyouwanttodeleteintheReportExplorerandselectDeletefrom
themenu.
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TheConfirmDeletedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 ClickOK.
ThereporttemplateisremovedfromtheReportExplorer.
5.3
Editing Report Templates

PlateSpinReconincludesalibraryofstandard,predefinedtemplatesavailableforgeneratingreports. Templatesspecifythecontenttoincludeinareportandtheforminwhichthecontentispresented. Section 5.3.1,ReportTemplateOptionTabs,onpage 95 Section 5.3.2,ChargebackReportTemplates,onpage 101 Section 5.3.3,ConsolidationReportTemplates,onpage 101 Section 5.3.4,ConsolidationProjectSamplesReportTemplates,onpage 102 Section 5.3.5,DiagnosticsReportTemplates,onpage 102 Section 5.3.6,DiskReportTemplates,onpage 102 Section 5.3.7,InventoryReportTemplates,onpage 103 Section 5.3.8,ReclamationReportTemplates,onpage 103 Section 5.3.9,SoftwareReportTemplates,onpage 103 Section 5.3.10,VirtualInfrastructureReportTemplates,onpage 103 Section 5.3.11,VolumeReportTemplates,onpage 104 PlateSpinReconreportingcapabilitiesallowforthecustomizationofmostreporttemplatestomeet specificbusinessrequirements.Youcanconfigurethecontentandsummariesincludedinmost reports,aswellasthetimeframe,reportpresentation,andanumberofotherelements.Userscan savemodifiedtemplatesandgeneratereportsfromthem. ForallreportsexceptConsolidationreports,youcancopythetemplateandthenediteachcopy.This preservestheoriginal.Usethemodifiedtemplatestogeneratealternatereports. Toeditareporttemplate,rightclickthetemplateandselectEditReportTemplatefromthemenu.The EditReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
5.3.1
Report Template Option Tabs

Theoptionsavailableforcustomizingreporttemplatesvarydependingonthetypeofreport templateselected. GroupTabonpage 96 ViewsTabonpage 96 FieldFilterTabonpage 96 RowFilterTabonpage 98 ColumnsTabonpage 98 TimePeriodTabonpage 98 OptionsTabonpage 99 DateFilterTabonpage 99 SummariesTabonpage 99
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ForecastTabonpage 100 CustomAttributesonpage 100
Group Tab
Allowsyoutoselectfiltersorgroupsofserverstoincludeinthereport.Youmustselectdistinct groupsorfilterconditionswithintheFilters,Groups,orSitesnodes.TheFilters,Groups,orSitesnodes arethefirstlevellogicalgroups.Ifyourselectonlyalogicalgroupinareporttemplate,thenthe generatedreportwillbeempty. Formoreinformationaboutthegroups,seeSection 3.4,WorkingwithGroups,onpage 49.
Views Tab
TheViewstabdisplaystheviewsavailableforthereport,includingdefaultandpreviouslycreated views.Usethearrowbuttonstoreordertheviews.UsethecheckboxesintheVisiblecolumnto determinewhichviewstodisplayinthereport. Toaddanotherviewtoareport,clickAdd.Toeditanexistingview,selectitandclickEdit.Formore information,seeSection 5.4.1,CreatingandEditingReportViews,onpage 104.Todeleteaview, selectitandclickDelete.
Field Filter Tab

Youcanfilterserversbasedontheconstraintsyousetanduseexpressionstospecifyhowthe constraintsshouldbeusedandinterpretedtonarroworexpandthereportcontents.
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Figure 5-3 FieldFilterTab
Toaddaquerystatement:
1 EnterqueryconstraintsinthefieldsanddropdownlistsatthetopoftheFieldFilterpage.
Theremightnotbeaunitsfieldordropdownlist,dependingontheresourceselectedinthe firstdropdownlist.
2 ClickAdd.
Thequerystatementisaddedtothelistofqueries. Toeditaquerystatement:
1 Selectthequerystatement. 2 ClickEdit.
Thequerysettingsarecopiedtothefieldsatthetopofthepage.
3 Editthesettingsasdesired. 4 ClickAdd.
Theselectedquerystatementisupdatedwiththenewsettings. Toremoveaquerystatement:
1 Selectthequerystatementyouwanttodelete. 2 ClickRemove.
Theselectedquerystatementisdeleted.
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Thefilterexpressiondetermineshowthequerystatementsareevaluated. Filtersaffectwhichserversaremadeavailableforareportviews.
Table 5-5 FilterExpressions
Filter Expression AND
Description All query statements must be true for a server to be added to the gathered pool of servers. For example, if there are several query statements, the first one is evaluated to gather some servers. Then the second query statement is evaluated against the gathered servers, removing any from the pool that dont agree with the new query statement. This continues through all the query statements. All query statements are evaluated individually. For example, if there are several query statements, the first one is evaluated to gather some servers. Then the second query statement is evaluated adding any new servers not gathered by the first statement to the pool of gathered servers. This continues through all the query statements. A Custom expression allows you to specify how to evaluate the query statements. A mixture of OR and AND criteria can be used. You can use parentheses to control the evaluation. Use the query statement ID numbers in your expression. If Custom is selected, the accompanying field cannot be empty.
OR
Custom
SelecttheFilteroutemptyvaluescheckboxifyouwanttoexcludemachinesthathavenullvaluesfor thefieldsincludedinthespecifiedquery.
Row Filter Tab

Usedtodeterminewhichrowsareincludedorexcludedfromthereport.ThisisdifferentfromField Filtertabs,whichcontrolwhichmachinesareincludedorexcludedfromthereport,butthe guidelinesformanagingFieldFiltercriteriacanalsobeappliedhereSeeFieldFilterTabon page 96. ThisoptionisavailableonlyfortheApplicationCompleteandSoftwareCompletereports.
Columns Tab
Allowsyoutocustomizethecolumnsdisplayedinthereportsgenerated,basedonthesetemplates. SeeStep 1onpage 114formoreinformationonthesettingsinthispage. Thisoptionisavailableonlyforthesoftwarereporttemplates.
Time Period Tab

Allowsyoutospecifythetimeperiodtouseforthesereports.Thesettingsonthispagearethesame asthetoppartoftheDateFilterpage.SeeDateFilterTabonpage 99andSection 5.3.5, DiagnosticsReportTemplates,onpage 102. Thisoptionisavailableonlyforthediagnosticreporttemplates.
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Options Tab
Allowsyoutospecifythecountersettingreportmodeforthesereports.SeeSection 5.3.5, DiagnosticsReportTemplates,onpage 102. Thisoptionisavailableonlyforthemissingdatadiagnosticreporttemplates.
Date Filter Tab

Allowsyoutosetthedateandtimerangeforcalculatingsummarydatavaluesinareport.For example,selecttheLast1Month(s)collectionrange,MondaytoFriday,and9:00AMto5:00PMto viewworkloaddatasummarizedoverbusinesshoursforallserversthataremonitored:
Figure 5-4 DateFilterTab
Summaries Tab
Summarizesaverage(AVG),maximum(MAX),minimum(MIN)andstandarddeviation(STDEV) datatypes.AVGdatacanbecalculatedbyAverage,PeakHour,orTotalofthedatacollected. Calculationtypes: Average:Averageofallhourlyvaluesacrossbusinessdaysandbusinesshours. PeakHour:Acalculationbasedonthehighesthourlyvalue. Total:Sumsallthedatapointsinthetimeframe.Forexample,DiskIOspersecond,fora1hour periodequatesto10diskIOspersecondX60secondsX60minutes=36000.SelecttheSummary Rowscolumninthereporttodisplaythecolumnscontainingcalculateddata.
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Forecast Tab
Projectsworkloadsandutilizationintothefuturebasedonsummarydataforahistoricalperiod.This letsdatacenterarchitectsanticipatefutureneedsandplanaccordingly.
Figure 5-5 ForecastTab
Custom Attributes
AllowsyoutoselectorspecifythesizeinKBtowhichthediskpartitionneedstobealigned.The defaultvalueis64KB.Thealignmentboundarysizethatyouspecifyisusedtocalculatethedisk partitionoffsetvalue.ThistabisavailableonlyforVMPartitionAlignmentandVMHostPartition Alignmentreporttemplates.
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Figure 5-6 CustomAttributesTab
5.3.2
Chargeback Report Templates

EditChargebackreporttemplatesinthesamewayasAnalysisreporttemplates.SeeSection 5.3.1, ReportTemplateOptionTabs,onpage 95forinformationabouttheGroup,Views,andFieldFilter tabs. Chargebackreportssupportonlytableviews.SeeCreatingandEditingaTableViewonpage 105 forinformationabouttableviews.SeeSection 5.2.5,WorkingwithReportTemplates,onpage 94 forinformationabouttheDateFilter,SummariesandForecasttabs.
5.3.3
Consolidation Report Templates

Project,ScenarioSummary,andWorkloadAssignmentreportsarebasedoneditabletemplates. UnlikeInventoryandAnalysisreporttemplates,thereisonlyoneversionofagivenConsolidation reporttemplateavailableatatime.Editthetemplateasdesiredbeforeviewingthereport.
1 IntheReportExplorer,rightclickthedesiredreporttemplate,thenclickEditReportTemplate.
TheappropriateDefaultSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.
2 Selecttherequiredreportcolumns,datasortingoptions,andsummaryrows,thenclickSave.
Formoredetailedinformationontheotherconfigurationoptionsoftheconsolidationreport template,seeSection 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114.
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5.3.4
Consolidation Project Samples Report Templates

ConsolidationProjectSamplesreportsarebasedoneditabletemplates.Thetemplatescanbecopied oredited.Editthetemplateasdesiredbeforeviewingthereport.
2 Selecttherequiredreportcolumns,datasortingoptions,andsummaryrows,thenclickSave.For
informationontheoptiontabs,seeSection 5.3.1,ReportTemplateOptionTabs,onpage 95. FormoredetailedinformationontheotherconfigurationoptionsoftheConsolidationProject Samplesreporttemplates,seeSection 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114.
5.3.5
Diagnostics Report Templates

EditDiagnosticsreporttemplatesbychangingoptionsintheEditReportTemplatedialogbox.To accessthisdialogbox,rightclickaDiagnosticsreporttemplateintheReportExplorer,andonthe menu,clickEditReportTemplate. TheavailabledialogboxtabsdependontheDiagnosticsreporttemplateselected: Group:SeeGroupTabonpage 96. Views:SeeSection 5.4.1,CreatingandEditingReportViews,onpage 104. TimePeriod:Selectatimeperioduponwhichtobasethereport.Anyintervalsduringthattime periodthataremissingdataareincludedinthereport. Options:ForMissingDatareportsonly.SelectaReportModetodeterminewhichintervalsto includeinthereport: Online:Includesintervalsduringwhichallcountersaremissingdata. CPM:IncludesintervalsduringwhichCPMcountersaremissingdata. Full:Includesintervalsduringwhichanycounterismissingdata.
5.3.6
Disk Report Templates

Diskreportsarebasedoneditabletemplates.Thetemplatescanbecopiedoredited.Editthe templateasdesiredbeforeviewingthereport.
moreinformationontheoptiontabs,seeSection 5.3.1,ReportTemplateOptionTabs,on page 95. FormoredetailedinformationontheotherconfigurationoptionsoftheDiskreporttemplates,see Section 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114.
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5.3.7
Inventory Report Templates

Inventoryreportsarebasedoneditabletemplates.Thetemplatescanbecopiedoredited.Editthe templateasdesiredbeforeviewingthereport.
moreinformationontheoptiontabs,seeSection 5.3.1,ReportTemplateOptionTabs,on page 95. FormoredetailedinformationontheotherconfigurationoptionsoftheInventoryreporttemplates, seeSection 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114.
5.3.8
Reclamation Report Templates

Reclamationreportsarebasedoneditabletemplates.Thetemplatescanbecopiedoredited.Editthe templateasdesiredbeforeviewingthereport.
2 Selecttherequiredreportcolumns,datasortingoptions,andsummaryrows,thenclickSave.
FormoredetailedinformationontheotherconfigurationoptionsoftheReclamationreport templates,seeSection 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114.
5.3.9
Software Report Templates

Softwarereportsarebasedoneditabletemplates.Thetemplatescanbecopiedoredited.Editthe templateasdesiredbeforeviewingthereport.
moreinformationontheoptiontabs,seeSection 5.3.1,ReportTemplateOptionTabs,on page 95. FormoredetailedinformationontheotherconfigurationoptionsoftheSoftwarereporttemplates, seeSection 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114.
5.3.10
Virtual Infrastructure Report Templates

VirtualInfrastructurereportsarebasedoneditabletemplates.Thetemplatescanbecopiedoredited. Editthetemplateasdesiredbeforeviewingthereport.
moreinformationontheoptiontabs,seeSection 5.3.1,ReportTemplateOptionTabs,on page 95.
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FormoredetailedinformationontheotherconfigurationoptionsoftheVirtualInfrastructurereport templates,seeSection 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114. IfyouchoosetogenerateaVirtualInfrastructurereportforagroup,thereportisactuallygenerated forallthenodesintheDataCenterExploreroftheReconserver.Thisissueishowevernotapplicable totheVMHostPartitionAlignmentreportandVMPartitionAlignmentreport.Formore informationonthisissue,seeGeneratingVirtualInfrastructurereportforagroupgeneratesreports forallthenodesintheDataCenterExploreroftheReconserveronpage 188
5.3.11
Volume Report Templates

Volumereportsarebasedoneditabletemplates.Thetemplatescanbecopiedoredited.Editthe templateasdesiredbeforeviewingthereport.
moreinformationontheoptiontabs,seeSection 5.3.1,ReportTemplateOptionTabs,on page 95. FormoredetailedinformationontheotherconfigurationoptionsoftheVolumereporttemplates,see Section 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114.
5.4
View Customization
Thissectiondiscussesthecustomizationofreportviews,specificallytableandchartviews. Section 5.4.1,CreatingandEditingReportViews,onpage 104 Section 5.4.2,HistogramCharts,onpage 106 Section 5.4.3,ScatterCharts,onpage 108 Section 5.4.4,UsageCharts,onpage 108
5.4.1
Creating and Editing Report Views

AddingaViewtoaReportonpage 104 EditingaReportViewonpage 105 RemovingaViewfromaReportonpage 105 CreatingandEditingaTableViewonpage 105 CreatingandEditingaChartViewonpage 106
Adding a View to a Report

1 FromtheReportExplorer,rightclickthereporttemplateyouwanttocustomizeandselectEdit
ReportTemplate. TheEditReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 ClicktheViewstab.
TheViewspageisdisplayed,showinganydefaultorpreviouslycreatedviews.
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3 ClickAdd.
TheCreateView(Step 1:GeneralSettings)dialogboxisdisplayed.
4 TypeauniqueNameforthenewview. 5 ForChartviews,proceedtoCreatingandEditingaChartViewonpage 106.ForTableviews,
proceedtoCreatingandEditingaTableViewonpage 105.
Editing a Report View

1 SelectaviewontheViewspageoftheEditReportTemplatedialogbox. 2 ClickEdit.
TheCreateView(Step2:Customization)pageisdisplayedfortheviewtypeselected.
3 ForChartviews,proceedtoCreatingandEditingaChartViewonpage 106.ForTableviews,
proceedtoCreatingandEditingaTableViewonpage 105.
Removing a View from a Report

1 SelectaviewontheViewspageoftheEditReportTemplatedialogbox. 2 Totemporarilyremovetheview,deselecttheVisiblecheckbox.Topermanentlyremovetheview,
clickDelete.
3 ClickOK.
Creating and Editing a Table View

1 SelectTableintheTypeareaandclickNext.
TheStep2:Customizationpageisdisplayed.
2 OntheGeneraltab,selectthecolumntitlestodisplayinthereport.
SeeSection 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114forinformationonarrangingcolumns, conditionalformatting,columnsorting,andsummaryrows.

3 UsetheForecasttabtocreateforecastcolumnsinthereportview.
Createforecastcolumnsanddisplay:Clearthecheckboxifforecastcolumnsarenotrequired. Whenselected,thisoptionenablesthefollowingcolumnoptions: OriginalValues:Displaystheoriginalvalues. Change(%):Displaysthepercentageofchangefromtheoriginalvalues. Change(Units):Displaysthechangefromoriginalvaluesinunits. Forecastingisonlysupportedintableviews.

4 UsetheGroupstabtogrouprowsinthetableview.Forinformationonreportgroups,see
AddingorModifyingGroupsonpage 116.
5 UsetheMatrixtabtoaddMatrixcolumnstothetableview.Forinformationonreportmatrixes,
seeAddingorModifyingMatrixesonpage 116.
6 ClickFinishtoaddtheviewtothelistofavailableviewsintheEditReportTemplatedialogbox.
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Creating and Editing a Chart View

1 SelectChartintheTypearea. 2 Selectacharttypefromthedropdownlist(histogram,scatterchart,orusagechart.Foranalysis
reportsonly).
3 Selectanexpressionfromthedropdownlist.Theexpressionslistedvarydependingonthe
charttypeselected.
4 ClickNexttodisplaytheview.Forthehistogramcharttype,theSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.
UseittosetvariousoptionsasdescribedinSection 5.4.2,HistogramCharts,onpage 106.

5 ClickOK.
TheCreateViewdialogbox(Step2:Customizationpage)isdisplayed,showingtheview. ForaScatterchart,theChartViewSettingsdialogboxisalsodisplayed.Useittosetvarious data,summary,andsortoptionsasdescribedinSection 5.4.3,ScatterCharts,onpage 108. ForanAnalysisreport,theUsagecharttypeisalsoavailable.SelectUsageandclickNext. TheUsageViewSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.Useittosetvariousoptionsasdescribed inSection 5.4.4,UsageCharts,onpage 108.
6 ClickCustomizetoreturntothechartappropriateSettingsdialogboxandmodifythespecified
options.
7 UsethevariousbuttonsatthetopofthechartintheCreateViewdialogboxtoprintormodify
thechart.
8 ClickFinish.
TheviewisdisplayedinthelistofavailableviewsintheEditReportTemplatedialogbox.
5.4.2
Histogram Charts
IntheCreateView(Step2:Customization)dialogbox,clickCustomizetomodifythecontentsofthe histogram. TheSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.
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Figure 5-7 SettingsDialogBox
ThedefaultsettingforthehistogramincludesfivebinswithaStepsizeof1.
Auto
SelectAutotospecifyadifferentnumberofBinsorStepsizestobeusedinthehistogram.ClickFrom palettetoautomaticallygeneratecolorsforthehistogrambarsfromthepalette.ClickDefaultcolorto chooseonedefaultcolorforallhistogrambars.
Customize
SelectCustomizetomodifytheupperorlowerboundariesofanybinneedingmodification. Optionally,specifycustomlabelsandcolorsforthecorrespondinghistogrambars. ClicktheInsertbuttontoinsertanewbinbelowthecurrentlyhighlightedbin.TheappropriateStart, End,andLabelcolumnsareautomaticallyadjustedtoaccommodatethenewbin,whichcanbe customized. ClicktheRemovebuttontoremovethecurrentlyhighlightedbin.TheappropriateStart,End,and Labelcolumnsareautomaticallyadjusted. SelectanynumberofconsecutiveornonconsecutivebinsandclicktheGroupbuttontogroupthem together.EnterthegroupsnameintheGroupcolumnforanyoneofthebins.Thenameis automaticallyassignedtoallmembersofthegroup. Clickthecheckboxtodisplaythegroupedbinsasasinglebininthechart.
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5.4.3
Scatter Charts
IntheCreateView(Step2:Customization)dialogbox,clicktheCustomizebuttontomodifythe contentsofthescatterchart.TheChartViewSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.
Figure 5-8 ChartViewSettings
IntheDataarea,choosehowmuchdatatoincludeinthechart.SelectAlltoincludealldata,orselect ToporBottomtolimitthecharttothehighestorlowestvaluesofdata.ForToporBottom,specifythe numberofvalues,upto25,toinclude. IntheSummaryarea,selectMeanand/orMediantoincludethoselinesinthechart.Thesevaluesare basedonalldata,notjustdisplayedvalues. IntheSortarea,choosetosortthechartinascendingordescendingorderaccordingtodataquantity, oralphabeticallybyhostname. ClickOKtodisplaythechart.
5.4.4
Usage Charts
UsagechartsareuniquetoAnalysisreporttemplates.IntheCreateView(Step2:Customization) dialogbox,clickCustomizetomodifythecontentsoftheusagechart.TheUsageViewSettingsdialog boxisdisplayed.
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Figure 5-9 UsageViewSettings
Usethecheckboxestodeterminewhichbarstoincludeinthechart.Ifdesired,usethedropdown listsintheColorsectiontoassigncolorstothebarsinthechart. Tomoveabartotheleftortotherightinthereport,selectitandusetheupordownarrow.Click OKtodisplaythechart.
5.5
Generating Reports
1 SelectthereporttemplateandclickGenerateReport
TheGenerateReportdialogboxisdisplayed.
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Figure 5-10 GenerateReportDialogBox
2 Selectadeliverytypesforthereport.Bydefault,thereportisdeliveredtotheReportExplorer.
Otherdeliveryoptionsinclude: Sendingitbyemail Savingittoanetworkfile UploadingittoanFTPserver

3 Configuredeliveryoptions:
FortheEmaildeliveryoption,clickEmailOptions.TheEmailDeliveryOptionsdialogboxis displayed. Providetherequestedinformation.OnlyonerecipientisrequiredintheTofield,althoughif youentermorethanone,youneedtoseparatetheaddresseswithasemicolon.TheCCand BCCfieldscanbeleftblank.AnydefaultvaluessuppliedfortheSubjectandNamecanbe changed.TheFromAddressismandatory,buttheReplyToaddresscanbeleftblank.The SMTPServerandSMTPPortaremandatory.Credentialsareonlyoptionaliftheyarenot requiredforyourSMTPserver,whichisunlikely.
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FortheFTPandNetworkFiledeliverytypes,usetheadjacentoptionbuttonstoopendialog boxesandspecifyanFTPpathorUNC/localfolderpath.Choosetohavelaterrecurrences overwritethereportsavedatthatlocation,orappendthedateandtimetothespecified filenamesothatpreviousreportsarepreserved.
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FordeliveryoptionsotherthanReportExplorer,thedefaultformatforthereportisPDF. Additionally,thereareseveralotheravailabledeliveryformats.
4 Ifdesired,selecttheoptiontocompressthereportinaZIPfile.Optionally,thefilecanbe
passwordprotected.
5 YoucanalsosetoptionsintheScheduleareatospecifywhethertogeneratethereport
immediately,atalatertime,oratarecurringinterval.Forinformationaboutschedulingoptions, seeAppendix C,ScheduleOptions,onpage 213.

6 ClickGenerate.
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Whenthereportisgenerated,itisdeliveredusingthedeliverytypesspecified.Ifthisincludes ReportExplorer,thereportiscachedforquickviewingatanytime.Anitemisaddedtothe ReportExplorerbeneaththereporttemplateusedtogeneratethereport,namedwiththedate andtimethereportwasgenerated. NOTE OnlyreportsthathavetablesaresuccessfullyexportedtoExcelformat.Reportsthatcontain histogramsorchartscannotbeexportedtotheExcelformat. Toviewareport,doubleclickthegeneratedinstance.ThereportisdisplayedintheDocument Viewer.Forinformation,seeSection 5.5,GeneratingReports,onpage 109.Todeleteareport,right clickthereportandselectDeleteReportonthemenu.
5.6
Document Viewer
TodisplayareportintheDocumentViewer,generateareportfromareporttemplateandthen doubleclicktheinstanceofthereportordoubleclickareportinstanceyoupreviouslygenerated.See Section 5.5,GeneratingReports,onpage 109.
Figure 5-11 ReportDisplayedintheDocumentViewer
AnewtabbedpageisaddedtotheDocumentViewer,showingthereportthroughitsfirstavailable view.Toswitchtoadifferentview,clicktheViewsdropdownlistandselectaview.Formore informationonviews,seeSection 5.4.1,CreatingandEditingReportViews,onpage 104. Section 5.6.1,Commands,onpage 113 Section 5.6.2,CustomizingReports,onpage 114 Section 5.6.3,ViewingReports,onpage 117 Section 5.6.4,PrintingandExportingReports,onpage 118 Section 5.6.5,CopyingServersfromaReporttoaGroup,onpage 119
5.6.1
Commands
Table 5-6 DocumentViewerCommands
Commands
Tooltip/Description Columns. Select columns content for viewing. Groups. Add, or modify existing grouping in a report.
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Commands
Tooltip/Description Matrix. Add or modify existing matrixes in a report. Copy to Group. Copy selected servers to a group. Font Size. Change font size (small, medium, or large). Print/Quick Print. Show the Print Options dialog box to allow you to pick a printer and its settings, or just print the report immediately with the current default printer and settings. Search. Opens a Find dialog box for searching. Zoom Out, Zoom Percent, Zoom In. Zoom in or out incrementally/ decrementally, or specify a zoom setting. Multiple Pages. Reduce the view zoom setting so you can view multiple pages of the report simultaneously. Color Background. Show a dialog box to allow you to set the background color of the report. Watermark. Show a dialog box where you can set a watermark for the report, such as DRAFT, TOP SECRET or an image. Export Document. Export to PDF, HTML, Text, CSV, MHT, Excel, RTF, or Image formats. Send via Email. Send the report through e-mail as an attachment. The file is saved locally first and then your default mail client is launched with the saved file attached. Possible file formats are PDF, MHT, RTF, Excel, CSV, Text, or an image format. Exit. Close the report preview page.
5.6.2
Customizing Reports
Afterareportisgenerated,itcanbefurtheradjustedandcustomized.Thisincludesrevisingwhich columnstoincludeinthereport,changingthefont,andaddingormodifyinggroupingormatrixes. ThesecustomizationsaredisplayedintheDocumentViewerandareincludedinthereportwhenitis exported,butarenotsavedtothetemplate. CustomizingColumnsonpage 114 ChangingReportFontSizeonpage 115 AddingorModifyingGroupsonpage 116 AddingorModifyingMatrixesonpage 116
Customizing Columns
1 ClickColumns
intheDocumentViewer.
TheReportColumnSelectiondialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 Selectacolumnandusethearrowbuttonstorearrangehowitappearsinthereport(thehigher
thecolumninthetreehierarchy,themoretotheleftitappearsinthereport).Conditional formattingcanbeselectedfornumericfields.Selectcustomcolorsandbreakpoints,orusethe defaultsettings. Thereportwillhighlightthefollowing: AllthevalueslessthantheLowBreakpointwiththeLowColor AllthevaluesbetweentheLowandHighBreakpointswiththeMidColor AllthevaluesgreaterthantheHighBreakpointwiththeHighColor. SelectingTransparentleavesthevalueswithouthighlights.

3 SortthereportbyselectingacriterionfromtheSortbydropdownlist.SelectAscendingor
Descendingorder.Forgroupedreports,thiscontrolstheorderwithinthegroup,becausethe wholereportissortedbythegroupingcolumn. Optionally,addsummaryrowstothetablebyselectingfromthecheckboxesintheSummary Rowsarea.PlateSpinReconcalculatesanddisplaystheCount,Sum,Maximum,Average,or Minimumfornumericcolumns.
Changing Report Font Size

1 ClickFont
.intheDocumentViewer.Adropdownmenuisdisplayed,showingthe followingoptions: SmallFont MediumFont LargeFont
Clickthedesiredfontsize.ThechangesareappliedtothereportdisplayedintheDocument Viewer.
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Adding or Modifying Groups

1 ClickGroups
TheReportGroupSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.
2 ClickAddnexttotheupperlistboxtoenteragroupname. 3 IntheCustom<groupname>Binsarea,selecttheelementtogroupbyfromthedropdownlist. 4 Doeitherofthefollowing:
SelecttheoptionAutomaticallygeneratebinsbasedonvalues. ClickAddinthelowerareatocreateandnameacustombin.Defineanexpressionforeach custombin.

5 Selectthedesiredsortingorderforthegroup. 6 Selectthesummaryrowstoincludeinthetable.Thesesummarizethevaluesforeachbin. 7 Tomodifyagrouporabin,selectitsnameandedititoritsassociatedsettings.Alternatively,
clicktheappropriateDeletebuttontodeletethegrouporbin.
8 ClickOK.
Adding or Modifying Matrixes

1 ClickMatrix
TheReportMatrixSettingsdialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 Intheupperlistbox,selectelementsforcreatingamatrix. 3 Foreachselectedelement,enteraNameforitsmatrix. 4 Doeitherofthefollowing:
CheckAutogeneratecolumnstocreateacolumnforeachuniquevalueoftheelement. ClickAddtoaddcustomcolumns.Foreachcolumn,specifyanameanddefinean expression.

5 CheckUsecellvaluesfromtospecifyavaluetoplaceintheappropriatematrixcells.Ifthisboxis
deselected,thevaluesinthematrixcolumnsareeitherTrueorFalse.
6 Toremoveamatrixfromareport,deselectitscheckbox.Tomodifyamatrix,selectitandmodify
itsassociatedsettings.DeleteabinbyselectingitsnameandclickingDelete.
5.6.3
Viewing Reports
DiagnosticsReportsonpage 117 MultipleReportPagesonpage 117
Diagnostics Reports
ClickarowinaMissingDataSummaryreporttoviewthecorrespondingMissingDataDetailed andErrorreports.
Multiple Report Pages

Toviewmultiplepagesatonce,clickMultiplePages .Selectthenumberofpagesacrossandthe numberofpagesverticallytoviewsimultaneously.Themorepagesviewed,thesmallerthetext.The optionsavailablearefrom1X1through5X10pages.
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5.6.4
Printing and Exporting Reports

ClickPrint toopenthePrintdialogbox,orclickQuickPrint usingthecurrentdefaultprintersettings. toimmediatelyprintthereport,
ClickExportDocument toexportdatatoanyoneofformats,suchasPDF,HTML,Text,CSV, MHT,Excel,RTF,oranimageformat.Selectthedesiredformatfromthedropdownlist.ClickExport Documenttoautomaticallyexportdataintheformatmostrecentlyselectedinthesession.Ifaformat hasnotyetbeenselectedinthissession,thedefaultformatisPDF.
Image Formats
AfterselectingtoexportadocumentasanImage,theImageExportOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed.
Figure 5-12 ImageExportsOptionsDialogBox
Usethisdialogboxtoselectfromseveralimagetypestoexport,includingbmp,emf,wmf,gif,jpg, png,andtiff.Youcanalsospecifythefollowingoptionstocontroltheactionsoutput: Resolution(dpi):Imageresolutionyouwanttouse,keepinginmindthatthehighertheresolution, thebiggertheexportedfile. Exportmode:Allowsyoutochoosehowyouwanttoexporttheimage: singlefile:Onelongimagewithasinglesetofcolumnheadersatthetop. singlefilepagebypage:Onelongimagemadeupofindividualpages,eachwithasetof columnheadersatthetop. differentfiles:Asetofseparatefiles,eachwithasinglepageimageinit.Whenthisoptionis selected,numbersareaddedtotheendofthefilenameyouspecifyforeachseparatefile, incrementinguntilallthepagesareexported.Forexample,ifyouspecifiedMyImage.bmpfora twopagereport,thetwofilesexportedwouldbenamedMyImage01.bmpandMyImage02.bmp. Pagerange:Rangeofpagesinthereporttoexport.Forexample,toexportthefirstfivepagesandthe tenthpageofa20pagereport,specify15,10. Pagebordercolor:Thecolortouseforthereportpageborder. Pageborderwidth:Thewidthofthepageborder.
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5.6.5
Copying Servers from a Report to a Group

SometimesitisusefultocopythedisplayedserversfromareporttoaDataCenterExplorergroup. Notallreportsdisplayservers,butthosetypesofreportsdonotdisplaytheCopyToGrouptool.The groupsmustalreadyexist.SeeSection 3.4,WorkingwithGroups,onpage 49. Tocopyserverstoagroup:
1 Clickthecheckboxesnexttotheserversinthereportyouwanttoaddtoagroup. 2 ClickCopyToGroup
TheCopyToGroupdialogboxisdisplayed.
3 SelectthetargetgroupandclickOK.Toexitwithoutcopying,clickCancel.
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120
Server Consolidation
ThissectionprovidesinformationaboutthePlateSpinReconServerConsolidationandProtection features. Section 6.1,AboutServerConsolidation,onpage 121 Section 6.2,CreatingProjects,onpage 122 Section 6.3,CreatingandEditingServerTemplates,onpage 127 Section 6.4,IdentifyingConsolidationCandidates,onpage 135 Section 6.5,WorkingwithConsolidationScenarios,onpage 135 Section 6.6,GeneratingInventoryReports,onpage 146 Section 6.7,ViewingConsolidationReports,onpage 147 Section 6.8,ImplementingScenarioswithPortabilitySuite,onpage 152
6.1
About Server Consolidation

ThePlateSpinReconConsolidationPlanningModuleallowsforexplorationofscaleupandscaleout consolidationscenarioswithcandidateworkloads.Scenarioscanassistwithdeterminingthe minimumnumberoftargetserversandbalancingworkloadsacrosstheseservers. ThekeybenefitsoftheConsolidationPlanningModuleinclude: Maximizingserverutilizationbydistributingthenumberofworkloads. Minimizingresourcecontentionbybalancingsoftwareworkloadsacrossfivedimensions: Processor,Memory,Disk,Network,andTime. Eliminatingtheneedforextraserverswithadvancedworkloadsizingandoptimization. Identifyingserverstobeprotectedinadisasterrecoveryplan. Thefollowingarethekeystagestoassessingserverconsolidation:
1 DiscoverandlistserversinthePlateSpinReconClient.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.2,
DiscoveringandInventoryingDataCenterResources,onpage 28.
2 Inventoryserversandcollectstaticdata.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.2,Discoveringand
InventoryingDataCenterResources,onpage 28.
3 Monitorserversandcollectdynamicdata.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.2.5,Viewing
InventoryDataandMonitoringServers,onpage 44.
4 Createaconsolidationproject.Formoreinformation,seeSection 6.2,CreatingProjects,on
page 122.
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5 Selectserversforconsolidation.Formoreinformation,seeSection 6.4,Identifying
ConsolidationCandidates,onpage 135.
6 Identifytheoptimalconsolidationscenario.Formoreinformation,seeSection 6.5,Working
withConsolidationScenarios,onpage 135.
6.2
Creating Projects
Aprojectcanconsistofanycombinationofconsolidationcandidates,protectioncandidates, workloads,andscenarios.Consolidationcandidatesareworkloadsonthenetworkthatyoumight wanttomovetovirtualmachines.Protectioncandidatesareworkloadsyoumightwanttocreate standbyVMduplicatesoffordisasterrecovery. Youcreateandcomparescenariosinaproject.TheProjectReportconsistsofscenariocomparison results,whichhelpindeterminingthebestconsolidationscenariofortheenvironment. Beforeyoucreateaproject,identifyandgroupconsolidationcandidates.Theidentifiedcandidates allowyoutocreateandcompareconsolidationscenariosinaproject. NOTE:Collectingatleast24hoursofdataforeachworkloadbeforestartingtheprojectis recommended. Tocreateanewproject:
1 Doanyofthefollowing:
ClickConsolidation IntheProjectExplorer,click .
,thenclickNewProject.
TheProjectWizard(Step1of5:ProjectNameandType)isdisplayed.
2 Typeauniqueprojectnamefortheproject.
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3 Selectoneofthefollowingprojecttypes:
ServerConsolidation:Theprojectproducesarecommendationforthebestplacementof workloadswithrespecttoconcurrentexecutionandCPUandmemoryheadspace requirements. WorkloadProtection:Theprojectproducesarecommendationfordeploymentof workloadsfordisasterrecovery.Specifyexistingvirtualserversoruseservertemplatesto buildascenario. Both:Theprojectproducesarecommendationforbothconsolidationandprotection.For example,optimallyconsolidateservers,andprovisiontheremainingheadroomfordata protection. Aworkloadcannotbeprovisionedforbothconsolidationandprotectioninthesameproject.
4 ClickNext.
TheStep2of5:WorkloadSelectiondialogboxisdisplayed.
5 Identifytheworkloadsyouwanttoincludeintheproject. 6 Identifytheworkloadsyouwanttoincludeintheproject,andincludethemintheWorkloadsto
ConsolidatepanelortheWorkloadstoProtectpanelinanyofthefollowingways: DragworkloadsfromthetreeontheleftanddropthemintotheWorkloadstoConsolidate panelortheWorkloadstoProtectpanelontheright. Selectserversintherightpane,thenclickthearrowpointingtothepaneltowhichyou wanttoaddthem.
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IftheexistingvirtualhostshavebeeninventoriedbyPlateSpinRecon,theycanbeaddedtothe projectaspotentialtargetservers.Theexistingserverstakeprecedenceovertheservertemplate thatyouprovidewhengeneratingscenarios.Selectanyvirtualhoststhatexistinyour environmenttobeusedforconsolidationorprotection.Dropthetargetserversintoeitherthe ProtectionorConsolidationpanel. NOTE:PlateSpinReconalwaysconsidersaSolaris10machineasatargetserverfor consolidationbecausethemachinehastheglobalzoneenabledbydefault.Therefore,you cannotconsideraSolaris10machineasaconsolidationsource. ToremoveaserverfromtheWorkloadstoConsolidatepanelortheWorkloadstoProtectpanel, selecttheserverinthepanel,thenclickthearrowpointingtowardstheserverlist. Serverscannotbetargetedforconsolidationandprotectionwithinthesameproject.
7 ClickNext.
TheStep3of5:WorkloadUtilizationDateandTimeRangedialogboxisdisplayed.
8 Setthedateandtimerangetosummarizetheworkloaddata.
DateRangeandBusinessDaysarerequiredforcalculatingthe24Hprofileofworkloads.
9 (Optional)Tomanuallysetworkloadscalingfactors,clickAdvanced.
TheWorkloadScalingdialogboxisdisplayed.
10 Usetheslidecontrolstoadjustvaluesortypethedesirednumber.
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Workloadscanbescaledacrossfivedimensionstoaccountforworkloadvariabilityand projectedgrowth.Serverresourcesallocatedtoworkloadsontargetserversarebasedonscaled workloads.Byscalingworkloadsupward,moreserverresourcesmightberequired,potentially resultinginlowerconsolidationratios.Whenscalingpointersaremoved,workloadscaling factorschange. Workloadscannotbescaledbelowtheirpeakhourlyaverages.

11 ClickOK. 12 ClickNext.
TheStep4of5:ForecastOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed.
13 Selectforecastoptionsandatrendtype.
Workloadscanbeforecastedtoaccountforfuturegrowth.
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14 ClickNext.
TheStep5of5:PowerandCoolingdialogboxisdisplayed.
15 SpecifythevaluesfortheProjectType,ordeselecttheEnablePowerandCoolingcheckboxifthese
valuesarenottobeincluded. EnergyCost:Costofenergyperkilowatthour. ServerDeratingFactor:Percentageoftotalenergyconsumptionbytheaverageserver.For example,aserverratedat800wattsuses400wattswithaserverderatingfactorof50%.
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16 ClickCreate.
ThenewprojectisdisplayedintheProjectExplorer. Whencreatingaproject,a24HProfileofworkloadsiscomputed.ThisincludescalculatingProcessor Speed(MHz),Memory(MB),DiskSpaceUsed(GB),DiskIO(MB/s),andNetworkIO(MB/s)overa 24hourperiodforeachworkload.The24HProfilecomprises24valuesofworkloadsthatcorrespond toeachhouroftheday(0to23).Eachvalueinthe24HProfileiscalculatedbytakingthepeakvalue fromallvaluesobservedforthathour.
6.3
Creating and Editing Server Templates

Servertemplatesareusedtodefineserversforuseinconsolidationscenarios.Youcreateserver templates,eachwiththeirowncomponentsandutilizationthresholds.Acommonuseforserver templatesisforscaleuporscaleoutconsolidationscenarios.Thecreatedservertemplatesareused astargetserversforconsolidatingworkloads. Section 6.3.1,CreatingaNewServerTemplate,onpage 127 Section 6.3.2,EditinganExistingServerTemplate,onpage 131 Section 6.3.3,CopyingaServerTemplate,onpage 134
6.3.1
Creating a New Server Template

1 ClickConsolidation
,thenclickServerTemplates
TheServerTemplateManagerdialogboxisdisplayed.
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2 Click
TheNewServerTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
3 OntheGeneralpage,specifythefollowing:
User Interface Name Make Model TCO Rack Units Power Required Yes No No No No No Description Name of the template to be created. Server manufacturer. Server model. Total cost of ownership. Number of rack units. Power consumption in watts.
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User Interface Virtualization
Required Yes
Description Virtualization platform: Citrix XenServer Microsoft Hyper-V Microsoft Virtual Server None Solaris 10 Zones Virtual Iron VMware ESX VMware ESX 3 VMware ESX 4 VMware ESX 5 VMware GSX VMware Server SLES XenServer
4 ClicktheComponentstab,thenspecifythefollowingontheComponentspage:
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User Interface Settings Processor Count Processor Speed
Required
Description
Yes Yes
Total processor count. Instructions per second the server can execute in MHz or GHz. The minimum processor speed you can use is 266 MHz. Memory size for server in MB or GB. Number of cores per processor. Model of CPU: Pentium IV Core Xeon Core Xeon Athlon Opteron Intel Nehalem NOTE: The CPU model for any processor in the Pentium series is shown as Pentium IV. This is based on the normalization speed that is calculated for a series of processors.
Memory Cores Per Processor CPU Model
Yes Yes Yes
Hyper-Threading Normalized Speed
No Readonly
Specifies if hyper-threading is available. A unitless measure of processor capacity. This provides more realistic comparisons across diverse processor architectures. The amount of memory to use. The minimum memory size you can use is 256 MB. Disk space in GB or TB that is required for the server. Select Unlimited if you are connecting target servers to a SAN or NAS, where disk space is not a limiting factor. If you use Fixed, the minimum amount of disk space you can specify is 1 GB.
Memory Size Disk Space
Yes Yes
Thresholds Processor Memory Disk Space Disk IO Network IO No No No No No Processor utilization. By default, the utilization is set to 80%. Memory utilization. By default, the utilization is set to 90%. Maximum disk utilization threshold. By default, the utilization is set to 85%. Maximum disk I/O allowed. By default, the Max IO is set to 50 MB/s. Maximum network IO. By default, the network IO is set to 10 MB/s.
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ThresholdsspecifythelevelofutilizationtheConsolidationPlanningModulecanassumefor theservertemplates.Thisaffectstheoutcomeofconsolidationscenarios;lowerutilization thresholdsresultinmoreserversbeingrequiredtohosttheworkloadsofascenario. Forexample:workloadsrequiring180GBofmemorycanbeconsolidatedontoaserverwith200 GBofmemoryiftheutilizationthresholdissetat90%.However,ifthememoryutilization thresholdissetat50%,only100GBofmemorycanbeused,resultinginfewerworkloadsbeing consolidated. Utilizationthresholdsareinitiallysettothedefaultslistedinthetableaboveandcanbe customizedforspecificneeds.

5 ClickOK.
ThenewlycreatedservertemplateisaddedtotheServerTemplatelist.
6.3.2
Editing an Existing Server Template

Selecttheservertemplateyouwanttoedit,thenclick
. Edit.
Rightclicktheservertemplateyouwanttoedit,thenclick TheEditServerTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
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3 OntheGeneralpage,makeanydesiredmodificationsbyusingthefollowinginformation:
User Interface Name Make Model TCO Rack Units Power Required Yes No No No No No Description Name of the template to be created. Server manufacturer. Server model. Total cost of ownership. Number of rack units. Power consumption in watts.
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User Interface Virtualization
Required Yes
Description Virtualization platform: Microsoft Virtual Server Virtual Iron VMware ESX VMware ESX 3 VMware ESX 4 VMware ESX 5 VMware GSX VMware Server Citrix XenServer Microsoft Hyper-V SLES XenServer None
4 ClicktheComponentstab,thenmakeanydesiredmodificationsbyusingthefollowing
information:
User Interface Settings Processor Count Processor Speed Yes Yes Total processor count. Instructions per second the server can execute in MHz or GHz. The minimum processor speed you can use is 266 MHz. Memory size for server in MB or GB. Number of cores per processor. Model of CPU: Pentium IV Core Xeon Core Xeon Athlon Opteron Hyper-Threading Normalized Speed No Readonly Specifies if hyper-threading is available. A unitless measure of processor capacity. This provides more realistic comparisons across diverse processor architectures. The amount of memory to use. The minimum memory size you can use is 256 MB. Required Description
Memory Cores Per Processor CPU Model
Yes Yes Yes
Memory Size
Yes
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User Interface Disk Space
Required Yes
Description Disk space in GB or TB that is required for the server. Select Unlimited if you are connecting target servers to a SAN or NAS, where disk space is not a limiting factor. If you use Fixed, the minimum amount of disk space you can specify is 1 GB.
Thresholds Processor Memory Disk Space Disk IO Network IO No No No No No Processor utilization. By default, the utilization is set to 80%. Memory utilization. By default, the utilization is set to 90%. Maximum disk utilization threshold. By default, the utilization is set to 85%. Maximum disk I/O allowed. By default, the Max IO is set to 50 MB/s. Maximum network IO. By default, the network IO is set to 10 MB/s.
ThresholdsspecifythelevelofutilizationtheConsolidationPlanningModulecanassumefor theservertemplates.Thisaffectstheoutcomeofconsolidationscenarios;lowerutilization thresholdsresultinmoreserversbeingrequiredtohosttheworkloadsofascenario. Forexample:workloadsrequiring180GBofmemorycanbeconsolidatedontoaserverwith200 GBofmemoryiftheutilizationthresholdissetat90%.However,ifthememoryutilization thresholdissetat50%,only100GBofmemorycanbeused,resultinginfewerworkloadsbeing consolidated. Utilizationthresholdsareinitiallysettothedefaultslistedinthetableaboveandcanbe customizedforspecificneeds.

5 ClickOK.
6.3.3
Copying a Server Template

Selecttheservertemplateyouwanttocopy,thenclick
. Copy.
Rightclicktheservertemplateyouwanttocopy,thenclick
3 Renamethetemplateandmakeanyotherrequiredmodifications. 4 ClickOK.
TheNewServerTemplatedialogboxisdisplayedwithprepopulatedtemplateinformation.
ThetemplateiscopiedandisdisplayedintheServerTemplateManagerlisting.
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6.4
Identifying Consolidation Candidates

Thisactivityinvolvesselectingserversforconsolidation.Thisrequiresyoutogenerateinventoryand analysisreportssoyoucanfindasetofserversthatmeetyourconsolidationrequirements,thenyou canselectyourconsolidationcandidatesfromthatsetofservers.Formoreinformation,see Section 5.5,GeneratingReports,onpage 109.
6.5
Working with Consolidation Scenarios

Scenariosallowthequickcreationandevaluationofoneormoreconsolidationalternatives. Generatingmultiplescenariosforcomparisonisrecommended.Thishelpstodeterminetheoptimal consolidationscenario. Therearetwotypesofscenarios: Determinetheminimumnumberofservers:PlateSpinRecondetermineshowmanyofa specifictypeoftargetserverarerequiredtobalancetheworkloads.Withthistypeofscenario, onlyoneservertemplatecanbeused. Specifythenumberofservers:Yousetthenumberandtypeoftargetserversforconsolidation. PlateSpinReconcalculatestheoptimaldistributionofworkloadsforthechosentargets.With thistypeofscenario,multipleservertemplatescanbeused. AnyinventoriedmachinerunninganyvirtualizationplatformsupportedbyPlateSpinReconis consideredatargetserver. Section 6.5.1,DeterminingtheMinimumNumberofServers,onpage 135 Section 6.5.2,SpecifyingtheNumberofServers,onpage 140 Section 6.5.3,ResultsofConsolidationScenarios,onpage 144 Section 6.5.4,EditingScenarios,onpage 145 Section 6.5.5,DeletingScenarios,onpage 146
6.5.1
Determining the Minimum Number of Servers

1 IntheProjectExplorertab,selectaproject,thenclickNewScenario
TheScenarioWizard(Step1of4:ScenarioProperties)isdisplayed.
135
TheavailablescenariotypesaredeterminedbytheProjectTypespecifiedwhilecreatingthe project.
2 Specifyauniquenameforthescenario. 3 IntheScenarioGoalpane,selectDeterminetheminimumnumberofservers.
Thisgoaldeterminestheminimumnumberofaspecifictypeoftargetserverstobalance workloads.Youcanuseonlyoneservertemplatewiththisoption.
4 Selectascenariotype.
Thisstepisrelevantonlyiftheprojectuponwhichthescenarioisbasedhasthegoalconfigured asBoth(serverconsolidationandworkloadprotection).
5 AdjusttheScenarioOptimizationEffortslider.
Quickisfasterbutnotasintensive,andExhaustivetakeslongerbutismorethorough.
6 ClickNext.
TheStep2of4:WorkloadPropertiesdialogboxisdisplayed.
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7 SpecifyWorkloadSizing.
Usehistoricalsizeofworkloads:Createsthescenariobasedonthehistoricalsizeofthe workloads. Useforecastedsizeofworkloads(specifyforecastperiod):Createsthescenariobasedon theforecastedsizeoftheworkloadsafterthespecifiedforecastperiod. Forscenariosbasedonprotectiononlyprojects,thesevaluesaredimmed.

8 Toaverageworkloadandutilizationexpressionsoveraspecifiedtimerange,selecttheUsethe
followinghourrangecheckboxandsetthestartandendtimesforthebusinesshoursinyour environment. Hoursthatyouspecifyhereareusedforallreportscreatedforthisscenarioorforanynode underthisscenario.Reporttemplatesdonothaveanydirectcontroloverbusiness/peakhours. ConsolidationandPlanningchartsuseboththespecifiedbusinesshoursandall24hourdata points.

9 SpecifytheCPUoptimizationmethodyouwanttouse.
Useprocessorclockratetooptimizeworkloads:OptimizestheCPUbasedontheactual processorclock. Usenormalizedspeedtooptimizeworkloads:OptimizestheCPUbasedonanormalized value.SeeSection B.6,CPUNormalization,onpage 205formoreinformation. Consolidationchartsbasedonthisscenariodifferdependingonthemethodyouchoose.If youselectnormalizedspeed,theprocessorutilizationandcapacityvaluesinconsolidation chartscreatedbasedonthisscenariowillalsousethenormalizedvalues. Inanyreports,NormalizedSpeedcolumnsarenotdisplayedbydefault,evenifitsa scenariosummaryorworkloadassignmentreportandtheoptimizationmethodselectedis Usenormalizedspeedtooptimizeworkloads. Forscenariosbasedonprotectiononlyprojects,thesevaluesaredimmed.
10 ClickNext.
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11 Selectworkloadsorservers,dependingonthescenariotype.
138
12 (Conditional)IftheScenarioTypeincludesserverconsolidation,selecttheserverstobe
consolidatedinthisscenario. Bydefault,allserversspecifiedintheprojectforconsolidationareselected.
13 (Conditional)IftheScenarioTypeincludesworkloadprotection,selectworkloadsontheProtect
tab. Bydefault,allworkloadsspecifiedintheprojectforprotectionareselected.
14 ClickNext.
TheStep4of4:TargetServerSpecificationdialogboxisdisplayed.
15 IntheNamedropdownlist,selecttheservertemplateyouwanttouse.
or CreateanewservertemplatebyselectingNewServer.(Youcanuseonlyoneservertemplate.) Youmustspecifyatleastoneservertemplate,evenifyouwanttoconsolidateonlytoexisting targetservers.

16 (Optional)IntheVirtualizationdropdownlist,selecttheVirtualizationplatformtouse. 17 (Optional)ClicktheExistingTargetServerstabtouseserversincludedintheproject.
Iftherearenoexistingtargetserversspecifiedintheproject,thisoptionisunavailable.
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18 Selecttheexistingtargetserverstouseinthescenario,thenselectthePinnedWorkloadscheckbox
toforceworkloadscurrentlyonaparticulartargetservertoremainonthatserverafter consolidation.
19 ClickStart.
TheCreateScenariojobruns. YoucanwatchtheprogressintheJobExplorerwindow.Whenthescenarioiscreated,itis displayedunderScenariosinthebaseproject.
6.5.2
Specifying the Number of Servers

1 ClickNewScenario
TheScenarioWizard(Step1of4:ScenarioProperties)isdisplayed.
140
2 Typeauniquescenarioname. 3 IntheScenarioGoalpane,selectSpecifythenumberofserverstosetthenumberandtypeoftarget
serversforconsolidation. Youcanusemultipleservertemplateswiththisoption.
4 Selectascenariotype.
Ifsomeworkloadsmustbeleftunconsolidatedbecausethenumberoftemplatesspecifiedis inadequate,thealgorithmfitsasmanyoftheconsolidationworkloadsontothosetemplatesasit canifyouchooseConsolidatethenProtect.ThereverseistrueifyouchooseProtectthen Consolidate.

5 AdjusttheScenarioOptimizationEffortslider.
Quickisfasterbutnotasintensive,andExhaustivetakeslongerbutismorethorough.
6 ClickNext.
TheStep2of4:WorkloadPropertiesdialogboxisdisplayed.
141
7 SpecifyWorkloadSizing.
Usehistoricalsizeofworkloads:Createsthescenariobasedonthehistoricalsizeofthe workloads. Useforecastedsizeofworkloads(specifyforecastperiod):Createsthescenariobasedon theforecastedsizeoftheworkloadsafterthespecifiedforecastperiod. Forscenariosbasedonprotectiononlyprojects,thesevaluesaredimmed.

8 Toaverageworkloadandutilizationexpressionsoveraspecifiedtimerange,selecttheUsethe
followinghourrangecheckboxandsetthestartandendtimesforthebusinesshoursinyour environment. Hoursthatyouspecifyhereareusedforallreportscreatedforthisscenarioorforanynode underthisscenario.Reporttemplatesdonothaveanydirectcontroloverbusiness/peakhours. ConsolidationandPlanningchartsuseboththespecifiedbusinesshoursandall24hourdata points.

9 SpecifytheCPUoptimizationmethodyouwanttouse. 9a Useprocessorclockratetooptimizeworkloads:OptimizestheCPUbasedontheactual
processorclock.Formoreinformation,seeSection B.6,CPUNormalization,onpage 205.

9b Usenormalizedspeedtooptimizeworkloads:OptimizestheCPUbasedonanormalized
value. Consolidationchartsbasedonthisscenariodifferdependingonthemethodyouchoose.If youselectnormalizedspeed,theprocessorutilizationandcapacityvaluesinconsolidation chartscreatedbasedonthisscenariowillalsousethenormalizedvalues. Inanyreports,NormalizedSpeedrelatedcolumnsarenotdisplayedbydefault,evenifits ascenariosummary/workloadassignmentreportandtheoptimizationmethodselectedis Usenormalizedspeedtooptimizeworkloads. Forscenariosbasedonprotectiononlyprojects,thesevaluesaredimmed.

10 ClickNext.
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11 (Conditional)IftheScenarioTypeincludesserverconsolidation,selecttheserverstobe
consolidatedinthisscenario. Bydefault,allserversspecifiedintheprojectforconsolidationareselected
12 (Conditional)IftheScenarioTypeincludesworkloadprotection,selectworkloadsontheProtect
tab. Bydefault,allworkloadsspecifiedintheprojectforprotectionareselected. Ifyouarerunningascenariowithasetnumberoftargetservers,insomecasesthesetnumberof targetserversdonothavesufficientresourcestoaccommodateallworkloads. Bydefault,Honorutilizationthresholdsisselected.Thismaintainsthetotalutilizationofatarget serverbelowthesetthresholds.Thesumofworkloadsdonotviolatetheutilizationthresholds foraspecifiedserver.

13 Defineconsolidationprioritiesbyselectingoneofthefollowingoptions:
Maximizethenumberofconsolidatedworkloads:Workloadsareselectedfor consolidationwiththegoalofconsolidatingthelargestpossiblenumberofworkloads.The ordershownisnotrelevantandtheupanddownarrowsaredisabled. Consolidateworkloadsintheaboveorder:Prioritizeworkloadsforconsolidationonly,in thegivenorder.Thisensuresthatcertainworkloadsareconsolidated.Tomoveworkloads intothedesiredorderofconsolidationpriority,usetheupanddownarrows.

14 ClickNext.
TheStep4of4:TargetServerSpecificationdialogboxisdisplayed.
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15 IntheNamedropdownlist,selecttheServertemplateyouwanttouse.
or CreateanewservertemplatebyselectingClicktoSelectServer.
16 Specifythecountforeachservertemplate. 17 (Conditional)Ifyouwanttousetheexistingservertargetsspecifiedintheproject,clickthe
ExistingTargetServerstabandselecttheservers. Thisoptionisavailableonlyifaprojecthasexistingtargetservers.
18 ClickStart.
TheCreateScenariojobruns. YoucanwatchtheprogressintheJobExplorerwindow.Whenthescenarioiscreated,itis displayedunderScenariosinthebaseproject.
6.5.3
Results of Consolidation Scenarios

Theresultofanyscenariodependsontheworkloadsusedandtheservertemplatesselected.Higher consolidationratiosareachievedwithlargertargetservers.Thecreatedscenarioisdisplayedinthe ProjectExplorer.Foradescriptionoftheiconsinthegraphicbelow,seethelistingofProjectExplorer iconsinTableD6onpage 219.
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Figure 6-1 ProjectExplorer
VirtualizationOverhead:Ifservertemplatesconfiguredwithavirtualizationplatformareselected asinputtothescenario,theoverheadrelatedtotheselectedvirtualizationplatformisshownasan additionalworkloadundereachtargetserverandisnamedafterthevirtualizationplatform. Virtualizationoverheadworkloadsarenotmovable. UnconsolidatedWorkloads:Listsallserversthatwerenotconsolidatedduringthescenariocreation process.Workloadsarerejectediftheycannotbeaddedtoaserverwithoutexceedingutilization thresholds.TheseserversarelistedunderUnconsolidatedinthescenario.Movingunconsolidated workloadstoaservercanresultinaviolationofutilizationthresholds. UnprotectedWorkloads:Listsallserversthatwerenotprotectedduringthescenariocreation. Workloadsarerejectediftheycannotbeaddedtoaserverwithoutexceedingutilizationthresholds. TheseserversarelistedunderUnprotectedinthescenario.Movingunprotectedworkloadstoaserver canresultinaviolationofutilizationthresholds.
6.5.4
Editing Scenarios
YoucanmoveworkloadsbetweentargetserversorfromUnconsolidatedorUnprotectedtoatarget serverbydragginganddroppingintheProjectExplorer.Alternatively,rightclicktheworkloadand clickUnconsolidateWorkloadonthemenu.
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6.5.5
Deleting Scenarios
1 IntheProjectExplorer,selectascenario. 2 Click
6.6
Generating Inventory Reports

Section 6.6.1,FindingServersThatMeettheConsolidationCriteria,onpage 146 Section 6.6.2,SelectingCandidatesforConsolidation,onpage 146
6.6.1
Finding Servers That Meet the Consolidation Criteria

1 IntheReportExplorer,rightclicktheHardwareInventoryReporttemplateunderInventory,then
selectEditReportTemplate. TheEditReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 ClicktheGrouptab,selectafilterorgrouptousewhenyougeneratereportsbasedonthis
template.
3 ClicktheViewstabandselectaview.Usethebuttonsadjacenttothelisttoaddoreditaview.See
Section 5.4,ViewCustomization,onpage 104

4 ClicktheFieldFiltertab.Usethedropdownliststospecifyqueryparameters.SeeFieldFilter
Tabonpage 96.
5 ClickOK. 6 IntheReportExplorer,rightclickHardwareInventoryandselectGenerateReport. 7 SchedulethereportforNow,andacceptthedefaultDeliveryTypeoftheReportExplorer. 8 ClickGenerate.
Thereportinstance,shownasthedateandtimethereportwasgenerated,isdisplayedunderthe reporttemplateintheReportExplorerandthereportispreviewedintheDocumentViewer, showingtheserversthatmeetyourconsolidationrequirements.
6.6.2
Selecting Candidates for Consolidation

1 IntheReportExplorer,rightclicktheAnalysisreporttemplateforHardwareUtilizationPeak
andselectEditReportTemplateonthemenu. TheEditReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayed.
2 OntheGrouptab,makethesameselectionyoumadeinStep 1onpage 146. 3 OntheViewstab,selectthetableviewandclickEdit.
TheCreateViewdialogboxisdisplayed.
4 OntheGeneraltab,selecttheSummaryRows(appliedtocolumnscontainingcalculateddata)you
wanttocreateinthereport.
5 ClickFinish.
TheEditReportTemplatedialogboxisdisplayedagain.
6 OntheDateFiltertab,setthedateandtimerangetoviewutilizationexpressionsforallservers
thatweremonitored.
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7 OntheFieldFiltertab,usethedropdownliststospecifythesamequeryparametersyouselected
inStep 1onpage 146.

8 OntheSummariestab,selectAVG. 9 ClicktheCalculationtypedropdownlistandatype:
Average:Averageofallhourlyvaluesacrossbusinessdaysandbusinesshours. PeakHour:Acalculationbasedonthehighesthourlyvalue. Total:Sumsallthedatapointsinthetimeframe.Forexample,DiskIOspersecondfora1 hourperiodequatesto10diskIOspersecondX60secondsX60minutes=36000.Selectthe SummaryRowstocreateinthereportofthecolumnscontainingcalculateddata.

10 ClickOK. 11 IntheReportExplorer,underAnalysis,rightclickthepreviouslyeditedHardwareUtilization
PeakreporttemplateandclickGenerateReportonthemenu.AcceptthedefaultDeliveryTypeof theReportExplorer.
12 ClickGenerate.
Thereportinstance,shownasthedateandtimethereportwasgenerated,isdisplayedunderthe reporttemplateintheReportExplorerandthereportispreviewedintheDocumentViewer. ComparingandcontrastingthetworeportsgeneratedinStep 1onpage 146andStep 1on page 146willhelpyoudetermineyourconsolidationneeds. Tohelpwiththis,whileviewingageneratedreport,clickacelltodisplayacustomizablechart forthatserver/workloadmetric.FormoreinformationseeSection 5.1,ChartViewer,on page 83.
6.7
Viewing Consolidation Reports

Consolidationreportsareusedforanalysis.UnlikeotherPlateSpinReconreports,whichare generatedthroughtheReportExplorer,consolidationreportsaregeneratedthroughtheProject Explorer.LikeotherPlateSpinReconreports,generatedconsolidationreportsareviewedinthe DocumentViewer.Inaddition,consolidationreportscannotbesavedandmustbegenerated whenevernecessary. Thefollowingtypesofconsolidationreportsareavailable: ProjectReport ScenarioSummaryReport WorkloadAssignmentReport UnconsolidatedReport UnprotectedReport Project,scenariosummary,andworkloadassignmentreportsaretemplatebased.Youcaneditthe templatesthroughtheReportExplorer.Forinformationabouteditingconsolidationreporttemplates, seeSection 5.3.3,ConsolidationReportTemplates,onpage 101. Fordetailedinformationaboutthedifferenttypesofconsolidationreports,reviewthefollowing sections: Section 6.7.1,ProjectReport,onpage 148 Section 6.7.2,ScenarioSummaryReport,onpage 148
147
Section 6.7.3,WorkloadAssignmentReport,onpage 150 Section 6.7.4,UnconsolidatedWorkloadReport,onpage 151 Section 6.7.5,UnprotectedWorkloadReport,onpage 151
6.7.1
Project Report
AProjectReportprovidesacomparisonofconsolidationscenarios. Toviewthisreport,doubleclickaproject.TheProjectReportisdisplayedintheDocumentViewer.
Figure 6-2 SampleProjectReport
6.7.2
Scenario Summary Report

TheScenarioSummaryReporthelpsinassessingthevalueofusingaparticularinfrastructurefor serverconsolidation. DoubleclicktheselectedscenariotoviewtheScenarioSummaryreportintheDocumentViewerand the24HProfileStackedUtilizationchartintheChartViewer.
Figure 6-3 SampleScenarioSummaryReport
Iftherearemultipletargetservers,asummarystatisticstableisdisplayedwithSUM,AVG,MAX, andMINvalues.
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Figure 6-4 SampleReportSummaryStatisticsTable
Ifyouclickoneoftheservercells,thecorresponding24HProfilestackchartwithallworkloads assignedtothetargetserverisdisplayed.
Figure 6-5 Sample24HProfileStackChart
24H Profile Chart Appearance

Twentyfourhour(24H)ProfilechartsintheDataCenterExplorerandinConsolidationPlanningare slightlydifferent.IntheDataCenterExplorer,the24Hprofilethatisshown.selectseveralmonitored machines,clickCreateChartandthenselectProfileasthetypeofchart)inworkloadprofilechartsis foreachindividualresourceinstanceseparatelyandshowsadifferentcolorforeachinstanceand resource.Thesevaluesarestackedforeachgivenhour.Thisgivesthemaximumvalueforevery instanceforaspecifichouroverthemonitoringperiod.Thesestackedvaluesarethensummed.
Figure 6-6 SummedStackValues
Thishighlightsthehourwiththemaximumutilizationforaspecificinstanceoftheresource.This approachisparticularlyusefulfordeterminingmaximumutilizationofanyindividualresource instance. InConsolidationPlanning,the24Hcharthasthevaluesoftheinstancesandresourcessummedfor eachtimemomentandthenthemaximumofthissumforeveryhourisidentified.
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Figure 6-7 ConsolidationPlanning24HChart
Thisisneededtodeterminethesummaryresourceconsumptionofaworkload.
6.7.3
Workload Assignment Report

IntheWorkloadAssignmentreport,youcanseewhichworkloadsareassignedtoserversandhow workloadsareutilizedineachoftheseassignedservers.Youcanmodifyworkloadassignments accordingtorequirementsandconsiderdifferentkindsofserveroptionswhilecreatingaproject. WorkloadAssignmentreportsareavailableforindividualtargetserversorforalltargetservers includedinascenario. IndividualServeronpage 150 AllServersonpage 151
Individual Server
ToviewtheWorkloadAssignmentreportand24HProfilechart,doubleclickatargetserverinthe ProjectExplorer. NOTE:A24HProfilecannotbecreatedforworkloadswhenthereisnoonehoursummarydata. IfyouclickoneoftheserversintheAssignmentreport,thecorresponding24HProfilestackchart withallworkloadsassignedtothetargetserverisdisplayed.Theutilizationvaluesdisplayedarefor thetargetservers.
Figure 6-8 AssignmentReportGenerated24HProfileStackChart
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All Servers
ToviewtheWorkloadAssignmentreportforalltheserversinthecurrentscenario:
1 Rightclickascenario,selectViewReport>ViewWorkloadAssignmentReportfromthedropdown
menu
6.7.4
Unconsolidated Workload Report

IntheUnconsolidatedWorkloadReport,youcanseewhichoftheconsolidationcandidateworkloads arenotincludedintheconsolidationplan,aswellasanexplanationofthereasonwhyPlateSpin Reconcouldnotincludethem. Toviewthisreport,rightclickascenarioandselectViewReport>ViewUnconsolidatedReport.The UnconsolidatedReportisdisplayedintheDocumentViewer.
Figure 6-9 SampleUnconsolidatedReport
6.7.5
Unprotected Workload Report

IntheUnprotectedReport,youcanseewhichoftheconsolidationcandidateworkloadswerenot includedintheprotectionplan,aswellasanexplanationofthereasonwhyPlateSpinReconcould notincludethem. Toviewthisreport,rightclickascenarioandselectViewReport>ViewUnprotectedReport.The UnconsolidatedReportisdisplayedintheDocumentViewer.
Figure 6-10 SampleUnprotectedReport
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6.8
Implementing Scenarios with Portability Suite

Whenthereareidentifiedscenariosandserverstodeploy,youcanimplementtheconsolidationand protectionbyusingPlateSpinPortabilitySuite.Youcanimplementanentirescenario,separate containerswithinthescenario,orindividualserversinthescenario. PlateSpinReconsupportsPlateSpinMigrate9.1,9.0.1,9.0.2,and9.0.0inadditiontoPlateSpin PortabilitySuite8.0.0,8.1.2,and8.1.3. NOTE PlateSpinReconsupportsESXi5.0,howeverPlateSpinMigratedoesnotsupportit.Ifyouuse PlateSpinRecontocreateajobforESXi5.0targetmachine,thejobcannotbeexecutedonthe PlateSpinMigrateserver. PlateSpinRecon64bitapplicationssupportsonlyPSmigrate9.1forjobcreations. Toimplementascenario:
1 IntheProjectExplorer,rightclickthescenario,thenselectImplementusingPortabilitySuite.
TheImplementingscenario<name>usingPortabilitySuiteStep1of2dialogboxisdisplayed.
2 ConfirmthePortabilitySuiteServerURLandNetworkname. 3 UsethedropdownlisttoselectorcreatethecredentialsthatPortabilitySuiteusestodiscover
andconverttheserverswithinthescenarioorcontainer.
4 SpecifythedirectorywherethePortabilitySuitejobsmustbesaved. 5 ClickNext.
TheStep2of2dialogboxisdisplayed.
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6 ClickNotMapped.
Atabledropsdownwhereamatchcolumnisdisplayed. Ifyouareattemptingtoconsolidatemultiplecontainers,themappingofcontainertotarget serverisonetoone.Unavailablecontainersthatarealreadymappedtoaserveraredimmed. Whentheyareeitherunmappedorthescenariotheyareinisdeleted,theyareonceagainmade available.

7 ClickStart.
Whenthejobisinitiated,PlateSpinRecon: Authenticatestheservers. CreatesandrunsserverdiscoveriesforPortabilitySuite. CreatesandsavesconversionjobsinthefilelocationspecifiedinStep 1onpage 152.The defaultlocationisc:\temp. Whenthejobcompletes,youcancopythesavedconversionjobstothePortabilitySuitemachine andloaditbyusingPlateSpinPortabilitySuiteClientwindow(File>LoadJob).
6.8.1
Implementing Phantom or Existing Target Servers

Thestepstoimplementatthephantom(servertemplate),orexistingtargetserverlevel,are identicaltoimplementingascenario:rightclickthephantomorexistingtargetvirtualmachine serverandselectImplementUsingPortabilitySuite. Ifaphantomserverrepresentsanexistingtargetvirtualmachineserver,youcanmapittothat existingserver.WhenthejobiscreatedthroughPortabilitySuite,thesourceandtargetserversare autoconfigured. Tomapaphantomtoatargetvirtualmachineserveranddeployit:
1 RightclickthephantomandselectEditMapping.
TheServerMappingdialogboxisdisplayed,listingtheavailableserversthatcontainvirtual machines.Dataislistedforeachmachine,andthematchcolumnindicateswhetherornotthe machineisamatchtothephantom.
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Test CPU
Results Failure: The processing power of the destination server is less than the processing power of the source server. Warning: The destination server has more processing power than is necessary. A warning is displayed if the processing power of the destination server is 500 Mhz greater than the processing power of the source server. Pass: The CPU match is acceptable.
Disk
Failure: The disk space on the destination server is less than the disk space on the source server. Warning: The disk space on the destination server is higher than necessary. A warning is displayed if the destination server has more than 50 GB of surplus space compared to the source server. Pass: The disk match is acceptable.
Memory
Failure: The destination server has less memory than the source server. Warning: The destination server has more memory than is necessary. A warning is displayed if the memory on the destination server is 512 MB greater than the memory on the source server. Pass: The memory match is acceptable.
2 IntheServerMappingdialogbox,selectthetargetvirtualmachineservertomapthephantom
to,thenclickOK.
3 RightclickthenewlymappedphantomandselectImplementUsingPortabilitySuite. 4 CompletetheImplementingServerUsingPortabilitySuiteWizardasdescribedinTo
implementascenario:onpage 152.
5 ClickStart.
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IT Chargeback
ThissectionincludesinformationonusingthePlateSpinReconflexibleChargebackfeature. Section 7.1,UnderstandingChargeback,onpage 155 Section 7.2,UsingRaters,onpage 155 Section 7.3,ManagingRaters,onpage 158 Section 7.4,ChargebackReporting,onpage 161
7.1
Understanding Chargeback
ThePlateSpinReconflexiblechargebackreportingcapabilitiesalloworganizationstoaccurately calculateITcostsbasedonactualandvirtualizedresourceusage.ITdepartmentscanthenallocate theircoststodifferentbusinessunitsanddepartments. Evenwhenresourcesarepartofavirtualizedpoolofcomputingresourcessharedacrossmany workloads,PlateSpinReconnotonlyallowsyoutotrack,assign,andreportonusedresources,butit canalsogeneratereportsanddeliverthemtotheappropriatebusinessunits. Tosetupachargebacksystem:
1 Createraterstoassignappropriatechargesforusage.
Formoreinformationonhowtocreatearater,seeSection 7.3.1,CreatingaRater,onpage 158

2 Attachtheraterstoparticularmachinestobetracked.
Formoreinformationonhowtoattachraterstomachines,seeSection 7.3.4,AttachingRatersto Machines,onpage 160

3 GenerateChargebackreports.
FormoreinformationonhowtogenerateaChargebackreport,seeSection 5.5,Generating Reports,onpage 109. NOTE:ItisusefultoorganizemachinesusingChargebackintotheirowngroup.Formore information,seeSection 3.4,WorkingwithGroups,onpage 49.
7.2
Using Raters
Araterisametricusedtoassignabillablechargetotheuseofaresourceorpartofaresource overasetamountoftime.Thisconvertsresourceusagedataintocurrencyvalues.Therearethree typesofraters: AllocationRaters:Theseraterscanonlybeattachedtovirtualmachines.Theytakeacostfora virtualmachineserverresourceandassignanappropriatepercentageofthatcosttoeachvirtual machinetheraterisattachedto,basedontheusageofthatresource.
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FlatRaters:Theseratersassignavaluetoaresourceatafixedrate.Forexample,aflatrater chargeforuseddiskspacecouldbe$1pergigabyteofdiskspaceusedpermonth. TieredRaters:Theseratersassignvaluestoaresourcewithdifferentflatratesfordifferentlevels ofusage.Forexample,atieredraterchargeformemoryusedcouldbe$0for0512MBand$.05 perMBforuseperdayabove512MB. Reviewthefollowingsections: Section 7.2.1,RaterResources,onpage 156 Section 7.2.2,RaterCharges,onpage 157 Section 7.2.3,VirtualServerRaterMethods,onpage 157
7.2.1
Rater Resources
Raterscalculatechargeseitheraccordingtothemaximumuseofaresource,oraccordingtothe averageuseduringaspecifictimeperiod.Theexceptioniswhentheychargeagainsthourlydata, wherechargesarecalculatedusingtheaverageuseonly.
Table 7-1 RaterResources
Resource Uptime (Hours)
Description The charge is based on the number of hours the network entity has been monitored by PlateSpin Recon during the time specified in the report. Measurement and Time Period are dimmed for Flat and Tiered Raters. Method is also dimmed for Allocation Raters.
VC_ProcessorTime (hour)
The hourly average usage is computed and the sum of all the hour averages during the time specified in the report is used for the charge. Measurement and Time Period are dimmed.
Processor (MHz) Memory Used(MB) Network (MB/sec) Disk (MB/sec) Disk Space Used (GB) Disk Writes (MB/sec) Total Processor (Count)
Selecting the Hour Time Period forces the use of the Average value, even if Maximum is selected.
Static counter. The charge is made against a static value. Measurement and Time Period are dimmed.
Total Memory (MB)
Total Disk (GB)
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NOTE:AsidefromVC_ProcessorTime,describedintheprecedingtable,VC_specificcountersarenot requirednorusefulforchargeback,andasaresultarenotavailablewhencreatingraters.Usethe standardmemorycounters(MemoryUsedandTotalMemory)asneeded.
7.2.2
Rater Charges
FlatandTieredraters:Chargerepresentstheamountofcostassignedtoamachineforevery measureofusage.Forexample,forevery3GBofdiskspaceusedperweek,applythecharge.For Tieredraters,aChargevaluemustbeenteredforeachtier. Allocationraters:Chargerepresentsthetotalcostofavirtualmachineserverresource.Forexample, aratercouldincludeachargeof$1000permonthforvirtualmachineserverdiskspace.Everyvirtual machinetowhichtheraterisattachedisassignedapercentageofthe$1000,proportionaltoitsusage oftheselectedresource.Forexample,basedontheaboverater,ifavirtualmachineservercontains3 virtualmachinesthatuse50%,25%,and10%ofitsdiskspace,respectively(eitherVirtualServer UsageorVirtualServerCapacity),theyareassigned$500,$250,and$100permonthinchargeback costs. IMPORTANT:WhenusingChargebackwithSolarisZones,allocationraterscalculateutilization chargesagainstthehost,notthezone,usingtheformula: charge=unitprice*(zonetotalresource/hosttotalresource) IfthezoneandthehosthavethesamenumberofresourcesCPU,diskormemorythentheresult isasexpected;butiftheydiffer,unexpectedresultscouldbeseenintheCostAllocationreport. Forexample,ifthehosthastwoCPUsbutthezoneonlyhasoneandthechargeintheraterforthe Processorresourceisspecifiedas$1,thenwiththeaboveformulatheresultingchargewouldbe $0.50. Ifthehosthasaconsiderablylargernumberofresourcescomparedtothezone,especiallywhen lookingatmemoryanddiskresources,theresultingchargecouldbeverysmall.Sincethe ChargebackCostAllocationreportdisplaysonlytwodecimalplaces,theconversioncould theoreticallylosethesesmallvaluesandthechargeonthereportcouldappearaszero.
7.2.3
Virtual Server Rater Methods

TheVirtualServerRaterMethoddetermineswhetherthecostassignedtoanyvirtualmachinethe raterisattachedtoiscalculatedbasedonitspercentofusageofthevirtualmachineservertotal VirtualServerUsageforthatresource,orbasedonitspercentofusageofthevirtualmachineserver totalVirtualServerCapacityforthatresource. Forexample,ifavirtualmachineserverhas1000GBofdiskspace,butonly800areactuallyused,a virtualmachineusing200GBofdiskspaceisusing20%ofVirtualServerCapacity,or25%ofVirtual ServerUsage.ForaChargeof$1000/month,thevirtualmachinewouldbecharged$200ifVirtual ServerCapacityisselected,but$250ifVirtualServerUsageisselected.
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7.3
Managing Raters
TheRaterExplorerwindowisusedtomanageraters.Youcanadd,edit,ordeleteraters,aswellas attachordetachraterstoorfromdiscoveredmachines.TheRaterExploreralsoallowsyoutoview currentratersandtheirattachments. Amachinecanhavemultipleratersandaratercanbeusedwithmultiplemachines.Ratingsare performedonaonemachinetooneraterbasis(thatis,arateronlyconsidersdatafromonemachine atatime). Section 7.3.1,CreatingaRater,onpage 158 Section 7.3.2,DeletingaRater,onpage 159 Section 7.3.3,EditingaRater,onpage 159 Section 7.3.4,AttachingRaterstoMachines,onpage 160 Section 7.3.5,DetachingaRaterfromaMachine,onpage 161
7.3.1
Creating a Rater
1 IntheRaterExplorer,doanyofthefollowing:
Clickthe
icon. New.
RightclicktheRatertypeyouwanttocreate,thenclick TheNewRaterdialogboxisdisplayed.
158
2 SelectaRatertype.
TheRatertypeisautomaticallyselectedifyouchosetocreateanewraterbyrightclickingthe RatertypeinStep 1.FormoreinformationontheRatertypes,seeSection 7.2,UsingRaters,on page 155.

3 SpecifyanamefortheRater. 4 (Optional)Specifyadescription. 5 IntheResourcedropdownlist,selectaRaterresource.
Resourcesarealsoknownascounters,becausetheirpurposeistocountusageofaresource.For moreinformationonresources,seeSection 7.2.1,RaterResources,onpage 156.

6 SelecttheMeasurementandTimePeriodtouse,iftheyarenotdimmed.
ForMeasurement,selectingAveragemeansthattheaveragevalueovertheTimePeriodisused. SelectingMaximummeansthatoutofalltheaverageswithintheTimePeriod,themaximum averageisused.Forexample,thereare24averagesperdayforhourlydataandthemaximum averageoutofallthe24averagesisusedagainstthechargevalue.

7 IntheFactoroption,specifyafactor,whichisthemultipleoftheresourceunitsselectedthatyou
wanttouseforthecharge. Forexample,youcouldcharge$2.00per3GBofdiskspaceused.Inthiscase,theFactorwould be3.

8 IntheChargeoption,specifytheRatercharges(monetaryvalue)andselectacurrencytypefrom
thedropdownlist. Formoreinformation,seeSection 7.2.2,RaterCharges,onpage 157.

9 (Conditional)ForAllocationraters(virtualmachinesonly),selectaVirtualServerRatermethod
intheMethoddropdownlist. Formoreinformation,seeSection 7.2.3,VirtualServerRaterMethods,onpage 157.

10 ClickOK.
ThenewraterisdisplayedintheRaterExplorerwindowundertheappropriateratertype.
7.3.2
Deleting a Rater
IntheRaterExplorerWindow,doanyofthefollowing: Selecttherateryouwanttodelete,clickthe iconorPressDelete. Delete.
Rightclicktherateryouwanttodelete,thenclick
7.3.3
Editing a Rater
Selecttherateryouwanttoedit,thenclickthe
icon. Edit.
RightclicktheRatertypeyouwanttoedit,thenclick TheEditRaterdialogboxisdisplayed.
2 Edittheratervaluesasdesired.
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NOTE:YoucannotedittheRatertype.Ifyouwanttochangearatertype,youmustdeletethe rater,thencreateanewraterwiththesamenameandthedesiredtype.
3 ClickOK.
Aconfirmationpromptwindowisdisplayed.
4 ClickOK.
Ifyouhavechangedtheratername,theraterwiththeoldnameisremovedfromtheRater Explorerwindow,andtheraterwiththenewnameisaddedtotheRaterExplorerwindow. Deletingaraterthatisattachedtoamachinedoesnotaffectthemachine,excepttoexcludeit fromanychargebackcalculationsuniquetothedeletedrater.
7.3.4
Attaching Raters to Machines

Amachineneedstobeinventoriedandinmostcasesmonitoredtoenablearatertoaccessits resources.Youthenneedtoattachtheratertothemachinetohavethemachinecostcalculatedand madeavailableforreporting. Tocalculateacharge,PlateSpinReconmusthavemonitoringdataforallcountersexceptTotal Processor,TotalMemory,andTotalDisk,whichuseinventorydata.
Selecttherateryouwanttoattachtoamachine,thenclickthe RightclicktheRatertypeyouwanttoedit,thenclick TheSelectRatersdialogboxisdisplayed. Attach.
icon.
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YoucanalsousetheDataCenterExplorerwindowtoattacharatertoamachine.Rightclickthe machineyouwanttoaddtheraterto,thenclickChargebackinthemenu.TheRatersfor machine_namewindowisdisplayedwhereyoucanaddorremoveratersbyselectingthemand usingtheAddandRemovebuttons.Addingandremovingratersfromhereisthesameas attachingordetachingthemfromtheRaterExplorerwindow.

2 Selectthecheckboxnexttothemachineyouwanttoaddtheraterto.
Youcanselectmorethanonemachine. YoucanattachRaterstogroups,sites,orfiltersbyselectingthemintheSelectRatersdialogbox.
3 ClickOK.
ThemachinesyouattachedtheratertoaredisplayedintheRaterExplorerwindowbeneaththat rater.
7.3.5
Detaching a Rater from a Machine

IntheRaterExplorer,doanyofthefollowing: Selectthemachineyouwanttodetachtheraterfrom,thenclickthe Rightclickthemachineyouwanttodetachtheraterfrom,thenclick icon. Detach.
Theraterisimmediatelydetachedandthemachineisnolongerdisplayedbeneaththeraterinthe RaterExplorerwindow.
7.4
Chargeback Reporting
UsetheCostAllocationreporttemplateundertheChargebacknodeintheReportExplorerwindow tocalculatechargebackvaluesforaparticulartimeperiodandtogenerateareportthatincludes chargebackdata.Inadditiontothecolumnsavailableforinventoryreports,Chargebackreportscan includeratersattachedtomachines,theirtypes,theircalculatedcosts,andadescription. Section 7.4.1,GeneratingaReporttoCalculateITChargebackCost,onpage 161 Section 7.4.2,DerivingtheCalculatedCost,onpage 161
7.4.1
Generating a Report to Calculate IT Chargeback Cost

TogenerateareportthatcalculatesanITchargebackcostforaparticularbusinessunit,ensurethat theChargebackCalculatedCostcolumnisincludedinthereport.IntheGroupstaboftheCreateView dialogbox,createagroupingbyacolumnsuchasMachineDepartmentorMachineBillingCode. Thegeneratedreportincludesatotalchargebackcostforeverydepartment,billingcode,oranyother columnusedforgrouping. Formoreinformationongeneratingreports,seeChapter 5,GeneratingandViewingChartsand Reports,onpage 83.
7.4.2
Deriving the Calculated Cost

TheCalculatedCostintheCostAllocationreportisderivedbasedontheRateramachineisattached toandthedaterangespecified.
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Figure 7-1 SampleRater
AmachineattachedtotheaboveRaterwouldbecharged$1.00foreveryweekof1MHzprocessor use. WhentheCostAllocationreportisrunforthismachine,PlateSpinReconaddstheweeklyprocessor usetogetherforeachweekinthereportandmultipliesitbythechargespecifiedintheRater.The followingfigureshowsasampleprocessorusechartandthechargebackCostAllocationreportthat wouldresult.

Figure 7-2 SampleChartandCorrelatingChargebackReport
162
Thefourdatapointsareaddedtogether,multipliedbytheunitcost,givingyoutheCalculatedCost. Theslightdifferencebetweenthiscalculationandwhatisshowninthereportisduetothechart roundingvaluestoasingledecimalplace.Inthiscase: (75.8+137.2+165.4+97.2)*1.00=475.6
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164
Virtual Infrastructure Management
ThePlateSpinReconVirtualInfrastructureManagementtoolsfacilitatetheadministrationofVirtual Infrastructureinthedatacenter.TheseincludeVirtualCentermonitoringandtheabilitytosetup recurrentinventoryjobstohavethemostuptodateinformationaboutvirtualmachinesbeing managedbyaVirtualCenter.VMSprawlreportscanalsobegeneratedonaonetimeorrecurrent basistoprovideinformationsuchastheage,lastmodification,andlastboottimeofthevirtual machinesinthedatacenter. Section 8.1,VirtualCenterInventoryandMonitoring,onpage 165 Section 8.2,VMSprawlReporting,onpage 166 Section 8.3,VirtualMachineStateReporting,onpage 167
8.1
Virtual Center Inventory and Monitoring

DirectVirtualCenterinventoryandmonitoringenablesmultiplevirtualmachinestobemore efficientlyinventoriedfromonesinglepointinsteadofinventoryingthemindividually. MonitoringthroughtheVirtualCenterprovidesdifferentinformationthanmonitoringavirtual machinedirectly,becauseitisapictureofthevirtualmachineresourceusageasdetectedbythe VirtualCenterandESXhost.Thisismoreaccuratethanavirtualmachinereportingonitsown resourceutilization.Forexample,avirtualmachineusing90%ofitsallottedprocessingcapabilities reportsitsprocessorusageas90%.Inreality,itmighthavebeenallocatedonly30%ofthehost processorcapabilities.ThisdifferencecanonlybedetectedbymonitoringthroughtheVirtualCenter, whichreportswhatpercentageofthehostprocessoravirtualmachineisusing. Thisdifferencehasbecomemoreandmoreusefulasdatacentersplaceemphasisonmanagingand optimizingvirtualmachineusageasopposedtomerelyconsolidatingphysicalserversontovirtual machines. WhenaVirtualCenterisinventoried,itsassociatedmachinesaredisplayedintheDataCenter ExplorerinahierarchythatreflectstheVMwareVirtualInfrastructureClienthierarchy,includingall datacenters,folders,clustersandpools.
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Figure 8-1 DataCenterExplorerandVMwareVirtualInfrastructureClientComparison
InventoryingaVirtualCenterdiscoversallthemachinesthatarepartoftheVirtualCenter,sothat theycanthenbeinventoriedandmonitored.Whenavirtualmachineisinventoriedthroughthe VirtualCenter,itshowsupasinventoriedbothasanodeintheVirtualCenter,andasaninventoried machineunderAllintheDataCenterExplorer.Eithernodecansubsequentlybeusedtoinitiate monitoring. YoucanrightclickaclusterinaVirtualCentertoviewitsproperties,whicharesetintheVirtual Center. WhenavirtualmachinethatispartofaVirtualCenterismonitored,certainvalues,suchasProcessor Time,arecollectedbothdirectlyfromthevirtualmachineandthroughtheVirtualCenter.Valuesthat arebeingcollectedthroughtheVirtualCenterareprefixedwithVC,forexampleVC_ProcessorTime. ForinformationabouthowtoinventoryaVirtualCenter,seeVirtualCenteronpage 30 NOTE:TheperformancecountersrelatedtoclusterandresourcepoolonaVirtualCenter5.0 workloadisnotavailable.
8.2
VM Sprawl Reporting
TheVMSprawlreportprovidesinformationaboutallvirtualmachinesfoundbyPlateSpinRecon, alongwithinformationabouttheirservers.
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NOTE:IfaVMisunderaclusterandtheparenthostESXmachineisnotinventoriedbyPlateSpin Recon,theVMisdisplayedundertheClustergroupofthisreport. Youcanusethisreporttokeeptrackofthenumberandlocationofvirtualmachinesresidentinthe datacenter.VMSprawlreportinformationisobtainedfromthevirtualmachineshostservers. CitrixXenServerpoolscanalsobeinventoriedbyPlateSpinRecon,andthesepoolsaretreated similarlytoaVirtualCenterTheVMSprawlreportcanalsobeusedtoreportonthesepools. TheVMSprawlReporttemplateislocatedintheInventoryReportssectionoftheReportsExplorer. FormoreinformationaboutInventoryreports,seeSection 5.2.5,WorkingwithReportTemplates, onpage 94.
8.3
Virtual Machine State Reporting

TheVirtualMachineStatereportshowsonlythemachinesdisplayedundertheVMServersfilter.Itis foundundertheInventoryReportssectionoftheReportsExplorer.Formoreinformationabout Inventoryreports,seeSection 5.2.5,WorkingwithReportTemplates,onpage 94.
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Troubleshooting
ThissectionprovidesolutionstotheissuesyoumightencounterwhenusingNovellPlateSpinRecon: RefreshInventoryorMonitoringfailsforamachinewhoseoperatingsystemhasbeen reformattedonpage 171 DiskpartitionsforCitrixXenServerarenotdisplayedonpage 171 PlateSpinReconfailstoinventorytheFCSANdiskconnectedtoaCitrixXenServer4.0 machineonpage 171 InventoryofSolarisorLinuxmachinesmightfailwithanerroronpage 172 DiskIOmetricsarenotavailableforESX3.0onpage 172 TheQueueLengthmetricsarenotcollectedforVirtualCenterandESXonpage 172 MonitoringaWindowsmachinefailswithanerrorrelatedtoaccesstotheregistrykeyson page 172 DiskpartitioncountersreporterrorsfortheAIXmachinesonpage 173 Theloop7partitionsofCitrixXenServerareinventoriedandmonitoredasanewdiskon page 173 UnabletodetecttheprocessormodelforaWindowsoperatingsysteminstalledonConnoi hardwareonpage 173 IssueswhenattemptingtoaddserverstothePlateSpinReconInventoryonpage 173 ImportingamachinefromPlateSpinReconsnapshotfailsonpage 174 AwarningmessageisloggedinthemonitoringlogwhilemonitoringtheWindowsXP machinesonpage 174 MonitoringofdatacollectionforthenewlyaddeddisksorvolumesisdelayedforWindows machinesonpage 174 ThedataforthecountersrelatedtodiskutilizationmightnotbecollectedforSolarisservers onpage 175 ThedataofafewdiskcountersforthedisconnecteddisksonSolarisisincorrectlydisplayed onpage 175 MonitoringofaWindowsmachinemightfailonpage 175 GeneratingoftheDiskAnalysisreportortheratersbasedondiskusageforWindows machinesmightfailonpage 175 MonitoringofaWindowsmachinedisplaystheCategorydoesnotexisterrorinthe monitoringlogonpage 176 W3PServiceconsumeshighmemoryoristerminatedwithsystemmemoryoutofexception onpage 177 DiskSpace%inscenariosisshownas0eventhoughDiskSpace(GB)hasavaluewhenyou viewthechartforaworkloadonpage 178
Troubleshooting
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MonitoringofavirtualmachinethatrunsonaWindows2008SP1HyperVdisplaysanerror forthe%TotalRunTimecounteronpage 178 MonitoringofaWindowsvirtualmachinethatrunsonaCitrixXENservermightdisplaysan errorfortheXen_NetworkInterface_BytesTotalPerSecondand Xen_PhysicalDisk_DiskBytesPerSecondcountersonpage 178 DeployingorundeployingoftheWindowsDiskCountersaddonfailsifyouselecttoperform itonWindowsServer2008SP2HyperVhostanditsguestvirtualmachineonpage 179 UnabletogenerateCostallocationreportwithAllocationrateronpage 179 MonitoringofaLinuxmachinebyusingsudousercredentialsmightfailonpage 179 ThevalueofHyperV_NetworkInterface_BytesTotalPerSecondisincorrectforvirtualmachines thatareconfiguredtoalegacynetworkadapterandrunonWindowsServer2008SP1/SP2/R2 HyperVhostonpage 180 RestartingofRemoteRegistryserviceafterdeploymentorundeploymentoftheWindowsDisk CountersAddOnfailswitherrorsonpage 180 ThedeploymentorundeploymentoftheWindowsDiskCountersaddonmightresultinthe error,Theprocesscannotaccessthefilebecauseitisbeingusedbyanotherprocesson page 181 RefreshInventoryandMonitoringofmachinesinventoriedbyusingtheCSVfilemightfailon page 181 PerformingStopMonitoringandStartMonitoringjobsinimmediatesuccessionsonalargeset ofUNIXmachinesmightresultinanerroronpage 182 PlateSpinReconClientmightincorrectlydisplaythestatusofajobasrunningevenafterthejob hasbeencompletedonpage 182 StoppingofthePlateSpinReconMonitoringservicemighttakeconsiderabletimeorrestarting ofthePlateSpinReconMonitoringservicemightfailonpage 183 LogsExplorermightdisplaythewarning,Clientdatamaybeoutofdateonpage 183 ThePlateSpinReconMonitoringserviceisterminatedbecauseoftheoutofmemoryexception onpage 183 LoadingofthePlateSpinReconjobfromthePortabilitySuitemightdisplayacredential specificerroronpage 183 InventoryofSolarismachinefailsonpage 184 Creatingscenariosforforecastedprojectsmightfailwiththeoutofmemoryexceptionon page 184 GeneratingAnalysisreportsfromthePostgreSQLdatabasemighttakeaconsiderabletimeon page 184 ThestoragetypefordisksattachedtoAIXmachinesisdisplayedasUnknownonpage 184 ImportingofasnapshotthatcontainsCitrixXenvirtualmachinesfailsonpage 185 TheoperatingsystemtypeforWindows2003R2andWindows2008R2devicesisdisplayedas Unknownonpage 185 MonitoringLinuxmachinesthatareinventoriedbyusingsudousercredentialsthrowsa warningmessageonpage 185 InventoryingahostmachinewithVMsthatareeithermigratedfromotherhostmachinesor clonedacrossmultiplehostmachinesthrowsawarningmessageonpage 186 InventoryingaVMthatisclonedacrossmultiplehostmachinesmightincorrectlyassociatethe VMwithahostmachinetowhichitdoesnotbelongonpage 187
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RefreshInventoryingahostmachinehavingaclonedVMwithaduplicateSMBIOSUUID throwsawarningmessageonpage 187 GeneratingcostallocationreportwithallocationraterthrowsawarningmessagewhenVMs withduplicateSMBIOSUUIDareinventoriedbeforeInventoryingthehostmachineon page 187 InventoryingahostmachinewithVMsclonedwithinthesamehostmachinethrowsawarning messageonpage 187 InventoryingahostmachinewithVMssharedacrossmultiplehostmachinesthrowsawarning messageonpage 188 GeneratingVirtualInfrastructurereportforagroupgeneratesreportsforallthenodesinthe DataCenterExploreroftheReconserveronpage 188 TheoperatingsystemtypeforOESVMisincorrectlydisplayedintheVMDetailsReporton page 188
Refresh Inventory or Monitoring fails for a machine whose operating system has been reformatted
Source: PlateSpinRecon;InventoryandMonitoring. Explanation: Ifyoureformattheoperatingsystemofamachineafterithasbeeninventoried, theRefreshInventoryorMonitoringforthemachinefails. PossibleCause: Thecredentialsandthemonitoringpluginassociatedwiththemachine correspondtotheoriginaloperatingsystem. Action: PerformthefollowingtasksintheDataCenterExplorerofthePlateSpinRecon Client:
1 Deletetheexistingobjectofthemachinewhoseoperatingsystemhasbeen
reformatted.
2 Inventoryormonitorthemachine.
Formoreinformationonhowtoinventoryormonitoramachine,see Section 3.2,DiscoveringandInventoryingDataCenterResources,on page 28.
Disk partitions for Citrix XenServer are not displayed

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Inventory. Explanation: ThediskpartitionsofaninventoriedCitrixXenServerarenotdisplayedinthe StoragetabofthePropertiespageoftheserver. PossibleCause: CitrixXenServerisformattedintologicalvolumesbydefaultandnotinto partitions.PlateSpinReconcurrentlydoesnothaveLVMinventoryingand reportingcapability. Action: None.
PlateSpin Recon fails to inventory the FC SAN disk connected to a Citrix XenServer 4.0 machine
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Inventory.
Troubleshooting
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Explanation: PlateSpinRecondoesnotinventorytheFCSANdiskattachedtoaCitrix XenServer4.0machine.Consequently,thediskisnotdisplayedintheStoragetab ofthePropertiespageofCitrixXenServer. PossibleCause: PlateSpinRecondoesnothavesupportedoperatingsystemcommandsandXen APIstoidentifyFCSANDisk. Action: None.
Inventory of Solaris or Linux machines might fail with an error

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Inventory. Explanation: TheinventoryofaSolarisorLinuxmachinemightfailwithanerror PossibleCause: The /tmpdirectoryontheSolarisorLinuxmachinedoesnothavesufficientfree space. Action: BeforeinventoryingaSolarisorLinuxmachine,ensurethatthe/tmpdirectory onthemachinehasaminimumof50MBoffreespace.
Disk IO metrics are not available for ESX 3.0

Source: PlateSpinRecon. Explanation: TheDiskIO%counterisnotdisplayedforESX3.0intheChartViewer. PossibleCause: ESX3.0doesnotsupporttherequiredcountersusedinthecalculationofDisk IO%. Action: None.
The Queue Length metrics are not collected for Virtual Center and ESX
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: TheQueueLengthmetricsarenotcollectedforanytypeofstoragevolumes (localorshared)forESXmonitoreddirectlyorthroughvCenter. PossibleCause: VirtualCenterandESXdonotsupporttherequiredcountersforthe QueueLengthmetrics. Action: None.
Monitoring a Windows machine fails with an error related to access to the registry keys
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: WhenmonitoringaWindowsmachinefails,themonitorlogcontainsthe followingerror:
Access to the registry key key_number is denied.
PossibleCause: Theregistrykeyisbeingreadbysomeotherapplicationatthesametime. Action: Ignoretheerrors.PlateSpinReconautomaticallycollectsthedataafterthe registrykeyisreleasedbytheotherapplication.
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Disk partition counters report errors for the AIX machines

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: ThedataisnotcollectedforthefollowingcountersfortheAIXmachines: PhysicalDisk_PartitionedSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_UnpartitionedSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_PercentPartitionedSpace PhysicalDisk_PercentUnpartitionedSpacecounters Additionally,awarningmessageisdisplayedinthelogs.Thewarningmessage alsoincludesthesolutionfortheissue. PossibleCause: PlateSpinReconinternallyusesthelspvcommandtofetchthediskpartition countersforAIX.WhenthecommandisrunonanAIXmachine,themachine mighthangorslowdown.ThisisaknownissuewithAIX. Action: Performthetasksassuggestedinthewarningmessage.
The loop7 partitions of Citrix XenServer are inventoried and monitored as a new disk
Source: PlateSpinRecon;InventoryandMonitoring Explanation: WhenyoumounttheXenServertoolsISOtotheDVDdriveat/dev/xvd ona VMofaCitrixXenServerhosttoinstalltheXenServertools,theCitrixXenServer hostcreatesadiskpartitionwiththesamesizeasthatofthemountedISO.When youinventoryormonitortheCitrixXenServer,PlateSpinReconconsidersthe diskpartitionasanewdisk,andreportsitasloop7inthemachineproperties andcharts. Action: None.
Unable to detect the processor model for a Windows operating system installed on Connoi hardware
Source: PlateSpinRecon;InventoryandMonitoring. Action: None.
Issues when attempting to add servers to the PlateSpin Recon Inventory

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Inventory. Explanation: YoumightencounterissueswhenattemptingtoaddserverstothePlateSpin ReconInventory,includingthefollowingerrormessages:
Network Path Not found Access Denied The RPC Server is unavailable Failed. The Network location cannot be reached
Troubleshooting
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Action: RefertoKnowledgeBasearticleQ7920525(http://www.novell.com/support/ viewContent.do?externalId=7920525):Troubleshootingproblemswhenadding serverstothePlateSpinReconInventory.
Importing a machine from PlateSpin Recon snapshot fails

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Snapshots. Explanation: WhenattemptingtoimportamachinefromaPlateSpinReconsnapshot,you mightencounterthefollowingerrormessage:
Cannot import MachineObject 'MACHINE-NAME [MACHINE-NAME]'
Action: RefertoKnowledgeBasearticleQ7920900(http://www.novell.com/support/ viewContent.do?externalId=7920900):CannotimportMachineObjecterrorwhen importingamachinefromasnapshot.
A warning message is logged in the monitoring log while monitoring the Windows XP machines
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: WhilemonitoringaWindowsXPmachine,thefollowingwarningisloggedin themonitoringlog:
The interface is unknown counter_name.
PossibleCause: TheRemoteRegistryserviceisintheStopstateonthetargetWindowsmachine thatisbeingmonitored. Action: RefertotheMicrosoftKnowledgeBasearticleID923416(http:// support.microsoft.com/kb/923416).
Monitoring of data collection for the newly added disks or volumes is delayed for Windows machines
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: IfyouaddanewdiskoravolumetoaWindowsmachinethatisbeing monitored,thedataofthenewdiskorvolumeisnotimmediatelycollectedand reflectedinthePlateSpinReconcharts. PossibleCause: PlateSpinReconreportsthedataforonlythedisksandvolumesthatexistson thetargetWindowsmachinewhenyouperformStartMonitoringonthe machine. Action: StopandrestartthemonitoringoftheWindowsmachinetowhichyouhave addedanewdiskorvolume:
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,navigatetotargetWindowsmachine. 2 Rightclickthetargetmachine,thenclickStopMonitoring. 3 Rightclickthetargetmachineagain,thenclickStartMonitoring.
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The data for the counters related to disk utilization might not be collected for Solaris servers
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. PossibleCause: TheexternaldisksconnectedtotheSolarismachinearenotlabeled. Action: AssignalabeltotheconnecteddisksontheSolarismachine.
The data of a few disk counters for the disconnected disks on Solaris is incorrectly displayed
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: ThedataofthefollowingcountersforthedisconnecteddisksonaSolaris machineisincorrectlydisplayedaszero(0): DiskBytesPerSecond DiskAverageQueueLength DiskTransfersPerSecond DiskPercentIdleTime DiskIO% PossibleCause: Theexternaldisksarenotproperlydisconnected. Action: CleanthefilesystemontheSolarismachineinoneofthefollowingways: Runthe devfsadm -Ccommand. Rebootthemachine.
Monitoring of a Windows machine might fail

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: WhenmonitoringofaWindowsmachinefails,thefollowingerrormessageis loggedinthemonitoringlogs:
The network path was not found
PossibleCause: UnabletoaccesstheWindowsmachineasanetworksharedresource. Action: EnablethenetworksharedresourceontheWindowsmachine. PossibleCause: TheRemoteRegistryserviceisnotrunningonthetargetWindowsmachine. Action: ManuallystarttheRemoteRegistryserviceontheWindowsmachine.
Generating of the Disk Analysis report or the raters based on disk usage for Windows machines might fail
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: GeneratingoftheDiskAnalysisreportortheratersbasedondiskusagefor Windowsmachinesmightfailwiththefollowingmessagethatisloggedinthe monitoringlogs:
Troubleshooting
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The component Disk Space Used(GB) does not have enough hourly summary data for the machine IP_address.
PossibleCause: ThetargetWindowsmachinedoesnothavetheDiskUtilizationaddon deployed. Action: Dothefollowing:

1 DeploytheDiskUtilizationaddononthetargetWindowsmachine.
FormoreinformationaboutdeployingtheDiskUtilizationaddon,see Section 3.12,CollectingDiskUtilizationCountersforWindowsMachines, onpage 72.

2 MonitortheWindowsmachineforaminimumdurationofonehour. 3 GeneratetheDiskAnalysisreportortherater.
Monitoring of a Windows machine displays the Category does not exist error in the monitoring log
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. PossibleCause: AfterperformingtheUndeployAddOntaskontheWindowsmachine,youdid notrestartmonitoringonthemachinebyperformingStopMonitoringandStart Monitoringactions. Action: RestartmonitoringontheWindowsmachinebyfirstperformingtheStop Monitoringaction,andsubsequentlytheStartMonitoringaction. PossibleCause: TheWindowsDiskCountersAddOnismanuallyundeployedfromthe machineandnotthroughtheUndeployAddOnoptionintheReconPlateSpin Client. Action: DothefollowinginthePlateSpinReconClient:
1 RightclicktheWindowsmachineobjectonwhichyouhavemanually
undeployedtheWindowsDiskCountersAddOn.
2 ClickUndeployAddOn. 3 RightclicktheWindowsmachineobject. 4 ClickStopMonitoring. 5 RightclicktheWindowsmachineobject. 6 ClickStartMonitoring.
PossibleCause: WhenyourunthefollowingcommandonthePlateSpinReconserver,itresults insystemerrors.

net view \\IPaddress_of_remote_machine
Action: Totroubleshootthesystemerrors,seetheMicrosoftKnowledgeBasearticles appropriatetothesystemerrorcode. PossibleCause: DatacollectionfromthePlateSpinReconoption,WindowsDiskCountersAdd On,hasbeendisabledbyperfmon.
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Action: DothefollowingontheWindowsmachine:
1 IntheRegistryEditor,navigateto HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ReconWinMonitoring\Per formance. 2 ChangethevalueoftheregistrykeyDisable Performance Countersto 0. 3 RestarttheRemoteRegistryservice.
PossibleCause: PerfmonofthetargetWindowsmachineiscorrupted. Action: RebuildthePerformancecountersbyreferringtoMicrosoftKnowledgeBase articleHowtomanuallyrebuildPerformanceCounterLibraryvalues(http:// support.microsoft.com/kb/300956). PossibleCause: TheeventlogsofthetargetwindowsmachineshowPerfliberrorswitheventid 1015.

Event ID 1015 Source Perflib Event ID 1015 Source Perflib Type Error Description The timeout waiting for the performance data collection function"<function name>" in the "<dll name>" Library to finish has expired. There may be a problem with this extensible counter or the service it is collecting data from or the system may have been very busy when this call was attempted.
Action: Bydefault,thesystemusesthesamecollecttimeoutperiodof10secondsforall services.Overridetheperiodforanfailingservice:

1 IntheRegistryEditor,navigateto HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<servicename>\Performance. 2 IncreasethevalueofCollect Timeout. 3 RestarttheRemoteRegistryservice.
PossibleCause: Youdonothavesufficientprivilegestoreadtheperfmoncountersontheremote Windowsmachine. Action: Requesttheadministratoroftheremotemachinetograntyousufficient privilegestoreadtheperfmoncountersthroughthefollowingUserRights policies:ProfileSystemPerformanceandProfileaSingleProcess. PossibleCause: WhileconfiguringthedeploymentoftheWindowsDiskCountersaddon,you chosenottoselecttheAutomaticallyrestarttheserviceswhicharedependentonthe RemoteRegistryServicecheckboxbutyoudidnotmanuallyrestarttheRemote RegistryserviceandtheservicesthataredependentontheRemoteRegistry serviceaftertheaddonwasdeployed. Action: OnthetargetWindowsmachinewhereyoudeployedtheWindowsDisk Countersaddon,manuallyrestarttheRemoteRegistryserviceandits dependentservices.
W3P Service consumes high memory or is terminated with system memory out of exception
Source: PlateSpinRecon.
Troubleshooting
177
PossibleCause: IfthePlateSpinReconClientisopenwithoutbeingusedformorethan48hours, theW3PservicecachesdatafortheReconclientsessionandthisresultsinthe W3PServiceoutofmemory. Action: IftheW3Pserviceisterminated,closethePlateSpinReconClient,starttheW3P service,thenlaunchthePlateSpinReconClient. Action: IftheW3PserviceisnotterminatedbuttheW3Pservicememoryconsumption ishigh,relaunchthePlateSpinReconClient.
Disk Space % in scenarios is shown as 0 even though Disk Space (GB) has a value when you view the chart for a workload
Source: PlateSpinRecon. Explanation: Ifyouselectaservertemplatethathasunlimitedtotaldiskspacetocreatea scenario,thefollowingaretheknownbehaviors: ThechartfortheDiskSpace(%)utilization,viewedontheservertemplate andtheassignedworkloadstothattemplate,alwaysshowszero(0)fory. Theworkloadassignmentreportontheservertemplateshowsempty() valuesfortheDiskUsed(%)column. Action: None.
Monitoring of a virtual machine that runs on a Windows 2008 SP1 Hyper-V displays an error for the % Total Run Time counter
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: MonitoringofavirtualmachinethatrunsonaWindows2008SP1HyperV reportsthefollowingerrormessageforthe%TotalRunTimecounterinthe monitoringlogsforthenode:
Cannot get instance information for counter % Total Run Time in category Hyper-V Hypervisor Virtual Processor on computer w2k8vm204
PossibleCause: Thedatacollectionforthe%TotalRunTimecounter,whichislistedinthe HyperVHypervisorVirtualProcessorcountercategory,causestheerrorbecause theMicrosoftPerformanceLibraryAPIdoesnotworkasexpected. Action: None.
Monitoring of a Windows virtual machine that runs on a Citrix XEN server might displays an error for the Xen_NetworkInterface_BytesTotalPerSecond and Xen_PhysicalDisk_DiskBytesPerSecond counters
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring.
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Explanation: WhenyoumonitoraWindowsvirtualmachinethatrunsonaCitrixXENserver, youmightencounterthefollowingissues: TheHANDLE_INVALIDexceptionwhenmonitoringthefollowing counters: Xen_NetworkInterface_BytesTotalPerSecond Xen_PhysicalDisk_DiskBytesPerSecond. ThedataisnotcollectedfortheXen_Processor_PercentProcessorTime countereventhoughthereisnoexception. PossibleCause: TheXENAPIdoesnotworkasexpected. Action: None.
Deploying or undeploying of the Windows Disk Counters add-on fails if you select to perform it on Windows Server 2008 SP2 Hyper-V host and its guest virtual machine
Source: PlateSpinRecon;DeployingorUndeployingofWindowsDiskCounters. PossibleCause: ThedeploymentorundeploymentoftheWindowsDiskCountersaddonona Windowshostinternallytriggersthedeploymentorundeploymentactionforits Windowsvirtualmachinesalso.WhenyousimultaneouslyselectWindowshost anditsWindowsvirtualmachinesasdeploymentorundeploymentcandidates, twodeploymentorundeploymentjobsaretriggeredfortheWindowsvirtual machinesandthismightresultinanerror. Action: DeploymentorundeploymentoftheWindowsDiskCountersaddonmustbe performedseparatelyforthehostmachineandtheguestvirtualmachine.
Unable to generate Cost allocation report with Allocation rater

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Reports. PossibleCause: ForAllocationrater,chargerepresentsthetotalcostofavirtualmachineserver resource.Itrequiresthehostmachineofthevirtualmachinetobeinventoried andmonitored.Ifthehostmachineisnotinventoriedandmonitored,theCost Allocationreportdisplaysthefollowinggenericerrormessage:
Error was encountered during calculation for chargeback.
AlltheappropriatewarningmessagesareloggedintheCostAllocationreports joblogfilelocatedinthe Recon_server_installation_directory\logs\workflowdirectory. Action: Inventoryandmonitorthehostmachineofthevirtualmachine.
Monitoring of a Linux machine by using sudo user credentials might fail

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: MonitoringofaLinuxmachinebyusingsudousercredentialsmightfailwith thefollowingerrormessage:
sudo: sorry, you must have a tty to run sudo
Troubleshooting
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PossibleCause: The/etc/sudoersconfigurationfileonthetargetmachinecontainstheDefaults requirettysetting. Action: Dothefollowing:

1 AttheLinuxconsoleprompt,executevisudo.
Thisopensthe/etc/sudoersconfigurationfileinthevieditor.
2 Commentoutthefollowingline: Defaults requiretty 3 IntheDataCenterExplorerviewofReconPlateSpinClient,rightclickthe
Linuxmachine,thenclickStopMonitoring.
4 RightclicktheLinuxmachine,thenclickStartMonitoring.
The value of HyperV_NetworkInterface_BytesTotalPerSecond is incorrect for virtual machines that are configured to a legacy network adapter and run on Windows Server 2008 SP1/SP2/R2 Hyper-V host
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: Ifavirtualmachineisconfiguredwithalegacynetworkadapterandrunson WindowsServer2008SP1/SP2/R2HyperVhost,thedataforthe HyperV_NetworkInterface_BytesTotalPerSecondcountersisincorrectly displayedaszero(0). PossibleCause: TheMicrosoftPerformanceLibraryAPIdoesnotworkasexpectedfortheBytes Received/secorBytesSent/seccountersofthe HyperV_NetworkInterface_BytesTotalPerSecondcategoryonHyperVservers. Action: None.
Restarting of Remote Registry service after deployment or undeployment of the Windows Disk Counters Add-On fails with errors
Source: PlateSpinRecon;DeploymentorundeploymentofWindowsDiskCounters AddOn. Explanation: WhenyoudeployorundeploytheWindowsDiskCountersaddon,theRemote Registryserviceisautomaticallyrestartedonthetargetmachine.Theservice restartprocessmightfailwitherrors.Theerrormessagesaredisplayedinthe job.log.
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Action: IfanyerrorisreportedwhilerestartingRemoteRegistryserviceafterdeploying orundeployingtheWindowsDiskCountersaddon,youmustundeploythe DiskPerformancecountersDLLfromthetargetmachineperfmon:

1 Onthetargetmachine,opentheRegistryEditor. 2 Navigatetothe HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ReconWin Monitoringkey.Ifthekeyexists,itindicatesthatthe %SystemRoot%\PlateSpinRecon-DiskUtildirectoryexists.Dothe
following:
2a Fromthecommandpromptofthetargetmachine,goto %systemroot%\PlateSpinRecon-DiskUtil. 2b Executethefollowingcommand: HWInputMon.exe -Uninstall false 2c Deletethe HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Reco nWinMonitoringkey. 2d Deletethe%SystemRoot%\PlateSpinRecon-DiskUtildirectory.
The deployment or undeployment of the Windows Disk Counters add-on might result in the error, The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process
Source: PlateSpinRecon;DeploymentorundeploymentofWindowsDiskCounters AddOn. Explanation: IftheWindowsvirtualmachinesaredirectlylistedinthegroupandareaswell aslistedundertheCitrixXenServerorVirtualCenterhostmachinesincludedin thesamegroup,deploymentorundeploymentoftheWindowsDiskCounters addononagroupmightresultinthefollowingerror:
The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process
PossibleCause: TheWindowsvirtualmachinesdirectlyreceivetheWindowsDiskCounters addondeploymentorundeploymentjobfromthegroupandalsofromthe CitrixXenServerorVirtualCenterhost.Inthisscenario,oneofthejobssucceed andtheotheronefails. Action: IgnoretheerrorbecausetheWindowsDiskCountersaddonissuccessfully deployedorundeployedontheWindowsvirtualmachinethroughthejobthat hassucceeded.
Refresh Inventory and Monitoring of machines inventoried by using the CSV file might fail
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Inventory.
Troubleshooting
181
PossibleCause: IfyouinventoryandmonitormachinesbyusingaCSVfile,thecredential descriptionthatyouspecifyinthefilemustbeuniqueforthemachinesthat containusernameandpassword.Ifthecredentialdescriptionisnotunique,then incorrectcredentialsmightbeassignedtoafewmachinesandconsequently refreshinventoryandmonitoringactionsonthosemachinesfail. Action: BeforeyouinventoryandmonitormachinesbyusingaCSVfile,ensurethatthe credentialdescriptionspecifiedintheCSVfileisuniqueforthemachinesthat containusernameandpassword. Action: IfyouhavealreadyinventoriedmachinesbyusinganincorrectCSVfile,doone ofthefollowing: DeletetheproblematicmachinesfromthePlateSpinReconClient,specifya uniquecredentialdescriptionforthemachineslistedintheCSVfile,then inventorythemachinesagain. Attachthecorrectcredentialstotheproblematicmachines. 1. IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclicktheproblematicmachine,then clickAttachCredentials. TheAttachCredentialsdialogboxisdisplayed. 2. Specifythecredentialsforthemachine,thenclickOK.
Performing Stop Monitoring and Start Monitoring jobs in immediate successions on a large set of UNIX machines might result in an error
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: IfyouperformStopMonitoringandStartMonitoringinimmediatesuccessions onalargesetofUNIXmachines,themonitoringscripts(*.sh)mightnotexist onthetargetUNIXmachinesandthefollowingerrormessageisdisplayedinthe JobExplorer:
/bin/sh: ./lininfo.shSLESPlateSpinRecon_server_name: No such file or directory counter_name
PossibleCause: WhenyouinitiatetheStopMonitoringjobonalargesetofUNIXmachines,the jobmighttakeconsiderabletimetoremovethemonitoringscripts(*.sh)from thetargetmachineseventhoughthestatusofthejobisdisplayedascompleted intheJobExplorer.IfyouimmediatelyinitiatetheStartMonitoringjobforthese machines,themonitoringdatacollectionmightfailbecausethemonitoring scripts(*.sh)requiredtomonitorthemachinesmightalsobeincorrectly removedbythepreviousStopMonitoringjob. Action: Stopandstartmonitoringtheproblematicmachines.
PlateSpin Recon Client might incorrectly display the status of a job as running even after the job has been completed
Source: PlateSpinRecon;InventoryandMonitoring. Explanation: PlateSpinReconClientmightfailtoupdatethestatusofajobandwould constantlydisplaythestatusasRunningevenafterthejobiscompleted. Action: ClosethePlateSpinReconClient,andrelaunchit.
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Stopping of the PlateSpin Recon Monitoring service might take considerable time or restarting of the PlateSpin Recon Monitoring service might fail
Source: PlateSpinRecon PossibleCause: WhenyoutrytostopthePlateSpinReconMonitoringservice,theservice commitsallcacheddataintothedatabase.Thisprocessmighttake10to15 minutes.Duringthisperiod,theStopactionfortheservicemightappeartobe unresponsive. WhenyoutrytorestartthePlateSpinReconMonitoringservice,theservice mightfailtorestartbecausetherestartprocessfirsttriestostoptheservice, whichtakesconsiderabletimetocomplete. Action: IfyouhadinitiatedthestopactionforthePlateSpinReconMonitoringservice, youdonotneedtodoanythingbecausetheservicebecomesresponsiveafter10 to15minutesandissubsequentlystopped. IfyouhadinitiatedtherestartactionforthePlateSpinReconMonitoringservice, youmuststarttheserviceafteritbecomesresponsive(theserviceactionsare availableforselection). WARNING:YoumustnottrytoterminatethePlateSpinReconMonitoring Serviceprocessbecauseitmightleadtodatainconsistency.
Logs Explorer might display the warning, Client data may be out of date
Source: PlateSpinReconClient. Explanation: IfthePlateSpinReconClientisopenforaconsiderabletime,thefollowing warningisdisplayedintheLogsExplorerofthePlateSpinReconClient:
Client data may be out of date.
PossibleCause: TheWebservicesessionthatisestablishedonlaunchingthePlateSpinRecon clienthasexpired. Action: ClosethecurrentinstanceofthePlateSpinReconClientandrelaunchtheclient.
The PlateSpin Recon Monitoring service is terminated because of the out of memory exception
Source: PlateSpinRecon. PossibleCause: PlateSpinReconismonitoringalargenumberofunresponsiveorunreachable machines. Action: Stopmonitoringtheunresponsiveorunreachablemachines.
Loading of the PlateSpin Recon job from the Portability Suite might display a credential-specific error
Source: PlateSpinRecon;PortabilitySuite. Explanation: LoadingofthePlateSpinReconjobmightfailwiththefollowingcredential specificerror:
Troubleshooting
183
Unable to login to VMware Virtual Infrastructure web... Please ensure that the username and password are correct.
TheerrorisdisplayedinthePlateSpinPortabilitySuite. PossibleCause: ThepasswordrequiredtoaccessthetargetESXserverhasnotbeenspecified. Action: SpecifythepasswordofthetargetESXserverbyusingthePortabilitySuite: 1. InthePeertoPeerConversionJobwindow,clicktheJobConfigurationpanel >theCredentialslink. 2. Specifythepassword. 3. ClickOK.
Inventory of Solaris machine fails

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Inventory PossibleCause: ThepasswordoftheSolarismachinecontainsspecialcharacterssuchas( Action: RemovethespecialcharactersfromthepasswordoftheSolarismachine.
Creating scenarios for forecasted projects might fail with the out of memory exception
Source: PlateSpinRecon;ScenariosandProjects. Explanation: Ifyoutrytocreateascenariofromaprojectthatconsistsofalargenumberof machineswithalargenumberofforecastdays,theprocessmightfailwiththe outofmemoryexception. Action: Reducethenumberofmachinesortheforecastdaysintheproject.Formore informationabouttheprojectandscenariosrecommendations,seeAppendix E, BestPractices,onpage 223.
Generating Analysis reports from the PostgreSQL database might take a considerable time
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Reports. Action: BeforegeneratingAnalysisreportsfromthePostgreSQLdatabase,dothe following:
1 OpenthePlateSpin.PowerRecon.Monitoring.Database.configfile
usingaTexteditor. ThePlateSpin.PowerRecon.Monitoring.Database.configfileislocated inthePlateSpin_Recon_installation_directory\configs\directory onthePlateSpinReconServer.

2 ChangethevalueofPoolingtoTrue. 3 RestartthePlateSpinReconMonitoringService.
The storage type for disks attached to AIX machines is displayed as Unknown
Source: PlateSpinRecon.
184
PossibleCause: PlateSpinReconcurrentlydoesnotsupportcollectingofthestoragetypedata forthedisksattachedtoAIXmachines.Hence,thestoragetypefordisks attachedtoAIXmachinesisdisplayedasUnknowninthePropertiespageofthe AIXmachine(intheStoragetab>ViewbyDiskview)andintheReports. Action: None.
Importing of a snapshot that contains Citrix Xen virtual machines fails

Source: PlateSpinRecon;Snapshots. Explanation: IfyoutrytoimportasnapshotthatcontainsCitrixXenvirtualmachines,the importoperationmightfailwiththeStealthiestexception. PossibleCause: YouhaveinventoriedfirsttheCitrixXenvirtualmachinesandsubsequentlythe CitrixXenhostbeforecreatingthesnapshotofthemachines. Action: BeforecreatingasnapshotwithCitrixXenvirtualmachines,youmustfollow oneofthefollowinginventoryprocess: InventorytheCitrixXenvirtualmachinesonlywithoutinventoryingthe hostmachine. InventoryfirsttheCitrixXenhostmachineandsubsequentlytheCitrixXen virtualmachines.
The operating system type for Windows 2003 R2 and Windows 2008 R2 devices is displayed as Unknown
Source: PlateSpinRecon. Explanation: WhenyouperformaninventoryofWindows2003R2andWindows2008R2 devices,theInventorySummaryreportdisplaystheOperatingSystemtypefor thesedevicesasUnknown. Action: InthePlateSpinReconReportExplorer,dothefollowing:
1 InConsolidationProjectSamples,rightclickInventorySummaryandselectEdit
ReportTemplate. TheEditReportTemplatewindowisdisplayed.
2 NavigatetotheViewspanel,selectOSSummaryviewandclickEdit.
TheCreateViewwindowisdisplayed.
3 ClickCustomize.
TheSettingswindowisdisplayed.
4 Addtherequiredoperatingsystemtothelistofoperatingsystemsandclick
OK. NOTE:EnsurethattheInternalnameyougivetotheoperatingsystemis eitherWindows2003R2orWindows2008R2.
Monitoring Linux machines that are inventoried by using sudo user credentials throws a warning message
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring.
Troubleshooting
185
Explanation: WhenyoumonitorLinuxmachines(RHEL,SLES)thatareinventoriedbyusing sudousercredentials,awarningstatusindicatormightoverlaythemachineicon andthefollowingwarningmessageisloggedinthemonitoringlog:

root'''s password: Memory_AvailableBytes
PossibleCause: Theimpersonationcontextisnotyetset. Action: Ignorethewarningmessage.Thewarningstatusindicatordisappearsassoonas theimpersonationcontextisset.
Inventorying a host machine with VMs that are either migrated from other host machines or cloned across multiple host machines throws a warning message
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: IfyouchoosetoinventoryahostmachinewithVMsthathaveeitherbeen migratedfromotherhostmachinesorareclonedacrossmultiplehostmachines, thentheinventorydoesnotlisttheVMsthathaveduplicateSMBIOSUUIDand logsawarningmessage.However,themachineicondoesnotdisplaythe warningstatusindicator.Toviewthefollowingloggedmessage,rightclickthe hostmachineandthenclickLogs>ViewLogs:
Machine with HostName: [HostName] and MachineID: [MachineID] Skipped due to duplicate SMBIOSUUID of [SMBIOSUUID] is already present in the Host with HostName: [HostName] and HostMachineID: [HostMachineID]If the machine is Moved/Migrated from other Host to this Host then please do a refresh inventory on Host: [HostName] and then Refresh Inventory this Host again to identify/discover the VM associated with the present host. And if the machine is cloned across various host then please change the SMBIOSUUID in order to identify/discover the VM associated with the present host
Action: ToenablethediscoveryofaVMduringtheinventoryofitscurrenthost,doone ofthefollowingdependingonwhethertheVMhasbeenmigratedorcloned: IftheVMhasbeenmovedormigratedfromamachinewithhostname:

host1toamachinewithhostname:host3,performarefreshinventoryof themachinefromwheretheVMismigrated(host1)followedbyarefresh inventoryofthemachinetowhichtheVMismigrated(host3).
IftheVMhasbeenclonedacrossmultiplehostsandhasthesameSMBIOS UUIDacrossthehosts,edittheSMBIOSUUIDoftheVMtomakeitunique. Otherwise,youmightencountererrors.Forexample,theVMmightget associatedwiththewronghost.Formoreinformationontheerrors,seethe followingscenarios: InventoryingaVMthatisclonedacrossmultiplehostmachinesmight incorrectlyassociatetheVMwithahostmachinetowhichitdoesnot belongonpage 187 RefreshInventoryingahostmachinehavingaclonedVMwitha duplicateSMBIOSUUIDthrowsawarningmessageonpage 187 Generatingcostallocationreportwithallocationraterthrowsa warningmessagewhenVMswithduplicateSMBIOSUUIDare inventoriedbeforeInventoryingthehostmachineonpage 187
186
Inventorying a VM that is cloned across multiple host machines might incorrectly associate the VM with a host machine to which it does not belong
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: Ifyouinventoryahostmachine(host1)havingaVMthatisclonedacross multiplehostmachinesandhasaduplicateSMBIOSUUID,theninventorythe clonedVMofadifferenthost(host2)byIPaddress,theinventoryincorrectly associatestheclonedVMofhost2withhost1. Action: YoumustensurethattheclonedVMshaveauniqueSMBIOSUUID.
Refresh Inventorying a host machine having a cloned VM with a duplicate SMBIOS UUID throws a warning message
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: Ifyouinventoryahostmachine(host1)havingaVMthatisclonedacrossthe samehostmachineormultiplehostmachinesandhasaduplicateSMBIOS UUID,theninventorytheclonedVMbyitsIPaddress,followedbyarefresh inventoryofthehostmachine(host1),therefreshinventorycontinuesby skippingtheVMthathasduplicateSMBIOSUUIDandlogsawarningmessage. Action: YoumustensurethattheclonedVMshaveauniqueSMBIOSUUID.
Generating cost allocation report with allocation rater throws a warning message when VMs with duplicate SMBIOS UUID are inventoried before Inventorying the host machine
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: ConsiderahostmachinehavingVMsthatareclonedacrossthesamehost machineormultiplehostmachinesandhaveduplicateSMBIOSUUID.Ifyou firstinventorytheclonedVMsbyusingitsIPaddressfollowedbytheinventory ofthehostmachine,thecostAllocationreportwithAllocationraterdisplaysthe followingwarningmessagebecauseitisunabletolocatetherespectivecloned VMsparentmachine:
The rater [rater name] cannot be evaluated - could not find the parent virtual server for the machine.
Action: YoumustensurethattheclonedvirtualmachineshaveauniqueSMBIOSUUID.
Inventorying a host machine with VMs cloned within the same host machine throws a warning message
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: Ifyouchoosetoinventoryahostmachine(host1)withVMsthatarecloned withinthesamehostmachine,theinventoryofhost1doesnotlistthecloned VMsandlogsawarningmessage.However,themachineicondoesnotdisplay thewarningstatusindicator.Toviewthefollowingloggedmessage,rightclick thehostmachineandthenclickLogs>ViewLogs:
Troubleshooting
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The machine with id:[MachineID] has been skipped because there are two or more virtual machines with the same SMBIOSUUID:[SMBIOSUUID] in the container. To discover all the virtual machines within the container, you must ensure that the virtual machines have unique SMBIOSUUID
Action: YoumustensurethattheclonedVMshaveauniqueSMBIOSUUID.
Inventorying a host machine with VMs shared across multiple host machines throws a warning message
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: Ifyouchoosetoinventoryahostmachine(host1)withVMsthatareshared acrossoneormorehostmachinesthathavealreadybeeninventoried,the inventoryofhost1doesnotlistthesharedVMs(becausethesharedVMswere alreadylistedduringtheinventoryoftheotherhostmachines)andlogsa warningmessage.However,themachineicondoesnotdisplaythewarning statusindicator.Toviewthefollowingloggedmessage,rightclickthehost machineandthenclickLogs>ViewLogs:
Machine with HostName: [HostName] and MachineID: [MachineId] Skipped due to duplicate SMBIOSUUID of [SMBIOSUUID] is already present in Recon DB. Possible Reason might be it is shared VM across Host.If it is a shared VM it will only be associated with a single Host.
Action: None.
Generating Virtual Infrastructure report for a group generates reports for all the nodes in the Data Center Explorer of the Recon server
Source: PlateSpinRecon;Monitoring. Explanation: IfyouchoosetogenerateVirtualInfrastructurereportforagroup,thereportis actuallygeneratedforallthenodesintheDataCenterExploreroftheRecon server. Action: Modifythegrouptoassociateitwithacustombinandthengeneratethereport forthisgroup.Basedonthespecifiedbin,thereportiscreatedinsegmentsand youcanusethereportsegmentassociatedwiththisgroup.Formoreinformation onmodifyingthegrouptoassociateitwithabin,seeAddingorModifying Groupsonpage 116.
The operating system type for OES VM is incorrectly displayed in the VM Details Report
Source: PlateSpinRecon. Explanation: WhenyouinventoryanESXserverthathasOESVMs,theVMDetailsreport displaystheOperatingSystemtypeforOESVMsasfollows: For32bitOESVM:SUSE For64bitOESVM:Unknown
188
Action: None.
Troubleshooting
189
190
Technical Reference
ThissectioncontainstechnicalinformationtohelpyoucustomizeNovellPlateSpinRecon. Section B.1,Features,onpage 191 Section B.2,HowPlateSpinReconCollectsData,onpage 192 Section B.3,DataCollection,onpage 194 Section B.4,ChartsandFormulas,onpage 195 Section B.5,Calculations,onpage 203 Section B.6,CPUNormalization,onpage 205 Section B.7,PlateSpinReconVMCPUInventory,onpage 207 Section B.8,InventoryandMonitoringCommandsforLinux,SolarisandAIX,onpage 207 Section B.9,SudoConfigurationtoInventoryandMonitorLinuxMachines,onpage 211 Section B.10,ManagingCredentials,onpage 212 Thissectionisforsystemadministratorsandvirtualizationarchitectswhorequireadvanced knowledgeofPlateSpinRecon. Itisassumedthatreadersofthisdocumentarefamiliarwith: AdministrationofWindowsandLinuxoperatingsystems AdministrationofVMwareESX,VMwareServer,andMicrosoftVirtualservers
B.1
Features
Hardwareandsoftwareassetinventory Secureonsitedatacollectionandanalysis WindowsandLinuxsupport Managementreports IntegrationwithMicrosoftOperationsManager2005andtheremotePlateSpinReconserver Advancedprojectandscenariomodeling IntegrationwiththePlateSpinPortabilitySuite
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B.2
How PlateSpin Recon Collects Data

PlateSpinReconhasthreesequentialstagestoitsdatacollection. Section B.2.1,Discovery,onpage 192 Section B.2.2,Inventory,onpage 192 Section B.2.3,Monitoring,onpage 193
B.2.1
Discovery
DomainDiscovery:PlateSpinReconusesWindowsActiveDirectoryviaLDAPtoscanthenetwork foralistofthemachinesonthespecifieddomain.Bydefault,thisincludesonlyonlinemachines,but thereisanoptiontoincludeofflinemachinesaswell. AnOrganizationalUnit(OU)filtercanalsobespecified,narrowingtheareaofthedomainthat PlateSpinReconwillpollduringdiscovery.AnOrganizationUnitisacontainerwithinadomain wherecomputerscanresideforsegmentation.Forexample,ifyourdomainhasOUcontainerssetup foreachdepartment,youcantellPlateSpinRecontojustlookformachineswithinaspecific departmentwithinthedomain. PlateSpinRecononlyusesOUfiltersduringdiscovery.Machinesdiscoveredinthiswayare unaffectedduringinventoryandmonitoringshouldmachinesbemovedoutoftheirpreviousOU containers.FormoreinformationonOrganizationUnitsandiftheyareinuseinyourdomains,check withyourSystemAdministrator. Subnet,IPRangeScan:ForeachmachineinthesubnetorIPrange,PlateSpinReconpingsthe machine.Ifitreplies,itisconsideredadiscoveredmachine. AnotheroptionistoportscanthroughTCP,UDPorboth.PlateSpinRecontriestoconnecttoports andrecordswhichportsarebeingused.Thisoptionmustbeusedwithcautionbecausenetwork securitymightconsiderthisanattack.
B.2.2
Inventory
Linux,Solaris,andESX2.xonpage 192 ESX3.x/4.x,ESXi5.0,andVirtualCenteronpage 193 MicrosoftWindowsInventoryonpage 193
Linux, Solaris, and ESX 2.x

PlateSpinReconsendsthegetplatformscript,whichreturnsthearchitectureandglibc versionofthemachinebeinginventoried. Basedongetplatform,PlateSpinReconusestheSCPprotocoltotransferaplatformspecific inventorybinaryandlibrariestothe/tmpdirectoryofthemachinebeinginventoried. Overssh,PlateSpinReconexecutesthebinary,streamingthecommandfileoverstdin. LogsandprogressfilesarestreamedbackfromtheinventoriedmachinetothePlateSpinRecon ServerusingstderrwhilethemachineXMLisstreamedoverstdout.
192
ESX 3.x/4.x, ESXi 5.0, and Virtual Center

PlateSpinReconrunstheexecutablelocallyonthePlateSpinReconServer. TheexecutableaccessesESX3.x/4.x,ESXi5.0,orVirtualCenterWebservices,whichprovidethe necessaryinventorydata.
Microsoft Windows Inventory

IfyouareinventoryingaWindowsmachine,youmustmakesurethatWMIisinstalledand runningonthemachine.ForWidowsNT,youmustmanuallyinstallWMIcomponents.For moreinformationondownloadingandinstallingWMIonWindowsNT,seeWindows ManagementInstrumentation(WMI)CORE1.5(WindowsNT4.0)(http://www.microsoft.com/ downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=C174CFB1EF67471D9277 4C2B1014A31E)attheMicrosoftDownloadCenter. ToestablishconnectionwiththetargetWindowsmachineandtoruntheInventoryexecutable onthetargetmachine,PlateSpinReconbydefaultusesWMI.IfWMIfails,PlateSpinReconuses theRemoteServiceasafailover.YoucanconfigurePlateSpinRecontoalwaysusetheRemote ServiceinsteadofWMIofthetargetmachine: 1. InPlateSpinReconClient,clicktheToolsmenu. 2. PresstheCtrlkeyandclickOptions. TheServerpageoftheOptionsdialogboxisdisplayedbydefault. 3. IntheInventorycategory,clicktheplussign(+)nexttoAdvanced. 4. ChangethevalueofInstallRemoteServicetoTrue. 5. ClickOK. PlateSpinReconcopiestheinventoryexecutabletotheADMIN$shareonthetargetmachine.
B.2.3
Monitoring
TounderstandthePlateSpinReconMonitoringprocess,reviewthefollowingsections: Linux,Solaris,AIX,andESX2.xonpage 193 ESX3.x/4.x,ESXi5.0,andVirtualCenteronpage 194 MicrosoftWindowsonpage 194
Linux, Solaris, AIX, and ESX 2.x

PlateSpinReconsendsascript(lininfo.sh lininfo.sh, solinfo.sh,aixinfo.sh, or esxinfo.sh)tothemachinebeinginventoried. Thescriptisrunthroughssh. Thessh servermustbeenabledformonitoringtofunction. LogsarestreamedbacktothePlateSpinReconServeroverstderr. Performancedataisstreamedbackoverstdout.
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ESX 3.x/4.x, ESXi 5.0, and Virtual Center

PlateSpinReconcallsESX3.x/4.x,ESXi5.0,orVirtualCenterWebservices,whichprovidethe necessaryperformancedata.
Microsoft Windows
PlateSpinReconusestheWindowsPerformanceCounterAPItoretrieveperformancedata.It doesnotuseWMI. TheRemoteRegistryservicemustbeenabledforWindowsmonitoringtofunction.
B.3
Data Collection
Bydefault,every5minutes,PlateSpinRecontakesthreesamples,threesecondsapart,fromall counters.Thethreesamplesareaveragedtogethertoproducethefiveminutedatathatisstoredin thedatabase. ThesevaluescanbemodifiedbyclickingtheToolsmenu,thenholdingdowntheCtrlkeywhile selectingOptionsfromthemenu.OntheServertab,expandtheMonitoringServicesection:
Figure B-1 OptionsWindow
Burstinterval:Theintervalbetweendifferentburstsamples Burstsamples:Thenumberofsamplescollectedataburstintervalbeforeanaverageiscalculated Sampleinterval:Theintervalbetweendifferentsamples
194
B.4
Charts and Formulas

Section B.4.1,ChartData,onpage 195 Section B.4.2,Utilization,onpage 199 Section B.4.3,Workload,onpage 200
B.4.1
Chart Data
ThefiveminutedatacollectedasdescribedinSection B.3,DataCollection,onpage 194isstoredin thedatabaseforthirtydays.Theonehourdataisasummaryofallthefiveminutedatacollected duringaparticularhour.Itisstoredpermanentlyinthedatabase.Allotherchartdataiscalculated fromthefiveminuteandonehourdata. Thetwentyfourhourprofilechartprovidesavalueforeachhourinatwentyfourhourperiod.This valueisthelargestaveragevaluecalculatedfortheparticularhourovertheselecteddaterange.This producesautilizationprofileforthehourCounter. CountervaluesarenamedfortheWindowsPerformanceMonitorcountersusedtoretrievethem fromWindowssystems.ThenameconsistsofthePerformanceMonitorcategoryjoinedbyan underscoretothecountername.Forexample,Memory/PagesPerSecondbecomes Memory_PagesPerSecond. ForWindowssystems,thesevaluesaretakendirectlyfromPerformanceMonitor,butforother platforms,scriptsareusedtocalculatethevalues. PlatformCountersonpage 195 CollectingCountersforESXMachinesMonitoredthroughtheVirtualCenterServerfor ConsolidatedPlanningonpage 198 PrerequisiteforCollectingtheXENCountersforVMsRunningonSLESwiththeXenKernel onpage 199 PrerequisiteforCollectingCountersforCitrixXenHostsonpage 199
Platform Counters
ThefollowingtableliststhecounterscollectedbyPlateSpinReconforthesupportedplatforms:
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Table B-1 PlatformCounters
Name LogicalDisk_FreeMegabytes LogicalDisk_UsedMegabytes LogicalDisk_PercentUsedSpace LogicalDisk_PercentFreeSpace Memory_AvailableBytes Memory_PagesPerSecond Memory_PercentAvailableMemory NetworkInterface_BytesTotalPerSecond NetworkInterface_PacketsPerSecond PhysicalDisk_CurrentDiskQueueLength PhysicalDisk_DiskBytesPerSecond PhysicalDisk_DiskTransfersPerSecond PhysicalDisk_DiskWriteBytesPerSecond PhysicalDisk_PercentIdleTime PhysicalDisk_TotalSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_UsedSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_FreeSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_PercentUsedSpace PhysicalDisk_PercentFreeSpace PhysicalDisk_PartitionedSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_UnpartitionedSpaceGB PhysicalDisk_PercentPartitionedSpace PhysicalDisk_PercentUnpartitionedSpace Processor_PercentProcessorTime System_ProcessorQueueLength VC_Processor
Platforms All platforms except for ESX 2.5.x, NetWare, Windows 2000, and Windows NT All platforms except for ESX 2.5.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.5.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.5.x, NetWare, Windows 2000, and Windows NT Windows, Windows NT, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, Citrix XenServer, ESXi 5.0 Windows, Windows NT ESX 3.x, ESX 4, ESXi 5.0 Windows, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, Citrix XenServer, ESXi 5.0 Windows, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, ESXi 5.0 All platforms except for ESX 3.x, ESX 4.0, NetWare, ESXi 5.0 Windows, Windows NT, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, Citrix XenServer, ESXi 5.0 Windows, Windows NT, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x Windows All platforms except for ESX 2.x, ESX 3.0, and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare All platforms except for ESX 2.x and NetWare Windows, Windows NT, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, Citrix XenServer, ESXi 5.0 Windows, Windows NT, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x All VMs, ESXs, Resource Pool, and clusters monitored through VMware vCenter.
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Name VC_ProcessorTime VC_ProcessorPercentReady VC_ProcessorPercentWait VC_MemoryPercentUsed VC_MemoryAvailableBytes VC_NetBytesTotalPerSecond VC_NetPacketsPerSecond VC_DiskBytesPerSecond VC_MemoryBalloon VC_MemorySwapUsed VC_EffectiveMemory VC_EffectiveCPU VC_DiskReadBytesPerSecond VC_DiskWriteBytesPerSecond VC_DiskReadCountPerSecond VC_DiskWriteCountPerSecond VC_DiskBytesPerRead VC_DiskBytesPerWrite VC_DiskPercentIdleTime VC_DiskTotalSpaceGB VC_DiskUsedSpaceGB VC_DiskFreeSpaceGB VC_DiskPercentUsedSpace
Platforms All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs monitored through VMware vCenter All VMs monitored through VMware vCenter All VMs, ESXs, Resource Pool, and clusters monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs, ESXs, and Resource Pool monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs, ESXs, Resource Pool, and clusters monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs and clusters monitored through VMware vCenter. All clusters enabled with DRS and monitored through VMware vCenter. All clusters enabled with DRS and monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All VMs and ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. ESX 3.5 and later monitored through VMware vCenter except vCenter 2.0. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter.
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Name VC_DiskPercentFreeSpace VC_DiskPartitionedSpaceGB VC_DiskUnpartitionedSpaceGB VC_DiskPercentPartitionedSpace VC_DiskPercentUnpartitionedSpace VC_LogicalDiskUsedMegabytes VC_LogicalDiskFreeMegabytes VC_LogicalDiskPercentUsedSpace VC_LogicalDiskPercentFreeSpace Xen_Memory_AvailableBytes Xen_Processor_PercentProcessorTime Xen_NetworkInterface_ByteTotalPerSecond Xen_PhysicalDisk_DiskBytesPerSecond
Platforms All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. All ESXs monitored through VMware vCenter. Xen on Novell SLES 10 and SLES11, Citrix XenServer Xen on Novell SLES 10 and SLES 11, Citrix XenServer Citrix XenServer Citrix XenServer
NOTE:IfanyoftheVirtualCentercounterslistedinTableB1onpage 196arenotavailableonthe VirtualCenter,PlateSpinRecondoesnotcollectdataforsuchcountersandwillnotdisplayanyerror messageforit.
Collecting Counters for ESX Machines Monitored through the Virtual Center Server for Consolidated Planning
ESXmachinesareinventoriedandmonitoredthroughtheVCServer.However,thedatadoesnot containallcountersoftheESXmachinerequiredforconsolidatedplanningbecauseofthelimitations oftheVCServer.YouneedtodirectlycollectadditionalinformationfromtheESXmachine.
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,navigatetoFilters>VMServers>VMwareESXServers. 2 RightclicktheESXmachinewhosecountersyouwanttocollect,thenclickStopMonitoring. 3 RightclicktheESXmachineagain,thenclickAttachCredentials.
TheAttachCredentialsdialogboxisdisplayed.
4 Specifythecredentialsforthemachine,thenclickOK. 5 RightclicktheESXmachine,clickRefreshInventory,thenclickNow. 6 RightclicktheESXmachine,thenclickStartMonitoring.
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Prerequisite for Collecting the XEN Counters for VMs Running on SLES with the Xen Kernel
IfyouwanttocollecttheXencountersforVMsrunningonSLESwiththeXenkernel,dothe followingontheSLEShostmachinebeforeyoustartmonitoringit:
1 Edit/etc/xen/xend-config.sxptoaddthefollowingline: (xen-api-server ((9363 'none' '')(unix none))) 2 RestarttheXendaemonbyenteringthefollowingcommand: /etc/init.d/xend restart
Prerequisite for Collecting Counters for Citrix Xen Hosts

TocollectcountersfortheCitrixXenhosts,youmustattachthecredentialtoallthehosts.
1 EnsurethatSSHisenabledonport22ontheCitrixXenhosts. 2 IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclickaCitrixXenhost,thenclickStopMonitoring. 3 RightclicktheCitrixXenhostagain,thenclickAttachCredentials.
TheAttachCredentialsdialogboxisdisplayed.
4 Specifythecredentialsforthemachine,thenclickOK. 5 RightclicktheCitrixXenhost,thenclickStartMonitoring. 6 RepeatStep 2throughStep 5foralltheCitrixXenhosts.
B.4.2
Utilization
Utilizationformulasrepresentthepercentageoftheavailableresourcesbeingusedbyagiven workload.Thecalculationsarebasedoncounterdata.
Table B-2 UtilizationFormulas
Name Disk IO (%)
Formula
Platforms
MAX(0,(100All platforms except for NetWare, PERF(PhysicalDisk_PercentIdle ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.0 Time))) PERF(PhysicalDisk_PercentFre eSpace) All platforms except for NetWare, ESX 2.5.x
Disk Space Free (%) Disk Space Used (%) Memory Free (%)
PERF(PhysicalDisk_PercentUse All platforms except for NetWare, dSpace) ESX 2.5.x 100*(PERF(Memory_AvailableB Windows, Solaris, Linux, ESX ytes))/INV(TotalMemory) 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, Citrix XenServer, ESXi 5.0 100*(INV(TotalMemory)Windows, Solaris, Linux, ESX PERF(Memory_AvailableBytes) 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, Citrix )/INV(TotalMemory) XenServer, ESXi 5.0
Memory Used (%)
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Name Processor (%)
Formula PERF(Processor_PercentProce ssorTime)
Platforms Windows, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, Citrix XenServer, ESXi 5.0
Disk Space Partitioned (%) Disk Space Unpartitioned (%) Logical Disk Used Space (%) Logical Disk Free Space (%)
PERF(PhysicalDisk_PercentPart All platforms except for NetWare, itionedSpace) ESX 2.5.x PERF(PhysicalDisk_PercentUnp All platforms except for NetWare, artitionedSpace) ESX 2.5.x PERF(LogicalDisk_PercentUsed All platforms except for NetWare, Space) ESX 2.5.x PERF(LogicalDisk_PercentFree Space) All platforms except for NetWare, ESX 2.5.x, Windows NT, and Windows 2000
VC_Memory Free (%) VC_Memory Used(%)
100*(PERF(VC_MemoryAvailabl All eBytes))/INV(TotalMemory) 100*(INV(TotalMemory)PERF(VC_MemoryAvailableByt es))/INV(TotalMemory) PERF(VC_ProcessorTime) All
VC_ProcessorTime (Hour) VC_Disk IO (%)
All
ESX 3.5 or later monitored MAX(0,(100PERF(VC_DiskPercentIdleTime through vCenter 2.5 or later ))) PERF(VC_DiskPercentFreeSpa ce) All ESXs monitored through vCenter
VC_Disk Space Free (%) VC_Disk Space Partitioned (%)
PERF(VC_DiskPercentPartitione All ESXs monitored through dSpace) vCenter All ESXs monitored through vCenter
VC_Disk Space Unpartitioned (%) PERF(VC_DiskPercentUnpartiti onedSpace) VC_Disk Space Used (%)
PERF(VC_DiskPercentUsedSpa All ESXs monitored through ce) vCenter All ESXs monitored through vCenter All ESXs monitored through vCenter
VC_Logical Disk Used Space (%) PERF(VC_LogicalDisk_Percent UsedSpace) VC_Logical Disk Free Space (%) PERF(LogicalDisk_PercentFree Space)
NOTE:UtilizationexpressionsarenotavailableforVirtualCenterclusters.
B.4.3
Workload
Workloadformulasmeasureworkloadsize;thatis,theamountofprocessingpowerandraw resourcesbeingusedforaworkload,independentofthetotalhardwareandresourcesavailable. PERF:Dynamicperformancedata INV:Staticinventorydata
200
Table B-3 WorkloadFormulas
Name Disk (MB/sec) Disk (Transfers/sec) Disk Queue Length
Formula
Platforms
(PERF(PhysicalDisk_DiskByte All sPerSecond))/(1024*1024) PERF(PhysicalDisk_DiskTrans Windows, Windows NT, Solaris, fersPerSecond) Linux, ESX 2.5.x PERF(PhysicalDisk_CurrentDi Windows, Windows NT, Solaris, skQueueLength) Linux, ESX 2.5.x, Citrix XenServer PERF(PhysicalDisk_FreeSpac All platforms except for eGB) NetWare and ESX 2.5.x PERF(PhysicalDisk_UsedSpac All platforms except for eGB) NetWare and ESX 2.5.x (PERF(PhysicalDisk_DiskWrit eBytesPerSecond))/ (1024*1024) Windows
Disk Space Free (GB) Disk Space Used (GB) Disk Writes (MB/sec)
Logical Disk Used Space (MB) Logical Disk Free Space (MB)
PERF(LogicalDisk_UsedMega All platforms except for bytes) NetWare, ESX 2.5.x PERF(LogicalDisk_FreeMegab All platforms except for ytes) NetWare, ESX 2.5.x, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 PERF(Memory_PagesPerSec ond) Windows, Windows NT
Memory (Pages/sec) Memory Free (MB) Memory Used (MB)
(PERF(Memory_AvailableByte All s)) /(1024*1024) (INV(TotalMemory)All PERF(Memory_AvailableBytes )) /(1024*1024) (PERF(NetworkInterface_Byte sTotalPerSecond))/ (1024*1024) PERF(NetworkInterface_Pack etsPerSecond) Windows, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, Citrix XenServer Windows, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, ESXi 5.0
Network (MB/sec)
Network (Packets/sec) Processor (MHz)
PERF(Processor_PercentProc Windows, Windows NT, Linux, essorTime)*INV(ProcessorCa ESX 2.5.x, ESX 3.x, ESX 4, pacity)/100 Citrix XenServer, Solaris, ESXi 5.0 PERF(System_ProcessorQue ueLength) Windows, Windows NT, Solaris, Linux, ESX 2.5.x
Processor Queue Length VC_Disk (MB/sec) VC_MemoryFree (MB)
(PERF(PhysicalDisk_DiskByte All sPerSecond))/(1024*1024) (PERF(Memory_AvailableByte All s)) /(1024*1024)
Technical Reference
201
Name VC_MemoryUsed (MB)
Formula
Platforms
(INV(TotalMemory)All PERF(Memory_AvailableBytes )) /(1024*1024) (PERF(VC_NetBytesTotalPerS All econd))/(1024*1024) PERF(VC_NetPacketsPerSec ond) PERF(VC_Processor) PERF(VC_DiskPartitionedSpa ceGB) All All ESX monitored through vCenter
VC_Network (MB/sec) VC_Network (Packets/sec) VC_Processor (MHz) VC_Disk Space Partitioned (GB) VC_Disk Space Used(GB) Disk Space Partitioned (GB) VC_Total Disk (GB) Total Processor (Count) VC_Processor (Normalized)
PERF(VC_DiskUsedSpaceGB ESX monitored through vCenter ) PERF(PhysicalDisk_Partitione dSpaceGB) All platforms except for NetWare and ESX 2.5.x
PERF(VC_DiskTotalSpaceGB All ESXs monitored through ) vCenter INV(ProcessorCount) PERF(VC_Processor)/ INV(ProcessorCapacity)*INV( ProcessorCapacityInSpecUnits ) INV(TotalMemory)/ (1024*1024) PERF(VC_DiskUnpartitionedS All ESXs monitored through paceGB) vCenter PERF(PhysicalDisk_Unpartitio All platforms except for nedSpaceGB) NetWare and ESX 2.5.x PERF(Processor_PercentProc essorTime)*INV(ProcessorCa pacityInSpecUnits)/100 PERF(PhysicalDisk_TotalSpac All platforms except for eGB) NetWare and ESX 2.5.x PERF(VC_DiskFreeSpaceGB All ESXs monitored through ) vCenter PERF(VC_LogicalDiskUsedMe All ESXs monitored through gabytes) vCenter PERF(VC_LogicalDiskFreeMe All ESXs monitored through gabytes) vCenter
Total Memory (MB) VC_Disk Space Unpartitioned (GB) Disk Space Unpartitioned (GB) Processor (Normalized)
Total Disk (GB) VC_Disk Space Free (GB) VC_Logical Disk Used Space (MB) VC_Logical Disk Free Space (MB)
NOTE:WorkloadexpressionsarenotavailableforVirtualCenterclusters.
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B.5
Calculations
Section B.5.1,24HourProfile,onpage 203 Section B.5.2,DualCoreandMultiCoreMachines,onpage 204 Section B.5.3,HyperThreading,onpage 204 Section B.5.4,EffectiveSpeed,onpage 205 Section B.5.5,PowerandCooling,onpage 205 Section B.5.6,CO2Emission,onpage 205
B.5.1
24-Hour Profile
The24hourprofileconsistsof24valuesthatcorrespondtoeachhouroftheday(0to23).Eachvalue iscalculatedbytakingthepeakvalueforthatspecifichouroverthenumberofmonitoringdays.
Example
Considerasystemmonitoredfor3days.ThefollowingchartpresentsthedatasetforitsProcessor workload,andthecalculated24hourprofile:
Table B-4 ProcessorWorkloadDataSet
Hour 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Day 1 200 300 300 700 500 600 500 400 500 450 200 300 300 550 440 800 750
Day 2 300 300 400 250 500 400 550 600 300 350 240 600 340 500 540 260
Day 3 500 250 450 350 500 500 750 800 250 640 340 +60 850 600 600 430
24-Hour Profile 500 300 450 750 500 600 750 800 500 640 340 650 300 850 600 800 750
Technical Reference
203
Hour 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Day 1 500 600 300 200 250 600 500
Day 2 640 200 250 300 350 250 650
Day 3 450 350 650 200 400 350 750
24-Hour Profile 640 600 650 300 400 600 750
B.5.2
Dual-Core and Multi-Core Machines

PlateSpinReconconsidersandtreatsdualcoreormulticoremachineastwoprocessororx processormachines.
B.5.3
Hyper-Threading
Theeffectofhyperthreadingiscontrolledbytwoconfigurationparameters:AggregateInstance Function(SUM,AVG)andHyperthreadingNormalizationFactor(12).Thedefaultvaluefor aggregateinstancefunctionisAVG,andthenormalizationfactorissetto1.25.Thesevaluescanbe configuredintheadvancedsettingsunderTools>Options. PlateSpinReconcollectseachindividualprocessorinstancesutilizationvaluesatagiventimeand thencalculatestheprocessorutilizationbasedontheaggregatefunction.Iftheaggregatefunctionis SUM,thenthephysicalprocessorutilizationisthesumofalllogicalprocessorinstancesutilization. IftheaggregatefunctionisAVG,thenthephysicalprocessorutilizationwouldbeaverageofall logicalprocessorinstancesutilization.
Example
ConsiderasystemwithsinglecoreprocessorwithhyperthreadingenabledatpMHzspeed.Fora givenperiodoftime,PlateSpinReconcalculatesthepercentileutilizationvaluesfor24Hprofile valuesofinstanceXandYasfollows. {X}={X1,X2,Xi..X24},XiistheutilizationoftheprocessorinstanceXathouri. {Y}={Y1,Y2,Yi..Y24},YiistheutilizationoftheprocessorinstanceYathouri.
Table B-5 AggregateFunctionCalculations
(Aggregate Function, Normalization Factor) Reports: Peak % Reports: Peak (MHz) CPM: Workload calculation
( SUM, f ) Max { X + Y } Max { X + Y } * (1/100) * p * f {X+Y} * (1/100) * p * f
( AVG, f ) Max { (X + Y) / 2 } Max { (X+Y)/2 } * (1/100) * p * f {(X+Y)/2} * (1/100) * p * f
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B.5.4
Effective Speed
PlateSpinRecontakesbothnumberofcoresandhyperthreadingintoaccountwhencalculatingthe effectivespeedofamachine.
Example:
Servertemplatespecification:2x3000GHz,dualcore,andhyperthreadingenabled Numberofprocessors:P=2*2=4 Processorcapacity:C=3000GHz Hyperthreadingnormalizationfactor:n=1.25(defaultvalue) Scalingfactor:A(p)=P/{1+(P1)},where=0.05 A(p)=4/{1+0.05*3}=3.4782 Effectivespeed=A(p)*C*n=3.4782*3000*1.25=13043MHz
B.5.5
Power and Cooling

EnergyUse(kWh/yr)=PowerUsage(W)xServerDeratingFactorxNumberofhoursinayear(8760) /1000 HeatDissipation(BTU/yr)=EnergyUse(kWh/yr)x3.41 AnnualEnergyCost=EnergyCostperkWhxEnergyUse(kWh/yr)
B.5.6
CO2 Emission
EnergyUse(kWh/yr)=PowerUsage(W)xServerDeratingFactorxNumberofhoursinayear(8760) /1000 CO2Emission(1b/yr)=EnergyUse(kWh/yr)x1.54 Theconstantfactorof1.54hasbeenconsideredasperthestandards.
B.6
CPU Normalization
CPUnormalizationallowstheactualspeedofaCPUtobeconsideredforoperationssuchas consolidationplanning,insteadofrelyingontheCPUclockfrequency,whichcanbemisleading. DifferentCPUmanufacturersandmodelsprovideawidearrayofperformanceresultsforCPUswith thesameclockfrequency.Forexample,thereisaconsiderabledifferencebetweenaCore2anda
Technical Reference
205
PentiumIVCPUwithaclockfrequencyof2.0GHz.CPUnormalizationusestheSPECdataindustry standardbenchmarkstogiverealworldperformancevalues.Thisisanimportantfactorinrealistic consolidationplanning.SeeSection B.6.1,SPECData,onpage 206formoreinformation. Inconsolidationplanning,whenascenarioiscreated,theuserisgivenanoptiontoselectbetween clockfrequencyandnormalizedspeedastheunitofmeasurementforprocessorutilizationand capacity.Theconsolidationplanningalgorithmsusetheappropriateunitofmeasurementwhen assigningworkloadstocontainers,basedontheseselections.FormoreinformationseeSection 6.5, WorkingwithConsolidationScenarios,onpage 135. NOTE:Thedatarequiredtoperformconsolidationplanningbasedonnormalizedspeedisactually producedwhenaprojectiscreated.Projectsfromapre3.5versionofPlateSpinRecon,evenif upgraded,cannotusenormalizedspeedinconsolidationplanning(theoptionisdisabledinthe scenariocreationwizard).Tousenormalizationspeedswiththeseprojects,theymustberecreated fromscratch. Section B.6.1,SPECData,onpage 206 Section B.6.2,NormalizationSpeed,onpage 206
B.6.1
SPEC Data
PlateSpinReconCPUnormalizedspeedmakesuseofSPECintandSPECfp(98,2000,2006)CPU benchmarkingdata.ThePlateSpinReconCPUNormalizationratingforspecificCPUsareanaverage ofdataavailablefromhttp://www.spec.org(http://www.spec.org)forthoseCPUsasofJune2008.For thelatestSPECfbenchmarkresults,visithttp://www.spec.org(http://www.spec.org).
B.6.2
Normalization Speed
YoucanchangedefaultnormalizationspeedforinventoriedmachinesfromtheCustomFieldsdialog box.Youcanalsoviewnormalizationspeedinservertemplates.Althoughyoucannotdirectly changethesevalues,youcanchangeothervaluesandseehowthechangesaffectthenormalization speed.Formoreinformation,seeSection 6.3,CreatingandEditingServerTemplates,onpage 127. Tovieworeditnormalizationspeedforaninventoriedmachine:
1 IntheDataCenterExplorer,rightclickamachineandselectProperties.
ThePropertiesdialogboxforthatmachineisdisplayed.
2 ClicktheCustomFieldstab.
InthetopsectionyoucanseethedefaultNormalizedSpeedforthemachine.
3 ClicktheNormalizedSpeedvalueandeditasdesired.
IMPORTANT:Thenewvaluethatyouspecifyisautomaticallychangedtothedefaultvalue whenyouperformrefreshinventoryoftheservers.Youmustmanuallyresetthevalueafter refreshinventoryoftheservers. Toresetthevaluetoitsdefault,clickResetReferenceValues.

4 ClickOK.
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CPUnormalizationvaluescanalsobeusedascolumnvaluesinrelevantreports,althoughthe columnsarenotshownbydefault.Todisplaynormalizationorientedcolumns,seeSection 5.3, EditingReportTemplates,onpage 95andSection 5.4.1,CreatingandEditingReportViews,on page 104.
B.7
PlateSpin Recon VM CPU Inventory

WhenPlateSpinReconinventoriesVirtualMachineswithoneormoreCPUsallocatedtothem,the coresandCPUsaredisplayedasfollows: Cores:RegardlessoftheVMguestmachineconfiguration,PlateSpinReconshowstheactualnumber ofcoresfromthehardwarehost.Thismaycontradictwiththirdpartytools,suchasCPUID. CPUs:OnESXhosts,therearethreepossiblevirtualCPUconfigurations(1,2and4)forVMs.The PlateSpinReconinventoryoftheCPUsdependsontheVMconfigurationandthecoresonthehost machine.ESXallocatesasmanycoresasneededtoaccommodatetheuserrequirement.PlateSpin ReconreportstheminimumnumberofCPUsrequiredtoprovidetheindicatednumberofvirtual CPUs. ThefollowingtableshowssomeexampleconfigurationsandwhatPlateSpinReconreportsforeach.
Table B-6 SampleVirtualCPUConfigurationsandWhatPlateSpinReconReports
Host Cores Guest Virtual CPUs 1 1 2 4 2 1 2 4 4 1 2 4
PlateSpin Recon Reported Cores PlateSpin Recon Reported CPUs 1 1 1 2 2 2 4 4 4 1 2 4 1 1 2 1 1 1
B.8
Inventory and Monitoring Commands for Linux, Solaris and AIX

ThissectioncontainslistsofcommandsusedbyPlateSpinReconduringinventoryandmonitoring. Section B.8.1,InventoryCommandsforSolaris,onpage 208 Section B.8.2,InventoryCommandsforLinux,onpage 208 Section B.8.3,InventoryCommandsforAIX,onpage 209 Section B.8.4,MonitoringCommandsforLinuxandSolaris,onpage 210
Technical Reference
207
Section B.8.5,MonitoringCommandsforAIX,onpage 211 Section B.8.6,TextProcessing,onpage 211
B.8.1
Inventory Commands for Solaris

Table B-7 InventoryCommandsforSolaris
Command
Description Get network connection speed. Change file access permissions for the inventory script that is placed on the machine being inventoried. Remove the inventory script that was placed on the machine. Get CPU cache information and machine model for Sparc. Get processor information such as family, model, step, etc., which are related to x86 mainly. Get CPU instruction set information such as sse, sse2, mmx, etc., which are related to x86 mainly. Get configured device information, which is related to L2 cache information of x86, network adapter resolving, and ACPI support. Get network related information such as IP address, DHCP, net mask, etc. Get network connection speed. Determine kernel version. Get boot loader. Get installed programs. Get process information. Get run level. Get host name.
kstat chmod rm prtdiag psrinfo isainfo prtconf ifconfig ndd uname mount pkginfo ps who hostname
B.8.2
Inventory Commands for Linux

Table B-8 InventoryCommandsforLinux
Command
Description Get service(daemon) information. Get size information for the mounted volumes Get volume information. Get disk label. Get gateway.
chkconfig df mount e2label route
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Command
Description Get network related information such as IP address, net address, and so on. Get DHCP information. Get DHCP for SUSE. Get installed programs. Get PCI device information such as vendor name, device model in human readable format. Get wireless network adapter NIC list. Get wireless bit rate. Get speed and link status for network connection. If the command does not return a value for the speed, a default speed of 100 Mbps is considered.
ifconfig egrep getcfg rpm lspci iwconfig iwlist ethtool
dmesg kudzu hwinfo fdisk runlevel hostname xm info
Get real MAC address. Get network device information for Redhat Linux. Get network adapter information for SUSE Linux. Determine if a partition is active or not. Get current run level. Get host name and DNS domain name. Get memory information from Xen machine.
B.8.3
Inventory Commands for AIX

Table B-9 InventoryCommandsforAIX
Command
Description Get a list of installed programs. Get service (daemon) information. Get list of mounted volumes. Get size information for mounted volumes. Get SerialNumber and Label for mounted volumes. Get hostname. Get DNS domain name. Determine whether a 64-bit kernel. Determine OS release version. Get configured network adapters and their IP address.
rpm ps mount df lslv hostname namerslv getconf uname ifconfig
Technical Reference
209
Command
Description Get MAC address. Get speed of network adapter. Get processor information and default gateway. Get list of disks and their partitions. Get disk size. Get disk model, manufacturer and type and network adapter model. Get daemon information. Get machine memory and bootloader information. Get machine serial number and model,hyperthreading details and subnet mask.
netstat entstat prtconf lspv bootinfo lscfg lsitab getconf lsattr
B.8.4
Monitoring Commands for Linux and Solaris

Table B-10 MonitoringCommandsforLinuxandSolaris
Command
Platform Solaris Solaris Solaris Solaris, Linux Solaris, Linux Solaris, Linux Solaris Solaris Solaris Solaris Solaris, Linux
Description count processor number. Get processor time per cpu instance. Get processor queue length and memory available. Get NIC list. Edit input stream. Edit input stream. Get network package transfer rate. Get NIC speed. Get module and instance binding for NIC. Get disk io information such as queue and speed. evaluate express.
psrinfo mpstat vmstat ifconfig sed tail netstat kstat prtconf iostat expr
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B.8.5
Monitoring Commands for AIX

Table B-11 AIXMonitoringCommands
Command
Description Get Available Memory in Bytes Get NIC information Get Network Packets, Bytes Send/Received Get Percentage processor time Get Disk transfer per second, disk idle, disk byte per second Get Disk Queue length, Percentage processor used Get Disk partitioned or Unpartitioned space, disk list Get disk size Get the volume level information Get the version of AIX
vmstat ifconfig entstat mpstat iostat sar lspv bootinfo df oslevel
B.8.6
Text Processing
grep, cat, cut, awk, ls
B.9
Sudo Configuration to Inventory and Monitor Linux Machines

PlateSpinReconuserscaninventorymachinesbyusingsudousercredentialsonlyifthefollowing prerequisitesaremet: 1. Usershavepermissiontoruncommandsonthetargetmachine.Tograntpermissionforthe userstoperforminventoryandmonitoring,dothefollowing: a. LoginasroottotheLinuxmachineforwhichyouwanttograntpermissiontoasudouser. b. Openthesudoersconfigurationfilebyexecutingthefollowingcommand:
visudo
c. Appendoneofthefollowinglinestothefile:
nonroot_username ALL=(root) ALL
or
nonroot_username ALL=(ALL) ALL
Inthecommand,replacenonroot_usernamewiththesudousername. IMPORTANT:Makesurethatthepasswordsettingsforasudouserarenotoverriddenby ahighergrouplevelsetting.
Technical Reference
211
2. Inthesudoersconfigurationfile,ensurethefollowing: Theflagssuchastargetpw,rootpw,andrunaspwarecommented. Thesessiontimeoutsetting(timestamp_timeout)ifavailableissettoapositiveintegerthat isgreaterthan1andlessthanorequalto5. Ifthesessiontimeoutsettingisnotavailableinthefile,thenadefaultvalueof5is considered.
B.10
Managing Credentials
TheworkloadcredentialsthatyouprovideintheCredentialManageraresavedinthePlateSpin Recondatabase.Thepasswordisencryptedbyusingthe1024bitRSAencryption.Theencryption keysaresavedinaPlateSpinReconDLLfile.Thekeysareencryptedbyusing128bitAES(Rijndael) encryptionandarestoredasbinarydataintheDLLfile.WhenyoumonitorandinventoryaUNIXor LinuxworkloadfromthePlateSpinReconServer,thepasswordissentovertheSSHconnection.Fora Windowsworkload,PlateSpinReconusesWindowsauthenticationandthepasswordisnotsent acrossthenetwork.
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Schedule Options
CertainPlateSpinReconjobscanbescheduledtooccuratalaterdate,oronarecurringbasis.These canbeviewedthroughtheScheduledJobExplorer.Jobscanincludeinventorying,reportgeneration, andsnapshotexport. Followingarethescheduleoptions: Section C.1,Later,onpage 213 Section C.2,Recurrence,onpage 213
C.1
Later
TheLaterschedulingoptionletsyoutorunthejobataspecificdateandtime.Bydefault,thecurrent dateandtimearedisplayed. SelectLatertorunthejobataspecificdateandtime(eithertypedmanuallyinmm/dd/yyyyhh:mm AM|PMformat,orselectedfromthepopupcalendar) Tochangethedate,doanyofthefollowing: Clickthedropdownlist,thenselectthedesireddateinthecalender. Manuallyenterthedateinthemm/dd/yyformat. Tochangethetime,manuallyspecifythetimeinthehh:mmAMorPMformat.
C.2
Recurrence
SelectRecurrencetorunthejobonarecurringbasis.
1 Fromthedropdownlist,selectapreviouslyenteredrecurrenceschedule,orselect<New
Recurrence>. TheCreateRecurrencedialogboxisdisplayed.
Schedule Options
213
2 Specifyauniquename.
ThisnameisusedtorefertotherecurrencescheduleintheRecurrencedropdownlist,sothatit canbereusedforotherjobs.
3 IntheRecurrencepatternarea,selectarateofrecurrence,anduseoptionstospecifywhen,and
howoftenjobsarerun.
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Quick Reference to PlateSpin Recon Icons and Commands
ThissectionprovidesaquickreferencetotheiconsandcommandsusedinPlateSpinReconClient. Section D.1,DataCenterExplorer,onpage 215 Section D.2,ReportsExplorer,onpage 218 Section D.3,ProjectsExplorer,onpage 218 Section D.4,RatersExplorer,onpage 219 Section D.5,ChartViewer,onpage 220 Section D.6,JobExplorer,onpage 221 Section D.7,ScheduledJobExplorer,onpage 221 Section D.8,LogExplorer,onpage 221
D.1
Data Center Explorer

Section D.1.1,DataCenterIcons,onpage 215 Section D.1.2,DataCenterIconStatusIndicators,onpage 216 Section D.1.3,DataCenterCommandsandAssociatedIcons,onpage 216
D.1.1
Data Center Icons

Table D-1 DataCenterExplorerIcons
Physical Server Virtual Machine Groups Virtual Center Virtual Center Data Center
Virtual Center Folder Virtual Center Cluster Virtual Center Pool Primary Site Secondary Site
215
D.1.2
Data Center Icon Status Indicators

Table D-2 DataCenterExplorerIconStatusIndicators
Monitored Monitored virtual machine Not monitored Not inventoried virtual machine
Virtual Machine Powered On Virtual Machine Powered Off Unresponsive/error Warning
D.1.3
Data Center Commands and Associated Icons

Table D-3 DataCenterExplorerCommandsandAssociatedIcons
Commands
Submenu
Description Inventories the selected servers. The selection must be discovered but not yet inventoried. To inventory servers that have already been inventoried, use Refresh Inventory. Monitors the selected servers. The selection can be a node (All, Filters, Groups, or Sites) in the Data Center Explorer pane, or a particular Filter, Group, or Site to monitor all child servers. Stops monitoring the selected servers. The selection can be a node (All, Filters, Groups, or Sites) in the Data Center Explorer pane, or a particular Filter, Group, or Site to stop monitoring all child servers.
Inventory
Start Monitoring
Stop Monitoring
Logs
View Logs Acknowledge Logs
View logs of selected servers. If there are some errors associated with a machine, an error icon is displayed on that machine. If the errors are acceptable, you can use Acknowledge Logs to remove the error icon from the display of the machine. Create a new group of servers.
Create Group Copy to Group Rename Group Create Template Attach Credentials <group_name>
Copies the selected servers to the designated group. Renames the selected group. Opens the New Server Template dialog box. Opens the Attach Credentials dialog box.
216
Commands Launch
Submenu Terminal Services SSH VMware Remote Console VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client VMware Web Access
Description Opens the selected application (if it is installed). Paths are configurable by selecting Options from the Tools menu, then clicking the Client tab. NOTE For VMware ESXi machines, the VMware Web Access option is disabled. Consequently, you cannot launch the web page. If PlateSpin Recon is installed on a 64-bit machine, you might encounter an error on launching the VMware Remote Console or the VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client applications. This is because a 32-bit path is specified for these applications in the Options dialog box (Tools > Options). Change the paths to the following 64-bit paths: VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client:
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\VMware\VM ware Virtual Machine Console\vmware.exe

VMware Remote Console:
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\VMware\In frastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe

For more information on the Client Options, see Section 4.1, Server and Client Options, on page 77. Delete Chargeback View XML Delete the server or group of servers. Opens the Raters for name dialog box. Displays the selected machine details as an XML document. Only the first machine is displayed if there are multiple selections. Opens a Properties dialog box for the selected server. Opens a Properties dialog box (Custom Fields page) for the selected servers when multiple servers are selected.
Properties Set Custom Fields
ToapplyDataCenterExplorercommandstoservers,rightclickaserverandselecttherequired commandfromthemenu.
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D.2
Reports Explorer
Table D-4 ReportExplorerCommands
Commands
Tooltip/Description Create Report Template. Create a new report template based on the report node selected. Copy Report Template. Copy a report template. Edit Report Template. Edit a report by setting group, views, filters, summaries, and forecasts for a report template or a report. Generate Report. Generate a report based on the report template selected. View Report. View an existing (previously generated) report. Send Report. Send a generated report via e-mail or to an FTP server or network location. Delete. Delete the selected report or template.
D.3
Projects Explorer
Section D.3.1,ProjectExplorerCommands,onpage 218 Section D.3.2,ProjectExplorerIcons,onpage 219
D.3.1
Project Explorer Commands

Table D-5 ProjectExplorerCommands
Command
Action Create a new project. Copy a project View project settings Create a new scenario. Copy a scenario View report/View Project report/View Workload Assignment report. Delete project/scenario/workload, depending on the selection made. Implement by using the Portability Suite Edit Mapping
218
D.3.2
Project Explorer Icons

Table D-6 ProjectExplorerIcons
Icon
Description Consolidation Project Consolidation Scenarios Server Existing Target Servers Virtual Machine Workloads Virtualization Overhead Server Template is mapped to a Virtual Server in the database Server is selected for Consolidation Unconsolidated Server Server is selected for Protection Server is Unprotected Unconsolidated Workloads
D.4
Raters Explorer
Table D-7 ProjectExplorerCommands
Command
Action Create a new rater. Edit a rater. Delete a rater. Attach a rater to a machine. Detach a rater from a machine. View the properties of a rater.
219
D.5
Chart Viewer
Table D-8 ChartViewerCommands
Command
Description Print Preview. Preview chart before printing. Print. Print the chart. Copy To Clipboard. Copy the chart to the clipboard. Line. Display straight lines between points of continuous data. Curve. Display curved lines between points of continuous data. Candlestick. View the variability of sample data. This button appears only for the candle chart. Stacked Bar. View cumulative workload data from multiple servers. This is enabled for Expression types other than Utilization. Stacked Area. View cumulative workload data from multiple servers. This is enabled for Expression types other than Utilization. Legend Box. Give a visual cue and description for each data object. The legend is very useful for quickly glancing through the data on a chart. Point Labels. Display labels for the values in a chart. Zoom. Switch between normal and magnified view. Zoom In/Out. Adjust the granularity of the chart for the collected data. See Section 5.1.3, Level of Detail, on page 85. Navigate Beginning/Back/Forward/End. Scroll the visible data. Historical Data Settings. Select the historical data time range upon which to base forecasting. Forecast Settings. Select the forecasting time period and algorithm. This button is only enabled for daily or weekly Series charts or for Profile charts. Refresh All Data From Server. Refresh the view.
220
D.6
Job Explorer
Table D-9 JobExplorerToolbarCommands
Commands
Tooltip/Description Suspend: Suspends a running job. Resume: Resumes a paused job. Abort: Abort the currently running job. Archive: Archives the selected job. View Logs: Opens a log viewer for the selected step.
D.7
Scheduled Job Explorer

Table D-10 ScheduledJobExplorerToolbarCommands
Commands
Tooltip/Description Pause: Pauses an active or scheduled job. Resume: Resumes a paused job. Edit Recurrence: Opens the Create Recurrence dialog box where you can create or edit a scheduled job recurrence pattern. Run Now: Runs the scheduled job immediately. Delete: Deletes the scheduled job.
D.8
Log Explorer
Table D-11 LogExplorerToolbarCommands
Commands
Tooltip/Description View Details: Opens Log Details for the selected log entry. Delete: Deletes the selected log entry. To simultaneously delete multiple logs, select the logs using the Shift or Ctrl keys and press the Delete key or click Delete.
221
222
Best Practices
TheseBestPracticesaredesignedfordatacenteroperatorsandadministratorswhousePlateSpin Recontomonitorworkloadsanddoconsolidationplanningbasedoncollecteddata.Theinformation providedherehasbeencompiledbythePlateSpinsupportteambasedonexperiencewithhundreds ofRealTimeConsolidationAcceleratorusers. Whereapplicable,guidelinesinBestPracticesrefertoPlateSpinSupportKnowledgeBasearticles.To accessthearticles,useyourPlateSpindownloadcredentials.Ifyouhaveforgottenyourpassword, youcanrequestapasswordreminderemailat:http://www.platespin.com/downloads/ forgotpassword.aspx(http://www.platespin.com/downloads/forgotpassword.aspx). Section E.1,ConsolidationPlanningWorkflow,onpage 223
E.1
Consolidation Planning Workflow

Usethisgenericconsolidationplanningworkflow:
Table E-1 BestPracticesUsage
Guideline Step 1: Inventory the servers. Step 2: Monitor the servers and collect data. Step 3: Analyze the collected data and create consolidation projects and scenarios by using PlateSpin Recon charts and the Consolidation Planning Module. When you have finished, consolidate the servers by streaming physical servers into virtual environments by using PlateSpin PowerConvert. For early detection of potential inventory and monitoring issues, use PlateSpin Recon PlateSpin Analyzer to scan your network before starting the inventory.
Knowledge Base Article
Q7920825 (http://www.novell.com/support/ viewContent.do?externalId=7920825): Using PlateSpin Analyzer and understanding its results.
If possible, use Microsoft Operations Manager Q7920903 (http://www.novell.com/support/ (MOM) 2005 and set up PlateSpin Recon to viewContent.do?externalId=7920903): PlateSpin connect and collect monitoring data directly from it. Recon with MOM 2005 This feature allows you to reduce your project timeline from weeks to days.
Best Practices
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www.novell.

2 Overview of PlateSpin Recon Client Views

3 Working with Data Center Explorer

3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10

4 PlateSpin Recon Server and Client Tools

5 Generating and Viewing Charts and Reports

8 Virtual Infrastructure Management

A Troubleshooting B Technical Reference

D Quick Reference to PlateSpin Recon Icons and Commands

D.4 D.5 D.6 D.7 D.8

Consolidation Planning Workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

About This Guide

About This Guide

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

PlateSpin Recon Features

Planning Module Features

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

Supported Inventory and Data Collection

Supported Microsoft Windows Platforms

PlateSpinReconsupportsthefollowinglocalizedversionsofWindows: French German Japanese

Supported UNIX/Linux Platforms

Version Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES) 2 SP3 Linux

Bit Spec 32-bit, 64-bit

Supported Novell NetWare Platforms

Bit Spec 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit 32-bit, 64-bit

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

Supported PlateSpin Portability Suite Consolidation Sources and Targets

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

Solution PlateSpin Recon

7. Manage Virtual Infrastructure

Monitor VM creation Report on VM growth

PlateSpin Recon Terminology

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

Overview of PlateSpin Recon Client Views

Data Center Explorer

Overview of PlateSpin Recon Client Views

Figure 2-1 DataCenterExplorer

FormoreinformationaboutworkingwithDataCenterExplorer,seeChapter 3,WorkingwithData CenterExplorer,onpage 27.

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

FormoreinformationaboutworkingwithReportExplorer,seeChapter 5,GeneratingandViewing ChartsandReports,onpage 83.

Overview of PlateSpin Recon Client Views

Figure 2-4 RatersExplorer

FormoreinformationaboutworkingwithRatersExplorer,seeSection 7.2,UsingRaters,on page 155.

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

Scheduled Job Explorer

Overview of PlateSpin Recon Client Views

Figure 2-7 WorkingwiththeLogExplorer

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

Working with Data Center Explorer

Understanding the Data Center Explorer

Working with Data Center Explorer

Table 3-1 DataCenterExplorerNodes

Nodes All Discovered Filters Groups Sites

FormoreinformationabouttheDataCenterExplorericonsandcommands,seeAppendix D,Quick ReferencetoPlateSpinReconIconsandCommands,onpage 215.

Discovering and Inventorying Data Center Resources

Novell PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4 User Guide

Inventory and Discovery Methods

machinesyouwanttoinventory. YoucanspecifymultiplehostnamesorIPaddressesseparatedwithacomma;however,they needtoallusethesamecredentials.

newcredential,seeSection 3.2.2,InventoryCredentials,onpage 40. ThisenablestheInventorybutton.

groups.Formoreinformation,seeSection 3.2.3,InventoryOptions,onpage 42.

Toimmediatelystarttheinventory,dooneofthefollowing: ClickNowintheInventorydropdownlist. ClickScheduleintheInventorydropdownlist,thenclickNow>OK. Toperforminventoryatalatertime,setupaschedule: 1. IntheInventorydropdownlist,clickSchedule. TheSchedulingOptionsdialogboxisdisplayed.

Working with Data Center Explorer