Monitoring the capacity of resources

IBM Spectrum® Control can collect information about the capacity and space usage of block, file, and object storage resources. This information includes key metrics that can help you measure, identify, and troubleshoot capacity and space usage issues in your storage. You can view capacity metrics for storage resources, including tiers.

You can use the capacity and space usage information to complete the following tasks:

Measure, compare, and troubleshoot the capacity and space usage of resources such as:
- Block storage systems and pools
- Compressed, thin-provisioned, and Easy Tier® volumes
- File systems, pools, and filesets in file storage systems
- Containers in object storage systems
- Tiers
Review the alerts that were triggered when the capacity or space usage of a resource fell outside a specific range.
Customize views of capacity and space usage so that you can analyze specific resources and metrics during time ranges that you specify.
View capacity and space usage information in a chart or table format to help you quickly identify where and when issues are occurring. The chart is a visual representation of how the capacity and space usage of resources trend over time.
Drill down into resources to view detailed information about the capacity and space usage of internal resources. For example, if a SAN Volume Controller is shown in the chart, you can quickly view and compare the capacity and space usage of its pools.
Implement server-centric monitoring of SAN resources without requiring a Storage Resource agent. When you add an agentless server, IBM Spectrum Control correlates the server with the known host connections on monitored storage systems. If matches are found, you can view the amount of storage that is assigned to the server, and trace that storage back to the storage system. You can then view details about the internal resources of the related storage system, including capacity and space usage information.
Export capacity and space usage information to a CSV file. A CSV file is a file that contains comma-delimited values and can be viewed with a text editor or imported into a spreadsheet application.

Before you begin

Before you can view capacity and space usage information for resources, you must complete the following tasks:

This table describes the tasks that you must complete before you can view capacity and space usage information for resources.
Task	Learn more
Add storage systems for monitoring by IBM Spectrum Control.	For information about how to add these resources, see Adding storage systems.
Ensure that capacity data is being collected for a resource. Typically, data collection is scheduled when resources are added for monitoring.	For information about verifying data collection, see Collecting data.
Define capacity and capacity usage alerts to be notified if the capacity or capacity usage of a resource falls outside a specified range and might represent a potential problem. When you define a capacity or capacity usage alert for an alert policy or for an individual resource, select a specific metric that you want to measure. For example, you can define an alert that notifies you when the total used capacity for a storage system falls outside a specified range.	For information about how to define capacity and capacity usage alerts, see Defining alert definitions for general attributes and capacity changes.