Dashboard overviews

Learn about the dashboard features you can leverage to monitor and optimize your storage environment.

Compare the dashboards in the IBM Storage Insights and IBM Storage Insights Pro offerings:

Table 1. Dashboards in IBM Storage Insights and IBM Storage Insights Pro
Dashboard IBM Storage Insights (free) IBM Storage Insights Pro (subscription)
NOC dashboard Checkmark Checkmark
Operations dashboard Checkmark Checkmark
Notifications dashboard Checkmark Checkmark
Storage as a Service dashboard   Checkmark
Advisor dashboard Checkmark Checkmark
Alerts dashboard   Checkmark
Note: Unless otherwise stated, the name IBM Storage Insights is used to refer to the features that are common to both IBM Storage Insights and IBM Storage Insights Pro.

NOC dashboard

With IBM Storage Insights, you can monitor the health of your block storage environment in your network operations center on the, NOC - Network Operations Center dashboard.

  • Key performance information so that you know whether the performances of your storage systems meet your operational requirements is shown.
  • Key capacity information so you know whether you’ve got enough capacity to meet your storage demands is shown.

To take a close look at the storage systems that are being monitored, click Dashboards > NOC and click the storage system that you're interested in.

When you click a storage system, you get:
  • An overview that shows trending charts for the key capacity and performance information.
  • The notifications of Call Home events. You can click Dashboards > Notifications to see the notifications for all the storage systems that you monitor on a single page.
  • The tickets that were open and closed.
  • The properties of the storage system.

NOC dashboard

Tips:

Create a custom dashboard if you don't want to see all of the storage systems that are being monitored. Click the Dashboard Dashboard icon in the upper-right corner of the dashboard and create the dashboards that you need.

Check whether IBM Storage Insights has confirmed that the hardware has an active maintenance or warranty contract. Click a tile and open the Properties tab. For nodes and enclosures in IBM® SAN Volume Controller, click the Inventory tab and check the Support Contract field.

Operations dashboard

With IBM Storage Insights, you get the information that you need to monitor the health of your block storage environment and fabrics on the Operations dashboard:
Block Storage Systems
Block storage systems is a default dashboard that is shown when you navigate to Operations dashboard.
  • Overview of the health of the storage system components or resources is shown. You can open the GUI for the storage system from the Component Health overview.
  • Key capacity information is shown so you know whether you’ve got enough capacity to meet your storage demands.
  • Key performance information is shown so that you know whether the performance of your storage systems meet your operational requirements.

To take a close look at the storage systems that are being monitored, click Dashboards > Operations. Then click the storage system that you're interested in the list on the left of the dashboard.

When you click a storage system, you get:
  • An overview that shows the health of the storage system components or resources, and trending charts for the key capacity and performance information.
  • The notifications of Call Home events. You can click Dashboards > Notifications to see the notifications for all the storage systems that you monitor on a single page.
  • The tickets that were open and closed.
  • The properties of the storage system.

For example, you can see the health, capacity, and performance information for a block storage system in the Operations dashboard. The storage system is colored red because there are problems with nodes and logical components.

Fabrics
With IBM Storage Insights, you get the information that you need to monitor the health of your fabrics on the Fabrics dashboard:
  • Overview of the health of the fabric components or resources is shown. You can open the GUI for the fabric from the Component Health overview.
  • Key performance information is shown for all switches in the fabric so that you know whether the fabric's components meet your operational requirements.
To take a close look at the fabrics that are being monitored, click Dashboards > Operations. Then select the Fabrics dashboard from the Default Dashboards drop down. Then click the fabric that you're interested in the list on the left of the dashboard to get:
  • An overview that shows the health of the fabric components or resources, and trending charts for the key performance information for the switches in the fabric.
  • The properties of the fabric.
Custom
You can create a custom dashboard if you want to view a specific set of resources at a glance. Each dashboard can only contain resources of the same type that is either Block Storage Systems or Fabrics. You can create as many custom dashboards as you like.
Operations dashboard

Notifications dashboard

Click Dashboards > Notifications to view all Call Home events in your storage environment in one place.

Notifications dashboard with notification details and filter tags

Storage as a Service dashboard

Use the Storage as a Service (STaaS) dashboard as the single pane of glass into your STaaS environments to identify capacity usage, potential shortages, and billing overages so you can keep your operations running smoothly. Monitor and get insights into the devices, capacity, and details of your STaaS environments. Analyze your upcoming storage needs and compare it to the current base capacity of your STaaS environment and any overages that occurred. Use this information to help determine if more storage might be needed to avoid unexpected shortages.
What you can expect:

The Storage as a Service dashboard is included with IBM Storage Insights Pro. After you purchase a STaaS performance plan, select the IBM Storage FlashSystem and DS8000 storage systems for that plan. Then, simply add the storage systems for monitoring in IBM Storage Insights Pro and access the dashboard to view information your STaaS environment.

An IBM Technical Account Manager (TAM) can assist you with get started viewing the dashboard and monitoring your STaaS environment.

To access the STaaS dashboard, click Dashboards > Storage as a Service. A list of the environment is displayed. Double-click the environment that you want to view.

Overview dashboard

Advisor dashboard

To review the recommendations that IBM Storage Insights provides to help you address issues in your storage environment, click Insights > Advisor. Based on an analysis of the information that is sent by your devices, IBM Storage Insights recommends the actions that you can take to manage risks and resolve issues that might impact storage services.

Advisor page with recommendation details

Alerts dashboard

With IBM Storage Insights Pro, you also get the Alerts dashboard.

To view, evaluate, and manage the alerts for the resources that you monitor, open the Alerts dashboard.

Alerts dashboard with alert details

All alerts are shown, so you can monitor and address the critical storage events in your environment in one place.