Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. General questions

Q1.1: Does IBM Storage Insights store customer’s data and if so, what kind of data is stored?

A1.1: IBM Storage Insights uses IBM Cloud databases to store meta data.

IBM Storage Insights collects metadata about your storage devices. It can include but is not limited to the following information:

• Inventory and configuration metadata, such as name, model, firmware, type, etc
• Inventory and configuration metadata for internal components, such as volumes, pools, disks, ports, etc
• Capacity metrics, such as capacity, usable capacity, used capacity, compression ratios, etc
• Performance metrics, such as read and write data rates, I/O rates, response times, etc
• Diagnostic data, system failure logs, maintenance levels, and more support related information

IBM Storage Insights only gather metadata on the devices, no customer data is collected.

Q1.2: Does IBM Storage Insights share or allow access of customer’s data to third Party?

A1.2: Access to metadata is carefully controlled and governed by IBM Cloud Service Agreement and the IBM Storage Insights service description. IBM Terms have provision solely for the purposes of provision of services, problem determination, assisting client with performance and capacity planning, improving IBM products and services, and tailoring Client's experience.

IBM Storage Insights product does not directly share any customer’s data with any third party.

Q1.3: Are all the interfaces encrypted where data is transmitted?

A1.3: Communication over the public network is encrypted with TLS 1.2 as follows:

• After signing up, you are provided with a host name and port number for your IBM Storage Insights service.
• As part of the TLS handshake and certificate exchange, the client (web browser) uses the signed certificate to verify that it is communicating with the IBM Storage Insights gateway in IBM Cloud and that communications are not tampered with.
• To secure the outbound communication between the data collector and IBM Storage Insights at the well-defined and secure network endpoint https://insights.ibm.com:443, a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate is used. HTTPS connections use certificates issued by Google Trust Services and use TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 with 256-byte keys.

Q1.4: Is your cloud SaaS compliant with privacy regulation of the physical data center location, regions and availability zones?

A1.4: The data centers are rigorously controlled and onsite security is provided round the clock. Access to server rooms is limited to certified employees and security controls are vetted by third-party auditors.

For more information, see IBM Cloud and IBM Cloud Security.

Q1.5: Does IBM employees or systems have access to customer’s data?

A1.5: Client shares agreement that IBM may use and share system information within IBM and with IBM business partners and third parties such as support center subcontractors or assignees under IBM direction.

Such sharing of system information shall be solely for the purposes of provision of services, problem determination, assisting client with performance and capacity planning, improving IBM products and services, and tailoring client's experience. For example, by notifying client about their system status, troubleshooting suggestions, available solutions, and by making product or service recommendations.

Continued access to certain IBM storage devices on the IBM Storage Insights monitoring platform may be conditioned on ongoing warranty or support services obligations.

Q1.6: What standard does IBM Storage Insights meet?

A1.6: IBM Storage Insights is ISO/IEC 27001/27017/27018/27701 ISM certified.

Q1.7: Does IBM Storage Insights provide internal audit data or summary of findings?

A1.7: IBM Storage Insights has introduced a feature, where customer tenant’s manager can download audit logs for the actions taken on their tenant.

Q1.8: Does IBM Storage Insights have a 24/7 SOC response center to threats? How does customer reports a security incidence?

A1.8: 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) is not available specifically for IBM Storage Insights. However, dedicated vulnerability tracking and threat response team, IBM PSIRT is available.

This global team manages the receipt, investigation, and internal coordination of security vulnerability information related to IBM Storage Insights. IBM PSIRT is the centralized process through which IBM customers, security researchers, industry groups, government organizations, or vendors report potential IBM security vulnerabilities.

IBM is committed to respond to new threats and risks. IBM's secure engineering practices were designed so that IBM can act in a timely fashion to a reported security vulnerability that affects IBM Storage Insights.

Q1.9: Does IBM Storage Insights comply with 3-Tier UTI standard for Data Center?

A1.9: 3-Tier UTI standard refers to 3 Tier uptime institution data center standard. For more information, see Tier Certification and IBM Cloud Service Level Agreement (SLA).

IBM Storage Insights is not directly awarded with Tier 3 certification. For more information, see Uptime Institute Issued Awards.

Various components used in IBM Storage Insights do operate at Tier 3 Uptime standard based on the description mentioned in Tier Certification.

Q1.10: What is the guaranteed SaaS SLA%?

A1.10: For service description of IBM Storage Insights Pro, see Service Description. In the description, Section 3.1 describes Service Level Agreement including availability.

Q1.11: How will the customer systems integrate with this product and what are the security controls in place for those integrations?

A1.11: The data collector is a light weight application that is installed on a server of your data center. It sends the metadata that is collected for your storage systems, such as asset, configuration, capacity, and performance metadata, from the data center to your instance of IBM Storage Insights Pro or IBM Storage Insights, which is in an IBM Cloud data center.

Call Home with email notifications is a communication link between IBM® storage systems, IBM Support, and IBM Storage Insights that monitors the health and status of your storage. Call Home with cloud services integrates IBM Storage Virtualize storage systems with IBM Storage Insights to collect detailed configuration, capacity, and performance metadata.

Q1.12: Explain how customer’s data including credentials are protected in transit?

A1.12: To add and collect metadata from the storage systems to be monitored, you must provide the storage system's credentials. Depending on the type of storage system added for monitoring, you can provide the name and password of a user with privileges to collect the metadata, or an SSH user and SSH key. The credentials provided are encrypted before they are stored in the database for the instance, and the database is also encrypted.

In addition, most storage systems support the creation of users with read-only roles, so they cannot make any changes to the configuration of the storage system.

The communication that the data collector initiates with the server where it is installed, and the communication between the server and IBM Storage Insights Pro or IBM Storage Insights GUI uses HTTPS connections. HTTPS connections use certificates issued by Google Trust Services, which uses TLS 1.2 with 128-bit keys.

Q1.13: Explain how customer’s data including credentials are protected at rest.

A1.13: It is protected in the following way:

• Key security: Each instance of IBM Storage Insights uses a local keystore that is dedicated to that instance and is password protected. The password for the keystore is generated randomly when the instance is created. The certificate in the keystore is unique to each instance and the keystore password is encrypted. The encryption does not include hardware encryption. The master password is kept encrypted in the service payload configuration in a secure location in IBM Cloud®. There is only one external customer key, which is the public key that is certified by Google Trust Services.

  As part of the TLS Handshake and certificate exchange, the client (web browser) uses the signed certificate to verify that it is communicating with the IBM Storage Insights Pro or IBM Storage Insights gateway in IBM Cloud and that communications are not tampered with. For internal traffic, each customer's instance of IBM Storage Insights Pro or IBM Storage Insights has a unique key, which is protected with a unique, encrypted password, and which is self-signed by IBM to validate that the communication is between the customer and the customer's instance.

• Key rotation: A new master key is created and added to the keystore when the instance is created and when the instance is upgraded. Instances are upgraded at least once every three months, which results in an implicit key rotation of not less than 90 days. The public key that is certified by Google Trust Services is updated every 2 years.

Q1.14: Explain the patching process for this product.

A1.14: Planned updates occur about four times per year or once per quarter. You will be notified of the dates and times for each update in advance so you know when new features and enhancements are being added.

Patching frequency and schedule:

Frequency: About 4 times per year

Notification: An email is sent and a notification is displayed in the GUI.

Provider of the patches and effort to deploy the patches

IBM Storage
Insights is an IBM Cloud®™ service. Because it's a cloud service, IBM manages and upgrades the service for you. When the update to IBM Storage
Insights is complete, data collection resumes sending metadata to IBM Storage
Insights automatically.

Upgrading data collectors after a service update

If automatic upgrades are enabled, your data collectors are upgraded.

If automatic upgrades are disabled, you must manually upgrade your data collectors.

Q1.15: Does IBM Storage Insights support a role based access model or have another method to enforce least privileged access?

A1.15: Yes, role based access model is supported. There are two roles in IBM Storage Insights, Administrator (subscription administrator) and Monitor (license user).

Q1.16: What is service termination policy?

A1.16: Go to your Products and services page on IBM Marketplace or notify your IBM representative or Business Partner 90 days before your subscription expires. For more information, see FAQs.

Q1.17: What is the URL to Data Privacy statement?

A1.17: For data privacy statement, see Service Description.

2. Orders and subscriptions

Q2.1: How do I license IBM Storage Insights?

A2.1: IBM Storage Insights is included with many IBM Storage purchases, or can be licensed separately. The following table shows the various ways to get IBM Storage Insights.

Table 1. Licensing IBM Storage Insights

Purchase method	IBM Storage Insights entitlement	Entitlement type
Expert Care Basic or Advanced	IBM Storage Insights	Entitled for Expert Care duration
Expert Care Premium	IBM Storage Insights Pro	Entitled for Expert Care duration
Storage as a Service	IBM Storage Insights Pro	Entitled for STaaS duration
Spectrum Control Select	IBM Storage Insights Pro	Entitled by enclosure
Spectrum Control	IBM Storage Insights Pro	Entitled by SCU
Subscription	IBM Storage Insights Pro with availability guarantee	Entitled by capacity
Virtual Storage Center Bundle	IBM Spectrum Control and IBM Storage Insights Pro	Entitled by SCU (Starter edition by capacity, Storwize edition by enclosure)
Storage Suite	IBM Spectrum Control and IBM Storage Insights Pro	Entitled by capacity

Q2.2: How do I log in to IBM Storage Insights?

A2.2:After registering for IBM Storage Insights or being added as a user, a welcome email is sent with a link to access your IBM Storage Insights instance. Outside of that email, you can launch IBM Storage Insights from your My IBM dashboard or with a direct link.

Complete the following steps to launch IBM Storage Insights instance from the IBM dashboard:

1. Open the My IBM Dashboard in a browser and log in with your IBM ID.
2. Look at the available tiles and locate IBM Storage Insights.
3. Click Launch from an IBM Storage Insights tile.
4. Consider bookmarking the resulting link that launched IBM Storage Insights. Use that as an alternate method to access IBM Storage Insights again.

Example:

https://insights.ibm.com/gui/<xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx>

where <xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx> is a unique identifier for your IBM Storage Insights instance.

Additional information

• Accept any invitations to join IBM Storage Insights before trying to access it.
• The URL for IBM Storage Insights includes insights.ibm.com. Anything with ibmserviceengage.com is outdated and does not work.
• If you cannot access IBM Storage Insights, open a support case for assistance. Select the IBM Storage Insights product.

Related links:

• My IBM Dashboard

• Open a case with IBM Support

Q2.3: Do I need multiple IBM Storage Insights instances if I’m entitled via different licenses?

A2.3:No, you can use a single instance of IBM Storage Insights Pro, but all the devices added to that instance must be entitled. You need a separate IBM Storage Insights instance for devices that are not entitled to Pro functionality.

Q2.4: What is an enclosure entitlement?

A2.4:An enclosure entitlement covers up to 25 slots, regardless of whether they’re populated, or up to 500 TiB of populated raw capacity. If your storage device exceeds either of these limits, then you need to purchase further enclosure licenses.

Q2.5: What is a Storage Capacity Unit (SCU)?

A2.5:A graduated capacity metric based on storage technology. Older technologies such as HDDs and Safeguarded Copy target capacities can be licensed at a lesser cost than newer SSD tiers of storage.

Q2.6: What is the difference between the available products?

A2.6: Following are the differences:

• IBM Storage Insights versus IBM Storage Insights Pro: IBM Storage Insights Pro offers more features compared to the standard version. For a detailed comparison, see IBM Storage Insights vs IBM Storage Insights Pro.
• IBM Storage Insights versus IBM Spectrum Control: Both solutions serve distinct purposes. For a detailed comparison, see IBM Storage Insights vs IBM Storage Insights for IBM Spectrum Control.

Q2.7: How do I sign up for IBM Storage Insights?

A2.7:If you manage IBM® block storage systems, but don't already have the free version of IBM Storage Insights, sign up today at https://ibm.biz/insightsreg.

With IBM Storage Insights, you get a unified view of a storage environment that includes diagnostic event information, an integrated support experience, and key capacity and performance metrics. It's also free and provides you with an easy path to try or buy IBM Storage Insights Pro, so why wait?

Q2.8: Can I also license Storage Insights Pro through a subscription-based license?

A2.8:Yes, you can get a subscription-based license that is billed monthly, based on the amount of capacity that is being managed. The default subscription periods are 3, 6, 9, 12, or 24 months. To explore and obtain a subscription-based license, see Want to try or buy IBM Storage Insights Pro?

Q2.9: How do I know if I exceed the capacity that I'm entitled to manage?

A2.9: From the Configuration menu in IBM Storage Insights Pro, click Managed Capacity to check how much capacity IBM Storage Insights Pro is currently managing and then check how much capacity you are entitled to manage in your Proof of Entitlement document. You are notified when you exceed your capacity limit and, you are charged for overage until the capacity that is managed drops to your licensed capacity limit.

To upgrade your license, go to your Products and services page on IBM Marketplace.

Q2.10: How do I renew my subscription?

A2.10: Your subscription is automatically renewed, and you have the opportunity to change the subscription period at each renewal. Subscription periods are 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 months. If you want to change the subscription period, go to your Products and services page on IBM Marketplace or contact your IBM sales representative or Business Partner.

Q2.11: Can I transfer my subscription to other IBM products or offerings?

A2.11: No, currently, you can't transfer credits from IBM Storage Insights Pro to other IBM products or offerings.

Q2.12: How do I cancel my subscription?

A2.12: Go to your Products and services page on IBM Marketplace or notify your IBM representative or Business Partner 90 days before your subscription expires.

Q2.13: If I cancel my subscription, what happens to the data that was sent to IBM Storage Insights Pro?

A2.13: Your data is deleted unless you renew your subscription within 15 days of the receipt of your cancellation.

Q2.14: How often is the service updated?

A2.14: IBM is constantly improving the reliability, security, and capabilities of IBM Storage Insights and IBM Storage Insights Pro. To do that, planned updates are scheduled to occur about four times per year, or once per quarter.

See Updates and maintenance for IBM Storage Insights.

Q2.15: How do I transfer the ownership of a subscription to another employee in the same company?

A2.15: You can open an IBM Support case against IBM Storage Insights and request the change. See Changing the owner of IBM Storage Insights.

Q2.16: How can I cancel the free trial of IBM Storage Insights?

A2.16: Following is the procedure to cancel the free trial:

1. Login to IBM Dashboard:
2. Select the correct Storage Insights tenant if they have multiple.
3. Select Manage.
4. On the left panel, select Cancel Trial.

You can open an IBM Support case against IBM Storage Insights and request the change. See Changing the owner of IBM Storage Insights.

3. IBM Storage Insights Pro offering

Q3.1: What are the additional benefits do I get with IBM Storage Insights Pro?

A3.1: IBM Storage Insights Pro offers more features compared to the standard version. For a detailed comparison, see IBM Storage Insights vs IBM Storage Insights Pro.

Q3.2: Is there a trial option available for IBM Storage Insights Pro?

A3.2:Yes, if you already have IBM Storage Insights, you can easily activate a 60-day trial of IBM Storage Insights Pro. To start your trial, open IBM Storage Insights, click Try Pro for free in the menu bar, and follow on-screen instructions.

For more information, see Want to try or buy IBM Storage Insights Pro?

Q3.3: How much does IBM Storage Insights Pro cost?

A3.3: The cost of IBM Storage Insights Pro varies based on the licensing method that is chosen, as detailed in the Licensing IBM Storage Insights table. For specific pricing details, contact your IBM sales representative. Alternatively, for IBM Storage Insights Pro subscription, you can use our quick and easy pricing calculator to determine your cost. See http://ibm.biz/insightspricing.

Q3.4: What certification does IBM Storage Insights Pro have?

A3.4:IBM Storage Insights Pro, on the basis of regular audits that are carried out by Bureau Veritas Certification Holding SAS, UKAS Management Systems, London, United Kingdom, has ISO/IEC 27001 Information Security Management certification.

To find out about the security polices that are in place to collect, protect, and store the metadata that is collected for analysis, download the IBM Storage Insights Security Guide.

Q3.5: How do I get started?

A3.5:Download and install the data collector, and then specify the storage resources that you want to monitor and analyze in the GUI. The data collector works in the background, which allows you to focus on the data and analytics that are shown in IBM Storage Insights Pro.

Learn more Downloading and installing data collectors.

Q3.6: What does IBM Storage Insights Pro do?

A3.6:IBM Storage Insights Pro is a software as a service offering that provides you with the information that you need about the storage in your data center. You get insights that help you to reduce costs by reclaiming unused storage and by placing the right data on the right tiers. With IBM Storage Insights Pro, you can also rapidly detect storage availability and performance issues at the data center, storage system, and application level. The data that you collect not only provides insights into current capacity and space usage but, over time, provides insights into your future capacity needs.

Learn more Gaining insights.

Q3.7: Can I manage multiple data centers with IBM Storage Insights?

A3.7: You can download multiple data collectors to connect to storage systems located in different data centers and gain insights into the asset, capacity, and performance data that is collected and analyzed in IBM Storage Insights.

Q3.8: How many storage systems can I monitor with IBM Storage Insights?

A3.8: Subject to licensed capacity restrictions, you can monitor as many storage systems as you want.

As the number of devices grows, the analysis might take more time to complete.

Q3.9: Can I export the data that is collected by IBM Storage Insights Pro to other IBM products?

A3.9:This is not currently supported, but the data that is displayed in the tables can be manually exported into various file formats.

Q3.10: Do IBM Spectrum Control and IBM Storage Insights Pro work together ?

A3.10:You can use IBM Storage Insights Pro to monitor storage systems that are not being managed by IBM Spectrum Control, but you can't share information between the IBM offerings or export information from one offering to the other offering.

4. Get support

Support is available for subscribers and for IBM Storage Insights users.

Q4.1: My IBM Storage Insights dashboard isn't working. How can I get help?

A4.1: For information about how to get help, see Getting support.

Q4.2: How do I get help for storage systems?

A4.2: If you encounter issues with the IBM block storage systems that you're monitoring, you can create and update tickets and automatically upload logs directly in IBM Storage Insights and IBM Storage Insights Pro. You can also give IBM Support permission to collect and upload log packages for storage systems without contacting you every time.

See Opening, updating, and tracking IBM Support tickets and Granting IBM Support permission to collect log packages.

Q4.3: Are there any online resources that I can use to help troubleshoot issues myself?

A4.3: Yes. Multiple online resources are available to help you troubleshoot issues or learn more about the product. See Getting support.

Q4.4: I need to comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations so my storage exists within a Blue Diamond Enhanced Secure Support environment. Can I use IBM Storage Insights to open tickets and upload logs for my storage devices?

A4.4: Yes, Blue Diamond customers can open tickets and upload log packages. The log packages are sent to the Blue Diamond Enhanced Secure Support environment.

Q4.5: Can IBM Support access my data?

A4.5: IBM Support can access metadata and collect support logs remotely if you have set the permissions to do so. IBM Support has read-only access to your data and IBM Storage Insights instance and can't change any of your settings.

See Granting IBM Support permission to collect log packages.

5. Data collection and other questions

Q5.1: Do I need a data collector if I'm using IBM Storage FlashSystem devices?

A5.1: Usually, IBM Storage FlashSystem devices do not require a data collector. However, if you need to add switches, hosts, and legacy systems, a data collector is essential. For more information about downloading and installing data collectors, see Downloading and installing data collectors.

Q5.2: Do I need to prepare my environment before getting started with IBM Storage Insights?

A5.2: Because IBM Storage Insights is an IBM Cloud service, getting started is a snap. However, every environment is different, so to ensure that your getting started experience goes smoothly, see this handy checklist for some hints and tips: Before you begin checklist for IBM Storage Insights.

Q5.3: What operating systems are supported for the data collector?

A5.3: You can install the data collector on the following operating systems:

• Windows Server 2016 and later.
• The Linux® data collector runs on 64-bit Linux operating systems on x86-64 and PPC64LE systems only. The supported Linux operating systems for x86-64 are Red Hat® Enterprise Linux 7 or later and CentOS 7 or later.
  The supported Linux operating system for PPC64LE is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x on POWER8® and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.x. on POWER10®. The data collector on Linux PPC64LE has the additional limitation that you cannot monitor IBM FlashSystem A9000, XIV, IBM Storage Accelerate, and non-IBM devices.

  Restriction: The data collector is not supported for Linux operating systems on IBM Power® systems (PPC64, Big Endian).
• POWER6 or later systems that use AIX® 7.x or later. The AIX data collector can run on a physical AIX installation or a logical partition (LPAR).

Tip: To avoid potential problems, ensure that the operating system on the server or virtual machine where you install the data collector has general or extended support for maintenance and security.

Important: IBM support for AIX 7.1 on POWER6 systems ends in April 2023. At that point, IBM Storage Insights will no longer support deploying data collectors to those platforms. It's strongly recommended that you deploy your data collectors to supported versions of AIX and POWER®® systems. For more information about end of support for AIX versions, AIX support lifecycle information.

Q5.4: What is involved in downloading data collectors?

A5.4: Data collectors are downloaded as compressed files that can be extracted and installed on any server that runs Windows, Linux, or AIX operating systems or virtual machines that have access to both the internal SAN attached infrastructure as well as access to the internet to communicate with the cloud portal.

See Downloading and installing data collectors.

Q5.5: What compute, network, and memory resources do data collectors use?

A5.5:The data collector is a light-weight application. On the server or virtual machine where you install the data collector, you must provide at least 1 GB of RAM and 3 GB of disk space.

Learn more about how disk space is used during service outages.

Q5.6: How can I configure the data collector to use a proxy server?

A5.6: You can specify whether you want to connect to a proxy server when you install the data collector. You can also add the user's credentials to authenticate with the proxy server.

See Adding or changing the connection to the proxy server.

Q5.7: What do I need to configure on my firewall to enable the data collector to access the IBM cloud?

A5.7: If you do not have a proxy server, then ensure that the default HTTPS port 443 is open on the firewall. You should not need to configure it for the FQDN.

Tip: If a firewall exists between the data collector and the storage systems that it monitors, configure the firewall to allow SNMP traffic.

Q5.8: Can I get a new data collector if something happens to my current data collector?

A5.8: If the data collector is deleted or otherwise stops operating, IBM Storage Insights Pro will be unable to gather any new information. Information that has already been collected by IBM Storage Insights Pro will be kept. To restart the data collection, download a data collector and reinstall it.

Q5.9: Can I install a data collector on the same system as my IBM Spectrum Control server?

A5.9: Yes, but you must monitor the memory and CPU usage of the IBM Spectrum Control server to ensure sufficient capacity for optimal performance.

Note: Data Collector Authentication:

When configuring username and password authentication for the data collector on your storage systems, it is recommended to use a dedicated user ID. Avoid using default or administrative accounts. This practice enhances security and enables more effective auditing.

Q5.10: Does IBM Storage Insights support customer multitenancy across multiple data centers?

A5.10: IBM Storage Insights does not currently support multitenancy. This means that if you're managing storage from multiple data centers, all users with access to your IBM Storage Insights service has visibility into all storage environments. To improve organization and visibility, you can manually set the location property for each storage system, which allows you to create custom dashboards for different locations, helping to segment storage views. Also, specifying the location property aids IBM Support in identifying the storage's physical location, which can facilitate more efficient troubleshooting.

Q5.11: Does the data collector need to be backed up? What about redundancy?

A5.11: It is recommended to install at least two data collectors for redundancy. If you're managing storage across multiple data centers, ensure that each location has at least two data collectors. You do not need to back up the data collector itself, as it doesn't store any collected data locally. All data is streamed directly to the cloud. If you need to reinstall the data collector, it is always available for download, ensuring that you get the latest version. However, if you're using a virtual machine (VM) for the data collector, consider backing up the VM image to simplify redeployment if there is an issue with the VM.

Q5.12: If IBM never sends anything to the data collector, how does it know what to do?

A5.12: The data collector regularly checks a job queue on IBM Cloud to determine its tasks, such as performing a support log collection. This setup ensures one-way communication: the data collector pushes data to the cloud and periodically checks the cloud for instructions on what actions to perform.

Q5.13: What data does IBM Storage Insights collect? How is it used?

A5.13: IBM Storage Insights collects two types of data: metadata for devices and diagnostic data for support logs.

Metadata for devices

The following metadata about your devices is collected regularly and streamed to IBM Storage Insights:

• Information about the status of a device and its internal resources.
• Information about the configuration of a device, such as name, firmware, and capacity.
• Information about the internal resources of a device, such as volumes, pools, nodes, ports, and disks. This information includes the names and the configuration and capacity metrics for each internal resource.
• Information about the performance of devices and internal resources such as pools, volumes, and ports.

This metadata is never stored locally, and is encrypted with 128-bit encryption while streaming and 256-bit encryption while at rest. For more information about the metadata that is collected and how it's used, check out the IBM Storage Insights Security Guide.

Diagnostic data for support logs

Support logs for your IBM block storage systems are only collected when a support ticket is open and you request it. The logs include diagnostic information so that IBM Support can more efficiently and quickly investigate and close tickets. In Blue Diamond environments, support logs are sent to a Blue Diamond Enhanced Secure Support environment, just as if you were to do it manually.

Important: IBM Storage Insights can't access the actual application data that is stored on your storage systems.

Q5.14: When is metadata and diagnostic data collected?

A5.14: IBM Storage Insights collects metadata about the configuration, status, capacity, and performance of your monitored devices. Diagnostic data is also collected into log packages and added to support tickets. The following types of tasks are used to collect that information:

Probes

Probes collect status, configuration, and capacity metadata once every 24 hours.

For some devices, additional probes are automatically run when specific events occur on those devices, or when many events are detected in a short time period. To avoid performance bottlenecks in those cases, probes are not run more than once every 20 minutes.

Performance Monitors

Performance Monitors collect performance metadata every 5 minutes.

• For Dell EMC storage systems that manage block storage, performance metadata is automatically collected every fifteen minutes.
• For IBM Spectrum® Scale storage systems that are enabled to collect performance metadata for file storage, the collection schedule can be configured when or after the storage system is added for monitoring. The intervals that can be selected for collecting performance metadata are every 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 minutes.

Tips:

• After probes and performance monitor run, the GUI is updated automatically to display the latest metadata for your monitored devices.
• Only metadata about your monitored devices is collected. The actual data that is stored on devices is never accessed or collected.

Q5.15: I want to configure a performance alert. What are the recommended values for performance thresholds?

A5.15: Performance thresholds vary based on the specific environment. It's best to review historical performance data to determine appropriate thresholds for metrics such as response time. For a new IBM Storage Insights Pro service, it is recommended to wait until you have at least two weeks of performance data before configuring the alerts, allowing for more informed decisions.

Q5.16: How will I know if a data collector stops working?

A5.16: You will get an email and a message is shown at the upper-right corner of the page on the GUI. To check the status of the data collector, you can click Configuration > Data Collectors.

Learn more Resolving connection issues.

Q5.17: How do I uninstall the data collector from a server and install it on a different server?

A5.17:To uninstall the data collector, log in as Administrator on Windows operating systems or as a user with root privileges on AIX or Linux operating systems. After you uninstall, remove the data collector entry in the GUI. You must log in to the GUI as Administrator.

To install the data collector, choose an operating system, copy or download the data collector to the server where you want to install it, extract the data collector, and then configure the data collector assignments and add checkmarks to the storage systems to be monitored by that new data collector. If you are not using assignments, no further action is needed.

See Removing and uninstalling data collectors and Downloading and installing data collectors.

Q5.18: When I add a storage system, I provide user credentials and an IP address for that storage system so IBM Storage Insights can collect metadata about it. Is that information stored onsite at my location or is it storage in the IBM Cloud?

A5.18: The user credentials and IP addresses that you provide for connecting to a storage system are encrypted and stored securely in the IBM Cloud instance for IBM Storage Insights. To collect metadata for the storage system, that information is transmitted over a secure channel to the locally installed data collector. The information is never stored on the host where the data collector is installed; it exists temporarily in the application memory for the data collector only.

Q5.19: Do the user credentials (user name and password) that I provide for connecting to a storage system have any special requirements?

A5.19: Yes. The role or user group that is assigned to the user name must have the appropriate privileges to collect configuration, capacity, and performance metadata about the storage system. The type of storage system and the metadata that you want to collect determine the privileges that are required.

Learn more User roles for collecting metadata.

Q5.20: How often can I collect performance metadata for the storage resources that I monitor with IBM Storage Insights Pro?

A5.20: The performance metadata for IBM storage systems that manage block storage is automatically collected every five minutes and the performance metadata for Dell EMC storage systems that manage block storage is automatically collected every fifteen minutes.

For IBM Storage Scale storage systems that are enabled to collect performance metadata for file storage, the collection schedule can be configured when or after the storage system is added. The intervals that can be selected for collecting performance metadata are every 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 minutes.

Q5.21: Do I need to back up my metadata on-premises in case a restore is required?

A5.21: No, and it's not necessary. A backup of all IBM Storage Insights metadata is automatically stored in the ISO-certified IBM cloud in the unlikely event that a restore is required.

Q5.22: Can I create different views of the dashboard?

A5.22: Yes. If you have the Administrator role in IBM Storage Insights, you can create dashboards to selectively monitor specific storage systems in your environment. For example, you might want a dashboard for each of your data centers that monitors all of the storage systems in the data center and another dashboard for your production systems.

If you don't have an Administrator role, contact a person within your organization who has that role to help create a custom dashboard for you.

See Creating customized dashboards to monitor your storage and Adding and removing users.

Q5.23: How can I add a DS8000 storage system that uses SSL 3 or earlier versions or that use MD5 signed certificates?

A5.23: See Adding DS8000 storage systems that use SSLv3 and MD5 signed certificates.

Q5.24: Are there any special characters that are restricted?

A5.24: When you define custom tags, specify alert policy names, customize device names, and enter other configurable text, avoid using the following special characters: $ ~ ` \ / [ ] | ; : ' " < >.

6. User IDs, roles, and access

Q6.1: Why do I need an IBM ID? How do I get one?

A6.1: You need an IBM ID and password to log in to IBM Storage Insights or the IBM Support portal. To register for an IBM ID, complete the following steps:

1. Go to Create your IBM account. The My IBM registration form is displayed.
2. Complete the form, create a password, and click Continue.
3. Review the information about email and communications. Check the boxes if appropriate.
4. Click Submit. You can now log in to IBM Storage Insights or the IBM Support portal with your IBM ID.

Tip: Your IBM ID is also your passport to IBM applications, services, communities, support, online purchasing, and more. The information that you provide is maintained and kept in a secure location. If you have any questions about IBM IDs, review the Help and FAQ for IBMids.

Q6.2: Who is notified when there are issues with the data collectors?

A6.2: By default, only the subscriber is notified. The subscriber can open a ticket to remove themselves from the notification list. The subscriber can also open a ticket to add or remove other email addresses from the subscription list.

Q6.3: How do I control access to IBM Storage Insights?

A6.3: By default, only the initial subscriber is authorized to use IBM Storage Insights Pro. To add or remove users and assign roles to users, go to your Products and services page. Alternatively, you can go to the IBM Storage Community or contact IBM Support at IBM Marketplace. To assign a role, you must provide, the IBM ID of the user, the user's user name, the email address of the user, and the type of role you want to assign to the user.

Q6.4: Can I control the information that is visible to specific users?

A6.4: No, currently all users are able to view all of the information that is shown in IBM Storage Insights Pro.