Onaro upgrades storage change management software, adds application monitoring

Onaro, a storage service management provider, on Monday is expected to launch a new version of its storage-area networking management suite that allows administrators to allocate storage by application rather than host computer.

SANscreen Foundation Version 3.5 includes the ability to map applications to storage resources, a new more granular method for tracking service quality, new capacity planning capability and a new portal for monitoring SAN activity and changes.

"We really didn't have any tools that gave us good visibility into the SAN,” says Raul Robledo, storage specialist for Affinion Group in Trumble, Conn. “While we knew how the SAN was configured and who had what, it was a pretty much manual process -- we had to look at individual management applications for each SAN device we had."

Robledo chose Onaro's SANscreen Foundation after doing a proof of concept with HP's Storage Essentials to manage his SAN comprised of Brocade switches, EMC Clariion disk arrays and a 3Par array.

The new software lets storage managers view the allocation of storage to a particular resource not just by host computer but also by the application running on the SAN. The software identifies and monitors the interaction all the devices in the SAN environment with the applications running on the SAN -- how much storage capacity the application gets, the level of access the application gets, its recoverability and the level of performance being generated for that application.

“This capability will be good for us because we can lump together all the storage having to do with a particular application," says Robledo.

SANscreen Foundation also lets storage administrators measure SAN uptime, as well as degradation of SAN performance that may affect uptime. Storage managers can define policies regarding service quality and monitor and report on it.

SANscreen Foundation’s change repository contains all changes to devices and service and the allocation of new volumes and ports. The software uses this information to report on allocation trending for both storage arrays and Fibre Channel ports.

A new IT storage portal can be viewed and monitored by others in the enterprise business. Application owners such as database administrators or even server administrators can use this portal to view storage service information for an application or service.

“The old portal is a little cumbersome right now although it’s better than what we ever had before," says Robledo who is looking to put in Storage Foundation Version 3.5. "With the new portal, we can give visibility to more storage-savvy database administrators. They can get a firsthand view of for themselves and I don’t have to chase those down.”

SANscreen Foundation competes with software such as CA's BrightStor SAN Designer, EMC's ControlCenter San Advisor and HP Storage Essentials.

Onaro SANscreen Foundation Version 3.5 is expected to be available at the end of the year starting at $185 per port.

Read more about data center in Network World's Data Center section.