* SAN change management software
Change management reins in SANs
By Ron Alon
Most problems in storage-area networks, including those that are the most difficult to find and fix, stem from SAN changes that cause errors. Someone disconnects the wrong cable, unbeknownst to SAN managers, for example; or a storage technician makes a typing error when adding logical-unit-number masking for a new volume but managers find the error during downtime.
SAN change management software manages SAN change and growth by identifying and analyzing errors and vulnerabilities before, during and after change implementation. The software lets administrators more quickly identify and repair errors in SANs, predict the effect of planned changes before implementation, monitor the implementation to ensure correct execution and gain better control through change processes that coordinate activity among dispersed groups responsible for making changes. By automating these processes, organizations can gain dramatic improvements in risk and cost reduction of their SAN environments.
Without SAN change management, organizations are challenged to manage SAN changes and events with error-prone and time-consuming manual techniques and cumbersome spreadsheets. To validate the effect of a zone change, for example, a storage administrator has to compare and correlate data from a host bus adapter details spreadsheet, storage masking spreadsheet and zoning database. As a result, administrators spend many hours managing changes and change-induced problems, but extra manpower can’t solve the problem. A storage manager must understand how a single change in a SAN can affect several thousand paths.
SAN change management software is composed of a server and a client GUI that can be executed on separate machines. The server logic comprises an impact analysis engine, change identification engine and path correlation engine.
First, the software establishes a baseline map of the entire SAN environment that is stored in a configuration data repository. The map captures device data and configuration information, including all physical devices, cables, and logical access paths and dependencies between components such as storage devices, servers and switches. The server performs all the mapping and continuously communicates with all SAN devices. It analyzes any configuration change and correlates events and device data to generate a uniform, accurate picture of a SAN and its access paths.
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https://www.nwfusion.com/news/tech/2004/122004techupdate.html?nlt
