Documentation forStorage Resource Monitor

Monitor IBM FlashSystem (REST API) arrays in SRM

IBM FlashSystem5200 and 5300, IBM FlashSystem 7200 and 7300, IBM FlashSystem 9100, 9200 and 9500 arrays are monitored through a RESTful onboard API.

For information on enabling the array, see the Enable an IBM FlashSystem (REST API) array knowledge base article.

After the array is enabled, you can begin monitoring as described in Add your storage array for monitoring with SRM.

Hardware Health Monitoring is available for the following sensors in the IBM FlashSystem arrays:

  • Batteries

  • Disks

  • Ethernet ports

  • SAS ports

  • Power supply

Supported versions and models

The minimum supported firmware for IBM FlashSystem is 8.7.0.

Supported models include IBM FlashSystem 5200 and 5300, IBM FlashSystem 7200 and 7300, and IBM FlashSystem 9100, 9200, and 9500.

Architecture

IBM FlashSystem is a block storage array that works in active/active mode. It supports several capacity savings methods, such as thin-provisioning and compression. Hardware Healthi is supported.

Display of data in SRM

The specificity of data displayed in SRM results from limitations or gaps in the REST API specification.

Topology

Topology supports only iSCSI connections in current implementation.

Disks

Disk types are displayed in the same vendor GUI (for instance, "tier1_flash," rather than SSD, HDD).

Volumes

When a volume enters a "down" state, it becomes read-only. If a volume has copies, but none are thin-provisioned copies, the volume is thick. If required properties are not available, the 'Thin' property is null.

Errors

From time to time, IBM Storage Virtualize REST API may restart for no reason. In logs, users may see the following sequence of errors:

  1. (Potentially) HTTP 409 error displays with the message "error code: 1, error text:" (for Isvdisk) or HTTP 200 (OK) with bad JSON response.

  2. HTTP 502 errors for a short period.

  3. HTTP 401 "Invalid Token"response for all retry attempts (mandatory). In addition, a restart may cause the following deserialization problem too:

    Error SolarWinds.SRM.Polling.HttpApiClient.Exceptions.RequestManagerErrorHandler - Unable to get response for: https://{{ip}}:7443/rest/v1/lsvdisk, with error: Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException: Unexpected end when deserializing object.

    From the SRM Dashboard, the array status is unreachable for a while. To fix it, initiate rediscovery or wait for the next polling, which may be successful.

API limits

The number of sessions to the REST API is counted per IP address (user). SolarWinds recommends that other users avoid using the API while SRM polls to prevent polling problems. Limits include the following:

  • Max active connections per cluster: 4 requests

  • Max requests/sec to auth endpoint: 3 requests

  • Max requests/sec to command endpoints: 10 requests

Array

Array status is calculated on its node statuses.

  • Array status is up if node status is one of the following: active, online, spare, or online-spare

  • Array status is down if any node has an offline status.

  • Array status is warning if node has one of the following states: service, flusing, pending, adding, or deleting

Pool

In IBM FlashSystem storage, an MDisk group is also known as a storage pool. If it contains MDisks with different RAID types, then the RaidType property will look similar to the following example: Mixed: RAID 5, RAID 10