Managing a Virtualized environment can be as challenging as an equivalent physical environment. Many of the same tasks still need to be performed. Some tasks at the physical level get reduced. But in many instances, there are the same number, or more instances of operating system images. Let's examine core management tasks performed in the data center and how Dell partners with industry leading vendors to help customers with those tasks.

Systems Management Tasks

One way to think of mangement is by break the complete solution into its component parts. Every enterprise class solution consists of at least three components; the physical server, the OS, and the application. And each of these components has four core management tasks performed against them; deployment, monitoring, optimizing, and maintaining.

If we stack these components and tasks, it might look like this :

• Deploy - Installation of the server, os, or application.

• Monitor - Alerting and monitoring tasks. Is server, OS, and app alive and healthy ?
• Optimize - Are VMs running where they should ? Is the server, OS, app at capacity ?
• Maintain - Patch management, bios updates, inventory, backup, recovery, etc.

This represents the lifecycle of all enterprise class solutions. They must be deployed, monitored, optimized and maintained. Deployment is typically a one time operation. The other three are in a constant circular relationship. You monitor the solution for failure or performance, then optimize for better performance, maintain bios, firmware, or patches to keep the performance, then start the cycle all over again.

Dell offers solutions in this stack and partners with industry leading vendors for other solutions in this stack. There is some level of overlap, so lets examine which product works best for each piece of the total solution.

Deploy

Dell and Dell's partners offer many different solutions for deployment or provisioning of servers and solutions. Typically deployment of a solution is thought of as a one time process. In the virtualized environment, VMs may be redeployed many times throughout the day due to changing workload or environmental conditions.

Deployment tools offered from Dell

Monitor

Monitoring is critical to the success of any enterprise class solution. You can't manage what you don't measure, a typical mantra often cited. It is true to these solutions as well. You must have the proper tools to measure, then baseline that measurement, and constantly monitor any differences in your baseline. Only then can you know if any changes to the solution are affecting in positively or negatively.

You must also be able to monitor for any problems in the solution. You don't want you first alert of a problem to be the CEO saying that they can't access their email.

Hardware based tools :

BMC (Baseboard Managment Controller)
DRAC (Dell Remote Access Controller)

Software based :
OpenManage Server Administrator
Dell IT Assistant
OMSA (Dell OpenManage Management Station Application)
Microsoft MOM

Multi-vendor integration :
CA Unicenter
HP OpenView
IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console (TEC)
Symantec ?

Optimize

PlateSpin
Vizioncore

Maintain

Dell OpenManage Subscription Service
Altiris Patch Management Solution
Microsoft SMS - MOM
Dell IT Assistant
Symantec

We've written a script to help with the automated installation of ESX patches.

Systems Management Deployment Guides/Whitepapers

Installing Dell OpenManage in a VMware ESX Server Software Environment This document descibes the supported OMSA versions, necessary steps to install and configure OMSA and IT Assistant to manage VMware ESX Servers.

Configuring Dell OpenManage IT Assistant 8.0 to Monitor SNMP Traps Generated by VMware ESX Server This paper talks about configuring Dell™ OpenManage™ IT Assistant Version 8.0 to recognize and monitor SNMP traps generated by VMware ESX Server™ software. This is achieved by integrating VMware SNMP MIBs with IT Assistant.

Proactive Maintenance and Adaptive Power Management using Dell OpenManage Systems Management for VMware DRS Clusters By Balasubramanian Chandrasekaran, Puneet Dhawan - Dec 2006 Dell Virtualization Solutions Engineering describes how administrators can combine Dell's OpenManage Systems Management suite with the cluster resources of VMware Infrastructure 3 to achieve proactive maintenance that enhances service continuity and adaptive power utilization that further drives down power and cooling costs.

Implementing Fault-tolerance through Dell Open Manage and the VMware Software Development Kit By Dave Jaffe, Ph.D and Todd Muirhead - March 2005 For server consolidation, fault tolerance and ease of administration, many enterprises have moved all or part of their data center applications onto virtual machines using VMware ESX Server running on multiple Dell servers.