ArrayconfigAnalyzer.

exe
Author: Dean Drinnan
[email protected]
Last Updated: 11-Aug-2011

Table Of Contents

Overview.............................................................................................................................. 2
Installation/Prerequisites............................................................................................. 3
Data Collection................................................................................................................... 3
Operation............................................................................................................................. 5
General Notes/Warnings........................................................................................................ 5
Tabs.............................................................................................................................................. 5
Main............................................................................................................................................................ 5
Reports/Charts/Diagrams................................................................................................................. 5
Storage Processors................................................................................................................................ 6
Disks............................................................................................................................................................ 6
Luns............................................................................................................................................................. 6
Hosts........................................................................................................................................................... 6
Remote Replication............................................................................................................................... 6
NaviAnalyzer........................................................................................................................................... 7
Utilities.................................................................................................................................................... 11
 Overview
IMPORTANT: This is an “Internal Only” application.
It contains Intellectual Property that helps differentiate EMC from other
consulting providers
DO NOT DISTRIBUTE TO CUSTOMERS/PARTNERS.

ArrayconfigAnalyzer is intended to assist with extracting/analyzing

configuration (& performance) information for CLARiiON/VNX block storage
It has a particular Presales & Post Sales focus that is not intended to replace any
existing analysis tools.

In short, it is intended to reformat data into a user-friendly format to assist with

Tech Refresh and incremental revenue campaigns

Once data is collected and imported, the tool is intuitive to use to extract relevant
configuration reports/data
N.B. The version that contains Navianalyzer tools is intended for advanced users
that already have a good understanding of array performance counters/issues.
i.e. There are no apologies/excuses. You need to know what you’re looking
for.

This utility is constantly being enhanced. It does not cover all areas but at this
stage there is sufficient functionality to be of value to the field.
e.g. As at 07-Apr-2011 Remote replication only covers Mirrorview/S. Other
replication technologies (both Remote & Local) will be added as time permits.

Online Help
While no formal online help is yet available, some tool tips are provided for
“some” functions. Hover over the button for 2 seconds for a tool tip to appear

If you have any feedback (good or otherwise) or enhancement suggestions

please contact the author [email protected]
 Installation/Prerequisites
If provided as a zip file, the password (if any) to extract files will be “emc”
(Case sensitive & no quotes)

The ArrayconfigAnalyzer utility is a standalone executable that will install into

Start Menu folder called “VNX Tools”

If a previous version is already installed, please deinstall first via “Control

Panel/Programs and Features”

ArrayconfigAnalyzer has been successfully installed on Windows7 &WindowsXP

operating systems (Both physical & Virtual)

To use all functions in the “Utilities” tab you will need to have Naviseccli installed
as well as the Naz Decryption utility.
These are not supplied as EMC provides access to these utilities for personnel
with appropriate access privileges

Data Collection
Configuration Data
ArrayconfigAnalyzer imports an Arrayconfig.xml file

This can be collected by two methods:

1) Extracting from SPCollect file (Flare28 or greater only)
The spcollect file will be a .zip archive that ends in “_data.zip”
e.g.

Inside that zip file is another archive that ends in “_sus.zip”

e.g.

The Arrayconfig.xml file is contained in this “_sus.zip” archive

 Note: You only need to import one Arrayconfig.xml file from either Storage
Processor

2) The Utilities Tab has a function to create a batch file for you to send to
your customer.
Fill out what fields you know then save & rename the .bat to .txt for emailing
to your customer.
The one pre-requisite is that Navisphere Secure CLI is installed for the batch
file to run
There are only a few lines that need to be modified in the batch file
(Examples below)

Change the "set" commands to reflect the system you want to collect the data
from
i.e. Storage Processor IP addresses, Unique identifier Names/Dates, Login
Credentials for the array & the path to the Secure CLI
Please don't use spaces when modifying the parameters

setmySPAipaddress=10.32.37.36
setmySPBipaddress=10.32.37.37
setarrayidentifier=CX4-480
setmydate=20100816
set username=admin
set password=password
setnaviclipath="C:\Program Files\EMC\Navisphere CLI\naviseccli"

Once the changes have been made, rename the text file with a ".bat" extension
then execute
This will create two files with a ".xml" extension.
Please zip these files and return them for analysis

Performance Data
ArrayconfigAnalyzer.exe imports a .CSV file that has been generated from a
“.NAR” file

Utilities are provided to perform NAR to CSV conversions as well as NAZ to NAR
conversions. You will to:
a) Install NAVISECCLI version 30 or better
b) Provide a copy of the NAZ decryption utility

Please see “Operation” section of this document

 Operation

General Notes/Warnings
 Notes
o Please read the legends on generated diagrams etc. I have tried to
make the tool as “Self Documenting” as possible
 Warnings
o Exporting Tables/Reports to Excel
 Occasionally the first attempt can fail. Typically the second
and subsequent attempts work OK. This may be a timing
issue with invoking an Excel instance.
o Datagrid/Table views will sort alphabetically irrespective of
whether the column is numeric or not

TABS

Main
Import Arrayconfig XML
The arrayconfig XML file contains configuration data to be extracted &
reformatted.
It is also used by the Navianalyzer functions to correlate data such as
Raidgroups/Storagegroups/Luns to performance data

Clear Sheets
Clear/Reset all data including Navianalyzer

Generate Customer Report

Export commonly used information to an Excel workbook
e.g.
Capacities, Enabled Software, Disk Layout

Software DataGrid
Sort by “Revision” column to quickly identify currently enabled packages
Reports/Charts/Diagrams
Buttons are provided for custom reports. There is no configuration required etc.
All report buttons available on individual tabs have a copy consolidated onto the
“Reports/Charts/Diagrams” tab

Disk Layout Diagram

Disk Layout Diagram with extra data such as disk rotational speed and DAE types
etc.
Please read the legend at the top of the diagram
All disk diagrams allow for up to 25 disks per DAE
Lun Layout Diagram
Use the Tag/Clear buttons to select/clear individual components
(RG’s/Luns/Storagegroups). You can also Tag/Clear manually or use other
features such as string matching etc.
Once the relevant components have been tagged, you must propagate those
changes using the update buttons to identify/tag the relationships

In the resultant diagram:

Features such as Raidgroups owned by Pools or replicated Luns will have
appropriately coloured borders. Please read the diagram legend for details

Port Fanout Diagram

Is a snapshot of the array’s connectivity database. It is not a physical topology
diagram but a representation of SPPort/HBA/Server/Storagegroup Registration
& Logged-In status.

If a line appears red it does not necessarily mean there is a fault. It merely means
that HBA path is “currently” registered but not logged in. e.g. The host could be
switched off or the HBA has been replaced but the connectivity database is yet to
be cleaned up.

Storage Processors
SP Data & Reports

Disks
Disk Data & Reports

Luns
Lun Data & Reports

Hosts
Host Data & Reports
Remote Replication
As at 20110504 Mirrorview/S is the only replication data available on this tab

NaviAnalyzer

Please Note:
This section is for advanced users. It provides features that allow you to easily
extract specific data & reformat it
While there are a number of reports available e.g. Disk Utilisation HEAT Map &
Raid Group/Lun skew

Notes/Observations:
Merged NAR files do not appear to show FAST Cache counters e.g. MB/s Flushed
etc. whereas individual NAR files do.

Use the “Import Performance Data” button to import a .CSV created from a .NAR
file. Please use the “Utilities” tab to create that .CSV (See Utilities section in this
document for more details)

Once imported there are options to select specific components e.g. Storage
Processors/Ports/Disks/Luns/Pools and their relevant counters

Other options will allow you to:

 Select specific chart type. E.g. Stacked area chart shows the sum of all
counters for things such as Total Throughput/Bandwidth etc.
 Select a specific chart Y axis scale (or auto)
 Select specific number of legend headings e.g. When charting 600+ disk
drives, showing legend headings has little meaning and reduces the size of
the chart
 Plot Options (Fix Anomalies). Allows you to remove some common
anomalies such as:
o Erroneous large response time spikes for metalun components (i.e.
Replace values greater than specified value with another specified
value)
o Plot previous value if this value is Zero

NavianalyzerButtons
Does what it says. Extracts the selected counters and plots the chart using the
options selected

Will chart values for that bus only. Will allow you to view the disk counters for a
particular bus
Extracts the selected counters only and opens another window.
This new window has many more options for viewing selected data or filtering
extracted data

Important: To gain more meaningful data you must have the relevant
Arrayconfig.xml imported prior to using this feature. With the
Arrayconfig.xmlit will correlate Lun/Disk to Raidgroup relationships,
Identify Private Luns&Metalun Components etc.

Features in this new window:

 Clear Private Luns/Metalun Components etc. (Otherwise some counters
will be “Double Counted”)
 Select/View individual components
o Tag by string or values > specified value
o Tag Luns/RG’s using a custom list
 Export the selected components to .CSV or Excel for further
investigation/Charting
 Calculate Totals for Average/Peak/Average+StdDeviation
o Warning: These are totals of all these numbers. e.g. The totals of
all “Peaks” is a Worst Case Scenario. i.e. If all the peaks lined up at
once
 Calculate Read/Write ratio for:
o Throughput
o Bandwidth
o Cache Hits/S
 “Heat Maps”
o Disk Utilisation heat maps can be drawn for Average, Peak and
Avg+StdDeviation values.
 If Arrayconfig data is imported then extra disk data is
provided. Otherwise only %utilization
o Disk Average +Std Deviation throughput vs Rule Of Thumb
throughput maximums colour coded as a percentage of that ROT
maximum.
 Arrayconfig data must be imported to ascertain disk type &
rotational speed
 Raidgroup/Lun Skew
o Provides;
 Performance per component expressed as a % of all
 Capacity per component expressed as a % of all
 Skew index: The skew of this component expressed as a %
of all skews. i.e. Identify components with highest
Performance vs Capacity
o This will provide a view to performance vs capacity. E.g. 70% of
throughput is being provided by 20% of capacity
o IMPORTANT: These skew figures are LUN/RG skew & NOT sub
lun. Use the UBLA utility etc. for more accurate skew calculations
o FYI: Performing FAST Cache Before/After comparisons have
produced some interesting/impressive numbers. E.g. 30% array
performance being provisioned from 0.13% of array capacity
Utilities

Path to Executables:
Use the buttons to change the path to Naviseccli.exe and the NAZ Decryption
executable. The changes are persistent, as they will be written to “c:\temp\
arrayconfiganalyzer.ini” which is read whenever the application is started

Contains functions to:

1) Convert .NAZ to .NAR
a. You must supply the NAZ Decryption utility yourself (If you are
entitled you will have access to this utility)
2) Merge .NAR files into a single .NAR for analysis of longer time periods
a. You must have NaviSecCLI V30 or greater installed
3) Convert .NAR to .CSV
a. You must have NaviSecCLI V30 or greater installed
4) Extract “Black Data” from .NAR files (via Convert .NAR to .CSV button).
This can provide some extra configuration information directly from
a .NAR file in the absence of an Arrayconfig.xml file.
a. Please note that at this stage the “Extract Black Data” functions will
just extract the data and place it into a .CSV file. The feature does
not import that data into the tool (yet).

Notes:
a) The conversion/merge utilities allow you to select multiple files
without the need to manually type commands or create batch files
b) Merging NAR files will sequentially take 2 files and merge into a single
“Archivemerged” file. It will then merge the next Nar with this merged
NAR (& so on). The more Nar files you merge the longer it takes as the
merged file grows. (It’s still a lot quicker than doing it manually)
c) Merging multiple NAR files can create very large datasets. While it’s
nice to view a weeks worth of data in can take a while to process
charts etc.
E.g. A merged Nar file of 100MB can create a .CSV file with over 1
million lines of data.
I have personally worked with merged files of 1.5million lines and
over 1,000 data points. The main delay is when plotting charts with
many components e.g. Disks
d) Memory Considerations: This utility is predominantly memory
resident. If you start ingesting large performance datasets you will
consume a bunch more memory. I haven’t hit any ceilings yet, but the
large merged NAR file referenced earlier was consuming approx. 1GB
of system memory.