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TKU March 2008 - Identify and Model VMware Infrastructure

March TKU models VMware Infrastructure (VI3) key components and dependencies out of the box enabling organizations to:

• Track virtual sprawl by identifying VMware ESX servers not under management by Virtual Center

• Enable VirtualCenter consolidation initiatives by mapping VMware ESX servers to VirtualCenters

• Verify resiliency of VMware ESX servers by identifying which servers have High Availability and Vmotion enabled, and Consolidated Backup.

ESX Server Managed by VirtualCenter

The image above shows that the ESX server is managed by VMware VirtualCenter version 2.5 running on a host named win-tibco.

Elements Managed by VirtualCenter

The image above shows the VMware ESX running on lonesxserv01 and its associated VMware Infrastructure software are being managed by VMware VirtualCenter running on a host named win-tibco.

ESX Server with High Availability and VMotion enabled

 The image above shows the ESX server running on a host named lonesxserv01 has both High Availability and VMotion Enabled

ESX Server with Consolidated Backup

 The image above shows that VMware ESX servers being managed by VMware VirtualCenter have VMware Consolidated Backup running.

ESX Server Virtual Infrastructure

 The image above shows servers lonserv01 and lonserv02 running VMware ESX servers along with their associated VMware Infrastructure components. In this case it can be seen that both ESX servers: are 1) running as a High Availability cluster, 2) have VMotion enabled and 3) have Consolidated Backup installed.

TKU April 2008 - Identify IBM and Citrix Virtualization

This page provides a taste of just a few of the benefits provided by TKU April. Click here for a list of all products identified by TKU April

April TKU extends Tideways coverage of virtualization products to include IBM AIX LPARs / WPAR and Citrix XenServer.

In addition the level of completeness of the BMC Patrol pattern is increased to identify installed Knowledge Modules which enables modeling of the appropriate Performance Manager licensable entity. Dependencies between 'Patrol_ agents and _BMC Performance Manager Portal management servers are now also mapped.

Citrix Xen Server

Previously known as XenSource Enterprise, Citrix Xen Server is the Enterprise level Virtualisation product based around the Xen Hypervisor.

The Xen Server pattern triggers on the Xen Bus process. Once triggered it identifies whether the host is running a Citrix Xen instance, due to the fact that the Xen Bus process can run on XenSource servers and Xen Domains running Unix-like operating systems.

The checks that are used check for specific files and commands that are present on Xen Domains and the Citrix Xen Server.

If the pattern is confident that it has identified a valid instance it produces a Software Instance for the Citrix Xen Server, once this has been modeled it goes on to model all domains identified on the host.

For the Citrix Xen Control Center pattern we simply trigger on the process and model the Software Instance, only a single instance of the Control Center can be running on the host at any given time.

We create two sets of relationships between the Software Instances, we create communication relationships between the Server and Domains and the Server and Xen Control Center.

IBM AIX System p Hardware (LPAR)

IBM-AIX-System-p-Hardware supports Logical Partitioning (LPAR), and more specifically Dynamic Logical Partitioning, giving the capability to the logical partition to be reconfigured dynamically, without shutting down. It enables memory, CPU capacity and I/O interfaces to be moved between LPARs.

This pattern is a Consolidation pattern - AIX LPARs (and the virtual hosts within them) running on a System p host are 'consolidated' within a Host Container that represents the System p hardware frame.

BMC Performance Manager

We can now model BMC-Performance-Manager and BMC-Performance-Manager-Portal in a manner that clearly displays their interrelationships and enabled features.

We can model relationships among BMC Performance Manager Portal Console Server, BMC Performance Manager Portal RT Server, BMC Patrol Agent and BMC Performance Manager.

Furthermore, we can report on the Editions of BMC Performance Manager that are deployed, and the Knowledge Modules that are enabled in each BMC Patrol Agent.

Below are many examples of our Software Map.

BMC Performance Manager Editions

This Screenshot shows how a BMC Performance Manager SI can display a list of deployed Editions of the product. The SI infers the correct Editions from a list of Knowledge Modules that are enabled in the related BMC Patrol Agent SI.

BMC Patrol Agent Knowledge Modules

This Screenshot presents a comprehensive list of Knowledge Modules enabled in the first BMC Patrol Agent SI, and only the Event Management Knowledge Module enabled in the second Software Instance.

BMC Performance Manager and BMC Performance Manager Portal

This Screenshot presents a global visualization of BMC Performance Manager components and their interrelationships. You can see a Software Instance of BMC Performance Manager Console Server managing a BMC Performance Manager RT Server. Furthermore, two different BMC Patrol Agent Software Instances report to the RT Server, and for each of these BMC Patrol Agent Software Instances there is an associated Software Instance of BMC Performance Manager.

TKU May 2008 - BEA Products & VMware ESX Patch Info

The May TKU release focuses on modeling a variety of BEA products , specifically BEA AquaLogic Service Bus and BEA Tuxedo, with a focus on their licensing status.

Furthermore, May TKU adds an important feature to its already-in-place VMware ESX Server pattern: we are now able to report on all the patches that are installed on each ESX Server and display a related description and summary.

BEA AquaLogic Service Bus

We are now able to identify installations of BEA-AquaLogic-Service-Bus and report on their licensing status. We identify BEA AquaLogic Service Bus as a component of BEA-WebLogic-Application-Server, and the presence on a system of that component can be determined by either looking directly at the WebLogic Software Instance, or by running a Report.

BEA AquaLogic in a WebLogic Software Instance

This Screenshot displays a Software Instance of BEA WebLogic Application Server. On the lower part of the ScreenShot you can clearly see the presence of AquaLogic installed.

BEA AquaLogic in a Report

This Screenshot displays a Report of two BEA WebLogic Application Server Software Instances. You can see that the three different Software Instances contain an installation of AquaLogic, whereas two more Software Instances aren't able to determine the AquaLogic status.

You can outline a similar Report as follows:

BEA Tuxedo

We model a Software Instance for BEA-Tuxedo, which contains its licensing status. This status is visible in the Software Instance, and can alternatively be reported upon.

BEA Tuxedo Licensing in a Software Instance

This Screenshot displays a Software Instance of BEA Tuxedo, and it comprises License Status and Expiry Date, plus additional data such as Serial Number and Unique Connections allowed.

BEA Tuxedo Licensing in a Report

This screenshot displays a Report of two Software Instances of BEA Tuxedo. While the upper contains License Status, the lower doesn't.

A similar report may be outlined as follows:

VMware ESX Server Patches

We are now able to identify each specific VMware Patch that was installed on an ESX Server. The patches that are installed are visible from each Software Instance, or they can alternatively be reported upon.

VMware ESX Server Patches in a Software Instance

This Screenshot displays a Software Instance of VMware ESX Server Daemon. In the lower part of the ScreenShot, you can clearly see how two patches were installed on this ESX Server. You can see their Patch Name, Summary and Release date.

VMware ESX Server Patches in a Report

This Screenshot displays a Report of a VMware ESX Server Daemon Software Instance. There Report was specifically designed to return any VMware ESX Server Daemon Software Instance which had an ESX-1003523 Patch installed. As you can see, the Report also displays the other patches that may be installed on the ESX Server, in a comma-separated list.

A similar Report may be outlined as follows;