Storage Engineer
Modern data centers take on many forms, however the foundation for the most flexible designs are constructed utilizing Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI). Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE’s) modern data center management software, OneView, is purpose-built for SDI and allows configuration of all elements including deployment and health monitoring. This robust tool provides template-driven provisioning, updating, and is an integration point for your enterprise compute, storage, firmware/device drivers, and network infrastructure platforms, using both Ethernet switches and Fibre Channel switches. Rigorous standards are vital to provide a consistent lifecycle from deployment through management and, leveraging OneView, the approach is the same whether you are a Fortune 1000 or Fortune 5 enterprise.
Where are You on the Journey to the Modern Data Center?
Perhaps you have just begun, or are mid-way, or even nearing completion of your data center modernization. Regardless of your current locale or hybrid destination, your SDI tool must support a prescriptive approach for infrastructure management from Day 1 and beyond as integration and support are essential services to the IT lifeblood. What does that mean? After the hardware has been deployed, the remainder of the infrastructure is deployed as code (IaC). That is done through multiple channels such as:
- running your environment on proven hardware solutions which must scale up and/or out while providing security.
- simplifying operations and support efforts not just to the dev/test teams but flowing all the way to the operations organizations.
- using a software stack that is easy to use, works at scale, and is extensible to your comprehensive partner ecosystem.
HPE OneView allows your enterprise to deploy an infrastructure via a converged management offering that supports Software Defined constructs (SDx). The easiest way for that to happen is via a common API. By leveraging an API-driven ecosystem you can bring in all your third-party systems or vice versa. Examples include VMware vCenter and Microsoft System Center. Think of coupling integration with these powerful tools to better position your enterprise.
In all matters of information technology, being as prescriptive as possible is key to your success. Some organizations do that through automation, removing as much human intervention and thus human errors as possible. Most enterprises restrict staff access to the data center to just a handful of team members while others utilize deployment repositories that are built and then scanned with their enterprise security tools. Regardless, all IT organizations should leverage the best tools and practices to help them work smarter and accomplish as much as possible so they can free up time for innovation. Whatever avenue you take, limit the errors and ad-hoc changes as much as possible!
Automation with HPE OneView
OneView is built around an HTML 5 interface and leverages a template-driven approach to provisioning and updating and integrating compute, storage firmware/device drivers, and networking to decrease human errors. You can automate day-to-day tasks, auto-detecting new hardware which is then prepared for monitoring and management. In addition, automation can benefit your enterprise regardless of whether the workload is running on traditional infrastructure or in the cloud. You could be on VMware, MSFT, OpenStack, or a mixture of any or all of the above. OneView supports Dev/Ops for rapid app development, but if your enterprise relies more on commercial off the shelf (COTS) products, know that it is extensible into platforms such as ServiceNow and others, supporting workflows to rapidly provide value to operations teams.
Other forms of automation are available through integration with the native Microsoft PowerShell library which you can download from GitHub (POSH-HPOneView) or you can incorporate the leading IT automation tool Red Hat Ansible by downloading and utilizing the OneView Ansible collection. If you want to leverage just the native tools, do so with the HPE OneView Python SDK. Keep in mind other top automation tools are also supported, such as Chef, Puppet, and HashiCorp’s Terraform by OneView.
HPE OneView Data Center Management Capabilities
So, you might be asking what features are included and what types of HPE products are supported by OneView. The list below is not exhaustive, however it highlights various OneView capabilities that bring value to your enterprise.
- Automate 3PAR Volume creation and SAN zoning
- Automate Nimble Volume provisioning
- Manage snapshot of volumes
- Attach the storage volumes to server profiles
- Manage from the UI of 3PAR and Nimble
- Agentless touch-free system health monitoring allows for the health status of the storage subsystem and issues alerts when there is a change in status. This includes SAN connectivity.
- Create server profile templates for rapid and consistent deployments
- HPE ProLiant DL server volume provisioning
- Manage Gen 8-10 agentless by monitoring via Integrated Lights Out (iLO) and SNMP in Read Only (RO) to the iLO only rather than to the host operating system
- Agentless resource monitoring for Gen 8, 9, and 10 servers
- Monitor HPE ProLiant DL Gen 6 and 7 servers
- Manage your c-Class Blade System servers with Onboard Administrator (OA) integration
- Manage your Virtual Connect architecture from HPE OneView
- Manage from the UI of ProLiant, HPE Synergy, and Blade Systems
- Collects and reports CPU utilization and power and temp history for DC
- Integrate with HPE intelligent PDUs (iPDUs)
- Locate resources quickly via a universal search that allows local context searching or search the global index
HPE Synergy appliances are powered by OneView to manage the composable infrastructure. I would also pair OneView with the industry-leading HPE Infosight SaaS utility to simplify your hybrid cloud and make these two my top go-to tools!
Advantages of HPE OneView
Scale Currently, the global dashboard supports up to 75 appliances and 20,000 servers. It can also support up to 25,000 concurrent users and 740 server profiles and templates.
Competition Like everything in IT, there are many ways to do things. OneView competitors are Cisco UCS Manager, Dell Open Manage, Lenovo Xclarity, Huawei Fusion, eSight, and VCE Vision, however none have such a complete offering as OneView or offer a comparable level of API and ecosystem integration.
Tools Replaced Perhaps you are a seasoned HPE veteran and are wondering what tools OneView replaces. The two vital products replaced are HP SIM (VCEM) and Virtual Connect (VC). In addition, it replaces cloud matrix tool(s). As OneView evolves, look for more HPE tools to be sunset, again reinforcing HPE’s goal of making this the go-to tool.
Editions / Licensing OneView is licensed per physical server and there are three editions to choose from:
- Standard – No license fee, however 9×5 support does have costs. Utilize this edition for inventory, health monitoring, alerting, and reporting without additional fees.
- OneView Advanced without iLO
- OneView Advanced with iLO
Upgrade Path Customers can upgrade from HPE SIM (VCEM) to OneView.
Updates The thought of owning and managing yet another tool can be daunting for any IT organization. With OneView, updates are as simple as downloading the current OneView image and then installing it. Then just use the update image file(s), log in to the appliance, and select Settings > Appliance > Actions > Update Appliance. Don’t overlook the best practice of downloading a current backup of the appliance files prior to starting your upgrade process.
Summary
HPE OneView offers numerous benefits for mid-range through large-scale enterprises, including deployment and monitoring, all through a common API and existing IT operations management UI. It has the potential to simplify IT tool use in your enterprise. It supports automation through powerful add-ons such as Ansible or use of native tools like PowerShell or Python. As you know, I can’t cover all the detail here in a single blog, however you can learn more by reaching out to your Mainline Account Executive or directly contacting the Mainline team to see how we can help you architect, build, and monitor a top-notch modern data center. In the meantime, feel free to download a 60-day free trial of OneView.
Resources
Towards the bottom of the above page is an offer to download the HPE OneView for Dummies Guide ~3.2MB and 53 pages)
Utilize this URL to quickly get to the OneView support Matrix for your version
To learn more about Red Hat Ansible check out my Ansible Blog