IBM DS5020 Chapter 4. Operating the storage subsystem

Chapter 4. Operating the storage subsystem

This chapter describes operating procedures for the DS5020.

For information about the optimal operation of your system, see “Best practices

guidelines” on page 5

The DS5020 Health Check process is a sequence of suggested actions developed

by IBM to help users verify and maintain the optimal performance of their DS5020

storage configurations. The information that you collect in these steps also helps

provide IBM Service with important information needed for problem troubleshooting

during IBM Service calls.

Perform the following Health Check tasks after the initial configuration of your

DS5020 storage subsystem, and after all configuration sessions. Set a regular

schedule of periodic Health Check evaluations in order to keep your DS5020 code

current and to preserve optimal data access and performance.

1. Monitor the Recovery Guru in the DS Storage Manager client for any obvious

storage subsystem errors or problem conditions.

2. Gather and save the following DS5020 storage subsystem event logs for review

by IBM Service. Gather these event logs periodically for regular Health Check

monitoring regardless of the state of the Recovery Guru. (Youcan collect all

these logs at once and zip them into a single file by clicking Advanced 

Troubleshooting CollectAll Support Data in the DS Storage Manager

Subsystem Management window.)

vDS5020 storage subsystem management event log (MEL)

vStorage Subsystem Profile or DS5020 Profile

vRead-Link Status (RLS) data

In addition, collect event logs for the host servers that have mapped logical

drives from the storage subsystem.

Attention: Save these event log files to a server disk that will remain

accessible in the event of a DS5020 storage configuration failure. Do not save

these event log files only to a LUN in the DS5020 storage subsystem.

3. Use the Storage Subsystem Profile or DS5020 Profile to verify that the following

firmware levels are at the latest versions supported for your DS5020 storage

subsystem:

vController firmware

vESM firmware

vDrive firmware

If you discover your firmware is not up-to-date, upgrade the firmware and

software to the latest level applicable to your DS5020 storage configuration. See

“Web pages” on page 94 for information about where to find the latest firmware

and software.

Attention: Youmust resolve Recovery Guru errors or problems before

upgrading firmware.

Save the storage subsystem profile before performing any controller or ESM

firmware upgrades. Save the storage subsystem profile and all *.cfg files to a

server disk that will remain accessible in the event of a DS5020 storage

configuration failure.