Monitoring Brocade Switches With Solarwinds Srm: What You Need To Know

SolarWinds offers a range of solutions for monitoring network performance and storage resources. One such tool is the Storage Resource Monitor (SRM), which can be used to monitor the performance, capacity, errors, and down ports of SAN switches. While there have been requests to add support for Brocade SAN switches to SRM, it appears that this functionality is not currently available. Instead, users are directed to use the Network Performance Monitor (NPM) to monitor these devices. However, some users have reported challenges in getting Brocade switches to work with SolarWinds tools, requiring a manual and time-consuming process to set up individual pages for each interface.

Brocade SAN switches can be added to Solarwinds as part of SRM

The SolarWinds community has also expressed interest in monitoring Brocade fiber switches for their SAN storage connections. This would enable them to display the mapping of NetApp LUNs to servers and troubleshoot and report on any conditions involving their environment setup.

While support for FC devices will not be added to SRM, they can be monitored in the Network Performance Monitor (NPM). Brocade switches can be set up by executing specific commands to change the SNMP configuration. However, it is important to note that some users have encountered challenges in getting Brocade switches to work with SolarWinds in the past, describing the process as "very difficult."

Overall, the addition of Brocade SAN switches to Solarwinds as part of SRM would streamline the monitoring process for SAN administrators, providing them with an all-in-one tool for enhanced efficiency and ease of use.

SRM can monitor SAN Fiber Switches

Storage Resource Monitor (SRM) can monitor SAN Fiber Switches. SRM is a feature of SolarWinds that enables the monitoring of Brocade SAN switches. This feature allows for the visualisation of zones and port setup, which in turn enables the mapping of storage LUNs to zones or ports. This is critical for monitoring, troubleshooting, and reporting on the SAN environment.

The addition of Brocade SAN switches to Solarwinds SRM provides an all-in-one monitoring tool for SAN administrators. This makes it easier to map storage LUNs to zones or ports, which is essential for troubleshooting and reporting. With SRM, administrators can view the zones and port setup, as well as display the mapping of NetApp LUNs to servers.

SRM users have reported that the old profiler monitoring included SAN switches, which allowed for a more comprehensive view of their storage environment. With SRM, they can now visualise port statistics or port status, but it does not provide the alias connected to the port. This makes it challenging to identify the hostname represented by the WWPN.

While SRM does not currently support FC devices, they can be monitored using the Network Performance Monitor (NPM) tool. This tool provides similar functionality to SRM and can be used to monitor FC devices within the network.

Brocade Switch – Alias

An alias is a descriptive name for a WWN or port number, which makes your zone configuration much easier to read. Brocade switches come with a number of commands to manage aliases, and these commands start with the string "ali".

To create a new alias, you must first locate the WWN(s) or port(s) you want to assign to the alias. The easiest way to do this is by running switchshow on the switch. Once you know the port numbers or WWNs, you can run the alicreate command, passing it the name of the alias to create, as well as the port or WWN to associate with the alias.

For example, to create an alias name, you can use the command:

> alicreate "SERVER3_1","12:34:56:.."

Then, to add this alias to a zone:

> zoneadd "ZoneName","SERVER3_1"

You can check it with:

> cfgshow

This will also show the configuration name(s) and which one is effective (in use). You can save it away and let it check for inconsistencies:

> cfgsave

Or immediately activate the updated configuration:

> cfgenable "config-name"

Replace alias name, zone name and config name with the names you want to use. The cfg name already exists in your current zoning setup.

Brocade switches can be configured using SNMP

To configure SNMP on a Brocade switch, you need to access the command-line interface (CLI) through Telnet, SSH, or a serial console. The Fabric OS CLI enables administrators to monitor and manage individual switches, ports, and entire fabrics from a standard workstation. Certain commands must be issued from a secure Telnet or SSH session.

The first step is to log in to the switch as an administrator. Then, you can use the following command to check the switch status policy settings, which include factors such as power supplies, temperatures, fans, WWN servers, standby CP, blades, flash, marginal ports, faulty ports, and missing SFPs:

> switch01:FID128:admin> switchstatuspolicyshow

If you want to change the policy settings, you can use the following command:

> switch01:FID128:admin> switchstatuspolicyset

The next step is to check the current SNMP attributes and server address configured on the switch. For new switches, this step can be skipped as they won't have anything configured yet. To check the current SNMP settings for SNMPv1, use the following command with a privileged account, especially the admin account:

> switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --show snmpv1

Once you have verified the SNMP settings, you can proceed with the SNMP configuration. For SNMPv1, use the following command:

> switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --set snmpv1

For SNMPv3, use the following command:

> switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --set snmpv3

By following these steps, you can configure Brocade switches using SNMP, allowing for remote management and monitoring of the switches.

Brocade switches can be set up by changing the SNMP configuration

SolarWinds' Storage Resource Monitor (SRM) is a feature for monitoring SAN fiber switch connections. While SRM does not support Brocade SAN switches, you can monitor them in Network Performance Monitor (NPM). Brocade switches can be set up by changing the SNMP configuration.

SNMP, or Simple Network Management Protocol, is a set of protocols for managing complex networks. SNMP enables devices within a network to send messages, called protocol data units (PDUs), to different parts of a network. To configure SNMP on a Brocade Fabric OS switch, you need to access the command-line interface (CLI) through Telnet, SSH, or a serial console. The Fabric OS CLI allows administrators to monitor and manage individual switches, ports, and entire fabrics from a standard workstation.

To enable SNMP polling for Fabric OS, use the following command:

> snmpconfig --set snmpv1 -c community {COMMUNITYSTRING}

Note that selected commands must be issued from a secure Telnet or SSH session.

SNMP configuration options include setting the SNMP security level, managing SNMPv1 communities and SNMPv3 users, and configuring SNMPv3 users and traps. SNMPv3 user passwords can be encrypted or changed to an unencrypted form.

Frequently asked questions