Active IQ Unified Manager Discussions

Does WFA need data sources to work?

nigelslocum
5,484 Views

Hey Guys,

I would like to use WFA to automate the provisioning of SVM, aggrs, vols, luns etc. However client is using Microsoft Hyper-V only and no VMware so we would use SCOM to monitor the NetApp array and not OnCommand Unified Manager as it is only supported as a VMware appliance.

After having a quick look at WFA it appears you cannot run any of the workflows without a data source to tell it about the netapp system.

What options do I have if I don't want to run OCUM if any?

Thanks,

Nigel

7 REPLIES 7

adaikkap
5,485 Views

Hi Nigel,

                The upcoming release of OCUM is supported on non VMware environments as well, like RHEL stand alone isntaller.

Now before I answer, its good to understand what are the advantages of having a datasources in WFA.

The power of WFA comes from its decision making or resource selection logic on which resource needs to be selected in order to create/delete/migrate  a volume/SVM etc.

In order to do that WFA needs data about the complete NetApp Datacenter to understand and make intelligent selection based on attributes like inventory,capacity and performance data.

So you can either use them in isolation or in combination before creating a volume or SVM.

Like if you want to create SVM that will server CIFS data then, the cluster on which you create should be licensed for cifs and the service should be up and running.

This kind of selection can be done using finder/filters in WFA which in turn uses the Datasource information cached in WFA MySQL database.

Similarly, if you want to create a volume on a SVM, you need to choose an aggr. The WFA datasource cache can help you in not just selecting an aggr that has enough space for the volume to be created, but also to make sure in choosing the one which has sufficient days or even years before its full. So that you need not keep moving the volume from this aggr. Also it can help you choose not just based on size, type and growth characteristics of the aggr but also performance.

So if you dont want any of these, then you can make all the resource selection logic in WFA as User Inputs and still make the workflows run.

Regards

adai

nigelslocum
5,485 Views

Hi adai,

Thanks for the response, I understand I would be loosing the logic behind the workflows and this is not desirable. Hopefully OCUM does come out as an installable next version.

How would I go about changing the fields requiring a data source to user inputs?

dblackwe
5,485 Views

OCUM is coming out as an installable. For RHEL. You can talk to your SE and Sales rep about getting on the beta program.

David Blackwell

dblackwe
5,485 Views

I found this http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg610672.aspx as the very first google search result. I support Red Hat and they converted the OVA to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV), so I know it can be done. With out a OCUM data source WFA will not know about any of the storage systems.

David Blackwell

nigelslocum
5,485 Views

Hi David,

Thanks but I said OCUM was only supported on VMware. We all know you can convert a VM but I have had advice from NetApp that it would not be supported by them if it was converted.

ktim
5,485 Views

Hi Nigel,

My Direct Data Sources are pretty complete for cDOT and remove the requirement for OCUM to use WFA: https://communities.netapp.com/docs/DOC-33054

These populate the cm_storage schema so will work with any regular commands/workflow.

Regards,

Tim

nigelslocum
5,485 Views

Hi Tim,

Thats what I was looking for, ill have a look into it thanks.

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