HP BladeSystem Management Pack (v 1.x) for Microsoft System Center User Guide

6 Enclosure monitor performance and scalability guidelines
NOTE: This appendix describes general performance and scalability guidelines for monitoring
HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosures using the HP BladeSystem Management Pack (v 1.x) for
Operations Manager.
The HP BladeSystem Management Pack processes state monitoring and alert rules within the
Operations Manager agent, and it includes the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service to
perform primary enclosure monitoring. The monitor service communicates to the Onboard
Administrator of each registered HP BladeSystem enclosure through a SOAP transport and listens
to SNMP traps from the OA in real-time. The management pack uses the monitor service as a data
source to produce class instances, state, and alerts to the Operations Manager server.
The monitor service requires system and network resources that are shared with the Operations
Manager server or other applications on the system where it is configured. As the number of
enclosures in an Operations Manager domain increases, resource utilization by the monitor service
may also increase.
This information describes performance characteristics and scalability options for the monitor
service and recommends hardware configurations for typical scenarios. Because your specific
scenario may differ from these guidelines, key factors influencing performance are presented so
that you can adapt the information in this guide to your specific requirements.
Hardware and software configuration guidelines
These guidelines are based on specific hardware and software configurations. If your hardware
and software configurations differ, the recommended hardware may not adequately address your
needs. As a starting point, it is recommend that:
• The Operations Manager agent and Operations Manager server are on a well-connected
network with low latency (for example, a 100 Mbps LAN with a single switch).
• The HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Services and HP Onboard Administrators are on a
well-connected network with low latency (for example, a 100 Mbps LAN with a single switch).
Capacity planning guidelines and best practices
The HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service monitors multiple enclosures simultaneously with
a secured HTTPS/SOAP connection to each HP Onboard Administrator. The monitor service
establishes an HTTPS connection for each enclosure that has been registered through the HP
BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Manager. Each connection goes through the following phases:
1. Connection—establishes connection to an HP Onboard Administrator.
2. Data collection—initial collection of inventory and state information of an enclosure.
3. Monitoring—monitoring for changes to inventory or state information of an enclosure.
4. Data recollection—recollection of updated inventory and state information of an enclosure as
reported during the monitoring phase (phase 3).
The connection phase and data collection phase occur once in a connection. The data collection
phase (phase 2) is the busiest phase and uses a significant amount of system and network resources.
After the data collection is completed, the management pack can access all enclosure data to
produce inventory and state information. The monitor service spends most of the time in the
monitoring phase listening to the network heartbeat from the HP Onboard Administrator and
watching for any information change to the monitored enclosure. If a change is found, the data
recollection phase starts and will collect partial data only where a change is reported. After the
data recollection is completed, the monitor service continues the monitoring phase.
40 Enclosure monitor performance and scalability guidelines