8.14.01 HP Utility Meter User's Guide (June 2009)
1 Introduction
1.1 Overview
Pay Per Use (PPU) and Utility Ready Storage (URS) are part of HP's Utility Pricing Solutions (UPS) program.
In this program, customers are charged according to usage of the PPU and URS computing resources (servers
and storage) under a UPS contract. The Utility Meter is a component in the setup of a PPU or URS solution.
For more information on this program, see the Metered Capacity link on the HP Utility Pricing Web page:
http://www.hp.com/go/utility
For version 8.14.01 of the HP Utility Meter software, the HP Utility Meter is a HP server running HP-UX and
the Utility Meter software. For the list of compatible Utility Meter HP-UX servers, see Recommended Hardware.
The Utility Meter is located at the customer site along with the customer’s server and storage resources under
a UPS contract. The Utility Meter retrieves usage information from the UPS resources through the TCP/IP
protocol and sends the information securely to HP. There is no geographical limit for the distance between
the location of the Utility Meter and the location of any of the UPS resources.
The main task of the Utility Meter is to receive usage information from UPS resources that are under an UPS
contract (such as HP servers, HP storage devices, and HP SAN switches) and send the usage data in a secure
way to HP. The Utility Meter tracks the usage of:
• Enterprise servers – A specific set of both HP Integrity servers and HP 9000 servers are supported in
the PPU program. The supported PPU enterprise servers are partitionable and each PPU partition must
be configured to be metered by the Utility Meter. There are two ways to monitor a server: by adding
a PPU WBEM Partition/Server to the meter or via the PPU Agent software.
For a PPU WBEM Partition/Server, communication can be configured by adding a PPU WBEM
Partition/Server to the Utility Meter via the Utility Meter GUI.
For PPU Agent devices, communication can be configured between the PPU partition and the Utility
Meter through the appropriate PPU Agent software command on each PPU partition. Refer to the
PPU
User's Guide
(see Related Documentation) for details of the PPU Agent software commands. The PPU
Agent software sends PPU usage data to the Utility Meter, then the Utility Meter sends the data securely
to HP.
• Storage devices – Specific EVA and XP storage devices are supported in the Utility Ready Storage (URS)
program. Both the Command View server and its disk arrays, which are to be metered by the Utility
Meter, must be configured using the Utility Meter software's graphical user interface (GUI). Usage data
is obtained in the following ways:
• XP: Usage data is retrieved through the HP StorageWorks XP Command View Advanced Edition
Command Line Interface (CLI) software that is installed on the Utility Meter. The CLI software
communicates with the HP StorageWorks XP Command View Advanced Edition server that is on
a separate system.
• EVA: Usage data is retrieved through the HP StorageWorks Command View EVA Storage System
Scripting Utility (SSSU) software that is installed on the Utility Meter. The SSSU software
communicates with the HP StorageWorks Command View EVA server that is on a separate system.
The Utility Meter software sends the URS usage data securely from the Utility Meter to HP.
• SAN switches – HP/Brocade and Cisco switches are supported in the URS program. The supported
URS SAN switches must be configured to be metered by the Utility Meter.
For a SAN switch, communication can be configured by adding a SAN switch to the Utility Meter via
the Utility Meter GUI.
NOTE: A single Utility Meter can meter up to 1,000 metered instances (server partitions, storage devices,
and switch devices).
See Flow of Metered Usage Data for details of the usage-data flow from the UPS computing resources to
HP.
1.1 Overview 15