11.0 HP StoreVirtual Storage User Guide (AX696-96275, December 2013)

8 Working with management groups
A management group is a collection of one or more storage systems. It is the container within
which you cluster storage systems and create volumes for storage. Creating a management group
is the first step in creating HP StoreVirtual Storage.
Functions of management groups
• Provide the highest administrative domain for the SAN. Typically, storage administrators will
configure at least one management group within their data center.
• Organize storage systems into different groups for categories of applications and data. For
example, you might create a management group for Oracle applications and a separate
management group for Exchange.
• Ensure added administrative security. For example, you could give the system administrator
in charge of Exchange access to the Exchange management group but not the Oracle
management group.
• Prevent some storage resources from being used unintentionally. If a storage system is not in
a management group, the management group cannot use that storage system as a storage
resource. For example, all of the storage systems in a management group can be pooled into
clusters for use by volumes in that group. To prevent a new storage system from being included
in this pool of storage, put it in a separate management group.
• Contain clustering managers. Within a management group, one or more of the storage systems
acts as the managers that control data transfer and replication.
Monitoring of daily device logs and real-time events by Insight Remote Support is performed at the
management group level.
Planning management groups
Before you create a management group, you must plan for each component, as described in
Table 36 (page 104).
Table 36 Management group components
DescriptionComponent
Before you create a management group, record the IP addresses of the storage systems for the
cluster. Also, ensure that the storage systems are configured properly for your network environment.
See “Network best practices” (page 46).
NOTE: For Fibre Channel connectivity, ensure that you add at least two Fibre Channel-enabled
storage systems in the management group. This meets the minimum requirements to ensure redundant
Fibre Channel connection paths. Fibre Channel also requires a 10 GbE network connection.
Storage systems
When you create a management group, you must add the first administrative user. This user has
full administrative permissions. Add other users after the management group is created. See
“Adding an administrative user” (page 77).
Administrative
users
You can use an NTP server or manually set the date, time, and time zone for the management
group. Determine which method you will use. See “Setting the date and time” (page 74).
Date and time
configuration
You can configure DNS at the management group level for all storage systems in the management
group. The storage system can use a DNS server to resolve host names. You will need the DNS
domain name, suffix, and server IP address. See “Using a DNS server” (page 69).
DNS configuration
You can set up email notification for events for each management group. You must set up the
email server to send events. You need the email (SMTP) server IP or host name, server port, and
a valid email address to use as the sender address. See “Configuring email notification” (page 91).
Email notification
104 Working with management groups