In this eLearning module, you will learn how to use the management GUI to work with the virtual volumes and virtual drives that are managed by IBM(R) TS7700.
When you have a high-end virtualization engine such as the TS7700, access to virtual volumes is typically very fast. If access is taking longer than you expect, or you want to learn more about a previously-accessed virtual volume, you can use the Virtual Volume Details page to quickly see the status of a virtual volume. To go to the Virtual volumes details page, select Virtual > Virtual volumes. Enter the virtual volume serial number, or VOLSER, into the Volser of Virtual Volume field, then click Get Details. The VOLSER must be six alphanumeric characters. You can also use this page to view pending actions, and the status of the clusters associated with a virtual volume.
The Virtual Volume Details panel contains a graphical section, which shows how the virtual volumes are currently located in the grid. Click the plus sign next to Legend to display some of the most common icons used in the graphical section. You can view a full list of the icons by clicking the Additional Legend Icons link. The section below the legend provides a text-based view of the information in the graphical section, along with a few additional details.
Let us look at the graphical section first. To make information about the virtual volume easier to view, the panel displays multiple clusters that contain the virtual volume.
Each cluster is divided into three areas, separated by broken lines. The top area displays the icons representing the status of the virtual components in that cluster. The middle area displays the icons representing any pending actions for the cluster. Finally, the bottom area displays icons representing the status of the physical components related to the cluster, if present.
The owning cluster of the virtual volume is identified by a border around the cluster. The owning cluster is the current cluster that can access and modify settings and attributes of the virtual volume.
The Virtual Status Area contains icons that show the status of the virtual components in that cluster. Some icons represent mounting status and other icons represent cache status.
Let us take a look at the information that is displayed above the clusters and the middle section which shows details of the pending actions.
The icons for pending actions can be displayed either above the cluster or in the center of the cluster. An icon above the cluster indicates a data transfer from an external cluster. An icon in the center of the cluster indicates a data transfer within the cluster.
Now let us move to the Physical Status Area. The Physical Status Area contains icons showing the status of the physical components in that cluster. Similar to the Virtual Status Area, these icons indicate mounting status, this time for the physical volume.
The graphical section is helpful when you want a quick snapshot of what is happening, while the text section at the bottom can be helpful if you need more information than the graphical section provides. Additional physical data for the virtual volume displays, such as cluster information and update data.
In this example, the blue border tells you that Cluster 3 is the owning cluster of the virtual volume. Cluster 3 also has a virtual volume mount in progress, which is an added indication that it is the owning cluster. None of these clusters have the virtual volume loaded into cache. There is an action in the recall queue to load the virtual volume into the cache on Cluster 2 so the task can be completed. This is shown by the arrow, which you can click to view and manipulate the recall queue. Cluster 2 has the primary physical volume mounted for accessing another virtual volume, and it has the virtual volume stacked on a secondary physical volume.
The previous diagram of the three clusters can progress to look like this example. Cluster 1 remained the same, because no actions were performed on it. The virtual volume mount was completed on Cluster 3, and you can now access that virtual volume. The virtual volume is loaded in the primary cache of Cluster 2, which can be accessed through the owning cluster, Cluster 3.
We will now take a moment to review flash copy using virtual volumes. A flash copy is a snapshot of a group of clusters, and is created for disaster recovery test purposes.
When a flash copy exists, it will display on the cluster summary page, as well as the Virtual Volume Details page. On the Virtual Volume Details page, you will see a lightning bolt image on the upper left corner of any cluster that has flash copy enabled.
The Flash Copy field is displayed on the Virtual Volume Details page, with a value of “Created” when a flash copy exists that differs from the live virtual volume. Click the Created link to launch the Flash Copy Details page. The Flash Copy Details table displays details and the status of a flash copy of a virtual volume in a cluster. This page is only available if the grid contains a disk-only cluster.
From the Cluster Settings screen, you can click on Write Protect Mode to see the DR Family name, the time of the flash copy, and the properties. You can also click Monitor>Performance>Cache Utilization to see a chart displaying the total amount of data in the cache.
In this eLearning module, you learned how to use the Virtual Volume Details panel to view and work with the TS7700. For additional information, see the other topics in IBM Knowledge Center.