Nimble Storage dHCI - Data Collection for Cross-Stack Analytics in HPE InfoSight

[RajShekarChelur]

HPE Nimble Storage dHCI is an intelligent platform with the flexibility of converged and the simplicity of HCI. It disaggregates compute and storage, as well as integrates hyper-converged control onto the industry-leading HPE ProLiant server, the self-managing flash storage of HPE Nimble Storage.

HPE Nimble Storage dHCI enables VM administrators to stand up full-stack infrastructure including compute, storage, and network, in minutes, through the dHCI automation software.

In this blog, we will look under the hood and discuss how dHCI solution enables cross-stack analytics in HPE InfoSight.

dHCI Solution in InfoSight

The Nimble Storage array in the dHCI stack is the deployment, configuration, and monitoring engine. For monitoring and analytics, there are three data collectors embedded into the Nimble Storage OS.

• Diagnostics Nimble Storage Analytics (DNA) Collector gathers information about storage system configuration, health, statistics, etc. This collector exists in all Nimble Storage arrays.
• VMware Collector gathers configuration and performance data from VMware vCenter. This collector exists in all Nimble Storage arrays and has been enhanced to gather additional information in dHCI solution.
• Server Collector gathers configuration, health and Active Health System (AHS) logs. This is a new collector included dHCI Nimble Storage arrays.

dHCI Data Collection Design

Each of these collectors is automatically configured as part of dHCI Stack Setup workflow. The information gathered by these collectors is used for on-prem monitoring and health reporting through the dHCI vCenter Plugin.

And more importantly, it is securely delivered to HPE InfoSight where the data is processed and analyzed. This drives a number of features that can be accessed through the InfoSight portal as well as through the proactive wellness alerts.

For a more complete walkthrough of the dHCI solution in InfoSight, please visit this blog by Marc Bingham - Architect at Cristie Data who was an early beta tester for Nimble Storage dHCI.