HP SIM7 vs. IM7 SP2.3

[Mahesh Shah_3]

I attended the IM7 class in New York with last November, now I am planning to build a new Insight Manager 7 server for about 1500 HP/Compaq Proliant servers, I have a Compaq ProLiant DL580 G2 with 2.0GB of ram, Dual 1.9Ghz Intel Xeon processors and 4 - 36.0Gb. hard drives.

On HP web site there is different version of Insight Manager available based on the URL.

The first one is Insight Manger 7 SP2.3 (SP25018)
http://h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/cim7-intermediate.html

And second version called HP systems Insight Manager build version: c.04.00.00.
http://h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/hpsim/index.html

Which version should I install for all Proliant Servers, since I am staring a new IM7 project? Please let me know.

I really appreciate your help.

Thanks,
Mahesh Shah

[Jadrice Toussaint]

Hello -

For a new install, I would go with SIM since IM7 support will probably be drop in the near future. Further more, SIM is a newer product and is superior to IM7.

[James Kennedy_4]

Since you're starting fresh I would go ahead and use the new HP Systems Insight Manager. For the most part, it's a much better version of IM 7 SP2 and supports many new features not found in IM 7 SP2. There's a few minor qwerks about it that bother me, but I still think it's vastly improved, and going forward in the future you wouldn't want to have to go through an entire upgrade process later on.

[Mahesh Shah_3]

Thank you very for the information.

I was checking the open forum messages from different users for the HP SIM and found out that number of people reported problems with new HP SIM version. Should I still go with new version or install IM7 SP2.3, then upgrade at later date when the HP SIM is more stable, I need to have system available and running without any major problems.
Thanks,
Mahesh

[Jadrice Toussaint]

Go with the newer version. I've installed, configured and running SIM side by side with IM7. There are a few things that needs to be worked out in the new SIM, but all IM7 functionality that was exported into SIM works without a hitch.

[Mahesh Shah_3]

Per your response to my message, I can go with version of HP SIM build c.04.00.00, but can you please tell me which are the few things need to be worked out in the new SIM, so all the functionality is available without a hitch just like IM7.

Also, can you import the files from CIM 5.50 or IM7 into HP SIM and how to setup pager so it works correctly?
I really appreciate your help setting the up the correct version of Insight Manager.
Thanks,
Mahesh

[Doug Wogan]

Good luck with SIM. If you don't need a working system then I would definetly go with SIM. If you have the available hardware I would put up both environments. IM7 has been pretty stable for me. And it works! I attempted a rebuild to migrate to SIM and had nothing but problems. Too buggy.

[Rob Buxton]

Overall HPSIM is fairly stable. But, I have had problems getting Custom Commands to run under OpenSSH.

On HPSIM, setting up simple e-mail notification is a simpler task and the reporting functionality is very much enhanced.

There is no migration option available as yet if you do go with CIM 7. But it was stated that this would become available.

As you are not trying to replicate functionality HPSIM should meet your requirements.

[Jim Holland · Accepted solution]

Mehesh,
In your particular situation I would agree that you should go with HPSIM4 if not simply because itâ s a better product, but more so because of its ease of management and setup. I am gathering that you might be a little new to the capabilities of CIM7.x and or HPSIM4 but rest assured the HPSIM4 setup, installation, performance, and overall ease of management is very refreshing. I too manage a very large "LARGE" HP/Compaq shop and recently within the last 2 months have implemented HPSIM4 in replacement of CIM7SP2.X in the hopes they improved the technology as they have so gracefully done on the Proliant Series servers (Side Note of Thanks!). I have a very large diverse environment ranging from Netware 4.2 to Windows Server 2003 and have had very good luck with the new software. I did however experience one problem which appeared to be catastrophic and for 2 days was on the phone or emailing engineers from HP's Support staff dedicated to HPSIM4 in the hopes they could help. None the less they did everything they could to no avail; conclusion simply was a faulty installation. I uninstalled, cleaned up, reinstalled HPSIM4, and wha-la, everythingâ s working. I have not experienced the memory leak issues that some have mentioned thus far, and frankly I hope not see it. My server build consists of a DL380G3, (2) 2.4GHZ, 2GB, (2)18.2SCSI, Redundant power, nics, and fan kits. I hope all goes well with your implementation and I wish you luck, I hope this helps you.

Sincerely

[Jim Holland]

Mehesh,
In your particular situation I would agree that you should go with HPSIM4 if not simply because itâ s a better product, but more so because of its ease of management and setup. I am gathering that you might be a little new to the capabilities of CIM7.x and or HPSIM4 but rest assured the HPSIM4 setup, installation, performance, and overall ease of management is very refreshing. I too manage a very large "LARGE" HP/Compaq shop and recently within the last 2 months have implemented HPSIM4 in replacement of CIM7SP2.X in the hopes they improved the technology as they have so gracefully done on the Proliant Series servers (Side Note of Thanks!). I have a very large diverse environment ranging from Netware 4.2 to Windows Server 2003 and have had very good luck with the new software. I did however experience one problem which appeared to be catastrophic and for 2 days was on the phone or emailing engineers from HP's Support staff dedicated to HPSIM4 in the hopes they could help. None the less they did everything they could to no avail; conclusion simply was a faulty installation. I uninstalled, cleaned up, reinstalled HPSIM4, and wha-la, everythingâ s working. I have not experienced the memory leak issues that some have mentioned thus far, and frankly I hope not see it. My server build consists of a DL380G3, (2) 2.4GHZ, 2GB, (2)18.2SCSI, Redundant power, nics, and fan kits. I hope all goes well with your implementation and I wish you luck, I hope this helps you.

Sincerely