PowerShell script to manage storage clones for HPE Alletra 6000(Nimble)

[anandtk]

Introduction:

Whenever HPE sells storage arrays to its customers, it also provides consultation and support for migrating workloads from non-HPE storage systems in both the data center (DC) and disaster recovery (DR) environments. Once the workload is migrated to HPE storage arrays, the following features are offered to customers:

• Administration and management of the storage arrays
• Backup and restore solutions
• Monitoring.

HPE 3PAR storage, one of the most widely used storage solutions, supports all of the features mentioned above. Using CLI commandlets, tasks such as managing backups by creating group snap volumes, mounting/unmounting volumes, etc., can be automated through batch scripts and are commonly used in daily operations.

Similarly, the customer expected this automation feature (automated backup script) for Alletra 6000 (Nimble) storage. However, since there is no CLI tool available, there is a need to develop a custom script—similar to what exists for 3PAR—that can create snapshots and clones for the Alletra 6000/Nimble storage systems. No such scripts or tools were provided by the vendor to achieve this functionality.

Problem Statement:
PowerShell script to manage storage clones for Alletra 6000(Nimble)

There is need for a script (similar to 3PAR) which creates snapshots and clones for Alletra 6000/Nimble as there were no scripts/tools available from vendor to achieve this.

Solution Description:

Created the scripts using the powershell commandlets which covers connection to storage manager using credentials, create/get the volume, create clone/snapshot, mounts it to OS, rescan the disk, take the backup, unmount snapshots/clones and volumes, disconnects from storage manager.

Following features are benefited from the solution:

• Manual Configuration Hassles
  Manual creation and management of clones and snapshots is time consuming, this script will significantly reduce the manual configuration time and increase overall efficiency.
• Scalability challenges
  Currently, there is a lot of complexity in managing configurations for expanding backup and UAT requirements.
• Inconsistent Configurations
  There is lack of uniformity across different storage models and backup environments.
• Delivery Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness
  The script will enable more cost optimization and effort optimization, saving time and effort across the organisation.

Market References:

• Tools available in the market
  Currently there are no tools available in the market to perform this task.
• Market size
  Alletra 6000 has a considerable presence in midrange storage segment and is frequently used for private cloud solutions and hybrid converged solutions.
• Growth Drivers
  There has been an increasing demand and a competitive landscape for data centers and storage devices in the recent years.
  

Benefits:

• Increased Efficiency
  Reduce time and effort spent on manual configurations.
• Enhanced reliability
  Minimized errors and ensure consistent configurations.
• Cost Savings
  Lower operational costs by automating repetitive tasks.
• .Improved Storage performance
  Optimize storage performance through standardized configurations.
  

Use Cases:

Efficiently managing storage admissions in Data centers. Automating clone/snapshot management for backup and UAT. Scalable script to fit additional customer requirements.

Targeted Features:

• Automated Configuration generation
  Create configurations based on predefined templates.
• Standard configuration
  Predefined standard configuration modules.
• Reusability
  Reuse the code for customised solutions.
  

Requirements:

• Hardware
  Alletra 6000 storage.
• Software
  PowerShell toolkit for Alletra 6000.
• Resources
  Standard Windows 2019/2022 server.

Status:

• Lab Test
  Complete.
• Customer Test
  Complete