Showcasing Virtual Datacenter Capacity using vCenter Operations Manager Dashboards.

A few months back, I wrote about the capabilities of vCenter Operations Manager around Capacity Management in this article - vCenter Operations Manager - Solving Performance, Capacity and Configuration Problems!!. With this article I wanted to take a step further and showcase how you can use vCOps in a real world scenario to monitor the capacity of your Virtual Datacenter in an automated manner.

If you read my last 2 articles on vCenter Operations Manager, you would notice that custom dashboards in vCenter Operations is an amazing way to showcase a lot of important data which is collected,analysed & computed by vCOps Patented Analytics and Capacity engine. In this article I will share a Custom Dashboard which in a single pane can showcase multiple facets of Capacity & Consolidation in your Virtual Datacenter. 

To begin with let's have a look at the dashboard and then we will break down the discussion on how to create it using the custom dashboard widgets.

Executive Capacity Dashboard

Well that is colorful, isn't it. As complex as it looks, if your approach towards creating this dashboard is correct, this should be a matter of few minutes. I will not go into step by step of how I created it, I would rather ask you to get your hands dirty and learn how to create such dashboards.

Here are a few pointers on this dashboard, which will help you create one on your own:-

a) The over all dashboard is a 2 column and 8 widget dashboard.

b) Each widget used is a Score Board Widget.

c) No super-metric used here. Each widget uses metrics which are already populated by default vCOps collection.

Let's look at each part horizontally.

Part 1 - Datacenter Capacity and Consolidation Ratios

Here the widget on the left uses a scoreboard widget to show the capacity of 2 data-centers  DC 1 and DC2.  I have used the Datacenter as the Resource tags here shown the "Summary" of each Datacenter such as number of Clusters, Datastores, ESXi Hosts and Virtual machines in a DC.

The widget on the right uses the scoreboard widget to show the consolidation ratios of both the virtual data-centers by using the Datacenter as the resource tag and  "Density" ratios to populate the following vCPU to pCPU, VMs to Hosts and vMem to pMem. This can give you the density of your Datacenter in a snap.

Part 2 - Capacity & Time Remaining in Each DC/Cluster 

This takes the capacity information to the next level. This section talks about, how many VMs can be deployed, how many VMs are deployed currently and the number of days remaining for VMs to be deployed (from left to right). I have done this for one cluster in each Datacenter as this is what I have in my lab. I used Score Board Widgets, Datacenter/Cluster as Resource Tags and "Capacity Remaining", "Time Remaining" and "Summary" as the metric providers for these scoreboards.

Note:- The number of days are a weird looking number since there has been no deployment in this cluster after installing vCOps. vCOps does not have a deployment pattern in this case, using which it can suggest you the approximate amount of days remaining.

Part 3 - Resource Wise Capacity Remaining

This part also uses 2 scoreboard widgets for each Datacenter/Cluster and this breaks down the part 2 of this dashboard further down to tell which which is the most constraining resource due to which you have given number of virtual machines which you can deploy in your Datacenter/Cluster. Again I have selected Datacenter as the "Resource Tag" and used "Capacity Remaining" resource wise such as CPU, Disk Space, Disk I/O, Memory and Network and showcased, ho many VMs you can deploy as per each individual resource.

Part 4 - Resource Wise Time Remaining

Coming to the last part of the dashboard. This again is made by using the Scoreboard widget and tells you how many days would a resource last with your deployment pattern of creating new Virtual Machines in each Datacenter/Cluster. Again I have selected Datacenter as the "Resource Tag" and used "Time Remaining" resource wise such as CPU, Disk Space, Disk I/O, Memory and Network and showcased, how many VMs you can deploy as per each individual resource.

Note:- The number of days are a weird looking number since there has been no deployment in this cluster after installing vCOps. vCOps does not have a deployment pattern in this case, using which it can suggest you the approximate amount of days remaining.

Having said this before, it is your creativity & need which can take you to heights with vCOps customization. I prefer this way of dash-boarding rather than seeing what is available out of the box in a lot of other products, as this gives the power to create in my hands, rather that being dependent on the manufacturer of the product.

I will close this article now, feel free to reach out if you have questions around the discussed topic. 

Don't forget to Share and Spread the Knowledge. 

Part 2 - Using vCOps Super Metrics & Custom Dashboards to Display Datastore Usage % !!

This post speaks about creating a Custom Dashboard in vCOps using Super Metrics. Please read  the Part 1 of this series to ensure that you know the context.

Here is the link - 

Part 1 - Using vCOps Super Metrics & Custom Dashboards to Display Datastore Usage % !!

Now since we have the Super Metric from the previous post, we will go ahead and use it to create a Custom Dashboard which reflects this metric and helps you to monitor the Datastore Usage %. Here is how you do it:-

1- Login to vCOps Custom UI with a user with appropriate access rights.

2- Click on Dashboards -> Add

3 - Drag and Drop a Heat-map widget from the left pane to the right pane. (To know more about custom dashboards in vCOps, read this Guide.)

4- Give a Name to the Dashboard, Select the number of Columns as 1 and click on OK. (refer to screen shot below.)

5- Now lets configure this widget. Re-size the widget as per your viewing requirement and then click on Edit widget to configure the heat map.

6- Here is how you will configure the Heatmap.

7- And once you click on OK, you have you Heat Map which you can start monitoring to ensure you never run out of space on your datastores.

You can hover over these objects and you will see 2 metrics for each object - Total Capacity & Usage in %age

Here you can clearly see that some of my datastores in my primary DC are actually reaching the 100% usage  and I have some work to do to ensure I have enough free space to keep them green. Since this heat map is auto refreshing, it will ensure that your datastores are continuously monitored for the thresholds you have set for utilizing space on datastores.

If you want to see me present other tips and tricks on vCOps at VMworld 2013, please vote the session which I have submitted. 

For more details refer to - VMworld 2013 - Call for Papers Voting is Now Open. Cast your vote to see your favorite sessions!!

Don't forget to Share and Spread the Knowledge. This will help others!!

Part 1 - Using vCOps Super Metrics & Custom Dashboards to Display Datastore Usage % !!

For the past few weeks, I have been working on vCenter Operations Manager as a part of a project. As always, I am here to share my experience around the work I have been doing and hopefully help the larger VMware community.

As we all know, one of the basic rule of thumb is to ensure that you have a certain percentage of space always available on your datastores to ensure that you cater to the need of all the virtual machines which are a part of these datastores. For example, you would always want your datastores to be around 10% free to ensure that you have enough space for snapshots or any other unplanned requirement. At the same time, you would want to keep an eye what percentage of space is available in your datastores so that you can provision VMs accordingly, of-course I am assuming that you are not using Storage DRS ;-)

Okay so let's quickly jump into action with our use case. We will use vCOps custom dashboard to create a heat-map which would change colors according to free space remaining and would help you to monitor and plan things accordingly in your Virtual Datacenter.

Since, vCOps pulls all the metrics from vCenter, it will be able to pull the Datastore Total Capacity and Used space. Using these 2 metrics, we would create a super metric which would give us the usage %. Using simple math:

Datastore Used % = (Used Capacity/Total Capacity)*100

So how do we create this super metric.

Note:- For someone new to super metric concept, I would recommend you read this white paper from VMware.

1- Login to vCOps Custom UI with a user with appropriate access rights.

2- Click on Environment -> Super Metrics

3- Click on the Add New icon on this window to create a new super metric.

4-  Configure your super metric as shown in figure below

Your super metric will now reflect in the list of available super metrics. Now we need to create a super metric package to attach the same with all the datastores, so that the system automatically can calculate the usage percentage for every datastore which exists or will be added to vCOps, in the future for monitoring. Here is how you create a package and attach it.

1- On the same screen click on -> Super Metric Package -> Add Super Metric Package.

2-  Give it a name and select the super metric which we create above. Refer to the screen shot below.

3- Put a Check-mark against the given thresholds to make this super metric a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) - I just left the setting to default and clicked on OK.

Now we need to add this Super Metric to all the datastores. This will enable vCOps to calculate this new metric for all the datastores which exist and would be added in the future. This can be done by adding this Super Metric will the Resource Kinds - Datastore. Let's see how we will do it.

1- Click on Environment -> Configuration -> Resource Kind Defaults

2- On this Screen, select the Adapter Kind as VMware Adapter, Select Datastore as the Resource on the left pane and under super metric package select the super metric package which you created before.

UPDATE 19th June 2013 - At this point if you want to collect this super-metric on the existing datastores as well, you need to Click on Environment -> Environment Overview -> Click to Expand Resource Kinds -> Select Datastores.

This will list all the Datastores in the right pane - Select All the Datastores -> Click on the small Pencil on the top to edit all these resources -> In the new window, put a check against Supermetric and then select the Datastore Usage% supermetric-> Click on Ok to save.

Well now you need to wait for the next collection and  performance calculation cycle which is usually 5 minutes. In another 5 minutes we will be able to use this super metric for creating custom dashboards.

We now create a custom dashboard to display this Metric in Part 2.

Click here for Part 2 - Using vCOps Super Metrics & Custom Dashboards to Display Datastore Usage % !!

If you want to see me present other tips and tricks on vCOps at VMworld 2013, please vote the session which I have submitted. 

For more details refer to - VMworld 2013 - Call for Papers Voting is Now Open. Cast your vote to see your favorite sessions!!

Don't forget to Share and Spread the Knowledge. This will help others!!

VMworld 2013 - Call for Papers Voting is Now Open. Cast your vote to see your favorite sessions!!

Time of the year when VMware has opened the flood gates for votes on sessions you would like to see at VMworld - The flagship industry event by VMware. Its been 10 long years that VMware has been running the show and this year its gonna be as big as always.

It is a great opportunity for customers, partners and industry experts to get together and share how they have made a difference in their workplace and industry verticals by using the solutions available today with VMware and the partner ecosystem. To read more about the event and the dates you can see this link.

A few weeks back, VMware requested the industry experts to share their experiences and technical know-how by delivering sessions at VMworld through its Call for Papers Program. I feel it is a great initiative as this allows collaborative learning to play a big role at the event. Given an opportunity, I would love to present at this AWESOME event and I have done my bit by submitting for a couple of sessions.

As the title of my post suggests, these sessions need support from the VMworld audience, who can vote for the sessions which they want to see during the event. The most popular and in demand sessions would make it to the final rounds of presentation sessions, demos or panel discussions.

Here are the sessions which I have submitted. Have a look, and if you think they will help the larger audience and would address the issues I am trying to solve, then vote for them. Of-course I would also encourage you to vote for other great sessions which are listed out there.

SESSION 1 

I am proposing to present this one along with our vCenter Operations Manager SME - Roshan Shetty.

Session Type:  Breakout Session

Session Abstract:  vSphere performance best practices are the key for a successful operation of a VMware vSphere Environment. Although it is easy to build an environment keeping Best Practices in mind, it is difficult to sustain them as the environment grows. This session would not only help you learn about the top 10 best practices, but also help you understand how you can leverage vCenter Operations Manager to ensure that these Best Practices are being followed at all the times in your VMware Virtual Infrastructure.

Session Outline: This session would be in a discussion and presentation mode between a Professional Services Consultant who ensures that vSphere Best Practices are applied in every infrastructure designed by him. At the same time, he urges VMware customers to maintain these best practices as the infrastructure grows. On the other hand with each best practice being discussed and explained by the Consultant, the VMware vCOps Subject Matter Expert would talk about how these best practices can be monitored using Out of the Box and Custom features of vCenter Operations Manager.

Submitting to Present at VMworld: Both

Key Takeaway 1: Top 10 vSphere Best Practices which would help you maintain the health of your vSphere Environment. This would range around the key technology areas of CPU, Memory, Disk & Network

Key Takeaway 2: Making it easy to ensure the application and monitoring of vSphere Best Practices in your virtual infrastructure using vCenter Operations Manager.

Key Takeaway 3: Creating Customer Reports and Dashboards on vCenter Operations Manager and understanding how they can help.

Technical Level: Technical

Tracks: Management

SESSION 2

Session Type:  Breakout Session

Session Abstract:  This session gives a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of vSphere Replication. It further discusses on how vSphere Replication can be leveraged with VMware Site Recovery Manager to Protect and Recover workloads in case of a disaster. The session would also have a demo on how to configure vSphere Replication and Site Recovery Manager. Lastly, it will list down the considerations and use cases where vSphere Replication has helped VMware customers for Disaster Recovery enablement using SRM.

Session Outline: This would be a deep dive technical presentation discussing how vSphere Replication works behind the scenes. Then the presentation would talk about integration of vSphere Replication with VMware Site Recovery Manager. The session would conclude with a quick demo, use cases and best practices around using vSphere Replication for Site Recovery Manager.

Submitting to Present at VMworld: Both

Key Takeaway 1: Learn to leverage vSphere Replication as your DR replication Technology

Key Takeaway 2: Best Practices and Caveats of using vSphere Replication with Site Recovery Manager

Key Takeaway 3: Learning about Nuts & Bolts of vSphere Replication and integration with SRM, through a Demonstration

Technical Level: Advanced Technical

Tracks: Infrastructure

Subtracks: Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Here is the process to vote:-

1- Open the following webpage - http://www.vmworld.com/cfp.jspa

2- Login with an existing VMworld account or create a new one (Takes only a minute).

3- Go through the sessions listed. (If you wanna vote for me, the session numbers are 5235 and 5239)

4- Click on the  button next to the session title to vote.

Please vote and also share this with others :-)

Passed my VCAP5-DCD - The Experience Does Count!

Can't express how happy I was when I saw the message on the screen - "Congratulations- You have Passed the VCAP5-DCD.". I waited for an excruciating 225 minutes looking at the 26 inches monitor and going through 100 questions to finally get the result which I wanted and I am extremely happy. The happiness is actually forcing me to put down this experience into this blog and re-visit and read it every-time I need motivation in life.

94 questions with multiple choices, match the following and then the 6 confusing VISIO diagrams with possibly 20 different ways to create each diagram. The good thing was that I was able to finish in time, in fact I had 1 minute left on the clock when I answered my last question. 

Well, I would not talk about the study material and the resources available as you will find a number of excellent posts with detailed information on what to study, how to study and from where to study. I will just mentioned a few pointers which would help you whether you study or not :-)

Here are my tips:-

a) Time Management - This should be Priority Number 1. You have to finish those 100 questions and Pace yourself throughout the exam. If you miss the bus and are left too far behind, then chances are that you will not be able to get to the finish line (passing marks). Good part is that there are no options to review, flag, re-visit the answers which you have given once. So treat each question with care and spend appropriate amount of time on it. Both VMware and I recommend that you spend at-least 15 minutes on the Visio design type questions. Keeping that in mind let's see how much time you got:-

Total Time you have                = 225 mins

15 Mins for 6 Visio Questions =  90 mins

Remaing Time                          = 135 mins

Remaining Questions                =  94

Time you can spend per question = 135/94 = 1.5 minutes per question

Well this is tight, make sure you are good with fast reading and understanding. Make quick notes as that helps.

b) Gain Field Experience -  I would be lying if I say that I did not study for this exam. I did use a lot of resources which are available online. But I would say that the 75% of knowledge to crack this exam came from the work I have done in the field. The rest 25% can come from books/training etc. The design work which I have done for customers has helped me visualize what the test is asking and I could answer on the basis of the real time scenarios which I face in the field on a daily basis. Not to say that studying does not work, but it does not work for me. My recommendation would be not to prepare for this exam in a week or a month, but to prepare for it every day by looking at the vast ocean of vSphere concepts. 

I know some people who have not done design in the field and have passed the exam and I really appreciate what they have done. For me the experience is the number one thing which helped. 

Some other things would be:-

c) Create a vSphere Design - Do it if you can..

d) Cover everything on the Blueprint

e) Read Blogs they help a lot - Here is a list of top blogs - http://vsphere-land.com/

Well, I will sign off now and open that bottle of vBeer which I guess I completely deserve :-P Woooohooo....