EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager)

Version 1.0.0

Release Notes
P/N 300-011-114 REV A01 August 11, 2010

These release notes contain supplemental information about EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager, version 1.0.0. Topics include: Revision history.......................................................................................... 2 Product description ................................................................................... 2 New features and changes ........................................................................ 3 Environment and system requirements .................................................. 4 Fixed problems ........................................................................................... 5 Known problems and limitations ............................................................ 7 Technical notes ......................................................................................... 11 Documentation ......................................................................................... 13 Software media, organization, and files ............................................... 14 Installation ................................................................................................ 14 Troubleshooting and getting help ......................................................... 15

Revision history

Revision history
The following table presents the revision history of this document.
Revision A01 Date August 11, 2010 Description Initial release

Product description
EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) is a software product that enables the dynamic allocation of storage-system resources to meet application service-level requirements. QoS Manager allows you to prioritize applications and set specific performance targets to achieve desired service levels for mission-critical applications. QoS Manager can also monitor storage-system performance, on an application-by-application basis, providing a logical view of application performance on the storage system. All performance data gathered by Qos Manager is presented in charts describing application performance analysis and trending. In addition to displaying real-time data, QoS Manager allows you to archive performance data for offline trending and data analysis by providing two standalone client tools that retrieve performance archives from the storage system as well as export data to other file formats.
QoS Manager 1.0 resides on EMC CX4 storage systems, and integrates seamlessly with the Unisphere web-based management interface that is downloaded to the browser when the storage processor (SP) on the storage system is accessed. QoS Manager also includes a command line interface that plugs directly into the EMC Navisphere Secure CLI component.

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

New features and changes

New features and changes

New features introduced in 1.0.0: Support of thick LUNs as monitored targets Support of LUN migration for a monitored target Support of LUN compression for a monitored target

CAUTION Be sure to follow the configuration guidelines outlined by EMC. Using improper settings can cause erratic behavior.

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Environment and system requirements

Environment and system requirements

Since QoS Manager is integrated directly with the Unisphere Management UI and Unisphere Management Server, refer to the Unisphere for Block release notes for a full list of client, network and operating system requirements.

Unisphere management software requirements

To use QoS Manager on any supported storage system (CX4, CX3, or CX series), the QoS Manager enabler must be installed on the storage system. The version of the EMC FLARE Operating Environment must be 04.28 or later for CX4 series, 03.24 or later for CX3 series, 02.24 or later for CX series. EMC recommends that you always use the current shipping version of Unisphere Host Agent and Unisphere for Block to manage domains and for off-array management stations. Refer to the Unisphere for Block and Unisphere Host Agent/CLI and Utilities release notes for a full compatibility matrix.

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Fixed problems

Fixed problems
This section identifies outstanding issues that are fixed in this version of QoS Manager. Visit the EMC Powerlink Issue Tracker website at http://Powerlink.EMC.com for the most recent updates and information about Quality of Service Manager releases.

Problems fixed in version 1.0.0 (FLARE version 04.30.000.5.004)

Platforms CX4 series CX3 series CX series Brief description Navisphere Quality of Service Manager The management server on the SP may repeatedly terminate and restart due to a thread that is shut down uncleanly. 363617 Frequency of occurrence: Sometimes under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Unisphere Quality of Service Manager A multithread synchronization issue may cause a Persistent file operation failure and/or a storage-system panic. 323422 Frequency of occurrence: Sometimes under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Symptom details The SP will be unmanaged when starting/stopping QoS Manager repeatedly for a few hours. Solution (or workaround) Fixed in code. Exists in versions: Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.14 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Fixed in version: Unisphere 1.0.0.

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

In QoS Provider, a race condition may occur in a multithread environment when a persistent file is accessed. This may cause a storage-system panic.

Fixed in code. Exists in versions: Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.14 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Fixed in version: Unisphere 1.0.0

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Fixed problems

Platforms CX4 series CX3 series CX series

Brief description Navisphere Quality of Service Manager The management server on the SP will repeatedly terminate and restart due to an unhandled exception that occurs when the management server reaches a resource limit. 337129 Frequency of occurrence: Sometimes under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Navisphere Quality of Service Manager The management server on the SP will repeatedly terminate and restart due to a memory leak issue. 339779 Frequency of occurrence: Sometimes under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Navisphere Quality of Service Manager - CLI An incorrect message is displayed when the CLI fails to create an I/O class. 339779 Frequency of occurrence: Always under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Low

Symptom details This issue occurs when a recurring QoS Manager schedule event enters a Broken or Suspended state and its end time is passed.

Solution (or workaround) Fixed in code. Exists in versions: Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.14 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Fixed in version: Unisphere 1.0.0

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

The SP could be unmanaged when running QoS Manager for a long time.

Fixed in code. Exists in versions: Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.14 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Fixed in version: Unisphere 1.0.0

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

When a CLI request to create an I/O class fails, the message Execute modify class request failed is displayed.

Fixed in code. Exists in versions: Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.14 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Fixed in version: Unisphere 1.0.0

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Known problems and limitations

Known problems and limitations

This section identifies outstanding issues still open with this version, as well as important warnings associated with this product, its connectivity, and its compatibility. Visit the EMC Powerlink Issue Tracker website at http://Powerlink.EMC.com for the most recent updates and information about previous Quality of Service Manager versions.

Problems known in version 1.0.0

Platforms CX4 series CX3 series CX series Brief description Unisphere Quality of Service Manager Executing the QoS Manager Stop command sometimes fails. 307261 Frequency of occurrence: Sometimes under a rare set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Unisphere Quality of Service Manager Modifying a QoS class in Measuring Mode sometimes fails. 374943 Frequency of occurrence: Sometimes under a rare set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Symptom details Executing a QoS Manager Stop command sometimes fails. Solution (or workaround) Target the peer SP and retry the stop command. Exists in versions: Unisphere 1.0.0 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Navisphere 6.28.20.1.40 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.31 Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14 When this problem happens, you can use Ctrl+C to exit and then: 1. Stop the NQM policy with the peer SP. 2. Modify the ioclass in Idle mode. If the workaround above does not work, restart CIMOM on both SPs. Exists in versions: Unisphere 1.0.0 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Navisphere 6.28.20.1.40 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.31 Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

Modifying a QoS class in Measuring Mode sometimes fails.

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Known problems and limitations

Platforms CX4 series CX3 series CX series

Brief description Unisphere Quality of Service Manager The folder path cannot be set successfully in the Retrieve Archive dialog box, Open Archive dialog box and Dump Archive dialog box if you are using a new update of JRE 1.6. 305488 Frequency of occurrence: In some cases under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Low Unisphere Quality of Service Manager When you run a policy with thin LUNs and the cruise control method, the policy fails to reach the goal for a reasonable period of time and remains goalattained if the workload is randomly targeting I/O to unconsumed thin LUN space. 200728/299938/309902/ 310001 Frequency of occurrence: In some cases under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Unisphere Quality of Service Manager QoS Manager preferences are not persisted for LDAP users. 259972 Frequency of occurrence: Always under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Low

Symptom details The folder path cannot be set successfully in the Retrieve Archive dialog box, Open Archive dialog box and Dump Archive dialog box.

Solution (or workaround) Use JRE 1.6 update 2 or lower. Use a customized dialog box to set the default path. Exists in versions: Unisphere 1.0.0 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Navisphere 6.28.20.1.40 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.31 Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14 None Exists in versions: Unisphere 1.0.0 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Navisphere 6.28.20.1.40 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.31 Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

When you run a policy with thin LUNs and the cruise control method, the policy fails to reach the goal for a reasonable period of time and remains goal-attained if the workload is randomly targeting I/O to unconsumed thin LUN space.

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

QoS Manager preferences are not persisted for LDAP users.

None. Exists in versions: Unisphere 1.0.0 Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Navisphere 6.28.20.1.40 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.31 Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Known problems and limitations

Platforms CX4 series CX3 series CX series

Brief description Unisphere Quality of Service Manager A QoS policy with two I/O classes using the cruise control method cannot achieve performance goals under a specific set of circumstances with EMC PowerPath enabled. 246994 Frequency of occurrence: In some cases under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Low Unisphere Quality of Service Manager When you run a policy with snapshot LUNs using the cruise control method, the policy fails to reach the goal for a reasonable period of time and remains goal-attained when issuing I/O to the snapshot targets. 324427 Frequency of occurrence: In some cases under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Unisphere Quality of Service Manager You cannot run or measure a QoS policy when you are migrating one target to another target. 345622 Frequency of occurrence: In some cases under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Low

Symptom details A QoS policy with two I/O classes using the cruise control method cannot achieve performance goals under a specific set of circumstances with EMC PowerPath enabled.

Solution (or workaround) None Exists in versions: Unisphere 1.0.0.x.x Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Navisphere 6.28.20.1.40 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.31 Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

When you run a policy with snapshot LUNs using the cruise control method, the policy fails to reach the goal for a reasonable period of time and remains goalattained when issuing I/O to the snapshots.

None Exists in versions: Unisphere 1.0.0.x.x Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

When one target LUN is migrated to another target within the same class, you cannot run and measure the policy.

None Exists in versions: Unisphere 1.0.0.x.x Navisphere 6.29.0.6.3 Navisphere 6.28.20.1.40 Navisphere 6.28.10.3.15 Navisphere 6.28.0.4.31 Navisphere 6.26.0.2.18 Navisphere 6.24.0.6.14

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Known problems and limitations

Platforms CX4 series CX3 series CX series

Brief description Unisphere Quality of Service Manager QoS cruise control may fail to satisfy the goal in some autotiering cases. 355743 Frequency of occurrence: In some cases under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Medium Unisphere Quality of Service Manager QoS cruise control may fail to achieve the goal during the target initial compression and after decompressing the target. 364266 348552 Frequency of occurrence: In some cases under a specific set of circumstances. Severity: Medium

Symptom details QoS cruise control may fail to satisfy the goal under the worst performance scenario during autotiering data relocation operation.

Solution (or workaround) None Exists in version: Unisphere 1.0.0.x.x

CX4 series CX3 series CX series

QoS cruise control may fail to satisfy the goal due to performance degradation during the target initial compression and after decompressing the target.

None Exists in version: Unisphere 1.0.0.x.x

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EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Technical notes

Technical notes
This section includes important information that does not appear anywhere else.

Control methods
Using the cruise control method when running a policy to achieve certain performance targets requires QoS Manager to go through a period of information gathering and calibrating, which can take some time. During this time, QoS Manager gathers information about current application workloads and how changes in workload might affect a competing applications performance. Note that during this time, the performance of some applications may fluctuate more than usual. These fluctuations are temporary but may last until QoS Manager achieves the desired performance goals or determines that the goals are not achievable under current storagesystem workload and stops trying to achieve those goals. The search and calibrate process will not be repeated on subsequent runs of that same unmodified policy. However, if application performance significantly changes between policy runs you might again observe performance fluctuations until goals have been achieved. NOTE: If you instruct QoS Manager to continue to attempt to achieve its performance goals but it cannot achieve them, performance may continue to fluctuate. In this case, EMC recommends that you set the Action on Failure parameter of your policy to stop or that you re-adjust your performance goals. When QoS Manager has achieved your application performance goals using the cruise control method, you may see eventual spikes or drops in application performance. This is because QoS Manager tests for workload changes in the environment at random time intervals so that it can adapt to workload changes quickly. As a general rule, all I/O class definitions within a policy must be unambiguous. This means that each I/O class within a policy must describe an independent set of I/O requests that cannot duplicate any other set of requests in the same policy. For example, you cannot add two I/O classes that are both composed of all I/O requests targeting a certain LUN to the same policy. However, if one I/O class contains all writes to the target LUN and the other I/O class contains all reads to the same LUN, the operation is allowed.

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

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Technical notes

Thin provisioning
I/O to thin LUNs exhibits different behaviors than I/O to thick LUNs. The response times of I/O to thin LUNs are not as predictable as those of I/O to thick LUNs and are more difficult for the QoS Manager control algorithms to manage. When thin LUNs are in an I/O class, you should expect to see slightly longer times to achieve target performance defined by cruise control policies and wider variations in limits policies. Cruise control policies with narrow tolerances can be expected to fail more frequently. Wider tolerances will deliver better results.

Compression
The response times of compressed I/O are not as predictable as those of thick LUNs and are more difficult for the QoS Manager control algorithms to manage. During the initial compression operation, I/O to compressed LUNs may see delayed response times that impact the ability of control algorithms to maintain goals. In steady state operations like thin LUNs you should expect to see longer times to achieve target performance defined by cruise control policies and wider variations in limits policies when compressed LUNs are included in I/O classes. Cruise control policies with narrow tolerances can be expected to fail more frequently. Wider tolerances will deliver better results.

Charts and preferences

Unisphere Analyzer shares many QoS Manager chart preferences so changes to preferences of one application will be reflected in both. For example, if you select a blue chart background, charts from both products will have a blue background. You can bring up the shared Customize dialog box with the Tools menu entry from either product. However some settings in the Customize dialog box are specific to only one product. When measuring or running a policy, the first data sample may take up to 20 seconds to appear on the chart. During this time the chart will be blank and only the axes without tick labels will be visible. If you have several charts open at the same time you may be required to scroll the chart to the right to see the latest data samples. Viewing policies with 20 or more I/O classes in the QoS Manager chart panel can make it difficult to identify current performance levels for individual I/O classes based on the multitude of displayed line graphs. To alleviate this problem, use the I/O class filtering functionality that is part of the chart configuration options. Hover your mouse cursor over individual data points to identify I/O class performance levels. (RFE 152839)

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EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Documentation

Although every effort has been made to generate unique color combinations for the lines displayed on the QoS Manager chart panels, due to differences in video adapters, video monitors, and individual perceptions of color, occasionally lines will be displayed that are difficult to distinguish. This problem is most pronounced when a 256-color video mode is used and least visible when a True Color video mode is set. We recommend you use the highest color resolution possible for the desired screen resolution. On systems running the X Window System for display, copying the graph image to the clipboard does work. However software that can paste the image is still somewhat uncommon. X Window System users may find saving the graph as a JPEG file more useful.

Off-Array UI
You can use the QoS Manager off-array UI to manage the storage systems with QoS Manager enabled. But when you use the off-array UI to open or dump a retrieved archive file, you do not need to connect to a storage system.

Documentation
The table below lists the documents and online help that apply to Unisphere Quality of Service Manager. The most up-to-date documentation and help is available in the Technical Documentation and Advisories section of the EMC Powerlink website.
Part number 300-001-921 N/A Publication EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager Command Line Interface (CLI) Reference Unisphere Help (available in the Unisphere UI)

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

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Software media, organization, and files

Software media, organization, and files

The following table lists the media for this version of Unisphere Quality of Service Manager.
Part number 053-001-829 Description EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager Enabler CD-ROM

Installation
Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS) software is preloaded on all storage systems with the FLARE bundles. Enabler packages are usually installed when the storage system is initialized at your site. To install or update QoS in an existing storage system, select the Software tab in the Unisphere Service Manager (USM). Installed enablers will persist on the system through an upgrade. You can download the USM from the Powerlink website. It is recommended that a service provider perform the installation or update. To use QoS, refer to the Unisphere online help or download the Unisphere online help and/or Unisphere Quality of Service Manager CLI Reference available on Powerlink. You can use QoS in a client mode (off array) mode to view QoS archives. Follow the instructions in Setting Up a Unisphere Management Station available on Powerlink to set up a management station. You do not need to install the enabler on the Unisphere management station to view QoS archives.

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EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Troubleshooting and getting help

Troubleshooting and getting help

This section provides specific instructions for contacting EMC Customer Service and obtaining additional information about EMC products.

Where to get help

EMC support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows. Product information For documentation, release notes, software updates, or for information about EMC products, licensing, and service, go to the EMC Powerlink website (registration required) at: http://Powerlink.EMC.com Technical support For technical support, go to Powerlink and choose Support. On the Support page, you will see several options, including one for making a service request. Note that to open a service request, you must have a valid support agreement. Please contact your EMC sales representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or with questions about your account.

EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

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Troubleshooting and getting help

Copyright 2010 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. However, the information is subject to change without notice. THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS." EMC CORPORATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to the Technical Documentation and Advisories section on EMC Powerlink. For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

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EMC Unisphere Quality of Service Manager (QoS Manager) Version 1.0.0 Release Notes