Overview

Through its single-point SAN management platform, Fabric Manager enables the global integration and execution of processes across multiple fabrics. Moreover, Fabric Manager helps to lower the cost of SAN ownership by intuitively facilitating a variety of SAN management tasks. As a result, Fabric Manager provides a flexible and powerful tool optimized to provide organizations with rapid access to critical SAN information across multiple fabrics. Fabric Manager increases the efficiency levels of administrators who are responsible for managing multiple SANs. With the unique ability to provide real-time information and streamline SAN management tasks, Fabric Manager provides the following capabilities:

• A single-console global SAN management platform: Enterprise Edition Fabric Manager has the intelligence to manage an unlimited number of domains from one server. It dynamically collects (in real time) all SAN fabric elements and portrays them within the single console, allowing intuitive iconic and explorer tree operations.
• Enhanced SAN visibility: Fabric Manager can globally capture and present reliable status for all SAN objects. Status is projected throughout the entire SAN management environment. This context-sensitive feature enables organizations to dynamically discover and control the status of all SAN components.

What's new

• Improved user interface.
• More effective firmware management tool
• New device diagnostic wizard
• More extensive reporting
• Centralized RADIUS management

Features and Benefits

• Multi-Protocol Router: Wizard for device sharing walks user through series of steps to share devices between fabrics and includes steps to connect Edge Fabric to FC Router (without this, sharing would be a manual operation on multiple different fabrics; Collate information from multiple sources - Analyze information from different fabrics to present a comprehensive view; Information on FC Router, EX ports and LSANs.
• Usability Improvements: Secure FOS Fabric Merge Profiling Customers can profile secure fabrics they want to merge prior to implementation. Profiling will allow the user to find and fix discrepancies such as policy, domain ID and zoning conflicts. Employs HTTPS communication between the server and the switch.
• Architectural Changes: Thinner client, more robust server; Database for data persistence; Enhanced performance - Polling minimized (server polls, clients hit server for data), Management traffic load on switches reduced, DB updated by server based on events or other means.
• Historical Performance Monitoring: First implementation - Port Rx/Tx --Monitors port traffic every 5 minutes on all ports, Data stored in database and aged, Database schema published and made available so users can directly generate reports via 3rd party packages. Generate customized reports (i.e., 'Give me top N ports that had the most traffic over time period T'), Generate customized charts such as line charts of top N ports over time T.
• Change/Alert Management: Automated monitoring of changes in fabrics; Support proactive, unattended monitoring; User configurable; Ability to specify what areas to check (comprehensive - zone changes, switches/devices in/out…); Configure check times (every hour, every day, etc.); Notification of changes via email, generating an alert; Reports on baseline state and changes; - Alerts - consistent reporting of changes (persistent, acknowledgeable, visual indications on affected objects).
• Usability Improvements: Global Fabrics (discovery of new or change to FM client, other clients notified) - Table UI changes, Sorting on multiple columns, Filtering events, Improving printing, Enhanced row identification, details on each row via tooltip; Data Export capability - Save data in tables into Tab Delimited value files; Dialog/Screens cleanup (use of Wizards to simplify setup and workflows); Identify initiators/Targets - Port Swapping display; . When a fabric is selected in any of the topology views the Overview tab shows Domain ID only in decimal and hex formats; Fabric health-lists problems that prevent switches to be in “normal” (healthy ) state.