Network Management Center Blog : NCCM

Use case for ESX vSwitch policy compliance

steliodalo — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:46:00 GMT

I’ve been asked a few times now for an example of what some network engineers are doing with our HP Network Automation ESX driver. What kinds of things might you want to do with the vSwitch, which is not a very complex switch? How could the example I used earlier, CDP being turned off, happen when it’s policy to have it turned on for all switches, and you use cool NCCM automation like you have with HP NA to check configurations for policy compliance before they’re deployed?

What if the server admin chose to have it turned off when ESX was being tested in the lab, which really wouldn’t matter, but then that vSwitch configuration was not changed for the production servers? Now the vSwitches have CDP turned off. That won’t show up as an issue because you can’t see the devices when you run your compliance checks. But every vSwitch is out of compliance, and can’t be discovered using CDP. Double trouble. With HP NA you can discover the devices, test active configurations against policy, and then autoremediate. I just spoke to a customer that routinely rolls out 20-40 servers temporarily at month’s end to handle peak application load for one of their applications. Those are tens of vSwitches coming into and out of production over the course of a week or so for that one application, every month. For that period of time, the network team has no visibility into them coming or going, or what state they’re in while they are in production. And if there’s a performance issue, those devices, which connect to the physical network via physical NICs, come and go. How would you like to debug that performance issue?

Let’s go one step further. Wouldn’t it be cool if the ESX servers were managed by a server automation (SA) product with heterogeneous platform support that integrated with the network automation (NA) product with broad device support, so that SA could notify NA when the VMs were deployed. NA would bring them under management, run policy checks, auto remediate issues, and update a shared compliance dashboard? That would be data center automation. Shameless plug: hp.com/go/DCA. And if the NA product were integrated with fault, performance and IT process automation, then that would provide single-screen full network management automation. Another shameless plug: hp.com/go/ANLM. Why do I shamelessly plug our wares? Because the more I talk to network geeks, the more I hear that they had no idea how far we’ve come.

NNMi integration with HP System Insight Manager ( HP SIM)

aruna13 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:40:00 GMT

Hi,

I have had several questions lately asking about the integration between NNMi and HP System Insight Manager.

The HP NNMi–HP SIM integration provides actions for accessing several SIM tool from the NNMi console. Wit this integration,

NNMi users can detect and investigate potential network problems for HP ProLiant servers and storage devices.

Detailed documentation outlining this integration can be found in our latest version of deployment and configuration guide at:

http://support.openview.hp.com/selfsolve/document/KM763632/binary/nnmi_deployment_guide_81x_p5.pdf .

Read chapter à Integrations and Plug-ins à HP System Insight Manager

Thanks,
Aruna Ravichandran
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
Network Management Center,
HP Software
aru@hp.com

HP announces support for ESX vSwitch virtual devices

steliodalo — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:28:00 GMT

Read the HP press release? Still wondering what we’ve added to HP Network Automation software? Here’s the straight talk. HP NA now supports ESX vSwitch devices. What does that mean? Well, we’ve had available for a while now a beta driver (www.hp.com/go/BSAEssentialsNetwork) that allows you to find and manage vSwitch devices using the same HP NA you’ve come to know and love to manage NCCM in your conventional network infrastructure. That means HP Network Automation software allows you to mange thousands of types of physical network devices, virtual devices such as Cisco FWSM and ACE modules, and now vSwitch devices as well.

Why does that matter? I’ll be writing more on this hot topic in future posts, but did you know that every ESX server has and embedded vSwitch? These virtual switches connect VMs and they connect also to the physical network. You know, the one you’re responsible for keeping up. Yup, that one. So now, let me ask you this – how many vSwitches are currently deployed in your IT environment? How many will be deployed next month? How about during the last week of your fiscal quarter? How are they configured? Are they compliant? What is the default CDP setting on vSwitches?

What does your policy call for? How will you enforce that policy with vSwtiches )? Okay, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you like that. But hey, it’s happening, so you might as well get a grip on it.

Want to take the first step? Download an excellent independent Impact Brief written by Jim Frey at Enterprise Management Associates (http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/about/team/Jim_Frey.php). You can buy it at EMA’s website, or read it from our website, www.hp.com/go/NAsoftware.

I’ll be back soon, giving you more to worry about. Unless, of course, you’re one of the many happy HP Network Automation customers. In that case, I’ll be giving you more reasons to be thrilled with your HP Network Automation software.

Using Opsware NAS? Might be a good time to consider upgrading to HP NA 7.5, virtually speaking.

Network Automation connects to the CMDB

Michael_Procopio — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:11:00 GMT

We recently got some questions on the post Network Automation 7.5 reporting for duty.

How would HP NA integrate with a CMDB like BMC Atrium?

You have two different options. You could build the integration with your own tools using the Network Automation (NA) API(s) or access data directly out of the database. We publish the APIs and the database schema so that you can access the data that you need to import into a CMDB. The other option would be to leverage our SAR (Server Automation Reporter) product. It mines data from NA and stores it in its database for long-term storage and reporting. It includes connectors for various CMDBs so that it can feed HP uCMDB or other vendors products.

If NA can discover components on a network, can it supply the information about CI's to a CMDB?

Yes, NA captures very detailed asset and configuration information from network devices that can be fed into a CMDB. We have a number of customer that have implemented a similar solution.

Thanks to Darren Burton of the Business Service Automation team for answering the questions.

Related information:

Network Automation Software - demos, webinars, analysts papers and more here
Server Automation Reporter - datasheet
Automated Network Lifecycle Management - this site has large set of whitepapers and analysts papers on the broader topic
Universal Configuration Management Database (uCMDB) - demos, webinars, analysts papers and more here

Gartner gives HP Network Automation highest possible rating of Strong Positive

Michael_Procopio — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:27:00 GMT

by Stelio D'Alo

Network change and configuration management (NCCM) matters. That’s what network engineering teams are telling us. And when we check back with them, they often describe to us how the investment in our automation software paid for itself in months. I mention this because it’s a topic that everyone I talk to has on their mind: which IT software investments are safe bets? One of the reasons they are able to get that kind of ROI is because, they tell me, our app is easy to install and fast to become productive with, in part due to the browser-based GUI. More and more customers are starting to use HP NA (Network Automation) with HP NNMi (Network Node Manager i) and/or HP OO (Operations Orchestration) (see the Automated Network Lifecycle Management page hp.com/go/ANLM for additional material). As referenced in the Gartner report, the trend is towards linking Network Engineering to Network Operations and the rest of IT. Change management can be a pain , or it can be something that helps reduce mundane work and steal back some time to do those things that matter more. “Currently, NCCM tends to be a discipline unto itself, but in the future, it must increasingly be considered part of the configuration and change management processes for an end-to-end IT service and viewed as an enabler for the real-time infrastructure (RTI). This will require participation in the strategic, companywide change management process (usually implemented through the IT service desk tools) and integration with configuration management tools for other technologies, such as servers and storage.” Gartner MarketScope for Network Configuration and Change Management G00162055,Debra Curtis, David Williams, 21 November 2008*. You can access this report from our website on the HP Network Automation page under the +Analysts link, hp.com/go/NAsoftware. What’s your experience? Have you saved a ton of time with HP Network Automation software? If you have, and are willing to share an example, we’d love to hear from you.

I’m Stelio D’Alo a senior marketing manager for the Business Service Automation solution from HP Software. My background encompasses more than 20 years of industry experience in the fields of data center automation, enterprise software and telecommunications systems in Canada, Europe and the United States. I work with HP teams, including HP Partners, that help companies automate their data center operations with solutions including HP Network Automation, HP Network Node Manager and HP Operations Orchestration software.

*The MarketScope is copyrighted 21 November 2008 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The MarketScope is an evaluation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the MarketScope, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest rating. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose

HP Network Automation 7.5 reporting for duty

Michael_Procopio — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:28:00 GMT

by Stelio D’Alo

Hi, and thanks for checking out my first post. I’d like to introduce you to a relatively new member of the HP network management software family, HP Network Automation software, a network change, configuration and compliance management application.

What is HP Network Automation software (HP NA)?

Many of you will have known it as Opsware Network Automation System, or Opsware NAS.

I’m often asked by NNM customers if HP NA can replace NNM. The answer is a definite no, because they offer related, but different capabilities. HP NA is a companion to NNMi and many other HP software applications. HP NA is an integrated part of both the integrated data center automation solution in the HP Business Service Automation suite as well as integrated with HP NNMi software. Whereas NNMi software is our latest network management solution, HP NA is a network change and configuration management, or NCCM, product. The two get along famously, and actually have little overlap in features.

NNMi + NA deliver network lifecycle management for Operators and Network Engineers. You can start with either product and add the other later, or start with both. You can even install both products on a single server for many network environments.

What’s the latest version?

HP Network Automation 7.5 is the latest release, and includes many new customer-driven capabilities, including

• Advanced bare metal and template based provisioning
• VLAN templates and virtual device drivers ease server virtualization management
• Advanced Multi-tenancy support for Managed Service Providers
• Additional NNMi integrations

What this means:

• It helps you automate the rollout and management of cloud infrastructures
• New features specifically for those of you who are Managed Service Providers
• Faster provisioning of new network devices and virtualized infrastructures
• We have drivers for Cisco Call Manager, extending coverage for VoIP
• GUI based Network Driver Studio allows you to develop your own drivers

Basically, we have increased what we can automate for you. Provisioning, visibility into what devices are in your network and how they’re configured; and compliance/policy enforcement is what NA is all about. The more we automate the faster you can do your job the more you save. One of my favorite user stories is about the network engineers in a customer that automated to the point they started getting to take most of their weekends off for the first time in a long time. Now that’s the kind of thing we like to hear about. And the additions to the integration with NNMi provides more functions via a “single pane of glass”

Want more?

I’ll be back with more information on this software, and NA usage to realize incredible ROI. In the meantime, please visit us at hp.com/go/NAsoftware.

I’m Stelio D’Alo a senior marketing manager for the Business Service Automation solution from HP Software. My background encompasses more than 20 years of industry experience in the fields of data center automation, enterprise software and telecommunications systems in Canada, Europe and the United States. I have presented at numerous events worldwide, and am currently focused on working with organizations that are automating their data center operations with solutions including HP Network Automation, HP Network Node Manager and HP Operations Orchestration software.

Screenshot: NNM can launch directly to an NA configuration differences screen