Resource Coordinator

Virtualization optimizer for blade farms

Resource Coordinator Virtual server Edition let’s you take control of both physical blade servers and virtualized blade servers using a single and consistent management view. It also enables virtualization in Storage Area Networks, reducing your operational costs and IT resource expenditure. Key to the optimum use of PRIMERGY Blade Servers, it also reduces your system administration workloads and maximizes the interoperability and high availability of the servers and storage under its control.

Total system optimization

Fujitsu's Resource Coordinator is resource control software capable of optimizing an entire IT system. Ideal for large-scale, complex IT systems, Resource Coordinator administers all the resources of servers, storage, networks and software. It also provides a visual representation of the configuration, its status and the cause and impact of any problems. Resource Coordinator reduces your administration burden by simplifying installation and configuration change, improving and accelerating failure management and automating and scheduling your routine operations. By totally controlling the resources within a flexible configuration, it enables your IT system to be optimized while maintaining a stable operational environment.

• Features
• Functions
• System requirements
• Catalogs and materials

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Resource Coordinator Features

  [Index] Features | Introduction point

Features

Accelerated installation

• Prevents mis-configuration by automatically acquiring the physical paths between storage units, switches, and servers, and associating them with information on the file system of servers and databases for display at a single screen.
• Collective installation and setup from OS to middleware is achieved by unified management of the configurations, resulting in shorter installation times and less errors.

Scale-out operation support

• As business processing capacity in Web and application servers deteriorates, scale-out operation is supported by automatic reconfiguration of network and storage on addition of new servers.

Efficient server operation

• Based on operational conditions, efficient server operation can be achieved by automatic server repurposing matched to the demands on the server.

Quick recovery

• When failure occurs, the cause and service impact of the failure can be checked at a glance.
• System volumes of defective servers can be automatically routed to an alternative server, enabling business to quickly resume.
• Cooperation between database servers and application servers prevents problems by enabling automatic change of servers.

Efficient maintenance

• Through cooperation with a load balancer, scheduled maintenance (application of security patches, etc.) can be performed without downtime.
• By performing backups during patch installation, prior patch installation status can be easily and quickly restored if a patch process should fail.

Resource Coordinator Functions

Overview of the functions

• Increased management efficiency from concentration of storage resources
• Flexible server operation by dynamic resource allocation

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Virtualization of IT resources

Dynamic allocation (provisioning) of resources by the virtualization of IT resources, such as servers and storage.

With virtualization, the following activities can be performed more easily.

• Server addition and replacement
• Addition of storage

Further, cooperation with the multi-server management functions (that performs the same function across multiple servers, managed as a collective work unit) of Interstage Application Server V7, automates the installation of servers and configuration of applications. Such automated setup enables the provisioning of business resources as a single work unit.

Virtualization is performed in the following units.

• Site
  The whole system.
• Domain
  Server and storage group of the same model in the same network topology.
• Server pool
  A group of servers whose usage is not determined. Servers are assigned from here.
• Storage pool
  A group of logical volumes not yet assigned to servers. Storage is managed per logical volume and assigned from here.
• Service group
  A logical group summarizes two or more groups that constitute the business (service), for example the three-tier models of the Web, application, and database.

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Automation of system operations

• Automated installation and configuration of a server
  By automatically recognizing the physical configuration of managed servers and performing prior definitions, the installation and configuration of many servers can be performed all at once.
• Collective installation of software
  By using an integrated installer, the OS and middleware are installed on multiple servers at one time.
• Automated installation and configuration of storage
  Creation of a logical volume in a disk array device and its allocation to a server can be automated.
• Server repurposing
  By preparing a boot disk with a different OS and application for the disk array device connected to SAN, the server can be easily exchanged according to demand.

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Storage Virtualization

By using a virtual switch, the physical information on a storage device is virtualized on SAN, and a job volume can be used. You can continue to use the job volume without affecting the server even if a storage configuration changes.

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Integrated control

• Integrated GUI
  The hardware (server, storage, network) and software (OS, middleware, application) that constitute the system are intensively controlled by the integrated GUI.
• Remote console
  If managing Solaris servers, you can use the remote console function.
  
  • OS console concentration
    Collectively manages the OS consoles of multiple managed servers and performs software maintenance activities including display of the data (notifications, panic messages, etc.) on the OS console, installation of software, installation of patches, reboots, resets, etc.
  • Collective command input on the OS console
    Simultaneous same-commandy entry on the OS consoles of multiple managed servers. Ensures all related servers receive the same instructions and perform the same operations.

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Availability

• Visualization of resource failures
  Enables easy GUI based understanding of the resource status of all servers, storage, and network devices that constitute the system. Further, the status of any failure can be checked from the logic resource management screen and located in more detail on the physical resource management screen, ensuring the impact and cause of the failure are easily identified.
  
  • Visualization of business centered service
    Defines a group of servers that perform the same business function as a single server group and shows the business that is operated on that group as a service.
  • Visualization of servers and storage as device units
    For each server and storage resource, the status is displayed per device. By localizing the units to be checked, the physical location of the device where a problem has occured is more promptly understood.
    In addition, the extensive surveillance and performance analysis of the system can be achieved in cooperation with the following products.
    
    • The monitoring function of Systemwalker Centric Manager can perform intensive surveillance of the abnormality messages generated by Resource Coordinator.
    • Systemwalker Service Quality Coordinator can display and analyze storage performance information collected by Resource Coordinator.

• Maintenance
  
  • Collective updating of multiple servers
    When managing Windows/Linux servers, system administrators can achieve highly reliable patch application, by using a reserve server, as a master. This master is then used to performing a collective distribution to other servers. By arranging backups before the master distribution, a backup image can be distributed if a patch application fails to restore the status to before the patch application.
  • System volume snapshot
    For Solaris servers, patch application can be performed to an alternate volume. The patch is then enabled by rebooting. With this function, business only needs to be suspended during the reboot.
• Prevention of problems affecting other business
  When a system consists of multiple servers, such as application servers, database servers and storage, local problems can be prevented from affecting the whole site. The event distribution function between service layers prevents the transmission of the generated problem (event) between the layers of service that constitute a service group, stopping any effect on other business.
• Automated server failure recovery
  If a server stops due to failure or maintenance, the boot disk can be connected to another server and service restarted. Since you can use the OS and application on a new server using the boot disk previously used, business can continue without noticing that the hardware has been exchanged.

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Security

• Authentication
  Between administrators with different security levels and business responsibilities, you can set any authority levels so that site sharing is possible. You can also perform authentication roll management that enables division of the available range of resources for each operations manager.
• Communication
  A communications function provides security control and event acquisition for communication beyond the site firewall admin server and domain admin server.
  The communication function provides the following features.
  
  
  • SSL for secure communication.
  • You are able to restrict the direction of communication to outbound from inside the firewall. This prevents external invasive access.
  • You can also restrict the number of communication ports and minimize the number of settings for the firewall.

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The range of functions usable by the managed server varies depending on the operating environment.
The following shows the functions that can be used.

*1: Available only in SAN boot environment.

Resource Coordinator System configuration

There are two types of typical configuration.
Detailed examples of the configurations are shown below.

• Configuration combining the site admin server and domain admin server
  This configuration is suitable for small systems, such as for Web server.

• Configuration that contains independent site admin server and domain admin server
  This configuration is recommended when security is required for the LAN to manage the servers.

Glossary for system configuration

Servers and clients are classified as follows in Resource Coordinator.
It is necessary to install the required Resource Coordinator on each component.

Site admin server

A server that manages domain admin servers. One server (one set of servers in the case of a cluster configuration) is installed in each site.

Domain admin server

A server that manages multiple managed servers.

You can install multiple servers (two or more sets in a cluster configuration) in a site.

This can also be used as a site admin server.

However, if one of the following conditions is met, it is necessary to add a domain admin server.

• Managed servers use different operating systems (Windows, Linux, or Solaris)
• There are many managed servers and you want to balance the load
• A firewall is installed between the site admin server and domain admin server or between the managed servers

Admin client

A client that connects to the site admin server and checks the configuration/status of the whole site on a GUI screen.

Managed server

A server managed by the domain admin server.

The following provides the notices when servers with different operating systems are managed by one site management server.

• Servers to be managed
  Available functions differ depending on the operating systems.
• Domain management servers
  At least one domain management server is required for each operating system on the managed servers.
  If a managed server is Solaris (PRIMEPOWER), the domain admin server must be Solaris (PRIMEPOWER).
  If a managed server is Linux (PRIMERGY/PRIMEQUEST) or Windows (PRIMERGY/PRIMEQUEST), the domain admin server must be Linux (PRIMERGY).
• Site admin server
  Choose either Solaris (PRIMEPOWER) or Linux (PRIMERGY).

Resource Coordinator materials

We offer reference documents for Resource Coordinator. In order to view the linked PDF files, Adobe System's Adobe ® Reader™ (free download) is required.

List of materials