Solutions Administration > Configuring Storage Optimization Rules
  
Version 10.2.01P10
Configuring Storage Optimization Rules
APTARE IT Analytics provides a set of storage optimization rules to assess areas within your enterprise that offer candidates for optimization. These rules include parameters that can be configured to isolate specific conditions relevant for your environment. You can also associate costs with rules. Cost sources may related to Chargeback values or you can set your own custom value. For example, the Unallocated LUNs rule can be configured to exclude LUNs less than a certain size. While various use cases drive how you configure a rule, the goal is to have analytics that help you identify storage optimization candidates and trends that require attention. This on-going process should periodically assess trends and codify business practices. See Storage Optimization Solution Overview, Enabling Storage Optimization Rules, and Storage Optimization Solution Reports.
Once configured, a scheduled process gathers historical data for these categories so that you can identify areas that require further scrutiny. Accompanying reports present data that can be monitored over time, enabling an actionable process to maintain an optimized storage environment.
Best Practice
When configuring values for parameters, be as liberal as possible, initially. Then, over time, change parameters to produce a narrower actionable list. For optimal data comparisons, avoid frequent parameter modifications.
To edit a storage optimization rule
If optimization rules are not modified, the historical data process uses an active rule’s default settings to collect the historical data.
1. Select Admin > Solutions > Storage Optimization.
 
Rule
Rules are listed within relevant categories, such as Cloud and Storage.
Availability
If a particular type of collection is not licensed or collected, storage optimization data will not be available, regardless of how a rule is configured. In some cases, a Portal may have the necessary license, but collection may not have been enabled and/or completed.
• Cloud does not require a specific license in order to deploy a data collector.
• Data Protection requires a Backup Manager license.
• File Analytics requires a File Analytics license.
• Storage requires a Capacity Manager license.
• Virtualization requires a Virtualization Manager license.
Description
The full description of the Storage Optimization rule can be viewed by placing your mouse over the description.
Notes
Enter operational notes for future reference.
Status
• Green check mark indicates successful collection of storage optimization historical data for enabled rules.
• Red X indicates failed historical data collection. It could be that collection is attempting to access data for a product module that is not in your Portal environment. Click the red icon to view the Database Error Aggregation report.
• A non-colored circle indicates that the storage optimization process did not run, typically because the rule is not enabled.
State
Indicates if the rule is Enabled or Disabled.
Last Run
The date and time that the Storage Optimization process ran and evaluated the collected data against the rule’s configured parameters.
2. Select a rule in the Storage Optimization grid and click Edit. Or, simply double-click the rule to access the edit dialog. See also, Storage Optimization Rule Prerequisites and Logic.
Storage Optimization Rule
Description
Cloud Rules
AWS Orphan Snapshots
Amazon Web Services orphaned snapshots that are consuming storage may be impacting costs. This rule identifies snapshots for EC2 instances that no longer exist. When an EC2 instance is deleted, its snapshots need to be reviewed and its volumes brought back into the pool of usable storage. This rule also allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. For actionable information, see the Storage Optimization detail reports.
AWS Orphan Volumes
Amazon Web Services orphaned volumes that are consuming storage may be impacting costs. This rule identifies volumes for EC2 instances that no longer exist. When an EC2 instance is deleted, its snapshots need to be reviewed and its volumes brought back into the pool of usable storage. This rule allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. For actionable information, see the Storage Optimization reports.
Data Protection Rules
Sources Backed Up by Multiple Servers
Sources backed up by multiple servers may be wasting storage and increasing maintenance costs. This rule identifies sources backed up by more than one server within a specific number of days (default is 7 days). If a source is moved from one backup system to another backup system, this rule would identify those changes too.
This rule allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. The cost is calculated based on the number of different servers minus 1, times the average job size in GiB. For example, if a source is backed up by 3 different servers, the average size of these jobs is 200 GiB, and $0.25 for each GiB, then the saving might be: (3-1) * 200 GiB * $0.25 = $100
Data Domain File Compression
Compression metrics for the last 30 days are evaluated for inefficient storage usage and compression ratios for Data Domain clients. A low compression ratio may indicate a storage optimization opportunity or it may warrant a move of low compression clients to less expensive storage. This rule also allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. For additional details, see the Data Domain NetBackup File Compression Summary report.
High Backup Retention Jobs
Backups retained for too many days may be wasting storage and increasing maintenance costs. This rule identifies backups with a high number of retention days. This rule allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports.
File Analytics Rules
File Type Usage
File types that are consuming storage can be reviewed. The filename extension identifies a file type, such as iso, log, and cab. This rule allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. This File Type rule is relevant only if File Analytics data collection is enabled. For a list of file types that are relevant for your environment, see the File Types report.
Inactive Large Files
Large files consuming storage can be considered when making tiered storage migration decisions. This rule also allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. This rule is relevant only if File Analytics data collection is enabled. For additional details, see the Largest Files report.
Storage Rules
Inactive LUNs
LUNs that have no I/O activity collected in the last 30 days, or the collected value during that time period is zero, are candidates for storage reclamation.
This rule explicitly examines 30 days of collected LUN performance data. This rule can filter the data by RAID type. The format for RAID type specification is specific to storage vendors. For a list of RAID types in your environment, run the LUN Utilization Summary report. This rule also allows you to set a Cost Source for displaying associated costs in the generated reports. Choose from Chargeback values or add a custom value. If you have set up Chargeback rules, those are more granular and can provide greater cost accuracy. See also, Storage Rules and Logic.
Overprovisioned Hosts
File system usage can help identify overprovisioned file systems and hosts. For additional information, run the Host Utilization Summary report and the Host Filesystem Reclamation Candidates cloud report. This rule also allows you to set a Cost Source for displaying associated costs in the generated reports. Choose from Chargeback values or add a custom value. If you have set up Chargeback rules, those are more granular and can provide greater cost accuracy. See also, Storage Rules and Logic.
Unallocated LUNs
Storage associated with LUNs that have not been allocated to hosts can be considered for storage optimization. This rule also allows you to set a Cost Source for displaying associated costs in the generated reports. Choose from Chargeback values or add a custom value. If you have set up Chargeback rules, those are more granular and can provide greater cost accuracy.
This rule can filter the data by RAID type. The format for RAID type specification is specific to storage vendors. For a list of RAID types in your environment, run the LUN Utilization Summary or the Unallocated LUNs report. In addition, the Reclamation Summary report can reveal potential reclamation categories. See also, Storage Rules and Logic.
Undiscovered LUNs
LUNs that have been assigned to a host, but have not been discovered and therefore are not seen on the host side, indicate a reclamation opportunity. The storage in these orphaned LUNs is not available for mounting file systems. This rule also allows you to set a Cost Source for displaying associated costs in the generated reports. Choose from Chargeback values or add a custom value. If you have set up Chargeback rules, those are more granular and can provide greater cost accuracy.
This rule can filter the data by RAID type. The format for RAID type specification is specific to storage vendors. For a list of RAID types in your environment, run the LUN Utilization Summary report. In addition, the Reclamation Summary report illustrates potential reclamation categories. See also, Storage Rules and Logic.
Unused LUNs
Unused LUNs could be considered for reclamation. These are LUNs that have been assigned to a host, but the host has not been placed into a volume group, or a partition has not been created. This rule also allows you to set a Cost Source for displaying associated costs in the generated reports. Choose from Chargeback values or add a custom value. If you have set up Chargeback rules, those are more granular and can provide greater cost accuracy.
This rule can filter the data by RAID type. The format for RAID type specification is specific to storage vendors. For a list of RAID types in your environment, run the LUN Utilization Summary report. In addition, the Reclamation Summary report illustrates potential reclamation categories. See also, Storage Rules and Logic.
Virtualization Rules
Non-VM Files
VM storage that is being consumed by files that are unknown VM file types can be considered for storage optimization. This rule allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. For additional details, see the Datastore Usage Breakdown and the VM Files Summary reports. See also, Virtualization Rules and Logic.
VMs Aged Snapshots
VM snapshots have storage associated with them, but these snapshots have been forgotten for some time. Aged snapshots present a reclamation opportunity. This rule allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. For additional details, see the VM Snapshot Summary. See also, Virtualization Rules and Logic.
VMs Low CPU
VMs where the average CPU utilization is low for last 24 hours and CPU usage is less than 5%, may provide a storage optimization opportunity.
Filter your actionable list by guest size and guest state, for example, including only running large guests. This rule allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. For additional details, see the VM Summary report. See also, Virtualization Rules and Logic.
VMs Not in VM Inventory
VMs that are not in the VM inventory may be consuming storage. When a VM is removed from the inventory, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the associated storage is returned to the storage pool. This rule also allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. For additional details, see the Datastore Usage Breakdown and the VM Files Summary reports. See also, Virtualization Rules and Logic.
VMs Powered Off
VMs that have been powered off may have storage associated with them. For additional details, see the VM Summary report. This rule also allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. See also, Virtualization Rules and Logic.
VMs Undiscovered Disks
VMs that have been provisioned storage, but that storage is not being used by the VMs, may indicate a storage optimization opportunity. This rule also allows you to set a custom value for Cost per GiB for the purpose of displaying costs in the generated reports. For additional details, see the Physical Disk Utilization report. See also, Virtualization Rules and Logic.
3. Click in a parameter field to view the green help text at the bottom of the dialog and then use those details to configure parameters. Each rule includes parameters unique to the data that is being evaluated. See also, Edit Storage Optimization Rule Example and Common Storage Optimization Parameters.
Edit Storage Optimization Rule Example
Because each Storage Optimization rule has its own set of parameters, rely on the green help text in the Edit dialog to guide your configuration.
The following example illustrates the types of parameters that can be adjusted to glean an actionable list from collected data. See also, Common Storage Optimization Parameters.
Common Storage Optimization Parameters
The parameters shown in the following list represent parameters that are common to multiple storage optimization rules. This list, however, does not represent a comprehensive list of storage optimization parameters. Refer to the green help text in each rule for parameter specifics. See Configuring Storage Optimization Rules and Edit Storage Optimization Rule Example.
Parameter
Description and Value Examples
Cost Source
Select a cost source to enable another dimension of Storage Optimization. By selecting a cost source, you can associate a monetary value to storage inefficiencies. Choose to use the default Chargeback values or set your own cost value.
Host Type
Examples of host types include: CIFS, Windows, and Linux. For a list of host types in your environment, run the Host Summary report.
A comma-separated list of case-sensitive host types is supported. A null value signifies that this parameter will be omitted from processing.
Include/Exclude File Type
Enter a comma-separated list of case-sensitive file types collected via File Analytics. Examples of file types include: zip, out, dmp, iso, gz. For a list of file types in your environment, run the File Types report.
A null value signifies that this parameter will be omitted from processing.
Include/Exclude RAID Type
The format for RAID type specification is specific to storage vendors. For a list of RAID types in your environment, run the LUN Utilization Summary report.
A comma-separated list of case-sensitive RAID types is supported. A null value signifies that this parameter will be omitted from processing.
Include/Exclude RAID Type Containing
Include the RAID types containing the specified characters. The format for RAID type specification is specific to storage vendors. For a list of RAID types in your environment, run the LUN Utilization Summary report.
A comma-separated REGEXP expression is supported.
To exclude this parameter from the rule, use a blank value.
Include Guest State
Possible VM guest states include: running, shuttingdown, resetting, standby, notRunning, and unknown.
A comma-separated list of case-sensitive states is supported. A null value signifies that this parameter will be omitted from processing.