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Forward Error Correction (FEC) capabilities further increase resiliency by automatically
detecting and recovering network transmission errors. To ensure predictable performance
before deployment, organizations can validate infrastructure with ClearLink Diagnostics and
Flow Generator features, and benchmark end-to-end or device-level performance using
IO Insight.
Also, if VM Insight capabilities are supported within the ecosystem, then individual virtual
machine metrics can be benchmarked and monitored.
Simplified management and robust network analytics
Fabric Vision technology provides a breakthrough hardware and software solution that helps
simplify monitoring, maximize network availability, and dramatically reduce costs. Featuring
innovative monitoring, management, and diagnostic capabilities, Fabric Vision technology
enables administrators to avoid problems before they affect operations, helping their
organizations meet SLAs. Fabric Vision technology includes the following components:
IO Insight: Proactively and non-intrusively monitors application and device-level IO and
latency to gain deep insights into performance and availability, ensuring predictable
performance and operational stability.
VM Insight: Monitors virtual machine (VM) performance throughout a storage fabric to
quickly determine the source of VM/application performance anomalies and fine-tune the
infrastructure based on VM/application requirements.
Monitoring and Alerting Policy Suite (MAPS): Leverages pre-built, rule and
policy-based templates within MAPS to simplify fabric-wide threshold configuration,
monitoring, and alerting. Administrators can configure the entire fabric (or multiple fabrics)
at one time using common rules and policies, or customize policies for specific ports or
switch elements. In addition, administrators can include IO Insight and VM Insight metrics
in MAPS policies to be notified of performance degradation.
Fabric Performance Impact (FPI) monitoring: Leverages predefined MAPS policies to
automatically detect and alert administrators to different latency severity levels, and to
identify slow drain devices that could affect network performance. This feature identifies
various latency severity levels, pinpointing exactly which devices are causing or are
impacted by a bottlenecked port, and quarantines slow drain devices automatically to
prevent buffer credit “starvation.”
Dashboards: Provides integrated dashboards that display an overall storage area
network (SAN) health view, including details about out-of- range conditions, to help
administrators easily identify trends and quickly pinpoint issues occurring on a switch or in
a fabric.
Configuration and Operational Monitoring Policy Automation Services Suite
(COMPASS): Simplifies deployment, safeguards consistency, and increases operational
efficiencies of larger environments with automated switch and fabric configuration
services. Administrators can configure a template, or adopt an existing configuration, to
seamlessly deploy a configuration across the fabric. In addition, they can ensure settings
do not drift over time, using COMPASS configuration and policy violation monitoring within
IBM Network Advisor dashboards.
ClearLink Diagnostics: Ensures optical and signal integrity for Fibre Channel optics and
cables, simplifying deployment and support of high-performance fabrics. ClearLink
Diagnostic Port (D_Port) is an advanced capability of Fibre Channel platforms.
