Introduction

IBM has brought together into one family, known as the DS family, a broad range of disk systems to help small to large size enterprises select the correct solutions for their needs. The DS family combines the high-performance IBM System Storage DS6000 and DS8000 series of enterprise servers that inherit from the Enterprise Storage Server (ESS), with the DS4000 series of mid-range systems, and other line-of-entry systems (DS3000).

The DS4000 series of storage servers use Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology. RAID technology is used to protect the user data from disk drive failures. DS4000 storage servers contain Fibre Channel interfaces to connect both the host systems and disk drive enclosures. The storage servers in the DS4000 series provide high system availability through the use of hot-swappable and redundant components.

This is why the DS4000 series of storage servers is used commonly in high-end customer environments such as server consolidation on storage area networks (SANs). Since the continuous availability of  the storage is critical to such environments, even the slightest dips in the performance of the storage servers can adversely impact the smooth functioning of such environments. Continuous monitoring of the storage servers is hence essential so that, issues can be promptly identified and resolved. This can be achieved using eG Enterprise.