<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Dell PowerVault MDi Physical Disk Sensor

The Dell PowerVault MDi Physical Disk sensor monitors a physical disk on a Dell PowerVault system.

i_round_blueThe sensor supports Dell PowerVault MD3000i, MD3420, MD3620i, MD3000f, MD3620f, or MD3820i. It might work with other models, too.

Dell PowerVault MDi Physical Disk Sensor

Dell PowerVault MDi Physical Disk Sensor

i_square_cyanFor a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Sensor in Other Languages

  • Dutch: Dell PowerVault MDi Fysieke Schijf
  • French: Dell PowerVault MDi disque physique
  • German: Dell PowerVault MDi Physikalischer Datenträger
  • Japanese: Dell PowerVault MDi 物理ディスク
  • Portuguese: Disco físico Dell PowerVault MDi
  • Russian: Физический диск Dell PowerVault MDi
  • Simplified Chinese: Dell PowerVault MDi 物理磁盘
  • Spanish: Disco físico Dell PowerVault MDi

Remarks

  • This sensor has a high performance impact. Use it with care. We recommend that you use no more than 200 sensors of this sensor type on each probe.
  • This sensor requires Dell Modular Disk Storage Manager on the probe system. See the Knowledge Base: Where do I find the Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager for use with my MDi SAN?
  • This sensor requires the IP address of the storage area network (SAN) defined in the settings of the parent device.
  • This sensor only supports devices with one drawer of hard-drives. Multiple drawers are not supported and prevent sensor creation.
  • This sensor supports the IPv6 protocol.
  • This sensor works with Dell PowerVault MD3000i, MD3420, MD3620i, MD3000f, MD3620f, or MD3820i, and might support other models.
  • This sensor uses lookups to determine the status values of one or more channels. This means that possible states are defined in a lookup file. You can change the behavior of a channel by editing the lookup file that the channel uses. For details, see section Define Lookups.

i_podYou cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.

Detailed Requirements

Requirement

Description

Dell Modular Disk Storage Manager

This sensor requires the installation of the Dell Modular Disk Storage Manager program. You must install it on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe). For details about setup, see section More below.

i_round_redCreate this sensor on a device that has the IP address of the SAN configured in the IP Address/DNS Name field of the sensor settings.

Add Sensor

The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the settings that are required to create the sensor. You can change nearly all settings on the sensor's Settings tab after creation.

i_round_blueThe settings that you select in the Add Sensor dialog are valid for all sensors that you create when you finish the dialog.

Sensor Settings

Setting

Description

Disk

Select the physical disks that you want to monitor. PRTG creates one sensor for each physical disk that you select.

i_round_blueEnable check boxes in front of the respective lines to select the items. Use the check box in the table header to select all items or to cancel the selection. In large tables, use the search function in the upper-right corner.

Basic Sensor Settings

Click the Settings tab of a sensor to change its settings.

Basic Sensor Settings

Basic Sensor Settings

Setting

Description

Sensor Name

Enter a name to identify the sensor. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, as well as in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets.

i_round_blueIf the name contains angle brackets (<>), PRTG replaces them with braces ({}) for security reasons. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What security features does PRTG include?

Parent Tags

Shows tags that the sensor inherits from its parent device, parent group, and parent probe.

i_round_blueThis setting is for your information only. You cannot change it.

Tags

Enter one or more tags. Confirm each tag with the Spacebar key, a comma, or the Enter key. You can use tags to group objects and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case-sensitive. Tags are automatically inherited.

i_round_blueIt is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).

i_round_blueFor performance reasons, it can take some minutes until you can filter for new tags that you added.

The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:

  • powervault

Priority

Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines the position of the sensor in lists. The highest priority is at the top of a list. Choose from the lowest priority (i_priority_1) to the highest priority (i_priority_5).

i_round_blueUsually, a sensor connects to the IP Address/DNS Name of the parent device. See the device settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target in the sensor settings.

Sensor Settings

Sensor Settings

Sensor Settings

Setting

Description

Physical Disk

Shows the physical disk that this sensor monitors.

i_round_bluePRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

  • Discard result: Do not store the sensor result.
  • Store result: Store the last sensor result in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.

i_round_blueIn a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

Sensor Display

Sensor Display

Sensor Display

Setting

Description

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, the last value of the primary channel is always displayed below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.

i_round_blueYou can set a different primary channel later by clicking b_channel_primary below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.

Graph Type

Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:

  • Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel.
  • Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
    i_round_redYou cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

Stack Unit

This setting is only visible if you enable Stack channels on top of each other as Graph Type. Select a unit from the list. All channels with this unit are stacked on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.

Inherited Settings

By default, all of these settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy. We recommend that you change them centrally in the root group settings if necessary. To change a setting for this object only, click b_inherited_enabled under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Scanning Interval.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

i_round_blueYou cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects are always active. However, you can define additional schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window.

Access Rights

Access Rights

Access Rights

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.

Channel Unit Configuration

i_round_blueWhich channel units are available depends on the sensor type and the available parameters. If no configurable channels are available, this field shows No configurable channels.

Channel Unit Configuration

Channel Unit Configuration

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Channel Unit Configuration.

Channel List

i_round_blueWhich channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.

The sensor shows the status and mode of the physical disk in the channels as reported in the Modular Disk Storage Manager. Status and mode combined indicate the particular status of a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) controller physical disk. The table below provides you with the status description according to the Dell documentation:

Status Channel

Mode Channel

Description

Up status: Optimal

Unassigned

The physical disk in the indicated slot is unused and available to be configured

Assigned

The physical disk in the indicated slot is configured as part of a disk group

Hot Spare Standby

The physical disk in the indicated slot is configured as a hot spare

Hot Spare In Use

The physical disk in the indicated slot is in use as a hot spare within a disk group

Down status: Failed

  • Assigned
  • Unassigned
  • Hot Spare In Use
  • Hot Spare Standby

The physical disk in the indicated slot has failed because of an unrecoverable error, an incorrect drive type or drive size, or by its operational state being set to failed

Up status: Replaced

Assigned

The physical disk in the indicated slot has been replaced and is ready to be, or is actively being, configured into a disk group

Down status: Pending Failure

  • Assigned
  • Unassigned
  • Hot Spare In Use
  • Hot Spare Standby

A Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) error has been detected on the physical disk in the indicated slot

Warning status: None

None

The indicated slot is empty, or the array cannot detect the physical disk

Down status: Undefined

 

 

More

i_square_blueKNOWLEDGE BASE

Where do I find the Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager for use with my MDi SAN?

What security features does PRTG include?