System, Method, and Computer Program Product for Storage Management Dashboard

Abstract

An example method for providing contextual information of a computer system includes determining a current state of an attribute of one or more storage resources. The one or more storage resources is coupled to a computer system, and the current state of the storage resource attribute is monitored by a performance monitoring tool. The example method includes determining a target state of the attribute and displaying a user interface including contextual information regarding the attribute. The example method further includes rendering in the user interface a graph representative of the current state and the target state of the attribute o. In some examples, the method further includes determining a forecast for the attribute and rendering the forecast in the user interface. In some examples, the user interface may include a visual indication of whether the attribute is in violation of a policy.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer program product having a computer readable medium tangibly recording computer program logic for providing contextual information of a computer system, the computer system in communication with a performance monitoring tool, the computer program product comprising:
 code to determine a current state of an attribute of one or more storage resources, the one or more storage resources coupled to a computer system, and the current state of the storage resource attribute being monitored by a performance monitoring tool;   code to determine an acceptable range for the attribute of the one or more storage resources;   code to display a user interface including contextual information regarding the attribute of the one or more storage resources; and   code to render in the user interface a graph representative of the current state and the acceptable range for the attribute of the one or more storage resources.   
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 code to run an algorithm to determine a forecast for the storage resource attribute.   
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 2 , wherein the code to run the algorithm comprises a linear regression algorithm. 
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the code to render includes code to render a graph including the current state and the acceptable range for the storage resource attribute. 
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the storage resource attribute includes at least one from the group consisting of storage capacity, acceptable range of response times, actual response time, input/output per seconds (IOPS), a tier of storage, a location of a data center that includes the storage resource, storage traffic, FC switch port connections, and FC bandwidth utilization. 
     
     
         6 . A method for providing contextual information of a computer system, the method comprising:
 determining a current state of an attribute of one or more storage resources, the one or more storage resources coupled to a computer system, and the current state of the storage resource attribute being monitored by a performance monitoring tool;   determining a target state of the attribute of the one or more storage resources;   displaying a user interface including contextual information regarding the attribute of the one or more storage resources; and   rendering in the user interface a graph representative of the current state and the target state of the attribute of the one or more storage resources.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 running an algorithm to determine a forecast for the attribute of the one or more storage resources.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein running the algorithm comprises running a linear regression algorithm. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the rendering comprises rendering a Bullet graph including the current state, the target state, and the forecast of the storage resource attribute. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the storage resource attribute is storage capacity, wherein the Bullet graph is representative of the current storage capacity, target storage capacity, and the forecast of a storage environment monitored by the performance monitoring tool, and wherein the storage environment includes the one or more storage resources. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 providing a hyperlink that corresponds to the storage resource attribute; and   in response to a user selecting the hyperlink, providing a report regarding the current state of the storage resource attribute.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 determining a second current state of a second attribute of one or more storage resources; and   determining a second target state of the second attribute, wherein the displaying includes displaying in the user interface contextual information regarding the second attribute, and wherein the rendering includes rendering in the user interface a second graph representative of the second current state and the second target state of the second attribute.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the rendering comprises rendering the first graph in a first pane and rendering the second graph in a second pane. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 identifying the most commonly used pane of the first and second panes rendered in the user interface,   wherein in response to determining that the first pane is the most commonly used pane, the rendering in the user interface a first graph includes rendering the first pane in a first portion of the user interface and the rendering in the user interface a second graph includes rendering the second pane in a second portion of the user interface, wherein the first portion is closer to the upper left-hand corner of the user interface than the second portion, and   wherein in response to determining that the second graph is the most commonly used graph, the rendering in the user interface a first graph includes rendering the first pane in the second portion of the user interface and the rendering in the user interface a second graph includes rendering the second pane in the first portion of the user interface.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 determining whether a violation in a user-configured policy for the storage resource attribute has occurred; and   in response to determining that the global violation in the user-configured policy for the storage resource attribute has occurred, displaying in the user interface a visual indication that the global violation in the user-configured policy for the storage resource attribute has occurred.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 determining whether a potential for a violation in a user-configured policy for the storage resource attribute exceeds a threshold; and   in response to determining that the potential for the violation in the user-configured policy for the storage resource attribute exceeds the threshold, displaying in the user interface a visual indication that the potential for the violation in the user-configured policy for the storage resource attribute exceeds the threshold.   
     
     
         17 . A system comprising:
 a processor; and   memory accessible by the processor and storing computer-readable instructions, the processor performing the following actions by executing the instructions:
 determining a current state of a first attribute of one or more storage resources, the one or more storage resources coupled to a computer system, and the current state of the first storage resource attribute being monitored by a performance monitoring tool; 
 identifying a second attribute of the one or more storage resources, the second attribute being different categories of the one or more storage resources; 
 for each category of the different categories, determining a target state of the first attribute of the one or more storage resources; 
 displaying a user interface including contextual information regarding the first and second attributes of the one or more storage resources; and 
 rendering in the user interface a graph representative of the current state and the target state of the first and second attributes of the one or more storage resources. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the processor performs the following actions by executing the instructions:
 for each category of the different categories, running an algorithm to determine a use forecast for the first attribute of the one or more storage resources.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the processor performs the following actions by executing the instructions:
 for each category of the different categories, rendering a Bullet graph including the current state, the target state, and the use forecast of the first attribute of the one or more storage resources.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the first storage resource attribute is storage capacity, and the second storage resource attribute is a tier of storage.