Version 14 of
WhatsUp Gold, the popular network and server monitoring tool, sports a new
module named WhatsVirtual that, simply put, makes the product
virtualization-aware.
WhatsUp Gold
has grown in features and capabilities from an SMB (small and midsize business)
network management tool to something appropriate for the enterprise, yet the
product still remembers its roots as an easy-to-master tool. However,
virtualization has added another layer of complexity for WUG and its network
management peers.
The problem
stems from the failure of management platforms to “look inside” a virtual
machine. Virtualization hosts based on bare-metal (also known as Type 1)
hypervisors, such as ESX and ESXi, segregate virtual machines into their own
partitions, thereby preventing management clients from seeing what is happening
on the virtual machine.
Complicating
matters further is the nonstatic nature of VMs, which can be “powered on” based
upon needs, and quickly reconfigured, provisioned or eliminated as needed. By
affording IT departments an inside look at what's up within the VMs under their
care, the new module prepares administrators to do battle against those
virtualized gremlins that can plague modern networks. Products that can tackle
that complexity deserve a look, and WUG 14.2.1 with WhatsVirtual fits the bill.
WhatsVirtual
brings a great deal of functionality to WhatsUp Gold and will turn out to be a
must-have tool for WUG users who are incorporating ESX or ESXi into their
server environments. Of course, as part of WUG, WhatsVirtual is only applicable
to shops running WUG, and while the new module is a valuable addition, I don't
expect to see administrators abandon their existing network management tools to
just gain access to the new VM management features found in WhatsVirtual.
A closer look at WhatsVirtual
WhatsVirtual
is designed to do exactly as the name implies: show what is virtual in the
enterprise. But visualization of the world of virtual components is only the
starting point. A good management tool needs to deliver discovery, inventory,
reporting and control, as well as auditing capabilities, all of which
WhatsVirtual delivers effectively, albeit indirectly. As an add-on module for
WUG, WhatsVirtual leverages many of the management and reporting capabilities
native to WUG.
To investigate
the management capabilities that WhatsVirtual adds to WUG, I set up a test
network that included two physical servers running VMware’s ESX V3.0. The idea
was to perform a discovery of the ESX host and all of its associated virtual
machines and then be able to monitor and manage those systems.
Everything
begins with the discovery process. With WUG, that is accomplished using a
discovery wizard, which I launched from the tools menu on the main WUG GUI. The
wizard starts when you choose “discover devices” from the menu, which then
allowed me to initiate a discovery session. Discovery sessions can be launched
manually or set up to run at predetermined times via a schedule. That proves to
be a handy feature on networks that change a lot; I was able to set up
different schedules for discovery and found that most users will be served best
by a daily or weekly discovery schedule, which will detect new devices added to
the network—automatically. The scans can use a range of IP addresses or a
single IP address to discover a VMware host. There are also advanced options
available under a submenu, which allows a discovery scan to be customized. Here,
I was able to preselect the discovered device roles and assign actions and
monitors to the discovered devices automatically.
For example,
if I wanted to associate active and passive monitors with my ESX hosts, the advanced
options enabled that. Once launched, the discovery process created a list of
ESX hosts and their associated virtual machines, which can then be added to the
WUG database. I found that the discovery process worked well and was able to
locate my test ESX host, as well as the six functioning guests associated with
the host.
I added the
newly discovered hosts and associated VMs to WUG using the “add completed
devices” option on the menu. Once that was accomplished, the visual network map
under WUG showed the newly added ESX host, and I was able to drill down from
there into the VMs running on that host. The discovery process offers several
options, ranging from group assignment to authentication, which automates
logging into the individual VMs for deeper discovery.
I found that
once systems have been discovered and added to the WUG database, several
additional capabilities are presented. For example, virtual systems can be
monitored for utilization and activity and, most importantly, I was able to
define actions. Using the VMware action dialog, I was able to define specific
actions to take place and then apply those actions to VMs on the network. For
example, if I wanted to reboot certain VMs, I could script an action that sends
a reboot command to the VM. I could also assign that action to several VMs and
execute it like a script. Of course, I was able to do a lot more than a reboot;
I also had options to shut down guests, suspend sessions, initiate snapshots
and power on and off VMs. The actions are stored in an actions library, and
once associated with a monitored VM, those actions become available from a
right-click/pull-down menu—allowing me to execute those actions right from the
monitoring screen/system dashboard.
WhatsVirtual
works hand-in-hand with VMware’s API, which means users will have access to
threshold configuration information and Alert Center workflows. In other words, it becomes
quite simple to define alerts for VM hosts and guests. Those alerts can be fine-tuned
to create notifications of potential problems, such as utilization exceeding
preset levels or disk space issues. The idea here is that I no longer needed to
use VMware vSphere in conjunction with WUG to monitor VM hosts and guests—it can
all be done from within WUG. That brings virtual and physical machine
management much closer to the single dashboard ideology, where all major
functions can be accomplished from a single management application.
WhatsVirtual
brings several VM-related reporting options to WUG, allowing you to create
custom reports that focus on the needs of VM management. Several canned reports
are included, and customized reports can be quickly created to include VM-specific
information. Reports and reporting parameters include a Virtual Host List
report, which details the name and IP address of the VMware ESX/ESXi host machine and all associated
virtual machines; and a Virtual Host Attributes report, which displays all the
host server details including running configuration of the server (for example,
VMware ESX or ESXi and its version), the build
number and the boot time. Reporting capabilities include support for individual
server performance reporting, including CPU, memory, disk and network interface
utilization metrics to virtual machines. What's more, there are workspace
reports that reflect resource (for example, CPU, memory, disk and network interface)
allocation and consumption by the host and associated guest machines.
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