Splunk ONTAP – Not Just a Tongue Twister

The Splunk App for NetApp Data ONTAP isn’t just a great way to integrate NetApp systems into your enterprise monitoring and logging solutions; it’s also a great tongue twister. Go ahead, try: “Splunk App for NetApp Data ONTAP”.  The Splunk App brings in data from all the NetApp FAS systems to give insights into what is happening in the enterprise, in a real-time capacity. It’s a great tool to watch NetApps and proactively identify problems.

Doesn’t NetApp already have a tool like this? Of course! NetApp makes great software. Yet, the big advantage of using the Splunk App is the ability to reach into other tiers of the infrastructure. The NetApp administrator isn’t about to let the JBOSS developer reach into his/her storage systems. The Network admin sure isn’t letting anyone else log on their server.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”Michael Simko” link=”” color=”#ED8B00″ class=”” size=””]…the big advantage of using the Splunk App is the ability to reach into other tiers of the infrastructure.[/perfectpullquote]

This app combines NetApp ONTAP (7 mode or cluster mode) system information, performance, and configuration with the rest of the systems in an enterprise to give a complete view of your infrastructure.

Now, what does that mean in non-sales talk? Simple: It lets every admin see where problems are hiding. The VMware admin can see if “that storage stuff” is where their problems exist. It lets the Network team see that the JBOSS server is blowing up without spending too much time chasing down issues. The app lets the storage admin find which of his 24 FAS is running slow. When Splunk brings in data from the hypervisors, servers, storage, networking systems, and environmental systems (hey, why not get told when you are on battery power or the air conditioning stops working?) it gives a real view of the entire stack.

Key capabilities of  the Splunk App for NetApp Data ONTAP:

1. Overview of all 7-mode Filers
2. Overview of all Cluster-mode Filers
3. Details on NetApp FAS entities: Aggregates, Disks, Volumes, qTree, LUN.
4. 36 built-in reports focusing on things from Failed Disks to Aggregates that have too high of capacity.

Inside the Splunk App for NetApp Data ONTAP (Version 2).

We start with 7-mode filers

and cluster mode-filer details.

The overview page also has overview portions for each NetApp entity.

Drill-ins are available for each NetApp entity, such as the volumes

and aggregates here.