The SolutionPack for PowerFlex includes more than 100 predefined alert definitions. Most alert definitions are disabled by default. Creating custom alerts is also possible in SRM but not covered in this document. You can create a custom alert from scratch or customize a copy of a predefined alert definition. Alerts are organized into folders making it simple to locate alerts by category (Table 2) and by PowerFlex component, such as a storage pool.
Category | Source | Example |
Availability | PowerFlex event | SDS and SDC Disconnected |
Capacity | PowerFlex event Metric based | Storage Pool Capacity threshold reached |
Compliance | PowerFlex event | Configured spare capacity smaller than largest fault unit |
Configuration | PowerFlex event | SDS in maintenance mode |
Environment | PowerFlex event | Cluster degraded |
Error | PowerFlex event | Physical drive in bad state |
Performance | PowerFlex event | RPO Lag |
The life cycle of an alert partially depends on whether it is a momentary or durable alert. A momentary alert occurs once and is automatically cleared after seven days. Most momentary alerts are informational, such as a user logging into the system. Durable alerts remain active until a clearing event is received from the source, at which point the alert becomes inactive. Users with the administrator role can manually clear alerts.
All alerts enter the alerting backend with the same life cycle. An alert starts in an active state. An active alert is stored in the alerts table in the alerting backend database. Active alerts can be viewed in the All Alerts global report or the PowerFlex Operations report. Alerts that have transitioned to an inactive state are maintained for historical purposes but are no longer visible in reports.
Inactive alerts are moved to an archive table in the alerting database after the user-configurable retention period expires. Archived alerts are available for historical purposes. The final stage in the alert life cycle is the purging of inactive alerts after a configurable period. Purged alerts are deleted from the archive table and are no longer available.
There are several user-initiated actions in SRM that make it simple to manage the alert life cycle (Figure 11). Users with the appropriate role can assign alerts to SRM users or take ownership. The user can attach a ticket id from an external ITSM system to the alert for tracking and auditing purposes.