SRM Reports - Overview

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Overview

SRM Report Manager

Schedule Reports

View Reports

Considerations

Configuring SQL Server Reporting Services for SRM

Overview

Managing storage resources is a critical job for any organization, which can be challenging because these resources are distributed across the network. SRM Reports simplify this complex task by presenting a consolidated view of all storage resources, including logical and physical components, providing unified tools to analyze storage requirements and plan storage infrastructure for the purposes of asset management, capacity management, content management, and historical data management across the entire enterprise.

SRM Reports allow you to easily view and analyze data related to various aspects of the different entities in an enterprise. Many pre-configured reports are available in the Report Manager, providing information about the resources of the client computers, each tailored to a particular aspect of resource management. Information is presented in a logically grouped, tabular format using Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, which allows reports to be viewed in a web browser, easily filtered, printed, and exported to a variety of formats. Where useful, information is also presented in a variety of chart formats. In addition, custom reports can be created with standard Microsoft tools, such as Visual Studio.

To generate SRM reports, a user must have admin rights. Admin rights can be provided at the CommCell Console by adding user to the built in Master group.

The information available in each report is based on the particular SRM Agent, and the types of data and information it gathers. Reports should be scheduled to follow Data Collection; this can be accomplished using either a custom Schedule, or through the use of a Schedule Policy. In addition, Thresholds can be set for each report, with an associated SMTP email or SNMP Trap message to be sent, or command to be executed, based on the output of the report. Once a report has been generated, detailed report views are displayed in a standard web browser. For more information, see View a Report.

For SRM to administer Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, including adding/removing report definitions, creating/deleting report snapshots, and granting/revoking browse access to SRM reports, credentials with domain administrator rights are required on the computer where Reporting Services is running. These credentials are specified during the installation of the SRM Server, in the Reporting Server Credentials section, and can be edited subsequently in the Reporting Server Credentials dialog. For procedures, see Configure Reporting Server Credentials.

SRM will only report on fixed disk assets. Removable disks and their contents are not reported.

Viewing Reports on a Windows 2008 R2 computer

Prior to installing the SRM Server on a Windows 2008 R2 computer, the IIS needs to be configured properly in order to view reports.  Perform the following steps to configure the IIS:

  1. Open the IIS Manager. 
  2. Select the Application Pool node.
  3. In Advanced settings, change the default settings of these Application Pools to Network Services:
  4. Click OK.
  5. Restart the default website.

File Categories

File Categories are used to generate reports on groups of files and are configurable for each SRM File System Agent (Windows, UNIX, NetWare, and NAS). Each File Category is comprised of an editable list of file types. After performing an Analysis level data collection job, you can generate reports with detailed information based on these File Categories.

For example, the Multimedia Types category contains a list of file types that are commonly associated with media. After an Analysis level data collection job, you can generate reports which detail how much space is dedicated to media files on a given client.

If you edit the File Categories for a given agent, you must run another Analysis level data collection job before reports will reflect the changes.

For step-by-step instructions, see Configure File Categories for Reports.

Default File Categories

The following table details the default file categories reported by each SRM Agent. Refer to Configure File Categories for Reports to make changes to these lists. Default File Categories are configurable only for SRM File System Agents (Windows, UNIX, NetWare, and NAS.)

File Category SharePoint NetWare
File
System		 Network Attached Storage UNIX
File
System		 Windows
File
System
Prohibited Files jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt		 jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt		 jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt		 jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt		 jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt
Executable Types dll
exe		 dll
exe		 dll
exe		 N/A dll
exe
Multimedia Types gif
jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt
wav		 gif
jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt
wav		 gif
jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt
wav		 gif
jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt
wav		 gif
jpeg
mp3
mpeg
qt
wav
Archive Types arj
cab
gz
zip		 arj
cab
gz
zip		 arj
cab
gz
zip		 arj
bz2
cab
cpio
gz
rar
tar
tgz
Z
zip		 arj
cab
gz
zip
Document Types doc
dot
ps
rtf
txt		 doc
dot
ps
rtf
txt		 doc
dot
ps
rtf
txt		 doc
dot
ps
rtf
txt		 doc
dot
ps
rtf
txt
Exchange Personal Folders N/A

 pst

 pst

 N/A

 pst
Junk File Types N/A N/A swp #*#
~*
core*
swp		 N/A
For Junk File Types in UNIX Agents, the extensions represent regular expressions used to match file names. For example, core* will try to match all file names which begin with the word “core”.

Time Categories

Time Categories are supported by the SRM File System Agents (Windows, UNIX, NetWare, SharePoint, and NAS) to allow custom grouping within time-based distribution reports, such as the File Distribution by Modification Time report.

When custom Time Categories are defined, time-based distribution reports will group information by Time Category, and additional sorting can be performed using the Time Category as one of the parameters. This allows information to be grouped in a manner that is meaningful to a particular environment.

When Time Categories are modified, it is necessary to first run an All File System Resources (Analysis) data collection job on affected clients to update the SRM database, and then new reports must be run. The pre-existing reports in the database will continue to show data based on the old Time Category definitions; if you modify Time Categories and then generate reports without running an Analysis data collection job, the data reported will be incorrect.

For step-by-step instructions, see Configure Time Categories for Reports.

Predictive Trending

Predictive Trending can be performed for certain history reports. The default trending interval is 30 days and the default point count is 1. The maximum days between points is 365, and maximum number of points is 12. When two data points are available from data collections (actual data is displayed in green) a chart of the report will yield a Predictive Trend, displayed in red, extending past the actual data points. When a Predictive Trend is displayed for a longer interval than the data points upon which it is based, the display of all the data points may be somewhat compressed, although the values will be correct.

If predictive trending is available for a given report, the option will appear in the Schedule SRM Report Creation dialog box. To schedule a report with predictive trending, see Create SRM Reports Schedule Policy.

Cost History and Usage History Reports

Data for the Cost History and Usage History reports (e.g., Cost History by Application, Usage History by Application) is compiled at regular intervals by a background process on the SRM Server. The default interval is one week, which means the Cost History reports will show one data point per week, no matter how often data collection is scheduled for them; thus, data collection for these reports should be synchronized to the summary interval. You can configure the interval using the SRM Options (General) dialog box.

For a newly installed SRM Server, no data will appear in these reports until either the default interval, or a user-specified interval has elapsed from the time of installation, at which time the first summary process will run, and data will be available for these reports.

Category Counts for Top 'N' Reports

The category count can be specified for reports of the top 'N', such as the Largest File report, affecting the number of entries to be displayed, e.g., top 10, top 20, etc. This parameter is specified separately for each Agent with Top 'N' reports, so that you can, for instance see the top 50 in all such reports for Windows, and the top 10 for UNIX reports.

The following reports can be configured for category counts:

SRM Agent Reports
Network Attached Storage Largest Files
Least Recently Used Files
Oldest Files
NetWare Largest Files
Least Recently Used Files
UNIX Largest Files
Least Recently Used Files
Windows Largest Files
Least Recently Used Files
Oldest Files

For instructions in how to configure category counts, see Configure Top 'N' Category Counts for Reports.

NSS Pool Characteristics

NSS pool characteristics are summarized in the Attributes column of the Pools report for the SRM NetWare Proxy Agent.

The Attributes column displays a numeric value, which represents the sum of a combination of values associated with characteristics for a given NSS pool. The following table describes the values used to determine the sum displayed in the Attributes column, as well as the NSS pool characteristic associated with each value:

Value Description of NSS Pool Characteristic
2 The pool's enabled features are stored persistently.
4 The pool is part of a cluster.
8 The pool is read only.
16 The pool supports a verify operation.
32 The pool supports a rebuild operation.
64 The pool can support multiple logical volumes.
128 The pool is a snapshot of another pool.

The sum displayed in the Attributes column may reflect many combinations of NSS pool characteristics depending on the configuration of the NSS pool. However, the following combinations are the most common:

SRM Report Manager

The SRM Report Manager has many pre-configured reports that can be scheduled to provide information about installed client resources for the following components:

The SRM Report Manager is accessible through the CommCell Browser of the CommCell Console. For more information, see CommCell Console.

The Report Manager can be expanded to show Threshold Manager and each of the SRM Agents.

Schedule Reports

SRM reports can be scheduled to run immediately, regularly, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.

Custom Schedule

Custom Schedules can be created to run/schedule individual reports. See Run/Schedule a Report for step-by-step instructions.

Schedule Policy

SRM Reports Schedule Policy can be used to run/schedule multiple reports in a single schedule. See SRM Reports Schedule Policy for more details and step-by-step instructions.

View Reports

Reports that have been run are listed in the Report Manager, and can be viewed by expanding the Report Manager node in the Resource Browser, and clicking a particular report type. In the Report History window, you can click a column title to re-sort the list of reports by that column. Click again to switch between ascending order and descending order.

To view details of a particular report that has been run, see View Report Details. An appropriate login name and password will be required to view report details. To configure the credentials for viewing report details, see Add/Delete Reporting Service Account.

When viewing report details in a web browser (these views are generated by Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services) several options are available for filtering, sorting, printing, and exporting the information presented. Among these abilities are the following:

All times shown in reports are based on local time where the SRM Browser is running.

  • Not all report functionality is supported by all browsers. Refer to the Microsoft article, Browser Support in Reporting Services.
  • To print a report, first export the report to PDF, then print the report from the PDF file. This is recommended because direct printing by Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services does not always yield the expected results.
  • To export and save reports in Windows 2003, "Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration" must be disabled in the Add/Remove Windows Component section of the Add or Remove Program control panel.
  • Entities with ‘+’ in the name field are not supported by SRM.
  • To filter a report using an operator that relies on exact decimal values, such as "Equal", "Less Than", "Greater Than", etc., you must first select "bytes" as the Display Units for the report.
  • Reports exported to TIFF format, which is an image format, may yield unpredictable results with charts, page margins, and page breaks.

Considerations

Review the following considerations:

Configuring SQL Server Reporting Services for SRM
Perform the following steps to install and configure your Windows cluster and SQL Server software before beginning the installation of the SRM Server software:
1. Ensure that the following are installed on all of the physical nodes (PNODEs) of your Windows 2003 cluster:
  • IIS
  • ASP.NET
  • .NET Framework 2.0
  • Enable network COM+ access
2. Create a directory on one of physical nodes (PNODE) to which you will copy the install packages, e.g. C:\SQL2005.
  • Copy the SQL2005 install package and the SQL SP2 install package to this directory. (See Software Installation Discs for information on the disc with Microsoft SQL Server software.)
  • Share this directory.
  • Mount the share directory at the same drive letter on all PNODEs.
3. Log in to the Active PNODE and install SQL2005 from the mounted share directory that you created in Step 2. This will configure the other Passive PNODEs and the virtual server (VNODE.) Install only the SQL Server Database Services with Create a SQL Server Failover Cluster.
4. On each PNODE (Active and Passive), install SQL Server Client Components Management Tools and SQL Server Reporting Services Files. Install SQL2005 SP2 on Active PNODE and Passive PNODE.

NOTES

  • If you encounter difficulties installing both components simultaneously, install each of them separately.
5. Configure Reporting Service to use Domain admin or local system credentials first on the Active PNODE and then on Passive PNODE. For more information, see the Microsoft article on configuring reporting services, located at:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms159114.aspx
6. Launch Reporting Service Configuration wizard on Active PNODE. Configure Reporting Services as follows:
  • For Report Server Virtual Directory click New and select Default value.
  • For Report Manager Virtual Directory click New and select Default value.
  • For Windows Service Identity select the built-in Account as Network Service and click Apply.
    For a non-cluster setup, select Local System as the Built-in Account.
  • For Web Service Identity:
    • For Report Server select New and type ReportServer in Application Pool Name using windows account.
    • Select ReportServer from the drop down window under Report Manager and select Apply.

    This also needs to be configured on Passive PNODE.

  • For Database Setup

    Active Node:

    • Click on Connect to database.
    • Select Virtual Server Name and Instance, the Credentials type (Current User-Integrate Security) gets selected by default, click OK.
    • Click on New for Database Name and select ReportServer and click OK.

    Passive Node:

    • Select ReportServer from the dropdown list under Database Name.
    • Add the Credentials type and click Apply.
  • For Credentials type
    • On Database Connection screen, select Windows credential and add the Domain Admin and Password.
    • Select the default value of credential types, Current User-Integrated Security in the screen and Click Apply.
  • For Encryption Key backup the copy of the symmetric key when prompted.
WARNING

Follow these instructions very carefully; if you do not, the SRM Server will not be able to function correctly.
7. Now configure Reporting Services on each Passive PNODE.

For more information, see the Microsoft article on configuring reporting services, located at:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms159114.aspx

Follow the instructions specific to Passive PNODE as described in step 6 above.
8.
  • Perform the following in IIS Manager on all nodes:
    • Click Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
    • In Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, expand local computer, and select websites.
    • First right click on Reports, select Properties then select the Virtual Directory tab.
      • In Virtual Directory tab select Scripts and Executables in Execute permissions.
      • Select the Directory Security tab, click on Edit for Authentication and access control and select Basic Authentication.
    • Now right click on ReportServer, select Properties and click Directory Security tab, click on Edit for Authentication and access control and select Basic Authentication.
9. Active PNODE gets initialized automatically. However you need to manually initialize the Passive PNODE from the Active PNODE.
10. Verify that Reporting Services is operating correctly by using Internet Explorer to connect to the following URLs:
  • http://<PNODE_N>/Reports
  • http://<VNODE>/Reports
  • http://<PNODE_N>/ReportServer
  • http://<VNODE>/ReportServer

where:

  • <PNODE_N> is the fully qualified domain name of a physical node.
  • <VNODE> is the fully qualified domain name of a virtual node.

NOTES

  • Each physical node must be tested.
  • Use Local system credential to access PNODE URL’s.
  • If any errors occur, investigate and correct the problem.

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