9.5.01 HP P4000 SAN Solution User Guide (AX696-96168, February 2012)

8 Working with management groups
A management group is a collection of one or more storage systems. It is the container within
which you cluster storage systems and create volumes for storage. Creating a management group
is the first step in creating an IP SAN with the SAN/iQ software.
Functions of management groups
Management groups serve several purposes:
• Management groups are the highest administrative domain for the SAN. Typically, storage
administrators will configure at least one management group within their data center.
• Organize storage systems into different groups for categories of applications and data. For
example, you might create a management group for Oracle applications and a separate
management group for Exchange.
• Ensure added administrative security. For example, you could give the system administrator
in charge of Exchange access to the Exchange management group but not the Oracle
management group.
• Prevent some storage resources from being used unintentionally. If a storage system is not in
a management group, the management group cannot use that storage system as a storage
resource. For example, all of the storage systems in a management group can be pooled into
clusters for use by volumes in that group. To prevent a new storage system from being included
in this pool of storage, put it in a separate management group.
• Contain clustering managers. Within a management group, one or more of the storage systems
acts as the managers that control data transfer and replication.
Guide for management groups
When using the Management Groups, Clusters and Volumes wizard, you must configure the
characteristics described in Table 31 (page 104). When the management group is created, check
the Best Practice Summary to verify that the configuration is following best practices for availability
and data protection. See “Best Practice summary overview” (page 112).
Table 31 Management group requirements
What it meansManagement group requirement
Before you create a management group, make sure you
know the IP addresses for the storage systems for the
Configure storage systems
cluster. Also, make sure they are configured for network
bonding as best fits your network environment.
CAUTION: [VSA] You cannot clone a VSA after it is in
a management group. You must clone a VSA while it is in
the Available Systems pool.
When you create a management group, you must add the
first administrative user. This user has full administrative
Plan administrative users
permissions. Add additional users after the management
group is created. See “Adding a new administrative user”
(page 80).
You can use an NTP server or manually set the date, time,
and time zone for the management group. You should
Plan date and time configuration
know the configuration you want to use before beginning
the wizard. See “Setting the date and time” (page 77).
You can configure DNS at the management group level
for all storage systems in the management group. The
Plan DNS configuration
storage system can use a DNS server to resolve host names.
104 Working with management groups