Monitoring IBM Power Systems, HMC, and VIOS on Microsoft SCOM and Azure Monitor SCOM MI

We are excited to announce the release of the NiCE HMC VIOS Management Pack, designed to provide comprehensive monitoring and management for IBM’s Hardware Management Console (HMC) and Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) environments. This highly efficient tool empowers IT administrators to maintain optimal health and performance within their IBM Power infrastructure, ensuring seamless operations and minimizing downtime.

Understanding HMC and VIOS
HMC is a critical virtual or physical appliance that manages the IBM Power server infrastructure, supporting SSH, HTTPS, and REST API interfaces for efficient system administration across multiple systems and partitions. Similarly, the VIOS within a logical partition (LPAR) is essential for PowerVM® hardware, enabling the sharing of physical I/O resources among client partitions and supporting features like virtual SCSI, virtual Fibre Channel, and PowerVM Active Memory™ Sharing. Monitoring both HMC and VIOS is vital for ensuring resource availability and uninterrupted business operations.

Key Features of the HMC VIOS Management Pack

Inventory Discovery
Automatically discovers and documents all IBM HMC and VIOS components and connections within your IBM Power environment.

Availability Monitoring
Availability monitoring involves continuously tracking the availability of HMC and VIOS to detect and address issues promptly. It provides timely business-critical alerts to minimize potential downtime and ensure smooth operations. This includes dedicated monitoring for HMC API, HMC TCP, VIOS, and IBM Power System.

Performance Monitoring
Performance monitoring focuses on tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) for HMC and VIOS to maintain optimal system performance. It monitors resource usage to ensure efficient allocation and prevent resource contention within the IBM Power infrastructure. This includes dedicated monitoring for VIOS current memory utilization, VIOS current CPU utilization (both entitled and total), IBM Power System memory, IBM Power System average CPU usage, and IBM Power System attention LED.

Benefits

Enhanced Operational Efficiency
Enables proactive management by identifying and resolving issues before they impact operations, reducing downtime and maintaining business continuity. Automated actions for common problems significantly reduce the need for manual intervention, hence saving valuable time.

Improved Visibility and Control
Visualizes critical data to monitor system health at a glance. Detailed reports help analyze system performance, support capacity planning, and track usage trends.

Seamless Integration
Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft SCOM, leveraging its robust monitoring and alerting capabilities to enhance your HMC and VIOS management.

Business Continuity
Ensures critical uptime and availability of HMC and VIOS, which are essential for daily operations in the IBM Power environment, thereby maintaining uninterrupted business operations.