service processor role

[hedijaiet]

hi;
what is the principal role of the service processor ?
its is mandatory or facultatif?

[skumflum]

The data collected by the Service Processor is used to maintain, troubleshoot, and upgrade
the SP and storages servers at the operating site.

E.g. if you run into trouble and need HP support they will ask you to run a "InSplore" from the SP.

It is not critical for operation but i would still say its mandatory.

[Richard Siemers]

I might say it is mandatory IF you have an active HP Support contract... but if your using legacy unsupported Inservs or using 3rd party service contracts, you probably don't need it.

The service processor is what does the email alerting on hardware failures, that alone would make me want to keep it online.

[Josh26]

Given that it's a no cost VM, there's no value in avoiding it.

[hedijaiet]

hi;
thank you for your fast replay; so the service processor doesnt have any impact on the perfermance and the fonctionnality of our 3 par storage node.

[Richard Siemers]

hi;
thank you for your fast replay; so the service processor doesnt have any impact on the perfermance and the fonctionnality of our 3 par storage node.

Correct. Its a stand alone linux host, accessable by http or ssh. It collects information from the Inserv storage system over tcpip. It serves as a workstation for HP remote support to use when they dial in to fix stuff. It is similar to a EMC service processor (laptop) inside of a DMX unit.

It does have some web based buttons for gracefully shutting down the Inserv, and some other scripted maintenance procedures... I as a customer w/ HP support have never needed to touch those. The main thing I use it for is setting up alert destinations, and reviewing the logs of when and what HP does when they connect remotely.

[hdtvguy]

It also provides alerting and call home functions.

[Richard Siemers]

I wonder if the 3rd party support vendors still use the HP SP or if they replace it with something of their own design. I really like the Axeda connectivity method, it simplifies much of the firewall politics you can run into at sites.