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Viewing Objects and Object Properties

VEA provides the following views of objects and their properties:

    • Tree and Grid View
    • The main window tree and grid view displays volumes, disks, file systems, and other objects on the system. The grid also displays a limited set of properties for listed objects.
    • Disk View Window
    • The Disk View window displays a graphical view of disks, volumes, and other objects in a particular disk group.
    • Volume View Window
    • The Volume Layout Details window displays a close-up graphical view of a single volume and its components (mirrors/plexes and subdisks).
    • Volume to Disk Mapping Window
    • The Volume to Disk Mapping window shows the relationships between volumes and their underlying disks.
    • Object Properties Window
    • The object Properties window contains detailed information about a specific object.

Tree and Grid View

The main window tree and grid view displays volumes, disks, file systems, and other objects on the system. The object tree is a hierarchical display of object groups. The grid is a tabular display of objects and a limited set of properties. VEA constantly monitors objects on the system and makes appropriate changes to the tree and grid displays.

Disk Usage Legend

The disk usage legend is displayed at the bottom of the right pane; and shows how to interpret the colors with respect to Disk Usage (Normal Usage, High Usage, and Critical Usage).

Disk View Window

The Disk View window displays a graphical view of disks. It is dynamic, so the objects displayed in this window are automatically updated when their properties change. You can select objects or perform tasks on objects in the Disk View window.

The Disk View window can be accessed by clicking on a disk and selecting Actions > Disk View.

You can move the horizontal splitter to adjust the relative heights of both panes. To resize the volume and disk panes, place the pointer over the horizontal splitter and then press and hold the mouse button to drag the splitter to the desired position.

Using the Menu Bar

The menu bar at the top of the Disk View window contains the following menus:

  • File
  • The File menu enables you to:
        • Access to the page setup menu
        • Print the properties of a selected object
        • Close the Disk View window
        • Access the Properties window
        • Display selected disks
  • Options

The Options menu provides you with the following selections:

    • Refresh View
    • Collapse---provides basic information for all disks in the view
    • Expand---provides detailed information for all disks in the view
    • Vol Details---basic volume information
    • Full Volume Display---volume objects also display the volume size, free space, and state of the volume
    • Projection---highlights associated objects

With the exception of Refresh View and Full Volume Display, these options are also available from the icons under the Disk View menu bar.

  • Action
  • The Action menu provides all the tasks available on the corresponding object in the main window.

Using the Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the Disk View window has the following set of buttons:

  • Expand
  • The Expand button shows more detailed information about all disks in the Disk View, including subdisks and free space. This button displays objects in layout mode or detailed mode, depending on the previous mode.
  • Collapse
  • The Collapse button hides details for all disks in the Disk View. This button displays objects in layout mode or basic mode, depending on the previous mode.
  • Projection
  • The Projection button highlights objects associated with the selected subdisk or volume.
    Projection shows the relationships between objects by highlighting objects that are related to or part of a specific object. When disks are in layout mode or detailed mode, clicking on a subdisk highlights the location of the subdisk on the corresponding disk.
  • Print
  • The Print button prints the properties of the selected object.

The toolbar handle is the thin bar next to the toolbar. You can use the toolbar handle to separate the toolbar from the window or move the toolbar to the bottom, side, or top of the window. To reposition the toolbar, press and hold the mouse button over the toolbar handle and drag the toolbar to its new location.

In the Disk View, you can move subdisks by dragging the subdisk icons to their new locations. You can drag a subdisk to another disk or a gap on the same disk. To move a subdisk, place the pointer over the subdisk and then press and hold the mouse button to drag the subdisk to another location.


Caution    Moving subdisks reorganizes volume disk space and must be done with care.

The Disk View window displays plexes and subdisks that are associated with volumes. To view Volume Manager objects that are not associated with volumes (such as dissociated plexes), open the Dissociated Object View window (see Dissociated Plex View Window).

Mapping Disks to Volumes

You can map a disk to the associated volume by bringing up both the Disk View and the Volume View (see Volume View Window). When you click on the disk in the Disk View, the corresponding plex in the Volume View is highlighted.

Volume View Window

The Volume View window gives the characteristics of the volumes on the disks.

The Volume View window can be accessed by clicking on a volume and selecting
Actions > Volume View.

You can move the horizontal splitter to adjust the relative heights of both panes. To resize the volume and disk panes, place the pointer over the horizontal splitter and then press and hold the mouse button to drag the splitter to the desired position.

The menu bar at the top of the Volume View window contains the following menus:

  • File
  • The File menu prints the properties of a selected object, closes the Volume View window, and provides access to the Properties window.
  • Action
  • The Action menu provides access to all the tasks available on the corresponding object in the main window.

The toolbar at the top of the Volume View window has the following set of buttons:

  • Collapse all volumes
  • The Collapse Volume button hides details for all volumes in the Volume View. This button displays objects in layout mode or basic mode, depending on the previous mode.
  • Expand all volumes
  • The Expand Volume button shows more detailed information about all disks in the Volume View. This button displays objects in layout mode or detailed mode, depending on the previous mode.
  • New volume
  • The New Volume button brings up the create volume dialog box.
    The toolbar handle is the thin bar next to the toolbar. You can use the toolbar handle to separate the toolbar from the window or move the toolbar to the bottom, side, or top of the window. To reposition the toolbar, press and hold the mouse button over the toolbar handle and drag the toolbar to its new location.


Dissociated Plex View Window

The Dissociated Plex View window shows the dissociated plexes for a particular disk group.


The Dissociated Plex View window can be displayed by clicking on a disk group and selecting Actions > Dissociated Plex View.

Volume Layout Details Window

The Volume Layout Details window displays a graphical view of the selected volume’s layout, components, and properties. You can select objects or perform tasks on objects in the Volume Layout Details window. The Volume Layout Details window is dynamic, so the objects displayed in this window are automatically updated when the volume’s properties change.

The View menu changes the way objects are displayed in this window. To access the popup menu for an object, right-click on the object, or use the Actions menu.

Volume Layout Details Window

You can view objects in the Volume Layout Details window in the following ways:

       To display the Volume Layout Details window for a volume, click on the volume (in the main window grid) and then choose Actions > Layout View.    To view a different volume, go back to the main window and select the required volume.    To zoom in and out of the view, use the scroll bar on the left side of the window.
    • To access the popup menu for an object, right-click on the object.

Use the File menu to close the window.

Volume to Disk Mapping Window

The Volume to Disk Mapping Window displays a tabular view of volumes and their underlying disks. Volumes are listed in the top row of the table and disks are listed in the left column of the table. Each circle icon in the table indicates that part of the corresponding volume is located on the corresponding disk.

This window can also display details such as the subdisks and gaps (free space) on each disk. Each subdisk or gap is listed with its disk offset and length. When subdisks are shown, circles show the relationship between volumes and subdisks.

The Volume to Disk Mapping window is dynamic, so the contents of this window are automatically updated when objects are added, removed, or changed.

       To display the Volume to Disk Mappng window, click on the disk group (in the main window grid) and then choose Actions > Disk/Volume Map.

The File menu displays volume and disk property information, or closes the window.

The View menu changes the way objects appear in the Volume to Disk Mapping window, and allows you to set up collection of statistics for the disk group.

The context-sensitive Actions menu allows you to perform tasks for a selected object. To access the popup menu for an object, right-click on the object.

The Volume to Disk Mapping window has a performance monitoring feature that ranks volume response time. When performance monitoring is turned on, the icons in the table change. The volumes with the slowest reads/writes are shown as red icons. Volumes with relatively slow response time are shown as yellow icons. All other volumes are shown as green icons.

Volume to Disk Mapping Window


Navigating the Volume to Disk Mapping Window

You can view volumes and their associated disks using the following procedures:

  • To display the Volume to Disk Mapping window for all volumes in a disk group, click on the disk group (in the main window grid) and then choose Actions > Disk/Volume Map.
  • To display all of the subdisks and gaps on a particular disk, click the arrow to the left of the disk name. Any subdisks and gaps are listed below the disk name. To hide the subdisks and gaps, click the arrow again.
  • To display all of the subdisks and gaps on all disks, choose View > Expand All. To hide all of the subdisks and gaps on all disks, choose View > Collapse All.
  • To use the statistics collection feature, see Viewing Real-Time Statistics.
  • To highlight a disk row, click on the disk name. To highlight a volume column, click on the volume name. To highlight both the disk and volume associated with a particular circle, click on the circle.
  • Volumes with relatively slow read/write performance are shown as circular red icons.
  • To change the criteria that determine which disks are displayed as slow performers, see Monitoring Performance.
  • To print the properties of a particular object, select the object and then choose File > Print and complete the Print dialog box.

Mapping Volumes to Disks

You can map a plex to the associated disk by bringing up both the Volume View and the Disk View. When you click on the plex in the Volume View, the corresponding disk in the Disk View is highlighted.

Object Properties Window

The Object Properties window contains detailed information about the selected object. The Properties window contains a set of tabbed pages, each of which contains information about the object and related objects. The tab labels and page contents vary, depending on the type of object selected. You can display a different page by clicking on the appropriate tab label. Some object properties can be changed through the Properties window for the object.

Volume Properties Window shows how a volume appears in the Volume Properties window.

Volume Properties Window


Navigating the Object Properties Window

You can view object properties using the following procedures:

  • To view the properties of an object, click on the object (in the main window grid) and then choose Properties from the Selected or popup menu. You can also access the Properties window by double-clicking on the object.
  • Example:
    To display volume properties, either click on a volume and then choose Volumes > Properties or double-click on a volume.

    Note    Double-clicking on an object that has children may display the children of the object instead of the Properties window.
  • To go to a tab in a properties window, click the appropriate tab label.
  • To update the contents of the Properties window to reflect current properties for the object, click Refresh.
  • To change any of the editable items in the Properties window, make the appropriate changes and then click OK. This changes the settings for all properties tabs in the Properties window.

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