Unlock the Power of VSP One Block 20: Introducing APIs for Seamless Storage Management

By Vikash Taank posted 30 days ago

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Introduction

This blog introduces the essential APIs for managing Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform One Block 20 (VSP One B20) storage systems:

Hitachi Ops Center API Configuration Manager REST API (CMREST)

Hitachi Virtual Storage One Block Platform REST API (PFREST)

VSP One Block Administrator API

Users have access to a wide range of APIs for managing VSP One Block 20 storage, providing significant flexibility to customize their storage solutions. However, this increased flexibility can sometimes result in reduced clarity. This blog delves into the various APIs offered for VSP One Block 20 storage systems and shows how to implement them for essential storage operations. The key storage operations for all three APIs are as follows:

· Registering a storage system

· Creating a DDP enabled Parity Group

· Creating a Pool (DDP)

· Creating a Volume (DRS)

· Creating a Hitachi Thin Image Advanced Pair

Note:

· For simplicity, the blog adopts abbreviations like 'PFREST' and 'CMREST'.

· This blog is not intended to serve as a substitute for the User Guides. While the User Guides provide comprehensive instructions on usage, this blog merely provides an overview of various APIs.

Brief on the APIs

Hitachi Ops Center API Configuration Manager REST API (CMREST)

Ops Center API Configuration Manager is an independent and lightweight management tool that includes a Command Control Interface (CC) and a Command-Line Interface (CLI) software. It enables programmatic management of Hitachi storage systems and can be installed as a standalone application on Windows or Linux, or as part of the Hitachi Ops center suite.

The following figure shows the configuration layout:

Setting up CMREST involves installing Configuration Manager REST API on a management server. The process starts with the REST API client sending a request to the CMREST server. The CMREST server then forwards this request to the Platform REST API server. The Platform REST API server processes the request by communicating with the storage system and returns the results to the CMREST server. Finally, the CMREST server relays these results to the REST API client.

Hitachi VSP One Block Platform REST API

Platform REST API offers a cost-effective solution by allowing you to issue requests directly to the Platform REST API server embedded in the ESM Stack following the REST Protocol. This eliminates the need for a separate external management server.

The following figure shows the configuration layout:

VSP One Block Administrator API

VSP One Block 20 offers a cost-effective solution by integrating embedded management software, eliminating the need for a separate external management server. This self-contained approach not only simplifies storage management, but also saves customers from investing in additional hardware and software, resulting in significant cost savings. Unlike Platform REST API, the VSP One Block Administrator API directly interacts with the Storage Virtualized Operating System (SVOS) and is embedded in the Embedded Software Management (ESM) stack, which follows the REST protocol. As a result, response time is faster than the legacy Platform REST API.

The following figure shows the configuration layout:

Advantages of APIs

Using APIs over the GUI results in significantly better performance, increased flexibility, ease of use, and a higher level of standardization. APIs also enable automation of tasks, allowing for greater efficiency and consistency.

CMREST makes management of multiple storage systems more efficient, streamlined, and organized. It allows for centralized control, where all storage systems are registered in the CMREST database.

Platform REST API eliminates the need for a separate external management server by allowing you to issue requests directly to the Platform REST server embedded in the ESM stack. This approach provides a flexible, easy, and cost-effective solution for managing storage systems, as it reduces the hardware requirements and simplifies the setup process.

Like Platform REST API, the VSP One Administrator API eliminates the need for a separate external management server by allowing you to issue requests directly to the VSP One Administrator server embedded in the ESM stack. This results in significant cost savings while also providing a flexible and easy solution for managing storage systems. However, unlike Platform REST API, the VSP One Administrator API interacts directly with SVOS instead of using CCI. This direct interaction enables faster response times compared to the legacy Platform REST API.

Prerequisites for running APIs

· CMREST must be installed on the management server as a standalone application on Windows or Linux, or as part of the Hitachi Ops center suite using the OVA/Express installer on RHEL/OEL machines.

· Ensure that all the necessary ports are open and accurately configured (client, management server, and storage system), and establish SSL communication to secure the interactions. Additionally, if you are using a firewall, you might have to register a firewall exception manually depending on the environment. For detailed instructions, see the Hitachi Ops Center API Configuration Manager REST API Reference Guide.

· The API requests are provided using ‘curl’, along with the contents of the JSON file that contains the mandatory parameters that will be passed as input when the command is run. If you want to run these commands, ensure that ‘curl’ is installed, because it often does not come pre-installed on Windows and various Linux distributions.

· Ensure that you generate a valid Authorization token before running the commands. The token must be included in the request header as follows: -H “Authorization:Session <token>” . In our examples, we used an authorization token for authentication instead of a username and password.

Operation

Let’s now implement some of the new features introduced in VSP One Block 20 using the three APIs.

Registering a storage system

Storage registration is not applicable for Platform REST and VSP One Administrator API because the requests are directly issued to the Platform REST or VSP One Administrator API server embedded in the ESM Stack.

API	Coding Example	Input Json File (RegistertingStorage.json)
Hitachi Ops Center API Configuration Manager REST API	curl -k -v -H "Accept:application/json" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -u username:password -X POST --data-binary @./RegisteringStorage.json https://192.0.2.100:23451/ConfigurationManager/v1/objects/storages	{ "model": "VSP One B28", "serialNumber": "81XXXX", "ip": "172.XX.XX.XX" }
Hitachi VSP One Block Platform REST API	NA	NA
VSP One Administrator API	NA	NA