Understanding System Manager

System Manager enables you to manage storage systems including storage elements such as disks, volumes, and aggregates. System Manager provides a Web-based graphical management interface to manage common storage system functions from a Web browser.

You can use System Manager to manage storage systems and HA configurations running the following versions of Data ONTAP:

•	Data ONTAP 7.x (starting from 7.2.3)

•	Data ONTAP 8.x 7-Mode

•	Data ONTAP 8.1 Cluster-Mode

Note: In the Data ONTAP 8.x 7-Mode product name, the term 7-Mode signifies that the 8.x release has the same features and functionality found in the prior Data ONTAP 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 release families.

You can also manage V-Series systems.

System Manager enables you to perform many common tasks such as the following:

•	Configure and manage storage elements such as disks, aggregates, volumes, qtrees, and quotas.

•	Configure protocols such as CIFS and NFS and provision file sharing.

•	Configure protocols such as FC and iSCSI for block access.

•	Create vFiler units and manage them.

•	Set up SnapMirror relationships and manage SnapMirror tasks.

•	Manage HA configurations and perform takeover and giveback.

•	Monitor and manage your storage systems.

Storage resource management

You can use System Manager to manage the resources of your storage system.

Storage system discovery

The Discover Storage Systems dialog box lists all storage systems discovered by System Manager. You can use this dialog box to discover storage systems or a high availability pair on a network subnet and add them to the list of managed systems.

Credential caching

You can cache (save) your storage system server login and password information for future System Manager sessions.

System logging

System logging is an essential tool for application troubleshooting. It is helpful to enable system logging so that if there is a problem with an application, the problem can be located. You can enable System Manager logging at runtime without modifying the application binary.

System Manager window layout customization

System Manager enables you to customize the window layout. By customizing the windows, you can control which data is viewable or how it is displayed.

Access to your favorite topics

You can quickly access a particular subject that you often look up by bookmarking topics in the Favorites tab of the Help system.

Icons used in the application interface

You can view the icons in the interface to get quick information about systems and operations, and to open other windows such as the application Help.

Support for troubleshooting issues in System Manager

If you encounter any issues when using the System Manager application, you can create a support bundle that includes your system configuration data and log files. You can send this bundle to technical support to help troubleshoot the issues.

Creating a support bundle

You can create a support bundle from System Manager and send it to technical support to analyze and resolve issues with System Manager.