NetApp OCI: Fundamentals of Annotations & Business Entities

Notes from this YouTube video:

Annotation = “A note by way of explanation or comment added to a text of diagram.”

Annotations can not be assigned to applications - this is by design.
Annotations can not be used to build a hierarchy of annotations (e.g. cities in a country.)

Annotations are valuable:
- identify physical location of assets
- identify and report an asset age/expiration
- identify exemptions from regular policy
- Tiers and Service Levels
- flag on any value that is beneficial to you

How to configure a custom Annotation:
1) Add a new Annotation.
2) Choose the appropriate type: Boolean, list, etc.
--- If applicable, populate the list.
3) Create a query to bulk-annotate relevant assets.
4) To automate future annotations, create an Annotation Rule using the query.

What is a Business Entity?
A model of the framework of your business structure, mapping assets to consumers.

Business Entity:
- Can be associated to Applications
- Provides a Dimension in the DWH for more powerful reporting capabilities than Annotations
- Can be used to filter dashboard widgets
- Can be used to filter dashboards with free text
- Cannot be automated in the way that Annotation Rules work
- Cannot be used to set Performance Policies

How do we define our Business Entities Properly?
1) Examine each level of your corporate hierarchy and determine whether it would be relevant to include in OCI.
2) Build a chart showing each Business Entity and the names of all levels within the entity.
3) Check & modify the names as needed so that they are self-explanatory when view in OCI or in reports.
4) Identity all core applications that are used by each Business Entity.
--- Populate each Application into OCI and assign it to the Business Entity in question.
5) Assign all relevant compute resources to each application.
--- Create a query
--- Supply necessary attributes to find the compute resources that are part of that Application
--- Assign resulting assets to the Application
(Observe: Associated assets down the stack, from compute to port to storage, are now mapped to the Business Entity.)
(Observe: You now know what critical applications belong to whom, what applications depend on and can more quickly address or mitigate production fires. If using Anomaly Detection, you’ll know before any alarms have gone off.)

Image: Example: Step 1) Map out as much of your organization as possible.

Image: Example: Step 2 & 3) Organize what’s relevant and ensure every Entity is self-explanatory

Image: Example: Step 4) Identify the core applications of each group

APPENDIX: Resources in the NetApp Product Documentation:

- Preparing Assets: Annotating
- Finding Assets: Querying
- Your Corporate Structure: Business Entities & Applications

OnCommand Insight Documentation Resources

OnCommand Insight 7.3 Documentation Center

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