notoriousbdg / vrops-dashboard-storage_tier_cost_analysis

Storage Tier Cost Analysis Dashboard for vRealize Operations

Storage Tier Cost Analysis Dashboard for vRealize Operations 8.1 and Cloud

---

Use this vRealize Operations dashboard to explore storage costs by tiers. The cost engine in vRealize Operations allows setting storage base rates (cost per GB per month) using vSphere Tags. Custom groups based on the same vSphere Tags can be leveraged to provide better insight into storage cost and utilization. To use this dashboard, select a Storage Tier from the list to see utilization, cost, and potential savings for the entire tier. Select a datastore from one of the top-n views to see the details for the specific datastore.

Please note that this dashboard requires additional configuration after importing. Refer to the Configuration section below for details.

Dashboard

Installation

1. Import the custom groups at Environment / Custom Groups / Gear Icon / Import Custom Group(s)
   
2. Click Browse... then select the file named CustomGroups.json
3. The included custom groups are listed in the Custom Groups section.
4. Import the super metrics at Administration / Configuration / Super Metrics / Import Super Metric
   
5. Click Browse... then select the file named supermetric.json
6. For each Super Metric listed in the Super Metrics section, click on the vertical kebab and select edit.
   
7. Enable the Super Metric for each Policy shown in the Enable in a Policy stage of the wizard.
8. Repeat the previous 2 steps for the remaining Super Metrics listed in the Super Metrics section.
9. Import the view at Dashboards / Views / Import...
   
10. Click Browse... then select the file named Views.zip
11. The included views are listed in the Views section
12. Import the dashboard at Dashboards / Actions / Manage Dashboards / Import Dashboards
    
13. Click Browse... then select the file named Dashboard.zip
14. The dashboard should now be available in in the dashboard list
    
15. The included dashboards are listed in the Dashboards section

Configuration

1. Identify the stoage tag category and tag value used in Cost Drivers at Administration / Configuration / Cost Settings / Cost Drivers / Storage. Take a screenshot if needed as the tags are needed in subsequent steps.
2. Navigate to Environment / Custom Groups to see the list of custom groups.
3. Edit each custom group in the included Custom Groups and change the category of Storage Tier to the storage tag category name from step 1.
4. For each tag value identified in step 1, create a custom group with a group type of Storage Tier, Keep group membership up to date enabled, and a rule for datastores that have Summary|vSphere Tag property which contains the tag value. Use the format of <Storage Tier-Tier Name>, where Storage Tier is the tag category and Tier Name is the tag value. Use the Preview to validate the rule before saving.
5. Repeat the previous step until there is a custom group for each tag value identified in step 1.
6. After about 20 minutes the Storage Tiers widget in the dashboard should start showing the new metrics.

Dashboards

Dashboard Name	Dashboard Path
Storage Tier Cost Analysis	Shared Dashboards (GBrandon)/Cost

Views

View Name	Name on Dashboard	View Type
Storage Base Rates	Storage Base Rate	Distribution

Custom Groups

Custom Group Name	Group Type
Untagged Local Storage	Storage Tier
Untagged Shared Storage	Storage Tier

Super Metrics

Super Metric Name	Object Type
Storage Tier - Total Cost	Storage Tier
Storage Tier - Potential Savings	Storage Tier
Storage Tier - Total Capacity (GB)	Storage Tier
Storage Tier - Used Space (GB)	Storage Tier
Storage Tier - Provisioned Consumer Space	Storage Tier
Storage Tier - Reclaimable Orphaned Disk Space	Storage Tier

Support

This dashboard requires vRealize Operation 8.1 Advanced or Enterprise edition or vRealize Operations Cloud.

Please open an issue for feedback.

Changelog

2020-04-30

• Initial release