During the installation of the DS8000, the IBM® SSR sets the customer preferences for remote support. These preference are specified for both call-home and call-back support.
The customer can choose whether to allow the HMC to automatically initiate a request to IBM whenever a serviceable event occurs. If the customer chooses to allow this automatic initiation, the customer can further define if this will be done through the VPN connection or through the modem, or both. When VPN is allowed and the customer has a firewall that isolates its network from the Internet, the firewall must be configured to allow this connection, as defined in VPN Network Settings.
In addition to notifying IBM, the HMC can be configured to send e-mail and SNMP notifications to a server on the customer network.
These options define how the HMC responds to the IBM Service organization by establishing a non-TCP/IP inbound connection to the HMC. The default option allows IBM to establish an inbound connection at any time. If this option is chosen or defaulted and if the Call home settings allow connectivity through VPN, IBM is then authorized to call into the HMC through the modem and tell the HMC to establish the VPN session (as described previously in "HMC Security Considerations").
A second option only allows IBM to initiate a point-to-point inbound connection through the modem for a number of days following a Call Home event for a serviceable action. If this option is chosen, the customer can also choose the number of days that the inbound connection will be allowed.
A third option only allows IBM to initiate a point-to-point inbound connection through the modem for a specified number of days. As with the previous option, the customer can choose the number of days that the inbound connection will be allowed.
The final option does not allow unattended inbound connections at all. If this option is chosen and remote support is needed to complete any problem determination, the customer is instructed to use the HMC interface to manually initiate the VPN connection, either through the Internet or through the modem, and remain in attendance at the HMC until the problem determination session has completed.