Question

Command Center vs Comcell Console Terminology


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Hello,

Like many, most of my experience comes from using the Commcell Console and I am trying to familiarize myself with the Command Center. However, I’m finding it difficult understanding some of the differences in terminology between the two. I’m looking to create plans to replace the legacy schedule and storage policies, as well as organize the data in the Command Center similar to how it is organized in the java console i.e. Client Computer Groups > Clients > Backup Sets > Subclients etc. At the moment I’m spending a lot of time just trying to find where everything is because the names of certain things have changed i.e. I no longer see subclients or Client computer groups.

 

What is the equivalent of a Backup set or a Subclient in the Command Center? Is there any documentation that explains the differences or outlines “what’s changed” from the java console to the Command Center?

 

Thanks,

Enrique


12 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

What is the equivalent of a Backup set or a Subclient in the Command Center? Is there any documentation that explains the differences or outlines “what’s changed” from the java console to the Command Center?

 

You can stil find the subclients and backup set definitions in Command Center. For example open File servers and select a client and you will find the subclient section. To become more familiar I would recommend to just use it and leverage the essentials version of the documentation which focusses on Command Center. 

Not sure which version you are currently using, but just make sure you for example pick FR28. Every release delivers changes and enhancements to Command Center. 

Badge +2

@Onno van den Berg Thanks, I see the subclient section now. I would think there would be a section for it in the navigation bar on the left hand side. What about Backup sets? Am I correct in thinking that terms such as “Clients”, and “Client Computer Groups” are considered legacy terms and are not being used in the Command Center? Are the VM groups and Server Groups the equivalent in Command Center?

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

The backup set capability also still exist in the same window, but is to be seen as an advanced configuration. Curious to hear if you use the capability and what the actual use-case is. As for clients and client computer groups those were given a different name. Please look for servers and server groups. Under Virtualization you will find the definition of a VM group. This is the name that related to a subclient as part of a virtualization (pseudo) client. Like I said play around and look into the essentials documentation. 

Userlevel 3
Badge +9

Hello @eflores 

Java Admin Console should be used by all Commcell Admins (people managing the Commcell at large)

Whereas Command Center is intended to be used by DBA, Exchange Admins and VM admins (restricted access)

Regarding the SP to plan conversion , there is workflow designed for it you may want to give it a try in a dev/test environment before attempting to use in prod.

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

Hello @eflores 

Java Admin Console should be used by all Commcell Admins (people managing the Commcell at large)

Whereas Command Center is intended to be used by DBA, Exchange Admins and VM admins (restricted access)

Regarding the SP to plan conversion , there is workflow designed for it you may want to give it a try in a dev/test environment before attempting to use in prod.

Correct, However I would strongly recommend, even in large environment, to implement all changes first from Command Center and only move to the CommCell console in case you really need to go into the depth. I think somewhere in the near future they will start to hide the CommCell console for newer installation and I truly hope they will enrich the Command Center UI with a view delivering a single pane of glass and add more capability to it while in the meantime they really start to remove functionality from the CommCell console which in the end results in a slim-downed version only offering advanced settings and tweaking capabilities. 

I also wouldn't say that Command Center delivers restricted access, because this is not the case anymore. Some features are only available within Command Center. 

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

@Onno van den Berg I do not see the CommCell console going away or being hidden.  The Command Center is not intended to be a total replacement of the CommCell console.  They have different intended audiences and roles.

Badge +2

Thanks all for your replies. This is a topic I’ve heard a lot of different answers to and no one seems to know exactly the direction Commvault is going with the Command Center vs. Comcell console. At least that is what it seems like from a customers perspective with no insight beyond what is documented. I have been told by Commvault reps and ex-Commvault engineers that the Command Center will eventually replace the console and that I should start transitioning to using it more and create Plans, etc. I have been attempting to do this but always seem to run into roadblocks due to limitations, lack of certain capabilities and intuitiveness forcing me to go back to the Commcell console. I agree and hope that they will continue to improve the Command Center and go all in with it vs. supporting both.

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

Thanks all for your replies. This is a topic I’ve heard a lot of different answers to and no one seems to know exactly the direction Commvault is going with the Command Center vs. Comcell console. At least that is what it seems like from a customers perspective with no insight beyond what is documented. I have been told by Commvault reps and ex-Commvault engineers that the Command Center will eventually replace the console and that I should start transitioning to using it more and create Plans, etc. I have been attempting to do this but always seem to run into roadblocks due to limitations, lack of certain capabilities and intuitiveness forcing me to go back to the Commcell console. I agree and hope that they will continue to improve the Command Center and go all in with it vs. supporting both.

In the end the Commcell console will have to be deprecated as it doesn't make sense to continue the current path with 2 different UIs who are totally different and offer cross functionality. How long this will take I have no idea, they are already working on it for many years, but it all depends on focus, effort and development power that Commvault can push against it. It's not an honest comparison, but VMware also managed to move from the old vCenter client to a brand new web UI in a matter of a few years and eventually also dropped support for the old client.

All these options within the Commcell console also come with Q&A challenges as there are too many angles which cannot be covered. This increases the risk of running into unwanted/unforeseen issues and in all honesty these days a lot of these options can be automated away. In the end we all want it to be able to deliver where it is meant for your data. 

I honestly do not see a need anymore these days for new/small deployments to move back to the Commcell console, even though it is tempting. I myself move back because I personally do not really like the design layout of Command Center as it is lacking oversight and I find myself clicking around too much and mainly go back because of this. As soon as you have transitioned to plans the need to move back slims down drastically. 

Badge +2

Thanks all for your replies. This is a topic I’ve heard a lot of different answers to and no one seems to know exactly the direction Commvault is going with the Command Center vs. Comcell console. At least that is what it seems like from a customers perspective with no insight beyond what is documented. I have been told by Commvault reps and ex-Commvault engineers that the Command Center will eventually replace the console and that I should start transitioning to using it more and create Plans, etc. I have been attempting to do this but always seem to run into roadblocks due to limitations, lack of certain capabilities and intuitiveness forcing me to go back to the Commcell console. I agree and hope that they will continue to improve the Command Center and go all in with it vs. supporting both.

In the end the Commcell console will have to be deprecated as it doesn't make sense to continue the current path with 2 different UIs who are totally different and offer cross functionality. How long this will take I have no idea and it all depends on focus, effort and development power that Commvault can push forward, however Commvault is already working on Command Center itself for many years now. It's not an honest comparison, but VMware also managed to move from the old vCenter client to a brand new web UI in a matter of a few years and eventually also dropped support for the old client.

All these options within the Commcell console also come with Q&A challenges as there are too many angles which cannot be covered. This increases the risk of running into unwanted/unforeseen issues and in all honesty these days a lot of these options can be automated away.  

I honestly also do not see a need these days anymore for new/small environments to move back to the Commcell console, even though it is tempting, because I personally do not really like the design layout of Command Center as it is lacking oversight and I find myself clicking around too much.

Agreed!

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

In the end the Commcell console will have to be deprecated as it doesn't make sense to continue the current path with 2 different UIs who are totally different and offer cross functionality. How long this will take I have no idea, they are already working on it for many years, but it all depends on focus, effort and development power that Commvault can push against it. It's not an honest comparison, but VMware also managed to move from the old vCenter client to a brand new web UI in a matter of a few years and eventually also dropped support for the old client.

All these options within the Commcell console also come with Q&A challenges as there are too many angles which cannot be covered. This increases the risk of running into unwanted/unforeseen issues and in all honesty these days a lot of these options can be automated away. In the end we all want it to be able to deliver where it is meant for your data. 

I honestly do not see a need anymore these days for new/small deployments to move back to the Commcell console, even though it is tempting. I myself move back because I personally do not really like the design layout of Command Center as it is lacking oversight and I find myself clicking around too much and mainly go back because of this. As soon as you have transitioned to plans the need to move back slims down drastically. 

Great reply Onno. I think you are right, they will converge in the future and the CommCell console will slowly discouraged until its truly no longer needed. The reason why it taking so long is that CC did start as a tenant based console that meant application owners could self-serve their backups and restores. That evolved as the industry moved more towards web administration and a new requirement (even for enterprise software) was utmost simplicity. One of the challenges is and has always been, you don’t just want to replicate a 20 year old UI inside a browser, its an opportunity to do things better, automate more and remove redundant controls to make the experience better. I think there have been a lot of success with Command Center doing just that - optimizing some legacy concepts with new thinking and making things easier. At the same time, there is still a ways to go, and to also strike the balance between customers who want manual control of all things, vs those who would prefer to maximize the automation.

However, (in my opinion) straddling two consoles is not the optimal path as Onno eloquently put it.

Userlevel 3
Badge +10

@Onno van den Berg I do not see the CommCell console going away or being hidden.  The Command Center is not intended to be a total replacement of the CommCell console.  They have different intended audiences and roles.

I don't see how this parralelll model is sustainable in the long term. 

Userlevel 3
Badge +10

In the end the Commcell console will have to be deprecated as it doesn't make sense to continue the current path with 2 different UIs who are totally different and offer cross functionality. How long this will take I have no idea, they are already working on it for many years, but it all depends on focus, effort and development power that Commvault can push against it. It's not an honest comparison, but VMware also managed to move from the old vCenter client to a brand new web UI in a matter of a few years and eventually also dropped support for the old client.

All these options within the Commcell console also come with Q&A challenges as there are too many angles which cannot be covered. This increases the risk of running into unwanted/unforeseen issues and in all honesty these days a lot of these options can be automated away. In the end we all want it to be able to deliver where it is meant for your data. 

I honestly do not see a need anymore these days for new/small deployments to move back to the Commcell console, even though it is tempting. I myself move back because I personally do not really like the design layout of Command Center as it is lacking oversight and I find myself clicking around too much and mainly go back because of this. As soon as you have transitioned to plans the need to move back slims down drastically. 

Great reply Onno. I think you are right, they will converge in the future and the CommCell console will slowly discouraged until its truly no longer needed. The reason why it taking so long is that CC did start as a tenant based console that meant application owners could self-serve their backups and restores. That evolved as the industry moved more towards web administration and a new requirement (even for enterprise software) was utmost simplicity. One of the challenges is and has always been, you don’t just want to replicate a 20 year old UI inside a browser, its an opportunity to do things better, automate more and remove redundant controls to make the experience better. I think there have been a lot of success with Command Center doing just that - optimizing some legacy concepts with new thinking and making things easier. At the same time, there is still a ways to go, and to also strike the balance between customers who want manual control of all things, vs those who would prefer to maximize the automation.

However, (in my opinion) straddling two consoles is not the optimal path as Onno eloquently put it.

i think its quite possible to have a system where there is simple, advanced, and intermediate features available on. Per user or even group system. Especially with a web based system.

 They could have standard options then advanced checkboxes available to people who are given administrative rights. 
 

this way instead of having essentially two code bases that will become more and more dissimilar you would have one system that can serve both purposes. You can limit complexity in the GUI by forcing api calls for complex edge scenarios. The people more likely to need these features would most likely have the talent to get it done anyway. 
 

 

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