Abstract: A system monitoring process for monitoring data flow includes an application level agent process that collects configuration data from a software application, the configuration data represents configuration dependencies between the software application and a storage system, and a storage system level agent process that collects configuration data from the storage system, the configuration data represents the configuration dependencies between the software application and the storage system.

Abstract: A method for characterizing a data path in a computer system includes collecting data from a software application, the data represents a data path between the software application and a storage system, collecting data from the storage system, the data represents the data path between the software application and the storage system, selecting the data path between the software application and the storage system, and determining a characterization measure of the selected data path.

Abstract: A method for analyzing management risk of a computer network includes selecting a portion of a storage system, determining a first downtime cost associated with a component included in the portion of the storage system, assigning the first downtime cost to the component, and disseminating the assigning of the downtime cost to a user.

Abstract: A method for constraining access to a storage system includes assigning a permanent bus identification to a storage device included in the storage system, creating a zone including a switch and the storage device included in the storage system such that data only passes to the storage device from the switch, and restricting access to the storage device from a server included in the storage system.