[Users] [RFI] GUI Changes for oVirt 4.0

[Ted Miller]

On 3/18/2014 6:29 AM, Itamar Heim wrote:
> we are brainstorming on what should we change in the oVirt UI for 4.0.
> for current brainstorming phase, "anything goes" - i.e., I'd like us to 
> ignore current limitations and flows, and envision/fantasize the "perfect 
> solution".
>
> SO - what do YOU think we should consider for 4.0 UI concept, flows, etc.
I have an idea, though it may be relevant only to smaller setups.

I would like one place that I can go and see the health of my system. Right 
now I am running a cluster in test mode, and I have to look at several places 
before I have confidence that all is well:
Data Center
Storage (I am using gluster)
Hosts
VMs

The natural place for me to look would seem to be the left bar. If the icons 
there had a color change to reflect status, I could just hit "Expand All" and 
the color would immediately tell me the system status. Same icons would work, 
with just a background or little square of color.

I realize that my little 3-host system is the exception, because (so far) I 
can hit "Expand all" and I can still see the whole thing. I will not have to 
deploy many more VMs before it will not all fit.

There may be a better way to do this, e.g. another choice between "Expand 
all" and "Collapse All" that would expand all except the lowest level. It 
would then show me categories like "Storage", "Networks", "Hosts", "Volumes" 
and "VMs" with a health color indication for each cluster. If I see anything 
I am not expecting, I can expand that heading and see the status of the 
individual items.

There may be a better way to do this, but I know that it is somewhat 
frustrating to check first thing in the morning and have to do some many 
clicks before I have confidence that nothing bad happened overnight. I have 
actually found it faster to click on the "Events" tab and see if there are 
any nasty messages there, rather than checking current status.

I look forward to the insights of others as to how they monitor cluster status.

Ted Miller
Elkhart, IN, USA