ELM Enterprise Manager Tech.-Info

• Great overview of All Eventlogs


• Easy filtering


• Notifications by Email, Pager or SMS

FTP

• An FTP Monitor item is used to monitor the status and availability of an FTP site. Any valid and accessible FTP server can be monitored by ELM. Both anonymous and authenticated connections are supported. In addition, you can specify the port on which to connect.



• You can monitor FTP server availability on any operating system running RFC-compliant FTP server software (e.g., Windows, Unix, Linux, Novell, Solaris, etc.). In addition to checking availability, you can also monitor your FTP server's quality of service by monitoring how quickly a response is returned. A warning message to be generated whenever the response from the FTP server exceeds the threshold you specify.

• POP3 Monitors are used to periodically check a POP3 mailbox for availability. The ELM Server periodically establishes a POP3 connection to the server and port specified using the mailbox credentials you enter. If the response is negative or slower than expected a variety of notification options can be triggered. By default, POP3 communications occurs over port 110; however, you can specify any valid TCP port that is being used by your POP3 server.



• In addition to checking availability, you can also monitor your POP3 server's performance by monitoring how quickly a response is returned. A warning message to be generated whenever the response from the POP3 server exceeds the threshold you specify.

• The Ping Monitor is used to send period ICMP echo requests to the Agent(s) being monitored. This is used to verify basic TCP/IP connectivity. Because the Ping Monitor uses the Agent name when sending ICMP packets, it may also be useful in detecting name resolution problems.



• The Ping Monitor is very flexible and enables administrators to control both the size of the ICMP packets, as well as the number of packets generated at each interval. This help to minimize ICMP traffic on slow or saturated links.

• You can monitor any valid TCP port using a Generic Port Monitor item. Because the ELM Server (and not an Agent) makes the actual connection to the port, you can monitor TCP port availability on any operating system (e.g., Unix, Linux, Novell, Solaris, etc.), provided that you have TCP/IP connectivity to that system from the ELM Server. You can also monitor TCP ports on any TCP/IP-capable network device, including switches, routers and telco devices.



• In addition to checking port availability, you can monitor quality of service by specifying a port's expected response time. A warning message will be generated whenever the response from the port is below the acceptable quality of service threshold that you specify.

• The ELM Server includes a receiver for SNMP traps. SNMP traps are treated as events; they will appear in event views, they will be stored in the database, and you can create Rules that trigger notification when any SNMP trap is received.



• The receiver registers with the SNMP Trap service on the ELM Server computer. SNMP Traps can be received with or without Object IDs.

• ELM supports the exchange of events with Unix and Linux Syslog clients and servers. It can act as both a Syslog client and a Syslog server, receiving both TCP and UDP Syslog messages. Many network devices include Syslog facilities enabling them to act as Syslog clients. By sending and receiving Syslog messages, ELM can provide integrated cross-platform support.

• Alerts are a convenient way to be notified of a critical event, security breach, or performance problem. Alerts can be generated as an action from a Monitor Item, or from an Alerts Notification Method. When an Alert is generated, it appears in the Alerts container in the ELM Console. Alerts are stored in the database used by the ELM Server for archival and reporting purposes.



• The flexibility and ease-of-use of Alerts enables administrators to be notified of potential and real problems as quickly as possible. Alerts are treated as events, enabling you to leverage the ELM Server's Notification Engine. This means that an Alert can trigger notification or execute corrective action.

• ELM supports the sending of email notifications via the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP). You can customize several aspects of the message that is sent, including the From field, the message text (including variables and information from any event), and the size of the message. In addition, you can configure the message with compressed white space, which provides better viewing on cell phones, pagers and other SMTP-capable devices with limited view screens.

• ELM supports the sending of email notifications via the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI). This enables you to send email notifications through a MAPI-compliant email server such as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes.



• You can customise several aspects of the message that is sent, including the message text (e.g., variables and information from any event), and the size of the message. In addition, you can configure the message with compressed white space, which provides better viewing on cell phones, pagers and other devices with limited view screens.



• In order to use MAPI email, you must have a MAPI-compliant mail client installed on your ELM Server, and you must use a MAPI-compliant mail server, such as Microsoft Exchange. Additionally, you must configure a MAPI profile for the Server service, enabling it to logon using an account that has access to the mailbox you intend to use.

• ELM supports notification via many popular pager services. In order to use a pager as a Notification Method, a properly configured modem needs to be attached to the ELM Enterprise Manager Server computer and available to the Server application. ELM supports almost every modem, and comes with a list of modem definitions (complete with initialization strings) for several modems.



• You can customize several aspects of the message that is sent, including the message text (e.g., variables and information from any event), and the size of the message. In addition, you can configure the message with compressed white space, which provides better viewing on alphanumeric pagers with limited view screens, and reduces overall message size.

• ELM supports the sending of email notifications via Short Message Service (SMS). SMS is the transmission of short text (160 characters or less) messages to and from a mobile phone, fax machine and/or IP address. It was conceived as part of the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) digital standard. This service is predominantly used in the UK on networks run by Cellnet, One2One, Orange, Vodafone and others.



• You can customize several aspects of the message that is sent, including the From field, the message text (including variables and information from any event), and the size of the message. In addition, you can configure the message with compressed white space, which provides better viewing on SMS-capable devices with limited view screens.

• The Command Script Notification Method can execute a command, a command line application, a batch file, or a script. In addition, you can pass event information in the form of variables, enabling you to leverage information in the event, such as the computer name or the message details field in any batch files or scripts that get executed.



• ELM supports both the Windows Script Host (WSH) as well as generic command line (cmd.exe) files. WSH is a language-independent scripting host for 32-bit Windows platforms. WSH supports scripts written in Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) or JScript. In addition, you can also use Perl and Python scripts, or any other script type that includes a script engine. It can also serve as a controller of ActiveX scripting engines.



• Scripts and command line files are a great way to automatically initiate corrective action. When combined with Resource Kit, third-party and custom tools, you can cause just about any action to be taken when needed. This includes restarting services, rebooting systems, copying, moving or deleting files, and so forth.

• ELM supports the posting of a form to an internal or external Web site as a notification method. This is especially useful in intranets, as well as for alphanumeric pagers. Note that ELM provides the posting capabilities only; it does not include any Web forms that can be used for posting. However, by using Microsoft FrontPage or similar Web authoring tool, you can easily create Web forms for your intranet.



• In addition, if you are using a web-based Help Desk application, ELM can automatically complete a support ticket and enter it into the Help Desk application. Like many other notification methods, ELM enables you to include environment variables from the event log record, Alert, SNMP trap or Syslog message in the web form posting.

• ELM includes support for electronic signs (marquees) as a notification method. You can send event and alert information to a supported electronic marquee via TCP/IP or via a serial connection. Depending on the marquee you're using, you can control the font, color, appearance, scroll behavior and duration of messages sent to the marquee.



• To obtain a list of supported marquee devices, please contact AMT Software's product support.

• ELM includes support for the Microsoft Speech API (SAPI) 5.0, and has speech integration built into the ELM Server. Using the Text-to-Speech notification method, you can configure the ELM Server to say an event, part of an event, or a custom message when an alert or event occurs.



• ELM uses speech synthesis during the execution of the notification method. Speech synthesis is the ability to generate or synthesize spoken language from text. ELM first generates the event as text output in the form of words. The SAPI recognition engine then converts the words into phonetic and prosodic symbols. From that, the SAPI engine generates a digital audio stream which is sent to the ELM Server's sound card. The sound card converts the audio digital stream into an acoustic signal, which is then amplified through the speakers attached to the sound card.



• You can use any sound card and speaker set that is on Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).

• An ELM Server can send SNMP traps as a Notification Method. Any event received by the ELM Server can be repackaged and transmitted as an SNMP trap to any SNMP management systems in your organization. In addition, the ELM Server also includes an SNMP OID Notification Method. It can take any valid SNMP Object ID (OID) and write it to the specified target host.

• ELM supports native, integrated Syslog messages as a notification method. This enables administrators to forward some or all alerts and events to a Syslog server (daemon). Syslog servers are available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Unix, Linux and others. Using Syslog notification, ELM can be a valuable component in any cross-platform management solution in your organization.

• ELM supports the use of network pop-up messages (aka "Net Send") as a notification method. This enables administrators to send pop-up messages to Windows-based computers that are running the Messenger service (Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP) or the WinPopUp client (Windows 95, Windows 98/98SE and Windows Me).



• The message sent can be customized to display all or any portion of the event details. This means that administrators running Windows won't need to install any additional software (except in the case of WinPopUp, which is on the Windows CD) in order to receive notification of alerts or events.

• An ELM Server can forward any Alert, Event, Syslog message or SNMP trap to another ELM Server. Forwarding events from one ELM Server to another enables you to architect and deploy ELM in a tiered manner, or when you are monitoring multiple locations. Because all data sent from one ELM Server to another is encrypted, you can safely locate ELM Servers within a DMZ, enabling real-time monitoring and notification without compromising security.

Resiliency and Reliability

ELM is specifically designed and built for reliability, and includes many features oriented toward resiliency and high-availability.

For example:

ELM makes automatic backup copies of its live configuration file

• Every ten seconds, a thread runs in the ELM Server process that looks for configuration changes. When configuration changes are made to ELM Server Objects, the configuration data (.DAT) file is changed and saved. On ELM Server service startup, if the .DAT file is successfully loaded, a backup of the current configuration data is created.

• ELM Enables you to you to run an ELM Server in a Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows Server 2003 server cluster.

• If communication or connectivity between a Service Agent and an ELM Server are interrupted, or if the ELM Server is down for any reason, the Service Agent will go into Cache Mode.

• When the ELM Server detects a connectivity problem with its primary database it triggers automatic database failover which enables the ELM Server to create and use a local Access database for storing incoming data. When connectivity to the primary database is restored, ELM will import data from the temporary database into the primary database.

• The rigorous certification testing process included a 48-hour stress test on a Unisys ES7000 32-way server, proper use of high-memory, multinode high-availability scale-out scenarios, and validation of 24x7 datacenter-level support. The certification tests independently verify that ELM 3.1 has features that make applications more robust, manageable and well supported.

• Agent Monitor - Performs regular heartbeat checks on Service Agents. If the Service Agent does not respond or is slow in responding, a variety of actions and notification options can be triggered.


• ELM Server Monitor - Enables Service Agents to perform regular heartbeat checks on the ELM Server. If the ELM Server does not respond or is slow in responding, a variety of actions and notification options can be triggered.


• Agent and Server Resource Consumption Monitoring - Service Agents automatically monitor their memory consumption, handle counts and thread counts and automatically cycle themselves in case utilization of any of these resources is higher than the configured threshold. This resource consumption self-monitoring can also be dynamically enabled on the ELM Server by adding documented registry entries on the ELM Server.

• This feature reduces the amount of time it takes to troubleshoot any problems or issues that arise.