Using NV4IP

NV4IP views TCP/IP network performance from the enterprise level to the remote user connection. The information that NV4IP gathers reduces the types of software and number of monitoring efforts previously required to try to get a handle on the TCP/IP transaction environment. NV4IP gathers sufficient data to meet all of your reporting requirements and further, provides a data repository facility in SMF data format for your customized reporting needs.

Performance indicators for both workload and response time are reported by time, by application, or by host. Performance Manager uses both historical and real-time reports to provide a complete and accurate picture of network performance. The historical reports integrate the data collected so that problem histories, managerial reporting, and trending can be done from the same database. The real-time reports are used to gather data for monitoring the network in the daily work environment. Real-time monitoring facilities are provided for response time and availability per device; Telnet server sessions, and channel processors. Real-time monitoring facilities are provided for response time and availability per device; Telnet server sessions, and channel processors. These reports are available immediately after the Host Monitor is started.

SysPoint is the primary entry point into the NV4IP multi-Host Monitoring application. SysPoint’s main screen provides an overview of network activity for Operations, Systems, and Network staff. The data is displayed in a table for quick reference and provides the ability to drill down by clicking in a cell when further information is needed. SysPoint provides information on Alerts, stack workload, channel activity, and traffic for connections. From SysPoint, LinkView, Connect Expert, or Alerts may be accessed for further information and analysis.

LinkView provides real-time Channel Processor Monitoring. Channel-attached processors include Channel-to-Channel devices, LAN channel stations, ATM devices, CLAW devices (ex: RS 6000s), FDDI devices, or router cards such as the CISCO CIP card. LinkView shows all the channel-attached processors and links associated with your TCP/IP address space on one screen. At a glance, see any device that is unavailable or has exceeded the queue threshold. The LinkView screen also provides access to the Thru24 IP Summary/Detail reports, which provide near-time IP throughput information for channel-attached devices.

Connect Expert allows you to view EE UDP workload for assigned ports or monitor sockets and the connectivity to all your sessions for UDP (non-EE) and TCP. You can access the Enterprise Expert report from the EE hyperlink in the EE table to investigate EE UDP data further, or find out more about UDP (non-EE) session connectivity by accessing the UDP report from the UDP hyperlink in the UDP Sessions table. You can also zoom in to any port/application or session to view details using the Port Workload/Port Details reports accessed from the Name or Port hyperlinks in the TCP Sessions table. From the Port Workload/Port Details reports, you can execute a TraceRoute command to analyze routes, a Drop command to terminate a session, or Ping a device to determine its availability (only Master or Operations Manager users can issue these commands).

SysPoint provides both summary and detail data on Alerts by clicking in any Alert column. Current Alerts display in red. The Summary Alert Report provides data for all Alerts on the SysPoint screens. The Detail Report is context sensitive and provides data from the Alert selected on the SysPoint main screen. The Detail data consists of two charts: one shows Alerts regarding the most recent occurrence, the last occurrence, and Alerts that have occurred since midnight; the second chart displays relevant data about the selected Alert. Alerts for Critical Resource Availability and Performance are set in the Master on the PC Workstation. All other Alerts are set on the Host in the CONF00 member.

The SessionLog Expert allows viewing of near time or current time sessions, that is, sessions that are either currently live or have recently happened. The definition of recently is determined by the installation and is set in the parameters for the FTP or SMF exits. The records for these sessions are held in memory by the monitor executing on the MVS host. The data for the logs comes from exits provided by SMF. For further information on the determination of how many such records to hold, please refer to the Installation Manual.

Other key features include StackView and SNMP MIB Browser. StackView provides CPU usage information for the address spaces associated with TCP/IP (TCP/IP, SNALK, FTP server, and so forth), as well as for any address space associated with a socket-attached application.

SNMP exchanges network information through messages known as PDU (protocol data units). From a high-level perspective, the PDU is seen as an object containing variables consisting of both titles and values. SNMP uses five types of PDUs to monitor a network: two deal with setting terminal data, two deal with reading terminal data, and one, the trap, is used for monitoring network events such as start-ups and shut-downs.

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