Network Attributes

The Network attributes refer to network characteristics such as received count, sent count, network interface name, and interface status.

Frames vs. Packets

The Received Count (Frames) and Transmitted Count (Frames) show the raw frame counts for the interface. Frames and packets are not necessarily the same thing.

System administrators may define the interface so that multiple frames are sent or received in a packet. The network report and the network attributes display frame counts.


Avg Coll Rate 1 The average number of collisions on all network interfaces over last one minute. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than one minute.

Avg Coll Rate 5 The average number of collisions on all network interfaces over last five minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than five minutes.

Avg Coll Rate 15 The average number of collisions on all network interfaces over last fifteen minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than fifteen minutes.

Avg Coll Rate 60 The average number of collisions on all network interfaces over last sixty minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than sixty minutes.

Avg In Rate 1 The average number of frames received on all network interfaces over last one minute. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than one minute.

Avg In Rate 5 The average number of frames received on all network interfaces over last five minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than five minutes.

Avg In Rate 15 The average number of frames received on all network interfaces over last fifteen minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than fifteen minutes.

Avg In Rate 60 The average number of frames received on all network interfaces over last sixty minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than sixty minutes.

Avg InErr Rate 1 The average number of frames with errors received on all network interfaces over last one minute. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than one minute.

Avg InErr Rate 5 The average number of frames with errors received on all network interfaces over last five minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than five minutes.

Avg InErr Rate 15 The average number of frames with errors received on all network interfaces over last fifteen minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than fifteen minutes.

Avg InErr Rate 60 The average number of frames with errors received on all network interfaces over last sixty minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than sixty minutes.

Avg Out Rate 1 The average number of frames transmitted on all network interfaces over last one minute. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than one minute.

Avg Out Rate 5 The average number of frames transmitted on all network interfaces over last five minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than five minutes.

Avg Out Rate 15 The average number of frames transmitted on all network interfaces over last fifteen minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than fifteen minutes.

Avg Out Rate 60 The average number of frames transmitted on all network interfaces over last sixty minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than sixty minutes.

Avg OutErr Rate 1 The average number of frames transmission errors on all network interfaces over last one minute. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than one minute.

Avg OutErr Rate 5 The average number of frames transmission errors on all network interfaces over last five minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than five minutes.

Avg OutErr Rate 15 The average number of frames transmission errors on all network interfaces over last fifteen minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than fifteen minutes.

Avg OutErr Rate 60 The average number of frames transmission errors on all network interfaces over last sixty minutes. Displays N/C (not collected) if the agent has been up for less than sixty minutes.

Collisions The number of times during the monitoring interval that a frame transmitted by the network interface collided with another frame. This occurs when another interface on the same local network transmits a frame at nearly the same time. Valid entries: integer, in the range 0 to 100. Use this attribute to determine if a network interface has an unacceptable number of frame collisions. Frame collisions cause the interface to retransmit the frame. With this increased traffic, the likelihood of future collisions increases. This can result in a steady increase of network traffic to critical levels.

Frames Received The number of frames received by the interface during the monitoring interval. Valid entries: integer in the range 0 to 9999.

Frames Transmitted The number of frames transmitted by the interface during the sampling period. Valid entries: integer in the range 0 to 9999.

Input Errors The number of frames with errors received by the interface during the monitoring interval. Valid entries: integer, in the range 0 to 100.

Interface DNS Name The Dynamic Name Server (DNS) entry associated with the IP address of the network interface. Valid entries: alphanumeric string with a maximum 32 characters.

Example:

www.company.com indicates that the DNS will resolve the name www.company.com to mean the IP address for the interface.

Interface IP Address The Internet Protocol (IP) address of the network interface. A gateway machine will have more than one interface, each with a separate address. Valid entries: Internet protocol addresses in the form a.b.c.d. where a, b, c, and d are integers in the range 0 to 255.

Example
197.128.55.55 indicates the network interface uses the IP address 197.128.55.55.

Interface Status This attribute indicates if a network interface is currently available. Valid entries for each Network interface:

UP

Indicates the interface is in service

DOWN

Indicates the interface is not in service

These values are case-sensitive.

Example
UP means an interface is in service.

Network Interface Name Identifies the network interface adapter. Valid entries are simple text string, alphanumeric comprised of "Interface Name, Unit Number" where:

Example
On an AIX system, typical network adapters are represented as follows:

en

= Ethernet

lo

= Loopback

tr

= Token Ring

sl

= SLIP

Other operating systems may refer to the adapter type in a different manner. For example, on SunOS, ethernet adapters are typically represented by le.

On HP-UX, you may see ethernet represented as lan.

The possible combinations based on hardware, operating systems and installation options are virtually impossible to list. Ask your local System Administrator for assistance in determining the specific adapter types installed on your system.

Output Errors The number of frame transmission errors by the network interface during the monitoring interval. Valid entries are integers in the range 0 to 100.

Received Count The number of frames received since the network interface was initialized. Valid entries: numeric values in the range 0 to 2147483647.

Example
If a low number of packets are being received, data traffic may need to be re-routed.

System Name The host name of a monitored system. Valid entries are simple text string, alphanumeric with a maximum length 64 characters.

Example
Host names vary from system to system. Check with your system administrator for a list of all host names on your system.

Timestamp The date and time the agent collects information as set on the monitored system. The timestamp format for SCAN and STR functions is CYYMMDDHHMMSSmmm (as in 1020315064501000 for 03/15/02 06:45:01) where:

C = Century (0 for 20th, 1 for 21st)

Y = Year

M = Month

D = Day

H = Hour

M = Minute

S = Second

m = millisecond

Transmission Unit Maximum The maximum packet size (in bytes) for the specified network interface. This is a fixed value. Valid entries are numeric values in the range 0 to 99999999. Use this attribute to determine the minimum, maximum or average packet size used by a network interface. This information can help you determine the size used by a network interface.

This information can help you determine the data transfer capabilities of various network interfaces, and alleviate bottlenecks by re-routing traffic from devices that appear to be overloaded, to other network interfaces that may be able to handle additional data traffic.

Transmitted Count The average number of eight-bit packets transmitted per second by an interface since initialization Valid entries: numeric values in the range 0 to 2147483647.

Example
A high value may indicate an overloaded interface. A low value may indicate a device that is not being used much, which can carry an additional load, if required.