StrataView Statistics Manager

• Determination of the types of statistics that will be collected and sent to each node.
  

Modifying Statistics Parameters

The Status Display field in the Statistics Manager main window lists some, but not all, of the possible parameters that you may want to consider setting. To view all of the possible parameters and to change any of them, select Network Parameters from the Config pull down menu. The Statistics Parameters dialog box appears. Most of the parameters can be left at the default. The parameters that you should review are:

Time Synchronization Node	Select the node supplying the master system timing. If possible, it should be set to the attached IPX node where SCM is installed. If your network crosses over time zones, it is important that all nodes in all time zones remain synchronized to a single clock (namely, the clock in the node defined as the Time Synchronization Node in the Statistics Manager main window).
Peak Statistics Enable Toggle Button	Toggle to OFF unless peak statistics are required.
Statistics Collection Period	Collection interval display.
Bucket Interval	This must not exceed the value set for the collection period.
Purge Old Files	Recommended unless doing a long-term study on only one or a few statistics.

Before statistics collection is enabled. use the cnfdate or cnftime commands to configure all the nodes in your network to the same time as the Time Synchronization Node. Use the cnftmzn GMT command to set the node time to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Once all the nodes are using the same time as the Time Synchronization Node, you can use the cnftmzn command to set the node time to whichever time zone you want, but the time MUST come from the Time Synchronization Node.

File directories are given a default name by the system. These fields may be renamed if desired to something more appropriate to what is being collected (such as when collecting trunk statistics, name the Incoming File Directory with trunk in its name). These parameters should be configured before any statistics collection is initiated. They can be changed later but the statistics collection process must first be stopped.

Planning

Prior to installing StrataView Plus, you should decide the types and quantity of statistics to be collected. Configurations for statistics in larger networks may involve trade-offs to accommodate procurement of high-volume statistics as well as to maintain sufficient node memory allocation, StrataView Plus link bandwidth, or Informix database disk capacity for statistics.

Enabling

By default, all statistics associated with trunks and circuit lines are automatically enabled at startup. To collect statistics from a BPX/IPX network, other types of statistics must be defined and enabled at each node. Each node then gathers data and periodically transmits it to the StrataView Plus workstation, where it is stored in the StrataView Plus database.

Selecting Bucket and Collection Intervals

For each statistic, you can select the bucket interval (also called the bucket type and sometimes
granularity of the sample), the collection interval, and retention interval.

Bucket interval Default: 60	Specifies the interval over which the node accumulates a sample (that is, every 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes). When all buckets are full, the collection wraps around and fills the first bucket. The number of buckets retained is constrained by the amount of memory allocated for this process.
Collection interval Default: 60	Specifies the frequency with which StrataView Plus collects these samples and has a default value of 60 minutes. The collection interval should always be set equal to, or longer than, the bucket interval.
Retention interval	Specifies how long the data is maintained by the StrataView Plus database. The retention period is 24 hours. The maximum retention period is 8960 hours (1 year).

The Statistics Manager Window

The Statistics Manager window is presented either as a result of a full startup, or by invoking it from the SV+ Main Menu. Only one statistics manager window per session may be opened.

Statistics Manager Window

Use this window to view current statistics as they are gathered at StrataView Plus, set network parameters, select nodes, and enable statistics. While this window is displayed, you can also invoke fresh display of ongoing statistics by using the Clear Error Panel of this window.

Figure 5-3 : Statistics Manager Menu Bar

Statistics Manager - File - Quit Menu

Use this menu to close the Statistics Manager window. This menu presents a confirmation dialog window.

Statistics Manager - Config - Network Parameters

Use this menu to present the Network Parameters dialog window.

Figure 5-4 : Statistics Manager: Configure Network Parameters

Maximum Concurrent Requests Default: 3	This setting controls the number of child processes created. Each child process is responsible for one file transfer at a time, which indicates the number of concurrent requests to the network.
Maximum Requests per Subnet Default: 3	Type the number of requests allowable per subnet. This setting is used to throttle the number of requests being retrieved from the network on a particular access point. Statistics enable files are not considered part of this throttling
Delay Between Requests (seconds) Default: 0	Type the duration for child process to sleep prior to each request.
Maximum Packets Per Second Default: 0	Type the maximum packets to be transmitted from the child process. A packet is fixed at 512 bytes in TFTP specifications. A value of 500 will therefore transfer at up to 256K/Second. An entry of 0 (zero) indicates unlimited transfer rate
Number of Retries Default: 1	Type the number of retries the child process makes in attempting to get files from the network.
Time-out Period Default: 60	Type the time-out value (in seconds) for TFTP GET requests. Increase this value on busy networks. Busy networks should be configured for a high value.
Time Synchronization Node	Type the name of the node that Statistics Manager uses for time synchronization. It should be set to the name of the workstation where SCM is installed. If you must use a network node as the Time Synchronization Node, choose the IPX node closest to the StrataView Plus workstation (least number of hops). The node must have NPCs and must be configured in /etc/hosts. Note: Yellow Pages are supported for the /etc/hosts file. If the node is unavailable, the nodes in the Selected Node list will be scanned in ascending alphabetical order. The first reachable node becomes the time synchronization node. All nodes in all domains must be set to GMT using the cnftmzn command.
Statistics Collection Period Default: 60	Type the interval value (in minutes) in which stats are gathered from the network
Bucket Interval	Type the Bucket Interval Period value (in minutes) to be kept for the single bucket on the node.
Peak Statistics Enable Toggle Button Default: ON	Toggle to set peak values on network stats to either ON or OFF.
Number of History Files to Collect Default: 5	The total number of history files to collect. If, for example, you select 5, and the interval is set at 60 minutes, then the current hour and the prior 4 hours will be tracked for collection from the network. This "history" on collection completion or failure will be tracked for 5 files (1 file = 1 collection interval). It is recommended you select at least 5 for this setting.
Purge Old Statistics (hours) Default: 30	This field identifies the number of days to keep old statistics. Statistics older than the current date/time less this field in days are DELETED from the database, automatically. A value of zero (0) will disable stats deletion. If you choose a value of zero, your database can become full in a very short time
Temporary File Directory	Type the filename to use as temporary storage for incoming files.
Incoming File Directory	Type the name of the incoming file directory used by the parser to locate incoming files to be parsed. The incoming and temporary directories must be within either the same UNIX partition or NFS mounted partition.
Purge Old Files (days) Default: 2	The value you specify to purge old file when the disc space in the Incoming partition drops below 20 megabytes. The files with a date `N' days older than today's date will be purged. (0= no purging to be done.)
Purge Old Files Toggle Button Default: ON	This toggle controls the ability to purge files as they are parsed from the stats parser. Set to OFF to move files to the directory ~/spool. Currently, the save directory is not configurable. It is recommended that you delete old files.

Statistics Manager - Config - Node Selection Menu

Use this menu to presents the Statistics Node Selection Dialog window.

Figure 5-5 : Statistics Manager: Configure Node Selection

Unselected Node Filter(s)	These are strings to help sort nodes with similar node names from long lists of nodes. Strings can be any combination of characters. If multiple filters appear in this list they will be treated as a logical OR. Add filters using the buttons below this window.
UnSelected Nodes	Shows all nodes reachable in the network
Selected Nodes	Shows all nodes that this StrataView Plus needs to collect statistics from. To add nodes to this list, select the node from the UnSelected Nodes List, then press the Selected Nodes right-arrow button or press the ALL nodes right arrow button. To remove a node, press either left-arrow select button.
Add/Delete Filter Buttons	Select the Add Filter Items box by clicking inside the box and type the filter string. Then click Add Filter to place it in the Node File Filter window. Deselect a filter in reverse order using the Delete Filter button.
Rescan Node File	After all of the file filters are added to the Unselected Node File Filter box, click on this button to rescan the list of all nodes recognized by StrataView Plus. Only those matching the filter will be displayed in the UnSelected Nodes box.

Statistics Manager - Config - Stats Enable Menu

Use this menu to presents the Connection Statistics Enable/Disable dialog window.

Figure 5-6 : Statistics Manager: Enable Statistics Window

Statistic Type	Clicking on the small button to the right presents a list of the object sub types for the Stats Enable Object Type selected.
Peak Interval	This field is the peak values set on all statistics within a subtype. It is applicable only when the user enables Peak Values toggle button in the Network Parameters dialog box. This can be modified by clicking in the box and typing in a new value.
UnSelected Statistics	Presents a list of all statistics types available for this subobject type that have not been selected
Selected Statistics	Presents a list of all statistics types for this subobject type that have been selected. To select a statistic, click on the desired statistic in the unselected list then click on the Selected Stats right-arrow button. To select all stats, press ALL Stats right-arrow button. To remove a particular statistic, click on the desired statistic in the selected list then click on the Unselected Stats left-arrow button. To disable all stats for the current object, press ALL Stats left-arrow button.

Bulk Statistics Transfer

These statistics are transferred from the various network nodes to one or more StrataView Plus workstations using standard TFTP. The TFTP message blocks are carried through the network via LAN and IP Relay network interfaces. Because IP Relay uses high priority network bandwidth, the topology should therefore be designed to minimize statistics traffic through a single node.

The Statistics Manager collection engine can be configured to collect statistics one node at a time or from multiple nodes in parallel. The Statistics Manager requests a statistics file from a node by sending a TFTP Get request for a specific interval. For example, if the bucket interval is 15 minutes and the file interval is 60 minutes, then each interval file transfers four 15 minute buckets. If the node does not have the requested interval buckets, it then sends a NAK (No Acknowledge) message to the Statistics Manager.

Parser Tool

In addition to collecting and configuring statistics via the Statistics Manager GUI, a separate Systems Query Language (SQL) database parsing process is used to parse the statistics UNIX files that are gathered from the network. This parser tool manages the UNIX files that have been placed in a UNIX directory, parses the statistics contained within the files, and writes them into the StrataView Plus Informix data tables. Once the parsed statistics are written into the data tables, the parser deletes the parsed UNIX files or moves the files to a backup directory.

Parser Tool Command Switches

The user interface to the parser tool has several options. You activate these options by adding the appropriate switches to the statsparser command line when the parser is invoked.

Table 5-1 describes each functional feature enabled by a statsparser parameter switch, the appropriate switch character, and the default for each switch.

Table 5-1 : Parameters: Parser Switch

Parser and Interaction With Processes	Switch Character	Description	Default
Define location of saved files	-o or -O <path>	Output save dir	Not moved, deleted. Path default is ~svplus/save
Define age to delete old stats in days	-t or -T <age>	Retain period in days	Not moved, deleted. Path default is ~svplus/save
Enable verbose mode	-v or -V 1 or 0	Verbose listing	Disabled
Define incoming file directory	-i or -I <path>	Incoming directory	~svplus/incoming
Print performance statistics	-p or -P 1 or 0	Print performance	Disabled

You can access on-line help for the statsparser parameter switches by entering the following at the shell prompt:

% statsparser

The system responds with the following parameter switch description.

Figure 5-7 : Parameter Switch Description

Usage: statsparser [-v or -V 0 or 1 -f or -F <days> -D or -d <dbname>
          -i or -I <path> -o or O <path>
          -T <datetime> -p or -P 0 or 1

Switch           Function

-v Or -V 0 or 1          Verbose progress of statsparser
-t Or -T           Pass in a time to Delete old stats in days.
-i or -I <path>          Specify a directory for incoming files
-o or -O <path>          Specify a directory for saved files
-d or -D <dbname>          Specify a database in the parameter 
-p or -P 0 or 1          Print Performance statistics

Normal usage: statsparser -v 
              Verbose with Creation Enabled

Configuring Node Selection List(s)

You must prepare a list of all nodes in the network that will be collecting statistics for display on this StrataView Plus workstation. If there is only one StrataView Plus workstation attached to the network, this list will consist of all nodes in the network. Every node without a LAN IP address must have an IP Relay IP address assigned. Use the cnfnwip command to assign IP Relay addresses.

alpha32        LAN   StrataCom       IPX 32    8.2.0     Mar. 30 1996 10:25 PST

Active Network IP Address:             192.187.209.169

Active Network IP Subnet Mask:         255.255.255.0

NodeName   IP Address
gamma8   None
beta16   None
alpha32 192.187.209.169

Last Command: cnfstatmast 199.35.101.74

Next Command:





  
  

  
Full Name 

Configure statistics master SV+ address


Syntax

cnfstatmast parameters


Related Commands

cnfnwip, dspnwip


Attributes

Privilege

1




Jobs

Yes




Log

Yes


Node



IPX


Lock



Yes


Example 1 Description

cnfstatmast 199.35.96.217




Configure 199.35.96.217 as the IP address for the statistics master.   The IP address is a 32-bit address specified in the format x.x.x.x where each x is a value from 1 to 255.