The appendices provide program listing and additional information for your reference in reading this redbook.
Chapter 2.
Components and architecture
This chapter discusses the product architecture of IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance. This chapter includes the following sections:
2.1, “Components and functions” on page 8 discusses the primary components of IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance and their functions.
2.2, “Web application” on page 10 describes the Web application structure.
2.3, “Monitor functions” on page 22 explains the monitoring subsystem.
2.4, “Communication and security” on page 34 shows the communication between the components of IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance.
As it is a distributed application, security of the communication is of a concern.
2.5, “Database structure” on page 41 describes the underlying data structure for IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance.
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2.1 Components and functions
IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance monitors the performance of the TCP/IP network in your enterprise from the mainframe perspective. Performance data from all monitored systems are stored in a central DB2 database. The data collected by IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance can be accessed using the Web application and also be used as source information for historical reports generation using Tivoli Data Warehouse.
The basic function of the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance is to collect performance data, which requires you to install the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance monitor component on each of the z/OS systems that you want to monitor. In addition, you must install the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application on a system that has WebSphere Application Server and DB2 database run. The supported operating systems for the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application are z/OS and AIX.
Figure 2-1 shows the overall IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance architecture.
Figure 2-1 IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance components
As shown in Figure 2-1, the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance architecture consists of several components. The required components are shown in the darker boxes, while optional components are shown in white boxes and connected by dotted lines.
IBM Tivoli
The required components are:
WebSphere Application Server and DB2: The WebSphere Application Server and the DB2 are required for the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network
Performance Web application. Both components must be run on the same server. WebSphere Application Server provides the platform for running the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application. DB2 acts as the central repository that contains a database that holds the configuration and performance data. See 2.5, “Database structure” on page 41 for more information.
Web application: The IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application runs as a WebSphere Application Server application. It is installed using Install Shield Multi-Platform (ISMP) on AIX or Windows® platform or using a script from the UNIX® Systems Services command line for z/OS. The product interface is a role-based Web application that is accessible from your Web browser. The Web Application provides the interface to view and configure the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance environment.
See 2.2, “Web application” on page 10 for more information.
Monitors: The IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Monitor is configured and runs on each z/OS operating system. The monitor performs three separate functions: collect performance data for the z/OS operating system, collect SNMP data from configured IP addressable, and collect availability and response time data from IP-addressable resources in the enterprise that the monitor is able to ping. In a normal configuration, there would be multiple instances of the z/OS monitors recording data to the DB2 database for the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application. See 2.3, “Monitor functions” on page 22 for more information.
The optional components are:
Event receivers: IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance can be configured to forward events in Event Integration Facility (EIF) format. This means that the events can be forwarded to IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console®
(TEC) or IBM Tivoli NetView for z/OS. IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance provides the necessary TEC classes to receive events. Events forwarded to IBM Tivoli NetView for z/OS need to be received using the Event Automation Service.
NetView Integrated TCP/IP Services Component (ITSC): It is highly recommended you install the NetView Integrated TCP/IP Services
Component, which provides automatic discovery of IP-addressable resources in your enterprise. ITSC can discover and classify any IP-addressable resources that are running SNMP agent. The SNMP information can be queried for additional information, such as resource type, which can be used to group these resources into SmartSets. It can automatically detect z/OS systems and other TCP/IP stack information from z/OS. NetView Integrated
TCP/IP Services Component software is provided with IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance.
Tivoli Data Warehouse: IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance captures performance data that can be collected into Tivoli Data Warehouse.
Tivoli Data Warehouse is a strategic cross-application infrastructure for collecting historical data and generating reports. IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance provides a set of extract, transform, and load (ETL) programs utilities to summarize and migrate historical performance data to Tivoli Data Warehouse. Historical data stored in Tivoli Data Warehouse is used to generate historical performance reports using Crystal Enterprise, which is provided as part of Tivoli Data Warehouse.
2.2 Web application
The Web application is the main component of IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance. It serves as the central contact point for other components. It uses WebSphere Application Server and DB2 database. This section discusses the structure of the Web application. The discussion is divided into:
2.2.1, “Web application structure” on page 10
2.2.2, “Web application user interface functions” on page 12
2.2.3, “Role-based security” on page 17
2.2.4, “Problem determination for Web application” on page 19
2.2.1 Web application structure
Figure 2-2 on page 11 shows the overview of the Web application components and their connections.
Figure 2-2 The Web application component structure
The Web application consists of several modules. Some of these modules have external interfaces to interact with other components. The following are the modules of the itmnp21 J2EE application:
The itmnpJMX is a Java resource module that contains Java Management eXtension classes. These classes are subclasses that represent the JMX objects that reside in the monitors. This is an internal component of the Web application. This resource package for the JMX connector is stored in a resource archive (rar) file.
The itmnpEJB module is an Enterprise Java Beans (EJBs) module for WebSphere Application Server. This module consists of EJBs for various objects that are managed by IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance, such as nodes, ITSC processes, commands, and so on. These EJBs provide the means to search and retrieve objects from a relational database through Java programs. Some of the objects here communicate using Java
Messaging Service (JMS).
The itmnpItsc module is the module that uses servlets and interacts with EJBs for IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance. It provides the interface to the monitors and NetView ITSC. The z/OS version of this module does not support SSL or HTTPS communication. This module utilizes the EJB and JMX modules for IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance.
The itmnpUI module is the Web application user interface module that interacts with an operator using a Web browser. This module contains Java
itmnp21 Enterprise Application
Server Pages and static Web content for the operator Web console. This module can be accessed using either HTTP or HTTPS protocol on all platforms.
Database access is performed though the JDBC interface to the DB2 database.
2.2.2 Web application user interface functions
The Web application serves the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance user interface to a Web browser. This section describes the user interface functions of the Web application:
A product interface for a user to access by browser
The user interface is a role-based Web application that is accessible from a Web browser. When security is enabled, a user name and password are required to sign on to the Web application. The initial login window is shown in Figure 2-3. The Administrator Full Access check box allows configuration and maintenance functions to be available when the user is authorized.
Figure 2-3 Initial login window
Function based portfolio
When the user is initially logged in, the left side of the window contains the menu portfolio that the user can access. Figure 2-4 on page 13 shows a user
with administrator role menu. It has both the display and management menus.
The management options are shown in the red box.
Figure 2-4 Portfolio menu for an administrator
Maintains and manages the configuration for the monitors
The Web application provides three configuration wizards to create the monitor definition. The wizards are for:
– z/OS monitor – SNMP monitor
– Availability and response time monitor
The following are the steps that you will go through with the wizard:
– Defines one or more monitor locations
The monitor location table contains the z/OS system name and IP address (or fully qualified host name) of one or more monitors in your enterprise.
The IP addresses or host names that you enter into this table are used by the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application when communicating with the monitor component.
– Provides a list of resources to monitor
The list of resources to monitor will differ dependent on the type of monitor definition you are creating.
• z/OS monitor definition: You will specify the list of TCP/IP stacks on each z/OS system that you want to monitor. By default, you will monitor the TCP/IP stack you provided when you defined the monitor locations.
If the z/OS systems you are monitoring has multiple TCP/IP stacks, you will provide the IP address or fully qualified host name of each additional stack that you want to monitor. The TCP/IP stacks must reside on the same z/OS system where the monitor resides.
• SNMP monitor definition: You will specify the IP address or fully qualified host name of each resource you want to monitor. You must have network connectivity to each of these resources from the monitor and the SNMP agent must be running on each of these resources in order to retrieve data using an SNMP query.
• Availability and Response Time monitor definition: You will specify the IP address or fully qualified host name of each resource you want to monitor for availability and response time. In order to collect availability and response time data, you must be able to ping each of these resources from the monitor. Availability and Response time monitor definitions should be created to monitor the most critical IP resources in your environment.
– Specifies the type of data to collect
The type of data to collect will differ depending on which type of monitor definition you are creating.
• z/OS monitor definition: You will choose from a list of 10 different categories of data to collect, such as TCP, IP, UDP, FTP, and so on.
• SNMP monitor definition: You will chose from a list of MIBS that contain performance data.
• Availability and Response Time monitor definition: Availability and response time data will be collected for each of the resources you are monitoring.
– Specifies threshold and rearm values
Threshold values can be specified for each monitored metric. The threshold value is used to determine the point to which an alert is generated. Each piece of performance data that is collected by the
has been crossed for all data that has been displayed on the user
interface. If the threshold has been crossed, a red indicator will be placed next to the value of that metric when it is displayed. In addition, you can choose to generate an event when a threshold is crossed.
– Define schedule: Collection time and interval
A schedule entry defines the day of the week and time that you want to start collecting data and the day of the week and time that you want to stop collecting data. Additionally, for each schedule entry, you will define a collection interval and frequency.
When different collection definitions contain different schedules for similar data, IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance data collection engine must choose which intervals are used. The basic algorithm for collecting z/OS Communications Server data is as follows:
i. It selects the shortest collection interval from all the collection instruction.
ii. If more than one definition is currently active that have the same collection interval, it chooses one based on the order in which the definitions were delivered to the monitor component, meaning the order is an arbitrary choice by the monitor.
Sets operation preferences for the environment
You must set the operational values for your environment before creating and deploying the monitor configurations. Doing so ensures that the monitor collects performance data and generates events. The following are the operation preferences:
– Database purge preferences
The Database Purge Preferences task is used to define the number of days to retain data in the database, the time of day the daily purge occurs, and whether the purge is dependent upon completion of the ETL process.
– SNMP preferences
The SNMP preferences task must be defined in order to collect
performance data from SNMP resources in your enterprise. The SNMP agent must be running on each IP resource that you want to monitor.
Note: Data collection for FTP and TN3270 sessions happens immediately following the completion of the session. This data is not stored based on the interval. Multiple monitor definitions that request the same data are combined to collect the data only once.
– Define event receivers.
An event is generated when specific thresholds are crossed. Events can be viewed using IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console or any applications that is capable of receiving and displaying events. The event receiver defines the fully qualified host name or IP address and port for the IBM Tivoli
Enterprise Console Server or the IBM Tivoli NetView for z/OS.
Data view in graphics and table format
The IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application shows performance data in table and graphical format view of the performance data collected in the DB2 database. Figure 2-5 shows the table view of the performance data. This is the default view mode.
Figure 2-5 Table view of performance data
Figure 2-6 on page 17 shows the graphic view of the performance data. For more information on getting the graph, refer to the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Operator Guide, SC31-6365.
Figure 2-6 Graphical view
2.2.3 Role-based security
The user interface is secured with a set of roles. The Web application roles are configured using the WebSphere Application Server Web-based administration.
Note: The graphic engine for a z/OS Web application server uses a
shareware program called pja toolkit, while for an AIX based Web application server it uses X-Windows graphic classes; therefore, the DISPLAY
environment variable must be set to refer to a server with an active X-server.
An authenticated user ID and password are required to sign in to the Web application. Depending on the platform and authentication mechanism, the creation of the user IDs are the responsibility of the security administrator. The user IDs are then associated with a role in the Web application.
The IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application uses three roles for user assignment:
ITMNP Operators can view collected performance metrics for various configured monitors through the Web application.
ITMNP Admin can configure and manage monitors to collect performance data, and set run-time preferences and global defaults for the product.
ItscAllAuthority is used for connecting to the itmnpItsc module; this is for the monitor or NetView ITSC component when it connects to the Web
application. The default is the ItscAllAuthority is assigned to everyone. Do not change this, as the monitors may fail.
User authentication is handled by WebSphere Application Server. This can be a local operating system user ID or a remote LDAP directory server user ID. Most installations may want to use a z/OS based user ID to be consistent. The user ID needs to be assigned to a role in WebSphere Application Server. Role
assignment is performed using WebSphere Application Server’s administrative console. Figure 2-7 on page 19 shows the role assignment dialog for IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance.
Figure 2-7 Role assignment for the Web application
2.2.4 Problem determination for Web application
All components of the Web application run on a single Java Virtual Machine (JVM) started by the WebSphere Application Server. This JVM has the standard output and standard error redirected to files called SystemOut.log and
SystemErr.log respectively. Those files reside under the path:
<WebSphere directory>/AppServer/logs/<server name>
where:
WebSphere directory
The path where WebSphere is installed; on AIX, it is typically /usr/WebSphere.
server name The WebSphere server name; on AIX, it is typically called server1. Our z/OS server is called ws611sc61.
You can activate tracing for a WebSphere component to get more detail on the processing of the component from the WebSphere Application Server
administrative console. From the administrative console, select Troubleshooting → Logs and Trace, as shown in Figure 2-8.
Figure 2-8 Trace menu
Select the server name that you want to modify and select the Diagnostic Trace property. The diagnostic trace setting dialog is shown in Figure 2-9 on page 21.
Figure 2-9 WebSphere trace setting
In Figure 2-9, the trace is enabled for Java Messaging Services and it is writing to a file with a size of 20 MB. You may need to modify this size, as it may not be enough for a busy system. If you want to modify the components to be traced, click on the Modify button and you get the setting page, similar to Figure 2-10 on page 22.
Figure 2-10 Setting component trace
Click on the Apply, Close, OK, Save, and then Save again to save the setting.
For more information, refer to IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance:
Messages and Troubleshooting, SC31-6366.
2.3 Monitor functions
The IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance monitor component runs on z/OS systems to collect TCP/IP network performance data and send the collected data to a DB2 database. The monitor performs the following functions:
Collects performance data from the z/OS system where the monitor resides.
The z/OS performance data is stored in a central DB2 database and can be displayed using the IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web
Collects SNMP performance data from IP-addressable resources in the network that are running the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agent. The SNMP data cannot be shown using the Tivoli Monitoring for Network Performance Web application, but it is stored in the DB2 database.
Collects availability and response time data from IP-addressable resources in the network. It uses the ping command or ICMP protocol to collect this
Collects availability and response time data from IP-addressable resources in the network. It uses the ping command or ICMP protocol to collect this