Using CIAgent and DR-Web

Scenario B: Observe Host Resources

CIAgent can be set up to monitor system resources using File System Monitor, Event MIB, and Host Resources. For example, these subagents could be configured to monitor the CPU processor load and available free disk space.

• The Host Resources subagent displays the current status of over 85 different MIB objects, including systems processes, applications, etc.
• Event MIB subagent can be configured to send a notification if a particular user-set threshold is met.
• File System Monitor subagent tracks available disk space and can send a notification if a user-set condition is met.

What causes the agent to send a notification? When the processor load is higher than the configured threshold (in this case 75%), the Event MIB will send a trap to the management station. The management station could then notify the system administrator.

Host Resources

The Host Resources Subagent (hostagt) implements the Host Resources MIB document (RFC 2790). This MIB defines objects that are useful for managing hosts systems, where the term host can mean a computer that is connected to a network and can be accessed by management station(s). The host is the machine where CIAgent is installed.

Information on the Host Resources custom page is divided into seven information areas:

• The System section shows uptime, system date, number of processes loaded, and max number of running processes.
• The Storage table shows the logical storage areas on the host system.
• The File System table lists file systems local to the host or remotely mounted from a file server.
• The Device table lists devices recognized by the host.
• The Processor table lists the host's processor information.
• The Installed Software table lists the software currently installed on the host.
• The Running Software table lists software currently running on the host.

Event MIB

The Event MIB (eventagt) Subagent, SNMP Research's implementation of the DISMAN-EVENT-MIB (RFC 2790), provides tools to help make IP host computers with SNMP agents more self-managing. In particular, it allows CIAgent to monitor MIB objects periodically and take action when a trigger condition is met. A trigger condition is a preset condition, such as a rising or falling threshold or a true/false Boolean condition. When triggered, the actions taken may include setting the value of a MIB object, sending a notification, or both.

File System Monitor

The File System Monitor (fsagt) Subagent monitors file systems that are accessible by the system where the Subagent is installed. This monitoring checks file system sizes and initiates notifications if the size reaches a maximum user-set threshold. Polling for file system sizes is done at user-set intervals.

Polling Interval. Polling occurs when the Subagent checks the file system for the requested information. The Subagent has two variations of polling: global and individual. Global polling for each entry in the table is controlled by the Polling Interval setting (in seconds).

Add a Row. The Add a Row field lets you add an additional row to the File System Monitor table. On a subsequent page, this row can be used to configure an additional string to search for in a specified log file.

Next Topic: Scenario C: Track and Restart Critical Applications

Previous Topic: Scenario A: Monitor Log Files