Amdahl's A+OpenWatch (TM) Distributed Threshold Monitor is a distributed performance management software product based upon the emerging Universal Measurement Architecture (UMA) standard. A+OpenWatch works with SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) network managers to provide exception-based performance management in distributed heterogeneous environments.
A+OpenWatch, together with the A+OpenTune(TM) Performance Monitor and A+UMA(TM) Performance Data Manager, are all part of the A+Performance Management Suite(TM) products packaged under Amdahl's A+ brand.
Customers who have mission-critical applications on a large number of servers have great difficulty trying to monitor each individual server. These customers prefer to be automatically notified when a potential performance problem exists.
A+OpenWatch provides this function on a central or departmental workstation, by receiving data from many A+UMA-monitored servers. User-defined thresholds can be set for each server. When a threshold has been exceeded, visual and audible alarms are sent to the operator. Also, an alert can be sent to an SNMP manager. This allows the use of existing SNMP managers to monitor detailed performance data with no special training. Once the SNMP manager has been alerted, it can notify a remote operator using email or a pager.
To analyze the problem in detail, the operator can invoke A+OpenTune, Amdahl's performance monitor, through A+OpenWatch or the SNMP manager. When A+OpenTune starts up, it will be automatically configured to analyze the specific server that exceeded the threshold conditions.
UMA is a specification for multiplatform performance data collection and management. The UMA specification was developed by the Performance Management Working Group (PMWG), now sponsored by CMG (Computer Measurement Group). UMA defines a set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and functions for performance data collection, distribution and management. X/Open® has officially adopted UMA as base documents for development.
A+UMA is Amdahl's implementation of UMA, with added RAS (Reliability, Availability and Serviceability) features to increase the integrity of the data collection. A+UMA currently runs on Solaris(TM) and UTS® systems. Future releases of A+UMA will add additional performance metrics, as well as support for other platforms.
A+OpenWatch allows any operator who is familiar with a standard SNMP manager to monitor threshold exceptions. A performance analyst can determine which performance metrics need to be monitored. Thresholds can be set for the selected data, and applied to a server or group of servers. A+OpenWatch monitors for threshold exceptions and alerts the SNMP manager with the address of the server.
Like A+OpenTune, A+OpenWatch uses a Motif-based GUI (Graphical User Interface) to allow the customer to configure and manage the resources that are to be monitored. A+OpenWatch contains the same look and feel as A+OpenTune, and specifically the same threshold file dialogue. This ensures that system administrators will be able to quickly set up a comprehensive performance monitoring and analysis system.
A+OpenWatch runs on a SPARC® workstation running Solaris version 2.3 or later. A+OpenWatch requires 16 megabytes of main memory, and 5 megabytes of free disk space.
A+OpenWatch is able to monitor any server running A+UMA or any other compatible UMA data manager. A+OpenWatch communicates with A+OpenTune and A+UMA via TCP/IP networks. A+UMA is currently available on Solaris version 2.3, UTS version 4.1 and later. Availability of A+UMA for SunOS 4.1, HP/UX and AIX/6000 is planned for late 1994.
Other A+software products are available in the areas of operating systems, operating system enhancements, storage management and information management. The A+ brand assures the buyer of Amdahl's worldwide customer support and quality reputation.