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DISK MONITORING AGENTS

To remain productive, network users must have an adequate amount of disk space for storing programs and data. A disk monitoring agent that reports volume capacity helps the systems administrator manage use of disk space and meet user demand. Current information on disk use helps the systems administrator make decisions about reallocating resources or purchasing additional drives or servers.

The disk monitoring agent scans the server volumes to collect disk use information. The collected information includes a list of volumes that were scanned, total volume capacity, and space used. In addition, the time and date disk data was collected is recorded for comparing disk use over a period of time. Some vendors’ disk monitoring tools also record disk-usage data based on directory and file owner.

Depending on the product selected, one or more of the following categories of information can be collected by a disk monitoring agent:

  Volumes. Includes the date and time data was collected, server name, volumes scanned, capacity, space used, and space available.
  Directories. Includes the date and time data was collected, server volume and directory names, creation date and time, file count, directory size (in bytes), owner name, and groups to which the owner is a member.
  Directory and file owners. Includes the date and time data was collected, server and volume names, owner name, groups to which the owner is a member, total number of files, and total space used (in bytes).

A disk monitoring agent provides automatic notification if disk usage reaches a specified level. In accordance with organizational needs, notification can be sent to the individual responsible for responding to the situation through a console, network, pager, or E-mail message. The console provides view formats and types that allow the systems administrator to analyze current disk use as well as disk use patterns over a period of time.

Usually, the disk monitoring agent can process data in the background while other programs are running. It also can be made to run interactively, with progress displayed in a status window of the console as volumes are being scanned. A scheduling agent can be tasked to run the disk monitor automatically in batch mode to collect data at night. This feature is particularly helpful because collecting data from some volumes takes a significant amount of time. Using the scheduling agent, the systems administrator can regularly collect data each night, once a week, or once a month, depending on organizational requirements. This process ensures that information is collected consistently.

APPLICATION MONITORING AGENTS

The ability to track software usage helps ensure that the organization complies with vendor licensing agreements and that network users have access to needed applications. Tracking software usage also helps reduce software acquisition costs, because accurate usage information helps managers determine which applications are run most before deciding on upgrades and how many copies to buy.

An intelligent agent is used to meter software usage. Metering allows the systems administrator to control the number of concurrent users of single applications as well as those in a software suite. Metering of a software suite tracks each application in the suite individually to automatically allow the correct number of concurrent users. In addition, the application agent collects information on which applications have been used and identifies the users who have accessed them.

The systems administrator can also choose to be notified of the times when users are denied access to applications because all available copies are in use. If work must be tracked by project, the intelligent agent can also be used to automatically apply application usage to a particular project code. The systems administrator views and analyzes the collected metering data at the console.

For each application, the intelligent agent meters use of the main executable file as well as all associated executable files. For example, metering use of Micrografx, Inc.’s Designer can also track use of associated executable files, including Slideshow and Batch Print, because these applications are a part of the Designer product.

Examples of the types of files that are automatically recognized by the intelligent agent for metering are:

  .com (command).
  .exe (program).
  .bat (batch).
  .pif (starts Disk Operating System applications in the Windows environment).
  .bin (program).
  .scr (screen savers).

Because some executable files use file extensions other than those in the list, the intelligent agent provides the option of allowing the systems administrator to identify additional files and extensions for metering software usage.

Each package in the software inventory has a unique name (i.e., tag) that is used for metering. When a user launches a metered application, the tag name is checked to determine if there are available copies (i.e., licenses), and a record is generated. The intelligent agent checks software licenses in and out — when users start an application, one less copy is available to run; likewise, when the application is closed, the copy becomes available again. Before users are granted access to metered software, the software inventory is checked to determine whether copies are available. An error message indicating that there are no available copies is displayed to a third user if two users are running an application that has only two licenses.

FILE MONITORING AGENTS

A file monitoring agent is a tool that is used to collect data about file access, such as which files are being accessed and by whom. Tracking file access is important for:

  Recording file access to a sensitive file or group of files.
  Diagnosing file access problems.
  Reviewing access times for application bottlenecks.

Monitoring file access data also helps the systems administrator maintain network security, and it provides useful information for tracking the source of security breaches.

The file agent monitors access to specified files and provides the following information:

  Who accessed the files.
  The complete path for the file.
  When the files were accessed and for how long.
  What operations were performed.

The systems administrator sets up the file monitoring agent to automatically collect this kind of information, after which it can be viewed and analyzed at the console.


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