Hello, Klaus.
That sounds very interesting; I am sure a lot of people on this list
would like to see a copy of your thesis when it's done. You choose an
interesting topic....:-)
Klaus Johansen wrote:
Hi all,
I’m writing my master’s thesis about server consolidation using z/VM
and Linux on zSeries (learning VM as I go along). A part of my work
concerns monitoring. I’m supposed to find the best suited monitoring
product/program for the zPenguins where I am…
We are running z9 EC, z/VM 5.2, SLES9 with Oracle 10 and a
proprietary software suite (a mix of C, C++, Java programs), which
depends on ftp, ssh, print services etc.
Among the things we need to monitor are: - CPU usage (I believe the
Linux view will do for now) - Memory consumption (unexpected
swapping) - Network availability - Disk space - Logs files sizes (not
Linux logs) - Service availability: ftp, ssh, oracle (listener)
We need to send alerts/acknowledgments, when thresholds are exceeded
and shen values are normalized. The alert format has to be
customizable (alerts has to propagate into a larger monitoring setup
using a specific format).
Until now I have stumbled on the following programs names: - IBM
Tivoli Monitoring - IBM Tivoli Omegamon XE for Linux on zSeries -
Nagios - Velocity Software ESALPS - BMC Mainview - CA VM:Monitor
Some of these probably can’t do what I’m looking for but I intent to
investigate into that…
But if any of you could direct my attention to other
products/programs, or rule out any of the above before I start, maybe
even give some advice and recommendations, I would greatly appreciate
it.
For *performance* monitoring of both z/VM itself and Linux guests under
VM, I would suggest first Velocity's ESALPS suite and then secondly the
VM Performance ToolKit. The Velocity package can be configured to send
SNMP alerts based on user specified performance metrics ("page space
running low", "LINUX1 guest consuming more than xxx% CPU", etc.) and has
a very nice Web based user interface now (complete with graphics!) If
you cannot get the ESALPS suite, the Performance Toolkit is a passable
alternative, although it lacks some of ESALPS's SNMP alert capabilities
and some of the more esoteric performance reports ESALPS provides. The
Performance Toolkit also can double as a nice full screen operator's
console application.
As far as monitoring things like free disk space (both on z/VM volumes,
such as page and spool) and on Linux guests) and network/application
availability, I would suggest you take a look at the HOBBIT package.
Rich Smrcina has put together a very nice HOBBIT client for VM (as well
as nice ones for VSE and z/OS) that allows you to consolidate status
information from both VM itself and the Linux guests onto one graphical
web display. Nagios is also nice, but I do not know if it now comes with
a VM specific client; if it doesn't writing one might not prove to be
that difficult.
I would stay away from the IBM Tivoli Monitoring and Tivoli Omegamon XE
offerings because: 1) they are relatively expensive, 2) somewhat
difficult to install and configure correctly, and 3) and have, in the
past, viewed VM as something of a second class entity. These are just my
humble opinions, of course.
I can't speak to either the BMC or CA products; they may, or may not, be
good fits for what you need to do.
In summary:
1) go with ESALPS, if possible (Barton may offer educational discounts,
ask him about it).
2) If ESALPS is not an option, go with the Performance Toolkit.
3) Check out HOBBIT, possibly alongside Nagios.
I think that this should meet all of your requirements. Let us know how
your thesis work is coming along.
Have a good one.
Best, Klaus Johansen
Lyngby, Denmark
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DJ
V/Soft
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