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Multiple Views

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list Al Jeffcoat · Wed, 22 Jun 2005 12:56:00 -0400 ·
Hello All,

 
I've got a question...  And I apologize ahead of time if it's been
covered already.

 
We have been running bb/hobbit for some time.  First it was on UNIX
only, because the windows admins didn't like it.  Then our execs saw it,
and liked it.  They then mandated that all systems will be monitored by
hobbit.

 
Here's where the problem starts.  Windows has been generating a lot of
red events.  The execs overreact to red events that are really not
problems.  We've tired to explain that just because something is red,
doesn't mean that a system is down.  The windows admins are tuning it
down as best as they can, but it still happens.

 
So my thought was to have two hobbit's, one that receives client data
for our engineers to see and work with, and then another that just does
the network tests, and this would be what our execs see.  Both would be
sitting on the same server, running in separate directories, and
separate virtual servers.  What I'm trying to get to is two views, an
executive view, and a technical view.

 
Has anyone done something like this?  Is there a better way within
hobbit itself?

 
TIA


Al Jeffcoat

 
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list Tom Callahan · Wed, 22 Jun 2005 16:07:02 -0400 ·
I've had similar occurrences with Windows machines. The message file
logging tends to generate red events all the time due to the lovely
services manager stuff.

I don't have a solution for you, but if you could give us an idea of
what exactly you are seeing that is triggering hobbit to go red, that
could help us to determine a way for you to set timeouts and the likes
for certain events.

Thanks,
Tom Callahan
quoted from Al Jeffcoat

Jeffcoat, Al wrote:
Hello All,

I’ve got a question… And I apologize ahead of time if it’s been
covered already.

We have been running bb/hobbit for some time. First it was on UNIX
only, because the windows admins didn’t like it. Then our execs saw
it, and liked it. They then mandated that all systems will be
monitored by hobbit.

Here’s where the problem starts. Windows has been generating a lot of
red events. The execs overreact to red events that are really not
problems. We’ve tired to explain that just because something is red,
doesn’t mean that a system is down. The windows admins are tuning it
down as best as they can, but it still happens.

So my thought was to have two hobbit’s, one that receives client data
for our engineers to see and work with, and then another that just
does the network tests, and this would be what our execs see. Both
would be sitting on the same server, running in separate directories,
and separate virtual servers. What I’m trying to get to is two views,
an executive view, and a technical view.

Has anyone done something like this? Is there a better way within
hobbit itself?

TIA


Al Jeffcoat


This e-mail message and any attached files are confidential and are
intended solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you
are not the intended recipient, any review, use, or distribution of
this e-mail message and any attached files is strictly prohibited.
This communication may contain material protected by Federal privacy
regulations, attorney-client work product, or other privileges. If you
have received this confidential communication in error, please notify
the sender immediately by reply e-mail message and permanently delete
the original message. To reply to our email administrator directly,

send an email to: postmaster at orlandoregionalorg
<mailto:user-ecde3bbc361d@xymon.invalid> . If this e-mail message
quoted from Al Jeffcoat
concerns a contract matter, be advised that no employee or agent is
authorized to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of Orlando
Regional Healthcare by e-mail without express written confirmation by
an officer of the corporation. Any views or opinions presented in this
e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent
those of Orlando Regional Healthcare.
list JT Justman · Wed, 22 Jun 2005 13:07:42 -0700 ·
quoted from Tom Callahan
Jeffcoat, Al wrote:
Hello All,

 
I’ve got a question…  And I apologize ahead of time if it’s been covered
already.

 
We have been running bb/hobbit for some time.  First it was on UNIX
only, because the windows admins didn’t like it.  Then our execs saw it,
and liked it.  They then mandated that all systems will be monitored by
hobbit.

 
Here’s where the problem starts.  Windows has been generating a lot of
red events.  The execs overreact to red events that are really not
problems.  We’ve tired to explain that just because something is red,
doesn’t mean that a system is down.  The windows admins are tuning it
down as best as they can, but it still happens.

 
So my thought was to have two hobbit’s, one that receives client data
for our engineers to see and work with, and then another that just does
the network tests, and this would be what our execs see.  Both would be
sitting on the same server, running in separate directories, and
separate virtual servers.  What I’m trying to get to is two views, an
executive view, and a technical view.

 
Has anyone done something like this?  Is there a better way within
hobbit itself?
Perhaps you should leave things as thy are, as a (not so) subtle
reminder of the fickleness of Windows servers

</winbash>

JT

-- 
"This is my root password. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My root password is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as
I must master my life. Without me, my root password is useless. Without
my root password, I am useless."
list Henrik Størner · Wed, 22 Jun 2005 22:09:21 +0200 ·
quoted from JT Justman
On Wed, Jun 22, 2005 at 12:56:00PM -0400, Jeffcoat, Al wrote:
Here's where the problem starts.  Windows has been generating a lot of
red events.  The execs overreact to red events that are really not
problems.  We've tired to explain that just because something is red,
doesn't mean that a system is down.  The windows admins are tuning it
down as best as they can, but it still happens.

So my thought was to have two hobbit's, one that receives client data
for our engineers to see and work with, and then another that just does
the network tests, and this would be what our execs see.  Both would be
sitting on the same server, running in separate directories, and
separate virtual servers.  What I'm trying to get to is two views, an
executive view, and a technical view.
This sounds like what pagesets are for. Basically, you can define an
alternate layout of the hosts on your Hobbit webpages, and when
generating the webpages for the new layout you can remove certain tests
that are likely to cause problems - e.g. the "msgs" column from your
Windows boxes.

This is described in the bbgen(1) man-page, look for the "BUILDING 
ALTERNATE PAGESETS" section.

When generating the executive webpages, you can also use some of the
bbgen options, like "--ignorecolumns=msgs" if you just want to 
completely remove any "msgs" column from the view, or the various
--noprop* options to keep a non-green status from affecting the color
of higher-level pages.

A very simple solution might be to just use the "NK" page as the
executive webpage. Statuses appear on the "NK" page only if they are
listed in the "NK:testname,..." tag for each host, so you can pick
out the critical tests and put them on a single page for your
executives. Then they have a one-page overview of all systems - I
think that would appeal to the group of people you're targeting.
You don't need to run multiple pagesets for that - the NK page is
generated by default.


Running two full Hobbit's is overkill - you already have the data,
it's just a matter of presenting it.


Regards,
Henrik
list Craig Cook · Wed, 22 Jun 2005 15:23:40 -0500 ·
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