ELM 4.0 FAQs

A Service Agent is an executable (TNTAgent.exe) and companion files. TNTAgent is installed as a service on the monitored system and communicates with an ELM Server via TCP sockets. Service Agents are Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 systems. Monitor Items assigned to a Service Agent are executed within the TNTAgent process. Only Service Agents can monitor systems in real-time, providing the highest level of monitoring.

"Virtual Agent" is the ELM 4.0 updated name for ELM 3.1 Remote Agents. They have the same role in ELM 4.0 that Remote Agents had in ELM 3.1. Virtual Agents provide remote monitoring for Windows systems and no software is installed on the monitored system. Monitor Items assigned to a Virtual Agent are executed within the ELM Server process. Because the ELM Server performs the monitoring of Virtual Agents over the network, Virtual Agents cannot be monitored in real-time.

IP Virtual Agents are typically non-Windows systems monitored remotely from the ELM Server, without installing software on the monitored system. Like Virtual Agents, IP Virtual Agents cannot be monitored in real-time.

Every ten seconds the ELM Server polls for configuration changes. If it detects any, the ELM Server creates a backup of its current configuration data. This file has a .BAK extension (e.g., EEMSVR.BAK). You can also manually backup the ELM Server configuration from within the ELM Console.

ELM also stores a small amount of data in the Windows registry. This includes both software-specific settings, and COM component registration information. It is essential that you also take regular backups of your registry. In Windows NT 4.0, you can preserve this data by backing up the Registry with NT Backup or a third-party application. In Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the registry and COM registration database are backed up as part of the System State Data. We also strongly recommend regular backups of your ELM Server database, as it contains all of the data collected from Agents. You can back up this data with NT Backup or a third-party application.

In short, a complete backup of the ELM configuration should include the following components:

• ELM Server .dat and .bak files [ELM 3.1 and ELM 4.0]
• TNT Software registry key [ELM 3.1 and ELM 4.0]
• ELM databases [ELM 3.1 and ELM 4.0]
• appSettings.xml [ELM 4.0]
• ReportDefinitions folder [ELM 4.0]
• Report .mht files [ELM 4.0]
• ELM Advisor .dat and .bak files [ELM 4.0]

Depending on your backup needs, not all these components are necessary. For more details, please see 'Backup and Restore the ELM Configuration Data' in the ELM on-line help. [ELM 3.1 and ELM 4.0]

ELM is licensed on an Agent basis. An Agent is a monitored system or device. There are four classes of Agents that are licensed:

• Cluster Agents - for Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 clusters
• Server Agents - for Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003
• Workstation Agents - for Windows NT/2000/XP Professional
• IP Agents - for Unix, Linux, Netware, Apple, mainframes and TCP/IP devices

A minimum purchase of one Server Agent is required to obtain an ELM Server. The primary user interface, the ELM Console, is implemented as an MMC snap-in that can be distributed to an unlimited number of administrators/end-users in your organization.

The minimum requirements for ELM4.0 can be found on the System Requirements page:

• ELM Solutions Specifications and System Requirements

New in ELM 4.0 is new power for every task, increased scalability, and an even easier organization:

• A reorganized ELM Console logically groups ELM functions into Monitoring, Notification, and Results.
• Enhancements streamline the setup and configuration of ELM.
• ELM Advisor appears as a desktop notification, much like an instant message or anti-virus icon. It displays the real-time status of systems monitored by ELM.
• At-a-Glance Views are displayed in the ELM Console. These views are summaries of current status information, each within a specific context. For example, when the ELM Server is selected, information about application outages across all monitored systems is displayed and database details are summarized.
• Integrated ASP.NET Reporting uses the latest dynamic web application technology from Microsoft. The ELM Reports Manager has been integrated into the ELM Console and takes advantage of ASP.NET compiled web forms. The reports are integrated back into ELM data collection and can assign the appropriate Monitor Items required by the report.

Many more enhancements and additions make ELM 4.0 the System Administrator’s tool of choice. For a detailed list of the improvements and enhancements, see What's New.

ELM Enterprise Manager is a superset of ELM Log Manager, ELM Performance Manager and ELM Event Log Monitor. ELM Log Manager, ELM Performance Manager and ELM Event Log Monitorare common-code subsets of ELM Enterprise Manager; that is, the code is the same in all three applications. For a comparisonof the fourproducts, see the ELM Product Comparison page.

ELM Enterprise Manager, ELM Log Manager and ELM Event Log Monitor can monitor event logs.

ELM Enterprise Manager and ELM Log Manager can monitor text files. You can use a File Monitor to read any ASCII or unicode file that does not overwrite itself. Files that overwrite themselves are considered circular. When a circular file reaches a pre-determined size, or at pre-determined intervals, the file overwrites itself by writing new entries at the top of the file. You can monitor individual files, an entire directory of files, or an entire directory tree of files, provided that the files are not circular. Examples of non-circular files include:

• Internet Information Services log files
• SQL Server log files
• Backup software log files
• Anti-virus software log files
• Static HTML files
• User-created flat files