TNT Software July 2008 Newsletter

ELM Log Manager Special July Discount

This month's special discount is definitely worthy of a fireworks celebration too!

For a limited time, TNT Software is offering ELM Log Manager at a significant discount! Now you can get a 10 agent ELM Log Manager 1-year term license for only $789!

Not enough budget for the monitoring tools you want? This is the perfect opportunity to cost effectively bring ELM Log Manager into your operations and prove it's value. With a one year term license you absolutely minimize your risk and maximize your gain.

Act soon; this is a limited time offer. Contact your Account Manager or sales@tntsoftware.com for details!

July Product Demonstration Schedule

July 10, 2008 - Centralized System Monitoring Demonstration with ELM Enterprise Manager

Would you like to know more about the system monitoring and event log management capabilities ELM can provide your organization? Would you and/or your team like to "kick the tires" and take a look under the hood before deploying ELM Enterprise Manager? Then you're in luck! TNT Software will be giving a live demonstration of ELM Enterprise Manager on July 10. This one hour overview presentation will introduce you to the architecture, power, flexibility, and efficiency ELM can bring to your IT Operations.

Areas we will cover include:

Monitoring

Deploying Agents - Virtual and Service Agents for agentless or real-time monitoring

Setting up Monitor Items - Collectors, Alarms and Monitors

Creating Agent Categories - apply common monitoring templates across groups of servers

Notifications

Filters - the "criteria" for all notifications

Notification Methods - Email, Scripts, Pager, Desktop ELM Advisor and more

Rules - the "connector" between Filters and Notifications

Results

Alerts - open and closed status (Agent color coding: Red, Yellow)

Event Views - default and customization options: include filters and custom date and time range settings

Demonstration Details
What: ELM Enterprise Manager 5.0 Live Overview and Demonstration
When: Thursday, July 10, 2008, 8:30 am, PDT
Where: WebEx On-line Presentation
Duration: 1 hour

How do I attend?

Register by using this link: https://tntsoftware.webex.com/tntsoftware/j.php?ED=99166452&RG=1&UID=0

-Or-

Request a formal meeting invitation by emailing: sales@tntsoftware.com
The subject line should read: ELM 5.0 Live Demonstration Invite 7/10

Dean Bank Finds Success with ELM Enterprise Manager to Proactively Manage Systems and Events

Below is an excerpt from our latest Case Study on Dean Bank. You can read the entire paper by clicking here.

Like many other community banks, managing a growing environment with decentralized systems was becoming an increasingly resource intensive task for Dean Bank. Network administrators were spending more time in a reactive mode than they could afford and although reporting and tracking tools for security and audit requirements were acceptable, they were very time consuming and cumbersome. And with the implementation of a new Storage Area Network (SAN) and virtualization of servers, it was time to find an automated system monitoring solution. read more...

TNT Software Launches ELM 5.5 Beta Program

Thank you to all those who responded to our request for ELM 5.5 Beta Sites. We've officially launched our ELM 5.5 Beta Program effective July 1, and the first beta product release is now being deployed into several working environments. We're very pleased to share the excitement of this new release with a number of test sites and are looking forward to working together with you to provide the best system monitoring and event log management solutions available.

Stay tuned for updates as the beta program continues and we get closer to public release of ELM 5.5!

The "ELM 411" - Using the Right Agent for Your Monitoring Needs

ELM provides great flexibility and scalability for collecting data and monitoring systems. This can be accomplished with different types of agents. However, there are certain limitations in the monitoring capabilities of agents you should be aware of when planning your initial deployment or extending your existing license. In addition to monitoring capabilities, there are other performance factors to consider when either a service agent or virtual agent could be utilized to perform the same monitoring function.

Service Agents
A Service Agent is an executable (TNTAgent.exe) with companion files. The TNTAgent.exe process is installed as the TNT Agent service on the monitored computer. It communicates with an ELM Server via TCP sockets and all communications are encrypted and authenticated. Service Agents can be installed on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. All Monitor Items assigned to a Service Agent are executed within the TNTAgent.exe process (except Agent Monitor, Exchange Monitor & Ping Monitor). Only Service Agents can monitor systems in real-time.

Pros

Distributes some of the CPU cycles required to monitor the computer to the computer being monitored. The amount of CPU used by a Service Agent depends on the configured monitor items and their scheduled intervals, and the amount of data to be collected.

Provides system-level caching. If the ELM Server or network between the ELM Server and Agent computer is unavailable, the Agent process will cache data to the Agent's local disk drive, then transmit the data when connectivity is restored.

Provides user defined parameters for setting minimum and maximum cache size and file location.

Provides single TCP socket port connectivity to the ELM Server, which is necessary if a firewall separates the ELM Server and Agent computer.

Less network bandwidth is required for communication between the ELM Server and the Service agent on the monitored computer.

ELM Server service account must have administrative privileges for only one task (Agent Monitor auto-restart).

Cons

Adds overhead to the monitored system.

Service Agents must be updated when upgrading ELM.

Virtual Agents
A Virtual Agent provides remote monitoring. No software is installed on the monitored system. Virtual Agents can be used to monitor Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 computers. All Monitor Items assigned to a Virtual Agent are executed within the ELM Server process running on the ELM Server computer. Many of them use RPC Win32 API calls and therefore require RPC and NetBIOS connectivity between the ELM Server and the Agent.

Pros

Uses less processor CPU on the monitored computer.

No software is installed on the monitored computer.

Cons

Higher network overhead due to authentication, encryption, and other RPC functions.

RPC and NetBIOS dependency make them firewall unfriendly

Because Virtual Agents must run at scheduled intervals, Virtual Agents cannot be monitored in real-time.

ELM Server service account requires administrative rights on all monitored computers.

IP Virtual Agents
IP Virtual Agents provide remote monitoring of internet services.

Pros

Low cost monitoring of internet services

Cons

Monitoring is limited to quality of service and availability

The table below demonstrates the capabilities of each type agent in relation to the monitoring function.

ELM 5.0 and 5.5
Monitor Type
Service
Agent

Virtual
Agent

IP Virtual
Agent

Agent Monitor

Cluster Monitor

ELM Server Monitor

Environmental Alarm

Environmental Collector

Event Alarm

Event Collector

Event File Collector

Exchange Monitor

File Monitor

FTP Monitor

IIS Monitor

Inventory Collector

Link Monitor

Performance Alarm

Performance Collector

Ping Monitor

POP3 Monitor

Process Monitor

Service Monitor

SMTP Monitor

SNMP Alarm

SNMP Collector

SQL Server Monitor

TCP Port Monitor

Web Page Monitor

Windows Configuration Monitor

WMI Monitor

Note: Certain monitoring functions can also be run at the ELM Server.

As always, if you have any questions regarding which type of agent to use for monitoring your systems, do not hesitate to contact TNT Software. We're more than happy to guide you through the process and provide best practice recommendations to aid in your decision making.

We hope that you found this article informative and wish you continued success with your ELM deployment!

NOTE: All ELM 411 articles are written based on Version 5.0 and instructions may not be accurate for previous ELM Versions. If you would like assistance upgrading to Version 5.0 so you can use these tips - please contact support@tntsoftware.com.

Share your own ELM tips!
Have a tip or trick with our ELM products you'd like to share with our newsletter subscribers? Send your ideas and any applicable screen shots to info@tntsoftware.com with "ELM 411" in the subject line. We'll take a look and if usable you'll see it published here in the ELM 411 section of upcoming newsletters!

Not Strictly Business

Did you know? FIREWORKS FACTS
The Fourth of July is just about here and other than BBQ burgers, hot dogs and watermelon, what else is there to keep us occupied? Fireworks of course.

This American tradition has much older roots than most people know, and actually didn't originate in America at all. In fact, it's said that the first fireworks came from China in the 800s, when bamboo shoots were filled with gunpowder and set off at the New Year to ward off evil spirits.

Here's a few more fun facts about fireworks that you probably always wanted to know but wouldn't go looking for:

Macy's department store in New York City claims to hold the world's largest fireworks display. Every year at 9 p.m. on July 4, four barges in the East River, set just between 23rd and 42nd streets, set off 20,000 aerial shells and special effects. The New York Fire Department also operates "fire boats" on the river that shoot red, clear and blue water 300 feet into the air.

Many fireworks are actually made in China. In 2006, China exported nearly $212 million worth of fireworks to the United States, according to U.S. trade data.

In 2007, Americans used nearly 266 million pounds of fireworks, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA); about 239 million pounds were used by consumers, and 27 million pounds for displays.

The U.S. fireworks industry brought in $930 million in revenues in 2007, up from $350 million in 1997, according to APA.

Cherry bombs, M-80's, and silver salutes are examples of three fireworks that have been banned in the United States. They were banned in 1966 for containing large amount of explosives.

The legal limit of explosive material allowed in a consumer firework is 50mg (about the size of half an aspirin tablet), according to APA. Any item containing more than 50mg is illegal.

Five states have banned all consumer fireworks (Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island).

Arizona allows only "novelty" fireworks.

Five states allow only sparklers and/or other novelty fireworks (Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Ohio and Vermont).

The dazzling displays of color during fireworks occur because of different chemicals added to the gunpowder. According to APA, the mark of an expert pyrotechnician are deep blues and white bursts.

In 2006, 11 people died and an estimated 9,200 were treated in emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About one out of every three people injured were children under 15.

Between June 16 and July 16, 2006, the CDC reports that the body parts most often injured by fireworks were hands (2,300 injuries), eyes (1,500 injuries), and the head, face, and ear (1,400 injuries). More than half of the injuries were burns.

Which fireworks are most dangerous? According to the CDC, firecrackers, followed by sparklers and rockets caused the greatest numbers of injuries between June 16 and July 16, 2006. However, one-third of fireworks-related deaths between 2000 and 2005 were caused by professional fireworks illegally sold to consumers.

Be safe and have fun this Fourth of July!

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Pyrotechnics Association, Consumer Product Safety Commission

Sign up to receive our monthly email newsletter here.