3.5 TMTP implementation considerations

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3.5 TMTP implementation considerations

Every organization's transaction monitoring requirements are different, which means that no two TMTP implementations will be exactly the same. However, there are several key considerations that must be made.

Where to place the Management Server

Previous versions of TMTP made this decision for you, as placing the Management Server (previously called TIMS) anywhere other than in the DMZ necessitated opening excessive additional incoming ports through your firewall. This release of TMTP includes the Store and Forward agent, which allows communications from the Management Agents to the Management Server to be consolidated and passed through a firewall via a single configured port. The Store and Forward agent can also be chained in order to facilitate communicate through multiple firewalls in a secure way. In general, the placement of the Management Server will be in a secure zone, such as the intranet.

Where to place Store and Forward agents

SnF agents can be placed within each DMZ in order to allow communications with the Management Server. By default, the SnF agent communicates directly with the Management Server; however, should your security infrastructure necessitate it, it is possible to use the SnF agent in order to connect multiple DMZs. This configuration is discussed in Chapter 4, "TMTP WTP Version 5.2 installation and deployment" on page 85.

Where and why to place QoSs

Placement of the QoS component is usually dictated by the placement of your Web Application Infrastructure Components. The QoS sits in front of your Web server as a reverse proxy that forwards requests to the original Web server and relays the results back to the end user's Web browser. Several options are possible, such as in front of your load balancer, behind your load balancer, and on the same machine as your Web server. There is no hard and fast rule about the placement, so placement is dictated by what you want to measure. However, the QoS component is designed as a sampling tool. This means that in a large scale environment, where you have a Web Server farm behind load balancers, the QoS only needs to be in the path of one of your Web Servers. This will generally get a statistically sound sample that can be used to extrapolate the performance of your overall infrastructure.

Where and why to place the Rational/GenWin component

The GenWin component allows you to playback recorded transactions against generic Windows applications. Placement of the GenWin component will depend on what performance information you are trying to obtain and against what type of application you are trying to collect this information. If the application you are trying to capture end-user experience information for is an enterprise application, such as SAP or 3270, then the GenWin component will be placed within the intranet. However, if you are using the GenWin component to capture end-user experiences of your e-business infrastructure, it may make sense to place the GenWin component on the Internet. In general, STI is a better choice for capturing Internet-based transaction performance information, but in some cases, it may be unable to get the information that you require. A comparison of when and why to use GenWin versus STI is included in 8.1.2, "Choosing the right measurement component(s)" on page 229.

Where and Why to place STIs

The STI Management Agent is used to playback recorded STI scripts. Placement of the STI component is dictated by similar considerations as those used to decide where the GenWin component should be placed, that is, what performance data you are interested in and what application are you monitoring. If you are interested in capturing end-user experience data as close as possible to that experienced by users from the Internet or from partner organizations, you would place the STI component on the Internet or even within your partner organization. If this is of less interest, for example, if you are more interested in generating availability information, it may make sense to place the STI endpoint within the DMZ. Some of these considerations are discussed further in Chapter 8, "Measuring e-business transaction response times" on page 225.



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End-to-End E-business Transaction Management Made Easy
End-To-End E-Business Transaction Management Made Easy
ISBN: 0738499323
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 105
Authors: IBM Redbooks

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