Identifying Application Types

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Different types of applications require different levels of monitoring. Some of the tools described in this chapter are primarily used for certain types of applications.

Here are some types of important applications:

  • MC/ServiceGuard packages

  • Database applications

  • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications

  • System Service applications

  • Management applications

Some applications are critical to a company's business. A failure may result in significant lost revenue for the company. You may want to protect these applications with high availability software. HP's MC/ServiceGuard is a high availability software product that detects system failures, network or LAN card failures, and the failures of critical applications. MC/ServiceGuard can be configured to handle these failures automatically. For example, a failed critical application can be restarted. The failure of a LAN card can result in the automatic configuration of a backup LAN card to take over the network load. MC/ServiceGuard configures mission-critical applications into "packages" by using the System Administration Manager (SAM). These packages are then monitored and controlled by MC/ServiceGuard.

Database applications are important to monitor because they reference critical business data. Oracle, Sybase, and Informix are the most common database management system vendors . Database servers are discussed in Chapter 8.

ERP software applications are used to integrate the data in different parts of a corporation, such as manufacturing, payroll, human resources, and accounting. By sharing information efficiently with different parts of the organization, a corporation can detect and respond more quickly to changing business conditions. ERP is now a $1 billion software business. Common ERP applications include SAP R/3, Baan, and PeopleSoft.

Some overlap exists between these categories. For example, a database application may be configured as an MC/ServiceGuard package, and some Oracle applications are used as part of ERP solutions. This chapter distinguishes between tools that can be used for any application and tools that are customized for specific ERP applications.

Some applications are shipped with the operating system to perform essential services. Many of these applications, such as sendmail, NFS, telnet, and rlogin, are covered in the system and networking chapters, and thus are not discussed here.

Although this chapter focuses on ERP and general application monitoring, you should remember that management applications also require careful attention. Without monitoring the management applications, such as the system monitors , how do you know the system is still being monitored? Backup applications are another example. What if the backup fails every night, but no one notices? Some commercial products are available to help ensure that your backups were successful. Many system applications, such as OmniBack and OpenSpool, are shipped with IT/Operations (IT/O) templates and filters. OmniBack provides sophisticated monitoring, and can be monitored by any SNMP-based product, in addition to IT/O. During backup job execution, network-wide consolidated notification is provided.

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UNIX Fault Management. A Guide for System Administrators
UNIX Fault Management: A Guide for System Administrators
ISBN: 013026525X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1999
Pages: 90

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