My original question was quite detailed and I want to try and summarize
it in pieces.
15 people responded and I was just waiting until I had some information.
Part 1 of Original question: When does Compaq stop the support for a
given version? How do I find out ahead of time??
Answers:
http://www5.compaq.com/services/software/ss_pvs_se_amap.html
http://www.tru64unix.compaq.com/supported_versions.html
Part 2 of Original question: How does everybody monitor the systems
they manage??
Answers: There is a monitoring product included on the
Associated Products CDROM, but it may need a license to be fully
functional. There are a variety of free performance monitors, notably
collect and Monitor can that save their data for later replay or
analysis. Collect seems to have the better analysis tools (it draws
graphs).
Once you know what to look for, a little global system
monitoring can go along way. Once you notice problems, then other tools
can help you track down a problem.
I think sys_check will also look at a variety of things and look
for problems and make recommendations on how to tune the system.
The three classic things that a poorly performance system runs
out of is CPU time, memory and I/O capacity.
For system performance, a good first step is the System
Performance manual that's included in the documentation. It can help
you identify the simpler problems.
Depending on what(else?)you wish to monitor etc... you could
take a look a BigBrother (freebie) available from
http://bb4.com. I use
it to warn me of potential problems across various platforms ( Linux,
Tru64, Solaris, WinNT, W2000 and VMS ). It is relatively easy to get
going and the more that you use it , the more uses you can find for it.
start with ECP data collector and analyzer if you don't want to
use BMC... httpp://www.compaq.com/services/management/ms_capacity.html
supports 4.x, 5.1 costs peanuts - list US$ 900 collector
Try using sys_check...not only can it create management pleasing
HTML output, it will make suggestions for performance. Be careful
though with the advice. Also scripting a dia or uerf command or a
syslog dump to email is nice.
I would also check the system log files in /var/adm/syslog for
problems from time to time. I have found lpr.log particularly useful
for identifying printer problems. Other than that, I would keep an eye
on the disk space, system load, and NFS response times. A command
"nfsstat" exists, I believe, for the purpose of monitoring NFS activity
on the system, but I haven't used it yet.
I'm sure you will gets lots of advice from others, as well. I
would also check the mailing list archives, tr64.org, and Compaq for
other advice, and possibly more generic Unix reosources such as Usenet
news, the FAQs, and I've heard SAGE (the System Administrators Guild) is
a good resource, but I'm not a member.
Quick and cheap web-based monitoring check out Big Brother.
bb4.com Other hints: run sys_check which will give a quick and useful
analysis of your machine including hints on what might be done to
improve it. There are the usual tools such as top, collect etc which you
can use to see who is using what. If you have a budget then BMC Patrol
is quite useful.
Two words "Big Brother". Go to
http://bb4.com. It's OSS so it
doesn't cost a thing, it's easy to set up and it works across multiple
platforms. I use it on Tru64 and Linux primarily. It does most of the
monitoring that most people need right out-of-the-box. But it is easily
configurable to
do more and has a repository of free extensions donated by users (or
"brothers") for monitoring just about anything you want at
http://www.deadcat.net. I've written and donated a few myself, like one
for monitoring memory usage on Tru64, and one that integrates logchecker
with BB to monitor for hacker attempts.There is even an extension you
can add for collecting and graphing data. I just added that extension
(called "larrd") after two years of using BigBrother and its great. I
can now see when a server's usage outgrows it's capacity, and I need to
upgrade. That's the great thing about BB You can always write something
or download something new and exciting. And you don't have to go to
management to beg for
money to do it. If your worried about support, don't worry, there is
paid support offered from bb4.com, but there is also free support from
the BigBrother mailing list that is excellent. Like I mentioned I just
installed "larrd", it was pretty easy but I did run into a slight
problem. I posted the question to the "brothers" on the list. Within an
hour I had an answer, pointing me right to the problem and it was easily
resolved. (That's faster than the service I get from Compaq!) The best
part is, with a limited budget, I can do so much for my user community,
it's grea
--
Ron Bramblett
Systems Admin
Fuller Brush Company
Received on Fri Apr 27 2001 - 15:47:51 NZST