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Originally published at Internet.comPerformance Sentry (also known as NTSMF) is a platform that allows for the collection and monitoring of performance metrics across Windows Servers (NT/2000/XP/2003). A distributed, agent-based platform, the vendor notes that the product is capable of monitoring the performance of thousands of servers.
The product consists of four primary components: PSagent, PSadmin, PSdatabase, and PSportal.
PSagent is the actual metric collection agent that must be installed as a service on each monitored server. The agent runs on the monitored server from the time it starts until shutdown, gathering designated performance metrics across administrator defined collection intervals and storing them in local disk files. The instructions as to what metrics are gathered, what module filters should be utilized, as well as the collection intervals utilized by the agents are stored in files called Data Collection Sets (DCS), which themselves can be created and/or modified by the administrator (with the PSadmin tool) and installed with the agent as necessary for each machine. The vendor notes that default DCS definitions are supplied with appropriate settings for different application servers (IIS, Exchange, etc.) and the administrator can use these as is or modify them as necessary. Collected performance data is output in comma delimited files for use in analysis tools; and a summarization tool allows for the folding of data into larger increments as necessary (I.E., the data can be collected at 1 minute intervals, with the summarization utility allowing for the rolling up of that detail data into 15 minute increments for post analysis, for example).
PSagent runs on the client server as a service under the LocalSystem user. While Performance Sentry does not provide any tools facilitating the network-wide collection of saved metrics from individual agents, the agent itself does allow for the automated execution of a user defined script at the end of each collection cycle. The agent has the ability to impersonate another designated user for the execution of such scripts, allowing, for example, the pushing of the collected metrics to a network server.
PSadmin is the central administration tool that allows an administrator to define and manage agent collection configurations (as described above). In addition, the administrator can suspend/resume data collection through PSadmin.
PSdatabase is a MS SQL Server based tool that allows for the warehousing of data collected by the agents.
PSportal allows for the examination of activity data, including pre-defined charts and graphs and customizable reports. The vendor states that PSportal allows for the creation of custom reports from scratch with automated Web publishing capabilities.
New features in the latest release of Performance Sentry include:
- Support for x64 Windows environments
- The ability to validate counters by type instead of only by name
- The writing of all base counters to the agent's output file when requested, as opposed to only certain pre-defined counters
- Support for MVS compatible filenames
Performance Sentry is available now, pricing begins at $2,500 for a 5 pack of server licenses. Contact Demand Technology Software for further information.Author: EITPlanet Staff
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