Vital Signs VisionNet v5.0.3

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Description of Features

This paper describes the previous release of Vital Signs VisionNet, version 5.0.3.

Contents:

VSV Version 5.0.3
VSV 5.0.3, Summary of New Features
Data Element Glossary
VSV 5.0.3 Displays
• Applications by Name	• Applications by Port
• Applications by Host	• Host Socket Activity Summary
• System Socket Activity	• System Socket Activity by Host
• Remote Host Connection Summary	• Remote Port Connection Summary
• FTP Statistics	• FTP Failed Transfers

VSV Version 5.0.3

Version 5.0.3 completes implementation of the basic TCP/IP feature of VSV. VSV's basic TCP/IP support uses the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), augmented with MVS SMF data, to provide performance statistics for the MVS TCP/IP network and all connected nodes.

VSV 5.0.1

Collected performance statistics on the TCP/IP Network and Transport layers and provided the interactive SNMP inquiry of standard MIB objects.

VSV 5.0.2

Incorporated VSV's MVS Agent to capture SMF data, real time, for VSV. The SMF data is used to augment IBM™ Enterprise MIB objects and make visible performance data for TCP/IP applications, specifically FTP and Telnet. In this release, the MIB Inquiry function was enhanced to support the use of Enterprise MIBs loaded by the customers into VSV.

VSV 5.0.3

Extends visibility of the Application layer by collecting performance statistics on all TCP/IP applications and sockets. Additional features incorporated at this release are FTP hang detection, and to assist in VSV installation, an internal ping function used to sample and test the connection between VSV and its MVS Agent(s).

VSV 5.0.3, Summary of New Features

Collection Setup

TCP/IP applications are identified by port numbers within a TCP/IP host. In order to provide meaningful reporting, VSV allows the customer to create and maintain a Port Number to Application Name Table. This way, customer selections and displays in VSV can refer to applications by their assigned names rather than port numbers.

Defining the Socket Application collection schedule looks and feels similar to all of the other VSV collections. The collection includes filtering ability by application name, so customers can vary their collection configurations by application, if needed.

Data Presentation

Data collected for socket applications can be displayed for all MVS hosts by application name, port number, and host name. Using the VSV "drill down" features, you can narrow your information focus right down to individual connections, as needed.

FTP Hang Detection

When you are collecting FTP statistics with VSV, VSV can alert you to FTP sessions that have stopped making progress with data transmission.

VSV MVS Agent Ping

VSV 5.0.3 introduces a new command panel which you can use to test VSV's connection with its remote MVS agents.

Data Element Glossary

The following lists the data elements reported by VSV 5.0.3:

Application Name	The name as assigned to the port number in the Port Number to Application Name Table. If a port is collected that is not defined in the table, the port number will be formatted and displayed in place of an application name. Three special names, listed below, are prefixed with an asterisk (*) to identify VSV special categories.
	*UDP UDP packet counts as obtained via the mandatory MIB. *TCP TCP packet segment counts as obtained via the mandatory MIB. *ICMP    ICMP packet counts as obtained via the mandatory MIB.
Active Sockets	The number of active sockets for a category during the collection interval.
Octet Counts	Input, output, and total octet counts as obtained from the IBM Enterprise MIB by socket-ID, the mandatory MIB, or TCP/IP SMF records.
Octet Count Percent	Octet traffic for an application, expressed as a percent of the total octet traffic for the collection or display interval.
IP Address	The TCP/IP network address of one side of a communication.
Max Sockets	The maximum number of active sockets for a category during the display interval.
Packet Counts	Input, output, and total packet counts as obtained from the IBM Enterprise MIB and the mandatory MIB.
Packet Count Pct	Packet traffic for an application, expressed as a percent of the total packet traffic for the collection or display interval.
Port Number	The TCP/IP number associated with a specific application.
Protocol	The TCP/IP protocol used by an application or message category.

VSV 5.0.3 Displays

The following are sample screens. Their data are not meaningful statistics from a production system.

Help is always available to explain the purpose and individual fields of any screen. Press F1.

Terminal operators access the new displays in the normal manner for VSV. Follow the Display menus down to the Socket Applications menu, then make your viewing selection.

• Options 1, 2, and 3 in the above pull-down take you to screens that summarize TCP/IP collection data across all of the MVS hosts in your system.
  
  
• Options 4, 5, and 6 take you to displays for individual hosts and sockets.

To see sample screens, click on the illustration above.

Applications by Name (selection 1)

This panel provides an overall summary of TCP/IP activity by application. VSV classifies all of the information that it is able to obtain about the three major protocols, TCP, UDP, and ICMP, from the mandatory MIB, the IBM Enterprise MIB, and MVS SMF data. SNMP doesn't provide all of the numbers we'd like to see; VSV uses the available data to provide the best analysis it can.

• For TCP sockets, only octet counts are available by socket-ID. Packet counts are available only at the host level. SMF data is available for TCP sockets, and is used by VSV to "fill in the gaps" between collection intervals.
  
  
• For UDP sockets, both packet and octet counts are available, but only for the "listen" socket side. No SMF data is available for UDP sockets.
  
  
• For ICMP messages, only packet counts are available at the host level. No SMF data is available.

Separate application usage percentages are provided by octet counts as well as packet counts.

As in all VSV summary displays, you can "drill down" to display the detail data that comprises the summary. Place the cursor on the key field data and press enter, then select from the pop-up box. For example:

See the sample screens below, or click on the illustration above.

Application Description (selection 1.1)

Use this screen to display information from the Port Number to Application Name Table. It lists port numbers assigned to given application names for this host.

Detail (selection 1.2)

The Detail screens are available throughout VSV. They provide the lowest-level breakdown of data, that is, down to the collection interval. For each VSV summary display, keep "drilling down" on the key data fields until you reach the desired level of detail.

Host Summary (selection 1.3)

The Host Summary for a given application provides octet and packet counts. The application is named in the heading--in this case, SNMP.

Applications by Port (selection 2)

This family of screens provides further breakdown of data by local port number. Some TCP/IP applications use multiple port numbers during processing.

VSV reports on more than just stream (TCP protocol) sockets. It includes the ICMP (commands and messages) and the UDP (datagrams) counts to provide a complete view of the TCP/IP network traffic on your hosts.

*ICMP shows ICMP activity for your systems. This is the command and message protocol used to route instructions and messages between TCP/IP stacks (hosts). Although these are generally system-related functions, they nonetheless represent traffic on your network. SNMP provides only packet counts at the host level..

*UDP shows the number of datagrams passing through your systems that could not be associated with a specific application. VSV uses the IBM Enterprise MIB to identify datagrams with specific applications. The remaining datagrams are reported at the host level in this summary.

*TCP shows the total number of TCP message segments for your system. SNMP provides these counts only at the host level.

Of course, Detail and Connection drill downs are available for these screens as well.

Applications by Host (selection 3)

This family of screens begins to break down TCP/IP applications by MVS host. Use the VSV column sort fields to arrange the display in any preferred order, or use the VSV masking facility for even further control of the data lines displayed. Don't forget VSV's graphing features.

This display provides a "side-by-side" comparison of similar applications across multiple hosts within your network. It may be useful for load balancing across MVS images.

Needless to say, you can "drill down" on these panels, same as with the panels above.

Host Socket Activity Summary (selection 4)

This panel provides the gateway for viewing TCP/IP application activity for an individual MVS host.

Details regarding host socket activity are available in the drop-down menu (place the cursor on a host name and press enter).

Host Description (selection 4.1)

The Host Description lists the name address and other details about a host and allows you to change those specifications. "Community Name" is the password for a host. "DEFLT1" is the MIB table that VSV supports. "Time Out" and "Number of Retries" specify how long VSV will try to contact a host before abandoning the request.

TCP Connections (selection 4.2)

This panel provides detailed statistics for individual socket connections to the host.

System Socket Activity (selection 5)

This panel provides a summary of socket activity according to protocol and category of processing.

System Socket Activity by Host (selection 6)

This panel is similar to the previous one, but it breaks out statistics by MVS host name.

Remote Host Connection Summary (selection 7)

Remote Port Connection Summary (selection 8)

FTP Statistics

FTP Failed Transfers (selection 5)