RapidConnector

Scenario: Customer uses Netcool Object Server for event management and requires the events to be enriched with data from a CMDB using RapidInsight. The device or link name will be used as the key to query the CMDB to get the information such as maintenance status, SLA level, location, etc. and populate event fields.
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Why is the purpose of "integration"? Improving operational efficiencies is one reason. It does not make sense for operations folks to hunt down information about a problem in different systems. They need to be able to access the data seamlessly as they go through their processes instead of thinking about where they find which data, deal with the hassle of working with different products. Information needs to be at their finger tips so to speak...

I had written a post about a typical support process to aid in future discussions on integration, it may help setting the stage here as well. “Event views” are very common front ends for operations folks. Consolidating events into a single locations and providing view to the users have been the most commonly seen approach to provide the information necessary for operations in the operations centers.

There are handful of widely used patterns we see in the user interfaces when implementing the approach stated above:  read more »

In a series of posts on dynamic model, I've gone through extending the Smarts model using the dynamic model capabilities. As discussed, extending the model is not all that hard. Some things are very straight forward, others require looking at some examples etc. Unfortunately, using SNMP instrumentation is quite difficult, and often beyond the capabilities of mere mortals like the author of this post.

Fortunately, SNMP is not the only instrumentation method available. It is possible to instrument the objects using the remote Smarts API with one of the available languages ASL, Java or Perl, provided that you're familiar with the Smarts API.  read more »

As mentioned on the previous post, Smarts dynamic model is a powerful functionality added to Smarts. It allows extend the ICIM model in the field using the MODEL language. To be sure, adding sophisticated capabilties requires mastering the MODEL language and available information (documentation, example code, etc.) is scarce, yet there are many uses of dynamic model that does not require in depth knowledge. In a series of posts, I'll give some examples to demonstrate these simple uses.  read more »

If you have already checked out our RapidWatcher product (you should! :), you are already familiar with how it can help you monitor various systems and take actions accordingly. You should also be familiar with RapidWatcher's status updates in the form of an RSS feed.
In this post, I will explain how an RSS feed from RapidWatcher can be used to create notifications in the Smarts server with the help of a simple RapidConnector adapter. The example can be modified to feeds other than RapidWatcher.

Building the solution

Once you have your RapidWatcher up and running, you can get the status information on managed systems by accessing the RSS feed URL (http://localhost:9191/RapidWatcher/ManagedObject/rssFeed) using a feed reader or browser. To see how a feed looks like, you can take a look at the RSS feed from the RapidWatcher demo.More...
RSS feed is of course an alternative to getting the same information via the web based user interface or the web services API.Here is a sample RSS feed from RapidWatcher.
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iFountain is a systems integration/software company. We have been focusing on developing and implementing Smarts based management solutions, and have developed number of tools to address the most common requirements seen in field. Some of the more commonly used tools have gone through the development factory and being released into the wild as products.RapidConnector, our integration/automation solution, was released over a year ago. RapidConnector is all about creating adapters that are easy to implement and easy to maintain. RapidConnector adapter are typically used to integrate disparate management systems, in-house databases, etc. enabling alignment of technology with the processes. Further information on RapidConnector can be found in our website.  read more »

It is often necessary to consolidate events from number of sources (monitoring tools, element managers, log files, etc.,) into a single repository. RapidConnector enables organizations to implement integration solutions to consolidate events from disparate systems and data sources often without writing any low-level code.  read more »

IT organizations may have different processes to handle faults depending on the time of the day. For example, the process during working hours may be different than off-hours, therefore a mechanism to differentiate events depending on the time of the day is necessary. RapidConnector provides a simple solution.

Requirement:

A technician needs to be notified immediately if there is a problem during working hours. But if the problem occurs during off-hours (for example evenings or weekends) it is acceptable to wait till the morning, therefore the technician should not be notified.

RapidConnector solution:

RapidConnector can subscribe to notifications (events), apply the necessary logic and update the notifications.

In this scenario, RapidConnector solution would do the following:

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Events in a management server do not always contain meaningful information for the target audience. It is often necessary to augment the event information with additional information from relevant data sources such as files, databases, and EMC/Smarts^tm servers in real-time. Making the right information accessible directly from the event can provide significant productivity improvements, and enhance the user experience.

RapidConnector provides capabilities to easily enrich events in EMC/Smarts^tm Service Assurance Manager. RapidConnector components can be used to retrieve data from external data sources in real-time and populate event fields. Some potential uses of RapidConnector to enrich events may be:  read more »