Preparing to Analyze Network Traffic

The ZfS software components include the Traffic Analysis Agent for NetWare and Traffic Analysis Agent for Windows NT/2000. You can install the network monitoring agent on the management server or on an independent NetWare or Windows NT/2000 server. The agent monitors the traffic on the segment it is connected to, gathers information about the nodes and devices on that segment, and makes this information available to the management server, which provides it to ConsoleOne. The agent also sends traps to the management server that are forwarded to ConsoleOne. The management server and the monitoring agent communicate using SNMP. ZfS provides default values for SNMP parameters.

The following sections provide information about specifying a preferred agent for monitoring traffic on the segment and changing the default SNMP settings:


Selecting the Preferred RMON Agent

If more than one remote monitor (RMON) agent exists on a selected segment, you can choose which agent is to monitor the nodes on the segment from the RMON Agent property page. This page displays a list of servers on which the RMON Agent is installed. The agent installed on the server that you choose from this list becomes the preferred agent. The preferred agent is the primary agent that monitors the segment and sends information about segment activity to ConsoleOne.

To display the RMON Agent property page:

  1. Select a segment from ConsoleOne.

  2. Click File > Properties > the RMON Agent tab.

The following table describes the statistics displayed in the RMON Agent property page.

Statistic Explanation

Preferred

Displays a check mark if the selected server is chosen to be the preferred RMON agent server.

Agent Name

Displays a list of all the servers on which the RMON agent is installed.

Version

Displays the version of the RMON agent installed on the server.

The version is dynamically obtained. If ZfS cannot connect to the remote agent, or if a third-party agent is installed on the selected segment, this field is blank.

Status

Displays the status of the RMON agent on the segment.

MAC Address

Displays the physical Media Access Control (MAC) address of the node.

Interface Index

Displays the number of interface indexes in which each interface corresponds to a segment that the node can connect through the network board.

Available RMON Services

Displays the list of RMON services available from the selected agent: RMON, RMON Plus, or RMON2.

To choose an RMON agent as the preferred agent:

  1. Choose a server or workstation name from the list of names displayed in the property page.

    The server and workstation names displayed are those on which the RMON agent is installed.

  2. Click Apply.


Setting Up SNMP Parameters

When you request dynamic information to be displayed in ConsoleOne, it seeks the information from the management server. The management server communicates with the network monitoring agent using SNMP, obtains the required information from the agent, and provides it to ConsoleOne. SNMP communications between the server and the agent are based on default SNMP settings provided by ZfS. You can change the default SNMP settings using the SNMP dialog box, which displays in ConsoleOne if an error occurs when the management server is communicating with the monitoring agent.

You can use the SNMP dialog box to specify the community strings and security settings for SNMP communication. You can change the default time-out value for the server to connect with the agent. If the default time-out value is exceeded before the server can communicate with the agent or if the community string of the server does not match that of the agent, the SNMP dialog box displays in ConsoleOne with the current settings. You can use the dialog box to change the current time-out value, the community string, and other SNMP parameters. The changed values are saved in the ZfS database and will be applied for all subsequent traffic management sessions.

To change the SNMP settings for all monitoring agents in your network:

  1. Right-click the ZfS domain from ConsoleOne > click Global SNMP Parameters.

To change the SNMP settings for a specific agent:

  1. Right-click the node on which the agent is installed from ConsoleOne > click Properties > click SNMP Settings.

The following table describes the SNMP parameters displayed in the SNMP Settings property page.

Parameter Explanation

Community String

Community string of the node requesting dynamic data from the agent

Timeout

Maximum duration the server should wait for a response from the agent

Retry

Number of times the server should try to connect with the agent

Secure Set

Encrypts the packet sent by the management server to the monitoring agent

Secure Get

Encrypts the packet sent by the monitoring agent to the management server

HINT:  If the network monitoring agent is running on NetWare 4.x and your network is IPX enabled, use the SNMP dialog box to communicate with the agent using IPX. This will significantly improve the performance of ZfS traffic analysis components.