Monitoring of IBM ELM

Connectivity problems are mainly related to outages in the computer network, which can be caused by the failure of one of its elements, including network devices, transmission media, etc. Because the network infrastructure is a complex element, searching for and removing errors can take from a few minutes to even several days. Timely monitoring can eliminate downtime to a minimum by notifying the administrator of problems in the system before they are detected by the end user.

Issues related to IBM ELM applications include the expiration of their licenses or a problem with registering applications to the JTS application. The problem with the license is shown in the following image – Zabbix.

3.) Problem with registering applications to JTS shown in Zabbix

One of the monitoring options is the IBM product - Instana. However, this product is paid for and requires knowledge of infrastructures. As an alternative, we offer our solution, which is built on Zabbix software. This solution can also be linked with the Grafana tool for better visualization. The following picture shows the dashboard created in Grafana software.

4.) Monitoring dashboard created in Grafana

There are several reasons. The main advantages of monitoring are the prediction of problems, detection of system outages, and notification of the current state of the infrastructure. Specific problems can increase response time, critical processor performance, and lack of storage space.

From the point of view of IBM ELM applications, permanent monitoring enables visualization of the state of registered applications (depicted in the following image), the validity of licenses, and the control of license modifications. By using the Grafana tool, it is possible to provide the obtained data for end users in an understandable form.

5.) Monitoring of registered applications

Monitoring can be implemented in different ways, using a paid commercial IBM product - Instana - or using the open-source Zabbix solution. In addition to IBM products, we also offer our clients the option of implementing Zabbix system monitoring for free. The advantage of monitoring from us is the possibility of adapting it to your requirements. Customization is possible from a visual point of view or an infrastructure point of view. Another service offered by us (the Softacus company) is the training of your technicians to work with the supplied monitoring system (in the case of self-management). Our company also offers full outsourcing of monitoring services. Deploying monitoring to your infrastructure requires an estimated time allowance of two days (depending on the complexity of the infrastructure). The following images visualize the main statistical information of server’s utilization and the state of the registered application (IBM ELM) which we monitor.

6.) Monitoring of state of the registered applications

7.) Monitoring of main statistical information of server's utilization

Thanks to our monitoring solution, it is possible to promptly respond to emerging problems. You are immediately notified of the events that have occurred via e-mail. Event reports are created after a trigger is started, which monitors the characteristics of the objects defined by us. The trigger is triggered when the threshold values defined by us are exceeded.