Real-time tests are handled a bit differently in Patrol Express. Errors are linked with a label called "Diagnose." This feature e-mails a traceroute and a breakdown of connect, first-byte and last-byte times for whatever location is experiencing the error. We ran a test and received a response within five minutes.
We tested Patrol Express monitoring infrastructure behind one of our firewalls. The 35-MB Remote Service Monitor (RSM) downloads off the Patrol Express site to a PC. The RSM will ping and perform SNMPv1, v2 and v3 gets. SNMPv3 is implemented and includes authentication and privacy support. The PC running RSM then shows up in our account on the Patrol Express Web site as an available monitor, just like the ones that are running collocated at service providers.
Patrol Express will not only monitor routers and switches, but also a large number of storage devices, including those from Brocade Communications
Systems, Cisco Systems, Hitachi, McData Corp. and Qlogic Corp.
PATROL Express 3.0. BMC Software, (800) 841-2031, (713) 918-8800. www.bmc.com
Keynote takes the roll-your-own approach to service presentation through its MyKeynote start page. We were able to save graphs, quickly access crucial overviews of availability and performance, dig deeper into graphs and reports and generate new ones, all while dictating the mix of current and historical data. Although the Keynote interface isn't as simple and straightforward as BMC's, it's usable and flexible.
To diagnose a problem using the Keynote service, we picked an alert and then ran reports around that URL or transaction until we found something to compare. Then we clicked through the summaries and sifted through the details to get a sense of which problems had occurred.
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