MDS Connections Statistics Test

The BlackBerry MDS Connection Service controls the flow of data that is sent to the BlackBerry device. This flow control allows the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service to minimize the amount of data that is sent over the wireless network, and can help to reduce the impact of pushing data to BlackBerry devices that are out of network coverage, turned off, or otherwise unavailable.

This test monitors the data packets sent to BlackBerry devices on push connections initiated by the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service and reports if there is SRP (Server Routing Protocol) connection failure and the number of packets/ connections that have been refused, expired, and invalid.

Target of the test : A BlackBerry UEM

Agent deploying the test : An external agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for Blackberry UEM.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The IP address of the target server that is being monitored.
SNMPPort	The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB;
Data Over TCP	By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.
Timeout	Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.
SNMPversion	By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.
Context	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the Username provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the Username in the Context text box. By default, this parameter is set to none.
Username	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter.
Authpass	Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPversion selected is v3.
Confirm Password	Confirm the AuthPass by retyping it here.
AuthType	This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options: MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit
EncryptFlag	This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option.
Encrypttype	If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types: DES - Data Encryption Standard 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard AES - Advanced Encryption Standard AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit
Encryptpassword	Specify the encryption password here.
Confirm Password	Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.
EngineID	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Data packet size received from all blackberry devices	Indicates the total size of the data packets received from all BlackBerry devices during the last measurement period.	MB	These packets are received from all Blackberry devices on connections initiated by BlackBerry devices, in KB and it is converted to MB.
Data packet size sent to all blackberry devices	Indicates the total size of the data packets sent to BlackBerry devices during the last measurement period.	MB	These packets are sent to all Blackberry devices on connections initiated by BlackBerry devices, in KB and it is converted to MB.
Data packets received from all blackberry devices	Indicates the total number of data packets received from all BlackBerry devices during the last measurement period.	Number	These packets are received on connections initiated by BlackBerry devices.
Data packets sent to all blackberry devices	Indicates the total number of the data packets sent to BlackBerry devices during the last measurement period.	Number	These packets are sent on connections initiated by BlackBerry devices.
Total push connections initiated by blackberry devices	Indicates the total number of push connections initiated by BlackBerry devices during the last measurement period.	Number
Refused packets	Indicates the number of packets that the BlackBerry Dispatcher had declined.	Number	The BlackBerry dispatcher may reject a data packet if it does not recognize the format of a data packet or does not recognize the device transport key that protects the data packet.
Invalid packets	Indicates the number of invalid packets sent to the BlackBerry Dispatcher.	Number	A very high value of this measure could indicate a problem.
Expired packets	Indicates the number of expired IPPP packets.	Number	Ideally this value must be zero. A high value might result in data loss.
Truncated connections	Indicates the number of truncated connections	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be low.
Timeout connections	Indicates the number of push connections that could not be delivered within the default timeout.	Number	This measure is reported only for push messages that do not have a specified delivery timeout.
Refused connections	Indicates the number of refused IPPP connections.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be low.
Successful SRP connections	Indicates the number of successful SRP (Server Routing Protocol) connections to the BlackBerry Dispatcher.	Number	The BlackBerry Dispatcher handles traffic to the BlackBerry Infrastructure. It compresses/decompresses and encrypts/decrypts wireless data. The BlackBerry Dispatcher handles all Server Routing Protocol (SRP) connections from the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service and many other components of the BlackBerry Infrastructure. The MDS Connection Service (on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server) connects to the BlackBerry Dispatcher through specific ports and communicates with the BlackBerry Infrastructure through the BlackBerry Router using a unique SRP identifier that the BlackBerry Dispatcher establishes. Once the SRP identifier is established, the BlackBerry MDS sends a basic information packet to the BlackBerry Infrastructure via the BlackBerry Router; this packet includes version information, the SRP identifier established by the BlackBerry dispatcher, and other information that is required to open an SRP connection. If the packets so received are valid, then the BlackBerry infrastructure will send basic information packets to the BlackBerry MDS, therey successfully opening the SRP connection. On the other hand, if the BlackBerry Infrastructure receives unrecognized packets from the BlackBerry MDS, then the SRP is connection is closed. Also, if a BlackBerry MDS uses the same SRP authentication key and SRP identifier to connect to (and then disconnect from) the BlackBerry Infrastructure 5 times in 1 minute, the BlackBerry Infrastructure deactivates the SRP identifier to help prevent a potentially malicious user from using the SRP identifier to create conditions for a DoS attack.
SRP connection failure	Indicates the number of failed SRP connections to the BlackBerry Dispatcher.	Number	The BlackBerry Dispatcher handles traffic to the BlackBerry Infrastructure. It compresses/decompresses and encrypts/decrypts wireless data. The BlackBerry Dispatcher handles all Server Routing Protocol (SRP) connections from the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service and many other components of the BlackBerry Infrastructure. The MDS Connection Service (on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server) connects to the BlackBerry Dispatcher through specific ports and communicates with the BlackBerry Infrastructure through the BlackBerry Router using a unique SRP identifier that the BlackBerry Dispatcher establishes. Once the SRP identifier is established, the BlackBerry MDS sends a basic information packet to the BlackBerry Infrastructure via the BlackBerry Router; this packet includes version information, the SRP identifier established by the BlackBerry dispatcher, and other information that is required to open an SRP connection. If the packets so received are valid, then the BlackBerry infrastructure will send basic information packets to the BlackBerry MDS, therey successfully opening the SRP connection. On the other hand, if the BlackBerry Infrastructure receives unrecognized packets from the BlackBerry MDS, then the SRP is connection is closed. Also, if a BlackBerry MDS uses the same SRP authentication key and SRP identifier to connect to (and then disconnect from) the BlackBerry Infrastructure 5 times in 1 minute, the BlackBerry Infrastructure deactivates the SRP identifier to help prevent a potentially malicious user from using the SRP identifier to create conditions for a DoS attack.