Groupwise IA Test

This test reports performance statistics pertaining to a GWIA application on Netware/Windows.

Target of the test : A GWIA application

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every GWIA application being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured.
Port	The port at which the server listens. By default, this is 25.
SNMPPort	The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; The default value is 161.
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.
SNMPCommunity	The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the firewall. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 transmit rate	The rate at which message bytes were sent to the GWIA.	Bytes/Sec	This measure is indicative of the throughput of the GWIA. If this rate is high, it means that the GWIA is processing a high volume of data. A low value indicates a lower throughput.
Data receive rate	Indicates the rate at which message bytes were received from GWIA.	Bytes/Sec	This measure is indicative of the throughput of the GWIA. If this rate is high, it means that the GWIA is processing a high volume of data. A low value indicates a lower throughput.
Messages sent	Indicates the number of messages sent to the GWIA per second.	Msgs/Sec	This measure is indicative of the throughput of the GWIA. If this rate is high, it means that the GWIA is processing a high volume of data. A low value indicates a lower throughput.
Messages received	Indicates the number of messages received from the GWIA per second.	Msgs/Sec	This measure is indicative of the throughput of the GWIA. If this rate is high, it means that the GWIA is processing a high volume of data. A low value indicates a lower throughput.
Message send errors	The number of failed transfers to the GWIA per second.	Msgs/Sec	This value should be low or preferably zero. A high value indicates poor performance of the server or incorrect addresses.
Message receive errors	Indicates the number of failed transfers from the GWIA per second.	Msgs/Sec	This value should be low or preferably zero. A high value indicates poor performance of the server or incorrect addresses.
Messages in output queue	Indicates the number of messages to be processed by the GWIA. The WPCSOUT directory stores these messages.	Number	A consistently high value indicates a problem in sending mails. This value should be preferably low. A high value of this measure over a period of time may lead to dead mails and poor performance of the server.
Messages in input queue	Indicates the number of messages to be processed by the GWIA. The WPCSIN directory stores these messages.	Number	A consistently high value may be indicative of MTA domain link failure. Check whether all MTAs are running and their link configurations are correct.
Messages in hold queue	Indicates the number of messages in the GWHOLD directory that are scheduled for delayed delivery.	Number	A consistently high value indicates a problem in processing the withheld mails.
Messages in problem directory	Indicates the number messages in the GWIA's problem directory (GWPROB). These are usually messages that have been corrupted during transmission or that have the wrong Internet address.	Number	If this value is too large, recover messages from the GWPROB directory. To perform this recovery, copy the message files from the GWPROB directory into the RECEIVE directory with a new file extension.