Groupwise SMTP Test

This test reports performance statistics pertaining to a GWIA application’s SMTP service.

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 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.
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

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Available send threads	Indicates the number of SMTP daemon send threads available.	Number	If this value remains as 0 for a considerable period of time, you might want to increase the total number of send threads.
Available receive threads	Indicates the number of SMTP daemon receive threads available.	Number	If this value remains as 0 for a considerable period of time, you might want to increase the total number of receive threads.
Active send threads	Indicates the number of SMTP daemon send threads that are currently active.	Number
Active receive threads	Indicates the number of SMTP daemon receive threads that are currently active.	Numbers
MX lookup errors	Indicates the rate at which the SMTP daemon queries the Domain Name Server (DNS) for the address of the destination host and receives a SERVER FAIL code message back from the DNS. These messages will be deferred and automatically re-queued according to the Retry Schedule.	Errors/Sec	If the number of messages is very high, you might want to check the DNS to make sure the tables are not corrupted. If you are using a remote DNS, you might consider setting up a local DNS server. It could also mean that your file server TCP/IP is not correctly configured.
Host unknown errors	Indicates the rate at which the SMTP daemon attempted to do a lookup on a destination host and the host name did not exist in either the DNS records or in the host table.	Errors/Sec
Host down errors	Indicates the rate at which the SMTP daemon tried to open a connection with the destination host and received a connection refused status. This is a temporary error. These messages will be deferred and automatically re-queued according to the Retry Schedule.	Errors/Sec
Tcp read errors	Indicates the rate at which TCP/IP read errors indicating some communication problem occurred. This is a temporary error. These messages will be deferred and automatically re-queued according to the retry schedule.	Errors/Sec	If this value is consistently high, you might want to contact your Internet service provider to check for anything that could hinder communication, such as network problems or line noise. You might also want to adjust the timeout switches, particularly the /te and the /tr switches.
Tcp write errors	Indicates the rate at which TCP/IP write errors indicating some communication problem occurred. This is a temporary error. These messages will be deferred and automatically re-queued according to the retry schedule.	Errors/Sec	If this value is consistently high, you might want to contact your Internet service provider to check for anything that could hinder communication, such as network problems or line noise. You might also want to adjust the timeout switches, particularly the /te and the /tr switches.
Messages sent	Indicates the number of SMTP daemon messages sent per second.	Msgs/Sec	If this rate is high, it indicates that the SMTP daemon is processing high volume of mail. A low value indicates a lower throughput.
Messages received	Indicates the number of SMTP daemon messages received per second.	Msgs/Sec	If this rate is high, it indicates that the SMTP daemon is processing high volume of mail. A low value indicates a lower throughput.
Messages in send queue	Indicates the number of messages queued to the daemon from GWIA. These messages will be available in the SEND directory.	Number	If this value is consistently high, increase the number of SMTP send threads available.
Messages in receive queue	Indicates the number of messages queued to the GWIA from the SMTP daemon. These messages will be available in the RECEIVE directory.	Number	If this value is consistently high, increase the number of SMTP receive threads available.
Messages in retry queue	Indicates the number of messages queued to retry for SMTP daemon on the GWIA. Such messages will be available in the DEFER directory.	Number	A very high value can impact the performance of the GWIA. Therefore, increase the number of available SMTP send threads to handle retry queue messages effectively.