Ecp Data Server Test

One of the most powerful and unique features of Cache is the ability to efficiently distribute data and application logic among a number of server systems. The underlying technology behind this feature is the Enterprise Cache Protocol (ECP): a distributed data caching architecture that manages the distribution of data and locks among a heterogeneous network of server systems. Unlike other “multi-tier” architectures, ECP is primarily a configuration option. That is, you do not have to use special code or development techniques to create distributed database applications.

Furthermore, the architecture and operation of ECP is conceptually simple. ECP provides a way to efficiently share data, locks, and executable code among multiple Cache systems. Data and code are stored remotely, but are cached locally to provide efficient access with minimal network traffic.

An ECP configuration consists of a number Cache systems that are visible to one another across a TCP/IP-based network. There are two roles a Cache system can play in an ECP configuration:

  • ECP Data Server - a Cache system that is providing data for one or more ECP application server systems.
  • ECP Application Server - a Cache system that is consuming data provided by one or more ECP data server systems.

A Cache system can simultaneously act as both an ECP data server and an ECP application server. However, one Cache instance cannot act as an ECP data server for the data it receives as an application server of another ECP data server.

In an ECP configuration, each ECP data server is responsible for the following:

  • Storing data in its local database
  • Maintaining the coherency of the various ECP application server system database caches so that application servers do not see stale data
  • Managing the distribution of locks across the network

This monitors how well the data server manages data.

Target of the test : A Cache Database server

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every instance of the Cache database server being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
  1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed.
  2. Host – The IP address of the Cache Database Server.
  3. Port – The port on which the server is listening.
  4. SnmpPort – The port at which the Cache Database Server exposes its SNMP MIB; the default is 161.
  5. SNMPVERSION– By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the snmpversionlist 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.
  6. 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 snmpversionchosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.
  7. 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 the username parameter. 

  8. 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.

  9. authpass– Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned username. This parameter once again appears only if the snmpversion selected is v3.
  10. confirm password– Confirm the authpass by retyping it here.

  11. 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 AlgorithmSHA - Secure Hash AlgorithmSHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bitSHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bitSHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bitSHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit

  12. encryptflag– This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the snmpversion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the encryptflagis set to no by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the yes option. 

  13. 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 Standard3DES - Triple Data Encryption StandardAES - Advanced Encryption StandardAES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bitAES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bitAES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit

  14. encryptpassword– Specify the encryption password here.
  15. confirm password– Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.
  16. TIMEOUT - Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in the TIMEOUT text box. The default is 10 seconds.
  17. 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 the data over tcp flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.
  18. ENGINE ID-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

Global references returned by ECP data server:

Indicates the number of global references that were served by the data stored in the ECP data server.

Number

Ideally, this value should be low. A high value of this measure could indicate that the ECP application server cache was ineffective in servicing many requests, and has hence redirected them to data server, thereby consuming a lot of network bandwidth.

Requests received by ECP data server:

Indicates the number of requests received by the data server since the last measurement period.

Number

 

Blocks sent by ECP data server:

Indicates the number of blocks of data sent by the data server.

Number

 

Data sent from ECP data server:

Indicates the data sent by the data server since the last measurement period.

KB

 

Data received by ECP data server:

Indicates the data received by the data server since the last measurement period.

KB