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Server Patrol - Micro Server for network surveillance

Publication Date: 17-10-2003 | Versione Italiana  | English Version
Tags: - Networking - SMS Machine - Telecontrollo -

All your network services under control 24 hours a day: a needed equipment for all the conditions in which reliability is a strict requirement


 WARNING: Server Patrol has been replaced by the new product watChED (watChED: a surveillance and remote control systema for Data Centers and network services). watChED has the same features of the Server Patrol and it adds also a lot of new functionalities

Server Patrol is a completely hardware device for high reliability network services 24 hours a day monitoring. In fact it holds constantly under control TCP/IP services or server (Web, SMTP, POP, FTP, etc.) operating status so Server Patrol quickly notices eventual blocks or faults. It is also able to measure environment temperature and humidity and so to find out air conditioning equipment problems.

Alarms messages are brought out by sending e-mail and SMS up to 12 addressees, for a quick problem notification. For each alarm condition, an alert message is sent when the event occurs and an other one, a ceased alert message, when the normal operating condition is restored.
Together with this kind of 'first aid' alert, Server Patrol offers a continuously updated web page that shows a control panel reporting all the machine operating status. This way it is very easy to integrate this control panel into your company intranet or in an existing web site to check alarm status simply on the Internet.

HTML page showing status
Server Patrol genaral status page (click to enlarge)

Very easy to install and configure, Server Patrol has to be connected to your own LAN, as a common network equipment, and it is ready to work! It can be controlled and configured both by SMS and by a software interface (provided with the device) developed with Macromedia Flash. Configuration is realized by mean of standard HTTP transactions, that are described in the provided documentation: this way it is possible to develop your own HTML pages or Flash applications for Server Patrol configuration and operating status control.

Server patrol main features

  • Up to 128 server or network services control
  • Environment temperature measurement, with lower and upper threshold passing notification; measurement range from -10°C to +70°C, accuracy +/-0.5°C
  • Environment humidity measurement; measurement range from 0% to 100% RU, accuracy +/-3.5%
  • Both SMS and e-mail sending for single alarm notification and for ceased alarm (normal parameters restoring)
  • Option for alarm multiple message, to ensure problem notification
  • Controlled services global status displayed by an HTML page
  • Web complete control and configuration by software Flash interface or user defined Web pages
  • SMS control and configuration
  • Very small dimension, only 170 x 120 x 40 mm

Operating outline

For network equipment surveillance, Server Patrol may use three different approaches.

The first is useful when the requirement is to check only the network equipment response

In this case, Server Patrol sends a Ping ICMP request toward the equipment IP address: if a response comes back, status is considered normal; on the contrary a event counter increases. When this counter reaches the upper limit that was configured by the user, the related alarm message is sent.

The second allows to check the status of a specified service

In case of service control, Server Patrol tries to establish a socket connection on the TCP port related to the service itself (port 80 for Web Service, port 25 for SMTP relay, etc.) . As in the previous case, if a response comes back then status is considered normal, on the contrary the same alarm procedure starts.

The third checks more accurately the specified service response

This mechanism allows an even more accurate control of the chosen service. In fact, as in the second case, Server Patrol tries to establish a socket connection on the TCP port related to the service. But this time the response itself is not enough: it is analyzed to search specific identifiers that ware configured by the user. This way, not only it is achieved that the service TCP port responds correctly, but also it is verified that the desired and specific service itself responds correctly.

To avoid that Server Patrol surveillance requests generate to much traffic on the network, it is demanded to the user the control frequency configuration: according to the problems discovery desired timeliness, control range is from one a day up to one a minute.

Download

Server Patrol related downlodable supports:

  • User manual version 2.00
  • Configuration Utility (ATTENTION: to take a look to the configuration utility without actually connecting Server Patrol (you may also not have the device at all, but you may want to test the software interface), you have to fill the login form with "onlytest" instead of the IP address and leave the password blank. This way you will enter into the utility even if no data will be shown in the related interface)


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Tags: - Networking - SMS Machine - Telecontrollo -

Publication Date: 17-10-2003Hits: 98965
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