1.2 Custom Integrations Using Operations Center Integration Tools

Additional Operations Center tools allow integration with third-party products when an adapter integration is not available or does not meet your specific needs.

For example, if may want to integrated with:

  • A home-grown help desk system.

  • An application that pings devices on a routine basis.

  • A database using a REST interface to integrate the data.

In many cases, the data you may want to integrate is not always management data, it can include customer details, application details, etc.

Table 1-1 outlines the available options to pull data into Operations Center when it can’t be done with a standard Operations Center third-party adapter.

Table 1-1 Additional Integration Tools

Integrating data from...

Use...

Description

Databases

Data Integrator

Provides an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that an administrator uses to define an integration directly into a database, which includes the definition of:

  • Topology, a way to create elements. For example, devices.

  • Element Properties. For example, IP Address, MAC Address.

  • Alarms

  • Relationships. For example, server1.netiq.com communicates via HTTP to server2.netiq.com.

  • Mechanisms to reference external performance data.

Data Integration definitions, once built and deployed, can be used on any Operations Center server.

For information on using the F/X Adapter, see Operations Center 5.6 Data Integrator Guide.

Log Files, ASCII Streams, SOAP

Event Manager

Monitors log files, receive ASCII streams, SOAP and several other options. The raw data is processed using predefined rule sets and the output is surfaced in Operations Center as events and alarms. Alarms can consist of standard alarm messages that provide the status of network components, messages that create or delete elements, or messages that initiate certain actions. Noise events are dropped or correlated and previously opened alarms are automatically closed.

For information on using the Event Manager, see Operations Center 5.6 Event Manager Guide.

Web Sites and Web Applications

Experience Manager

Conducts end user, synthetic testing on applications and Web sites and measures performance. Identify and resolve potential infrastructure issues before customers experience problems. Experience Manager emulates end-user business processes against applications on a 24x7 basis, including Web and non-Web environments, and applications.

For information on using the Event Manager, see Operations Center 5.6 Experience Manager Guide.

XML Files

F/X Adapter

Translates XML files from third party products. The administrator updates configuration files to instruct the adapter how to use the data to create objects/elements/devices as well as alarms.

For information on using the F/X Adapter, see Operations Center 5.6 F/X Adapter Guide.

Pre-formatted Text Stream from TCP Port

Universal Adapter (formerly the Script Adapter)

Listens on a TCP port and process a pre-formatted text stream into elements/alarms. The administrator either writes a Java script that is launched when the adapter is started; or writes an external script or application (using perl, java, C, etc ) to integrate with and pull data from the third party product.

For information on using the Universal Adapter, see Section 7.0, NOC Universal Adapter.

SNMP Polling

SNMP Integrator

Polls specific MIB values on a routine basis to understand health and availability. The process starts by importing a MIB, setting up a topology (how the data is organized under the adapter) and then setting up the polling (IE: what MIB value to poll, how often, define good/bad results). There are some “discovery” capabilities, but this is not a full fledge discovery tool. It is ideal for filling some monitoring gaps (IE: polling a VPN device for active sessions or an application for exceptions/errors) that are not easily filled with other existing third party products due to political or technical barriers.

For information on using the F/X Adapter, see Operations Center 5.6 SNMP Integrator Guide.

In addition, an integration might: