Drive Space Monitoring
Provides the functionality for you to set a low-water mark for
ipSentry to monitor various disk drives throughout your network. In the event that the threshold has been reached,
ipSentry will begin processing any alerts and actions you have enabled for notification or action.
NT Service Monitoring
ipSentry checks services running on local and remote computers to ensure they are in the expected state. Should the server be unavailable or the service report it's status in an undesired state,
ipSentry will being processing any alerts and actions you have enabled for notification or action.
Back-Reference Monitoring
This is a feature unique to
ipSentry . This functionality allows for
ipSentry to monitor the status of it's own monitored entries and trigger alerts based on the combination of results and importance values set to each entry. For simplicity let's say you have 3 drives being monitored. If one reports low, that may be not as important if two report low. And if all three report low - you have a major problem. Using the back-reference monitor, you can have different alters sent for each of the individual failures, but when the failures are combined, that may require a different type of alerting and notification process. Or let's say you are pinging your remote servers and 7 out of 8 don't respond... That is a much different situation than if only one server failed to respond. Again, with
ipSentry Back-Reference Monitoring - you configure a different alert for a catastrophic situation...
Audible Alerting
Provides either a .wav file to be played or the PC speaker to be beeped for the duration you specify in the alert configuration. We know by first hand experience that many times, this is the first alert we receive when in close proximity to the system on which
ipSentry is running.
Email Notifications
Provide you with the ability to send notifications via email using SMTP or MAPI (Exchange) to multiple recipients either directly through MX lookup, through a configured MAPI profile, to a specified SMTP relay, or even utilize multiple relays in case your first point of email is the server that just went down.
Cell/SMS Notifications
With text messaging and PDA's being carried by the vast majority in the IT field, this is the most stable alert mechanism in use during a catastrophic systems failure that we offer. Through the use of a straight POTS line connected to an inexpensive modem and everything powered through a UPS - you can lose your power, lose your generators, fry your network, but that good ol' POTS line tends to remain active long enough to get out the critical notification.
ipSentry uses the standards based TAP protocol for modem transmission by default. However, due to the diversity of messaging terminal requirements, we have provided various customization scripts to match many different services and devices, including the use of devices such as USB attached GSM device for sending SMS direct over-the-air.
Launch Application / Utility
Provides you with the ability to automate tasks required to correct some problems, send network broadcasts, kill processes, etc... For example, there may be a situation that only a service restart or a computer restart can corrected. It's a waste of time to drive in, power down, power up, and go home. Instead, have
ipSentry launch an external NET START or NET STOP command, or launch our supplied IShutDn which can initiate a shutdown and restart of a remote system. If the alerts continue, then it might be time to come in... but in many cases, you will receive a "Recovery" alert letting you know that all systems are 'GO'.
X10 Remote Power
X10 Remote Power Command allows
ipSentry to communicate with X10's AC power modules in order to control external power. This comes in handy if you want to drive alert lights, sirens, or even power down network devices or other peripherals base on the result of a monitored entry.
Syslog Notification
Allows you to send a Syslog message to a Syslog server containing textual information. You can also configure the message type (Facility / Priority) for proper action by other utilities that monitor the Syslog.
IPSentry DASH Client
Lets you to view in real time the current status of
ipSentry and the monitoring devices on one or multiple
ipSentry hosts. The
ipSentry license allows you to install the DASH client on an unlimited number of workstations which is an ideal way to keep tabs on the status of. either selected items or all items being monitored by
ipSentry . The Dash client can be configured to pop-up a system tray message and/or play a sound when a device status has changed from OK to Critical or vice-versa, suspend and resume items as well as apply notes to various devices. The DASH Client is an extremely handy utility for deployment on multiple tech team workstations.
ipSentry Graphing Tool
Configure graphing specifications and reports to be run manually or automatically and output in HTML / Image format. This allows you to have the graph information output to a specified folder that you can access locally or through your web servers under your internal security policies.
ipSentry Automated Statistics
Output up-time information every cycle to a specified location or multiple locations to display the status and last result information on-demand. Again, you can access the information in your browser either locally, or have
ipSentry output the reports to a network location accessible by your web servers running under your internal security policies.
That concludes the basic feature summary of the basic ipSentry Application
The following is everything included in the Package Bundle along with everything noted above.
ipSentry Event Log Monitoring Add-In
The
ipSentry Event Log Monitor Add-In provides you with the ability to monitor various event logs such as Application, Security, System, DNS, Active Directory, and etc for specific event log entries to which you want to be notified.
When the event information you have selected is detected, the alerts configured in
ipSentry can be triggered.
This add-in allows you to specify the event log, event source, event type, and other event specific information to be applied to the filter. The latest release allows you to select how many occurrences of the event must be found within a specified amount of time in order to trigger alerts.. Scan your local and remote event logs for entries too which you want to be alerted day and night.
Event messages like account lockouts, login failures, application errors, system errors, the list goes on. Only you know what events keep popping up in your logs that are a precursor to a failure of one sort or another. We go a step further than just looking for an event.
With the Event Log Monitoring Add-in, you can be alerted to a single event, a specific number of events within a time frame, include and exclude events in the filter, be notified whether the events are or are not found within a time frame. Once the events filter is matched to trigger an alert, the details of the events can be included in your message alerts to let you know what events.
ipSentry DNS/RADIUS/UDP Server Monitoring Add-In The
ipSentry DNS/RADIUS/UDP Monitoring add-in provides you with the ability to monitor UDP based systems for proper response values and response timing options.
This add-in includes a UDP Packet builder for both DNS Query and RADIUS Authentication in order to help you build the required packets for monitoring these services.
DNS Monitoring functionality allows you to query a DNS server and perform a query for the A record of a given domain name and evaluate the response to make sure it contains the IP Address expected.
RADIUS Server Monitoring functionality allows you to send a properly formatted Authentication request to a RADIUS server, specify the response (ACK or NAK), and evaluate the response times to ensure that the RADIUS server is responding and authenticating properly.
The UDP packets can be configured using escaped sequence to encode binary data for UDP packet sending and response evaluation.
This add-in is primarily used for DNS Query monitoring and RADIUS Server monitoring since the building of UDP packets is somewhat complex and must contain the exact information required by the receiving host.
ipSentry File and Directory Monitoring Add-In
The
ipSentry File and Directory monitoring add-in provides
ipSentry with file and directory scanning and monitoring of various aspects of file information such as file existence, size, total directory size, directory tree size, file counts, new file counts, modified files, and unmodified files and folders.
The add-in can monitor file and directory information on local drives, network shares, and FTP servers.
This add-in is ideal for monitoring storage queues, quota limits, file updates, files that must be updated, etc...
Perform scans on files and folders to check for existence, changes in size, modifications, file additions or file deletions, scan single folders or an entire directory tree.
Check to make sure log files are being updated, directories are being cleaned out, queue folders are not growing out of control, and that things are functioning. In some cases, the only way to tell if a process or application is actually doing it's job is detect changes in specific files or folders.
This add-in does that and much more. This little tool solves a lot of problems that just can't be solved any other way.
ipSentry File Content Monitoring Add-In
The
ipSentry File Content Monitoring Add-In provides you with the ability to monitor the contents of either an entire file or just the new data written to the end of the file (the tail) for specific data.
You can evaluate the contents using a basic ALL, ANY, or EXACT query capability for one or more query items.
This add-in is ideal for monitoring various log files and detecting certain activities and events. For example, if you have an application that writes out various activity information along with errors generated to a log file, you can configure this add-in to scan all new data written to the file for and occurrence of the error text. If found, then any configured alerts would be generated.
This is ideal for scanning log files for "ERROR" or "Disconnected" messages, access from specific IP Addresses in your web logs, backup completion codes and error codes in your backup logs and many other tasks where just a small word or phrase in a log file can mean the difference between a huge problem and no problem at all.
ipSentry HTTP/s Enhanced Web Monitoring Add-In
While the basic
ipSentry package provides the ability to monitor web servers and make sure that specified content is received, the HTTP/s Enhanced Monitoring add-in allows you to substantially extend this capability with SSL, Secured Logon (Basic Realm & NTLM), Form Data Posting, Redirection, and other enhanced options in order to monitor your web servers using more advanced functionality.
This add-in can evaluate page contents in order to trigger alerts when the content of a page changes either by calculating a base CRC value against the page content or by evaluating the last modified date as sent by the server.
The form posting functionality is ideal for simulating a users actions such as posting form data to the web server or logging into a specific area of your system as well as following redirects.
The HTTP/s Enhanced Web Monitor can also be used as an alerting option allowing you to post data to web servers such as web only paging systems and other web based services that allow form data or a simple URL to be sent. With the introduction of CAPTCHA showing up on many providers web based paging, you will need to contact your mobile service provider to identify a method for bypassing the visual input requirements.
This add-in is definitely for when you need a little (or a lot) more horsepower in monitoring web servers than a simple GET request at the server.
ipSentry Mail Transaction Monitoring Add-In
While
ipSentry provides the ability to test your SMTP and POP servers to insure connectivity and communications, the Mail Transaction Monitoring add-in goes many steps further.
This added feature will send periodic test messages through your selected email relay server and then periodically check the destination mailbox to ensure that the message has arrived.
If the message is not found within the specified amount of time, configured alerts will be triggered.
This add-in is ideal to insure that your message queues are not blocked as well as ensuring that the inbound server is accepting messages.
By actually sending and retrieving email messages, this add-in is basically testing the following situations:
- Connection to mail relay host can be established.
- Mail server is accepting messages for delivery.
- Mail server is delivering email.
- Mailbox server is accepting email.
- Mailbox is accessible and responding.
- Mail can actually be retrieved from the mailbox.
- That the mail is actually being delivered in an acceptable amount of time as configured in the add-in.
Even when the services are reporting OK and the performance counters show normal, and your network connections are all up and running, for some reason - the mail just stops.
The Mail Transaction Monitor will let you know there is a problem because it spends it's time doing nothing but sending mail and waiting for it to get to the mailbox. You can configure this monitor to be very patient or extremely impatient by setting the timeout threshold as to what time frame is acceptable for mail to be sent to the specified relay via SMTP or MAPI (Exchange) and then received in the destination mailbox via POP3 or MAPI. Whether it is your mail queue or your service providers mail queue - if there is an unacceptable delay in delivery, you will be the first to know.
ipSentry Modem Connection Monitoring Add-In
Whether you have modem banks or a dial up security status modem, you want to make sure that when a request to negotiation a modem handshake is made, that it succeeds.
The
ipSentry Modem Connection add-in is a specialized feature intended for systems requiring dial in modem connections.
This add-in allows you to perform basic dial + handshake modem based tests to ensure that you can establish a modem based connection to the remote modem.
With the basic modem scripting option, you can add simple send/receive functionality after an established connection for more specialized situations where modem based dialogue may be required such as user login functionality.
This functionality is ideal for testing dial up terminal servers and provides with confidence that:
- Your customers are not receiving BUSY signals.
- Your customers are not receiving RNA's (Ring No Answer)
- Your terminal servers are requesting login credentials.
- Your authentication system is functioning properly.
- Your Security / Emergency system outbound phone line is available.**
**Today, many security monitoring systems use POTS lines to send out fire and theft alerts, unfortunately - what if the lines are down and the system can't make the call? Enter an inexpensive modem, sitting in auto-answer mode on the same line. For about $400 invested in a Modem,
ipSentry , this add-in, and a small UPS to keep the modem powered up for an hour during a power outage, you might just save yourself thousands, millions, or even save a life by making sure the telephone line is always up for the emergency and security systems to dial the outbound alert when a security problem is detected.
*
Always check with your security and emergency systems service provider for their advice and recommendations to determine if this type of activity is compatible with your existing configuration before adding any devices to your emergency outbound lines.
ipSentry MRTG Counter Data Value Monitoring Add-In
The
ipSentry MRTG Counter Value Monitoring Add-In provides you with the ability to evaluate and be alerted to the reported values contained in your MRTG html reports.
If you utilize MRTG, you know that the values are critical. These values are contained in the header of the HTML reports.
ipSentry can extract and evaluate these for comparison against high/low thresholds allowing you to be alerted when your defined router throughput values are exceeded.
MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher) is a killer utility for graphing traffic on your routers and this add-in compliments this system by checking the data values contained in the MRTG html reports and alerting you when traffic data exceeds your thresholds.
If you have used MRTG, you know what traffic data is available and why this add-in is so useful. More information available on MRTG is available at there site at
http://www.mrtg.com/
ipSentry Network Time Monitor and Synchronize Add-In
The
ipSentry Network Time Add-In provides you with the ability to insure that the system on which
ipSentry is running maintains a valid date and time when compared with the servers such as the US Naval Observatory utilizing either TIME or NTP protocols.
The add-in can be used as a monitoring-only add-in that will trigger alerts when the clock on the local system is out of sync with the time server by the specified number of seconds (recommended) as well as synchronize the local time to the remote time servers time.
The add-in can also be used a an alert style add-in to synchronize the time after alerts have been generated, or the time can be automatically synchronized during the monitoring cycle.
This add-in comes with a customizable database of time servers for regional selection of NTP and TIME servers.
The
ipSentry Network Time monitor will compare the local
ipSentry machine time against the defined NTP or TIME server and alert you when the clocks are out of synch. This is very important in a network infrastructure where all of your workstations are setting their time off of another server on the network.
When the
ipSentry time monitor triggers an alert, there is a problem with your network time which needs immediate attention. While the add-in does provide the option to synchronize the time based on a failure or at the same time it detects the discrepancy, the design of the add-in is to make you aware that there is a problem - not to hide it.
ipSentry Database Connection and Query Monitoring Add-In
The
ipSentry Database and Query monitoring add-in provides you with the ability to ensure that your databases and database servers are not only available, but can accept and response to query requests
This add-in utilizes your ODBC data sources in order to established the connection with the database or database server and then optionally issue SQL query against the database.
The results of the query can be evaluated for the number of rows returned, the value of a variable assigned in the query, or can be used simply to executed a stored procedure and test the query time.
Use of this add-in is generally utilized to test the following aspects of your database server.
- Server or Database is accepting connections.
- Server or Database is accepting logon credentials.
- The time to connect is within the specified threshold.
- The server is accepting queries.
- The returned results are within specification.
- The time to complete the query is within specification.
The ODBC Database and Connection Monitoring Add-in connects to a database over ODBC and optionally executes a query, and optionally evaluates the results. Notice how many times we mention 'optionally'? There is a reason for that.
The add-in can be used to just test database connections on your network, it can be used to submit and EXEC query that returns no results, and/or it can be used to perform a query that will return row data which can be counted by ipSentry or you can design and SQL query to return a specified value that the add-in can evaluate.
For example, let's say you know there should be 10000 records in a given database at all times, and of those we know that 2000 of them will always contain a specific value in a specific column. We could simply have the add-in perform a basic 'SELECT * from db where column=value' query against the database and evaluate the count as being required to be at least 2000. Now, that can be pretty resource intensive, so we also provide the means to utilize just a SELECT count() option and this information is available in our help documents.
You can also query system table values, status values, all kinds of cool things where a numeric value can be returned and compared to denote failure or success.
ipSentry Performance Counter Value Monitoring Add-In
The ipSentry Performance Counter Monitoring add-in provides you with the ability to evaluate performance counter data values against a user defined threshold to detect values which exceed thresholds, change abruptly, increase or decrease unexpectedly or by more than a defined threshold.
Some uses of the add-in include testing Exchange mail queue sizes for high watermark thresholds or abrupt increases in size of the queue, drive space percentages, CPU utilization, and etc...
This add-in monitors local and remote computers performance data, so you can centralize your alerting, charting, and graphing of values onto the ipSentry machine.
Use of this add-in is generally utilized to test the following aspects of performance data values.
- The host being monitoring is accepting connections.
- The counter values are accessible.
The values are then compared against your filters which may include whether or not:
- Value is Equal To a specific value
- Value is Greater than a specified value
- Value is Less than a specified value
- Value has Changed
- Value has Increased
- Value has Decreased
- Value is Within a specified range
- Value has Increased by more than a specified value.
- Value has Decreased by more than a specified value.
- Value has Changed by more than a specified value.
Each of the above can be compared for positive or inverse matches.
If the returned value is out your specified threshold, the configured alerts associated to this entry will be triggered.
The windows performance data is loaded with useful system performance information.
Obviously, we could include just about every valuable counter we can think of and market
ipSentry has having hundreds upon hundreds of monitoring types and features. The fact is, monitoring performance data is just one feature of network monitoring whether you are monitoring CPU, Memory, Disk Space, Exchange Services, SQL Services, AD Processes, Network Services, etc... What objects, counters and instances that you monitor is entirely up to you.