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A CleverView for TCP/IP Case Study
AES - the Business Service Management Company
A National Securities Depository based in Canada
As Canada's national securities depository, clearing, and settlement hub, the company supports Canada's equity, fixed income, and money markets, holding over $2 trillion on deposit and handling over 50 million securities trades annually. The depository settles over 13 million cross-border transactions with the U.S. annually and has custodial relationships with the Depository Trust Company, Japan Securities Settlement & Custody Inc., and Euroclear France. An innovator in securities information and processing services, the company provides a growing range of products, meeting ever-changing market demands for information.
The Background
Located in Toronto, the hub of Canadian business and banking activity, the depository has critical links to numerous banks, and government institutions. The clearinghouse also runs its own internal network, and has proven to be innovative in its acceptance of new technologies. As one of many companies to undergo a transition from a largely SNA-based network to TCP/IP, this company has embraced IP-friendly applications (such as WebSphere wholeheartedly. UNIX servers have been incorporated into the network as other new client/server-based applications have been implemented. Given the critical nature of this environment, network and/or application outages are simply not an option.
The Problem
It didn't take long to realize the need for a host-centric IP-savvy monitoring product. IBM TivoliNetView?was used for SNA network monitoring, but it was determined that it could not provide an adequate monitoring methodology for viewing TCP/IP activity, much less provide any historical reporting or trending information. The old 3270-based interface mechanism was limited in scope and lacked presentation quality. Given the limited availability of training resources for such skills as 3270 or mainframe familiarity, ease-of-use was mandated. It was concluded that a Web browser-based interface would have numerous advantages, while also satisfying the above requirements and providing universal access for 24x7 network monitoring and coverage.
The Solution
Following an exhaustive review of available products and their capabilities, the company's technical staff focused on CleverView for TCP/IP, having determined it had the key diagnostic capabilities required. One requirement CleverView for TCP/IP satisfied was an intelligent Communications Server command interface (for both TCP/IP and VTAM) providing for the launch of a selected command without prior knowledge of the full syntax. In addition, it provided the required ability to return output in a separate display without having to scroll through SDSF or NetView message chatter. The PC-based graphical summary views, such as SysPoint, LinkView, and Connect Expert, allow the company to monitor the current state of each IP stack, IP link, and TCP/IP-based connection instantly and in real time.
Pre-defined threshold and fault alerts are immediately displayed in the SysPoint view, providing the means for fast review, analysis, and action. Shortcuts and/or hyperlinks are utilized to issue additional diagnostic commands, such as Pings, Tracerts, or even Drop Session commands. The client also needed additional SNMP-based MIB viewing into their IP Channel interfaces out on the network, such as CIPs and OSAs or even other devices, such as routers. They preferred an interface independent of host-based agents or subtasks such as the SNMPD (SNMP Daemon) or SNMPQE (SNMP Query Engine).
Ultimately, the evaluation team learned of CleverView for TCP/IP Java based Web server and its inherent ability to install and execute on the z/OS WebSphere Application Server. Given this capability, any user with a Web browser interface can access the product and perform monitoring and/or diagnostic tasks regardless of physical location. The company has been using the Java server for more than two years and has recently completed a seamless installation of the product under WebSphere. Systems and Network Support personnel utilize it for everyday monitoring and IP troubleshooting.
AES focuses on the development of network performance and availability Business Service Management solutions. Through its strong emphasis on listening to customers, foreseeing far-reaching trends in the marketplace, and providing stellar support systems, AES continues to maintain its lead in providing state-of-the-art, easy-to-use performance tools for the very backbone of eCommerce.
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