DT Perf Sentry — Accessing Raw Data :: SAS(R) IT Resource Management 3.3: Administrator's Guide

Preparing DT Perf Sentry Data for SAS IT Resource Management

SAS IT Resource Management provides both a native DT Perf Sentry adapter and an adapter based on MXG (DT Perf Sentry with MXG). IT Resource Management supplies aggregations with the native DT Perf Sentry adapter. Therefore, using the native DT Perf Sentry adapter is recommended.

Note: Demand Technology Performance Sentry software is included in your SAS Software Depot for IT Resource Management when the server tier is licensed on a Windows system. The executable software that installs Demand Technology Performance Sentry is in the products\perfsentry__92110__prt__xx__sp0__1 folder. The Performance Sentry license installation enables you to manage up to 100 Windows systems and is set to expire 180 days after installation. At that time, you must contact Demand Technology to arrange to continue the use of this software at your site. For information about this software, see http://www.demandtech.com.

The Demand Technology Performance Sentry product (formerly NTSMF) collects a variety of Windows NT performance objects and their associated counters. Perf Sentry gathers and calculates object counter values that are based on the counter type. It then writes them on a periodic basis to an ASCII-formatted, comma-delimited, or tab-delimited data file. This file is input directly into SAS IT Resource Management.

The following requirements apply to the collection of DT Perf Sentry data:

For Windows and UNIX operating environments, if you transfer files across operating systems, make sure that the files retain their ASCII format. (If you want to process your data on z/OS, then the data must be converted from ASCII format to EBCDIC. For information, see Preparing DT Perf Sentry Data for Processing on z/OS.)
Discovery records must be collected in DT Perf Sentry smf log files and must be written for all types of data records.
If your version of Performance Sentry Administration enables you to select which Discovery record types are collected, select the type 5 records. However, record types 6 and 7 can also be selected because these records do not add any significant overhead in terms of space or performance.
Compressed and uncompressed records can be processed.
The delimiter that is used in DT Perf Sentry data must be a comma or a tab character.
_Total records must not be written to the data file.
DT Perf Sentry filters must not be used.

For information about the performance areas that are collected by DT Perf Sentry, see DT Perf Sentry Adapter - DT Perf Sentry Server-Based Domain Categories and DT Perf Sentry Adapter - DT Perf Sentry Exchange Domain Category.

Preparing DT Perf Sentry Data for Processing on z/OS

In addition to the preceding requirements, if you want to process DT Perf Sentry logs on z/OS, you must allocate a PDS with the following DCB attributes on z/OS:

DSORG=PO,RECFM=VB,LRECL=256

Note: Accept the default for BLKSIZE.

Extracting Data from DT Perf Sentry

The log file that is created by the DT Perf Sentry agent program can be input directly into SAS IT Resource Management 3.1.1 and later. It contains two types of records:

discovery records that contain the format of the data records
data Interval records that contain the counters for the performance areas that are being measured

Each DT Perf Sentry smf file should be maintained as a separate smf file. Concatenating smf files is not recommended. The DT Perf Sentry adapter accepts the pathname to either a raw data file or a directory that contains the input files for the adapter.

If a directory is specified, the directory cannot contain subdirectories or any files other than valid DT Perf Sentry raw data files. DT Perf Sentry does not manage the transferal of the data to a central location.

On the UNIX and Windows operating environments, place the multiple smf files into a single directory where they can be input to the staging transformation in SAS IT Resource Management. No other files or subdirectories should be in this directory. Use the file management utility of your choice to accomplish this transferal of data.
On the z/OS operating environment, use the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to transmit each smf log on to a unique PDS member, converting it from ASCII to EBCDIC as it is transmitted. By specifying the PDS name in the input location, each member is processed.

For more information, see the Demand Technology Performance Sentry (NTSMF) User Guide.

Notes about DT Perf Sentry Version 4 and Later

After installation, DT Perf Sentry logs the performance data that is based on default parameter values that are stored in the chosen Data Collection Set (DCS). The parameter values determine what data elements to collect and how frequently to collect them.

For best results, use these collection sets: “Default Collection Set” for Windows server and “Exchange Server Starter Set” for Exchange.

For more information about Data Collection Sets, see the "Performance Sentry Administration" chapter of the Demand Technology Performance Sentry (NTSMF) User Guide for version 4. This document is also available at http://demandtech.com in the Product Documentation section of the Downloads tab.

Notes about DT Perf Sentry Prior to Version 4

How to Use Data Collection Sets Prior to Version 4

For Demand Technology Performance Sentry prior to version 4, use the “ITRM Windows Server” and “ITRM Exchange” collection sets. These collection sets are designed to correspond to the aggregations that SAS IT Resource Management provides for the DT Perf Sentry adapter. However, you do not have to use these data collection sets (DCS) in order to load DT Perf Sentry data into SAS IT Resource Management IT data marts. You can modify the objects and counters within the data collection sets as needed.

Note: You can access the ITRM Windows Server and ITRM Exchange collection sets for prior versions of Demand Technology Performance Sentry from the SAS IT Resource Management website at: http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/itsv/dtperfsentry.html.

These DCS files are included wherever the IT Resource Management server tier is installed. You should move these files to the system where you installed DT Perf Sentry. Then, during the setup of the Demand Technology Performance Sentry product on the Windows system, instruct the product to use these two files. This action enables the correct set of metrics to be recorded on the DT Perf Sentry log files.

By default, if the IT Resource Management server is installed on z/OS, a PDS called ITRM.CPMISC is automatically created with the ITRMEXCH and ITRMSRVR members. Use the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to transmit the ITRMEXCH and ITRMSRVR members of the ITRM.CPMISC installation data set to the Windows system where Demand Technology Performance Sentry software is installed. (These members of the PDS are plain text fields and do not have to be transmitted in binary mode.)
By default, if the IT Resource Management server is installed on UNIX, the DCS files are called ITRMExch.DCS and ITRMSrvr.DCS. The files can be located at /SASHome/SASFoundation/9.3/misc/itmsmvadata. Use the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to transmit the two DCS files to the Windows system where Demand Technology Performance Sentry software is installed.
By default, if the IT Resource Management server is installed on Windows, the DCS files are called ITRMExch.DCS and ITRMSrvr.DCS. The files can be located at C:\Program Files\SASHome\SASFoundation\9.3\itmsmvadata\sasmisc. You can copy and paste the files from this location to the Windows system where Demand Technology Performance Sentry software is installed.

Note: The DCS files are also available wherever the IT Resource Management server tier is installed. If you want to use these files, you should move them to the system where your DT Perf Sentry is installed.

How to Access the ITRM Windows Server DCS

To access the ITRM Windows Server DCS, perform the following steps:

Navigate to the ITRM Windows Server section of the http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/itsv/32/dtps.html page. In that section, click the [ZIP] file that is referenced there. Download the ITRM Windows Server data collection set and place it in a location that is accessible to the Demand Technology Performance Sentry DCS Administration client.
Open the Sentry Administration client.
In the DCS Administration window, select FileImport DCS.
Provide the location where the ITRM Windows Server data collection set was downloaded. The ITRM Windows Server data collection set should appear in the list of Available Data Collection Sets.

How to Access the ITRM Exchange DCS

To access the ITRM Exchange DCS, perform the following steps:

Navigate to the ITRM Exchange section of the http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/itsv/32/dtps.html page. In that section, click the [ZIP] file that is referenced there. Download the ITRM Exchange data collection set and place it in a location that is accessible to the Demand Technology Performance Sentry DCS Administration client.
Open the Sentry Administration client.
In the DCS Administration window, select FileImport DCS.
Provide the location where the ITRM Exchange data collection set was downloaded. The ITRM Exchange data collection set should appear in the list of Available Data Collection Sets.