Default Parameters for RADLBVSStatTest

This test auto-discovers the virtual servers that are mapped to real server groups. For each virtual server, the test then reports the session load on the server and the rate at which each server processes data. Additionally, the test also reports the count and names of real servers and server groups mapped to each virtual server. This way, you can figure out which are the applications load-balanced by the virtual servers, and will be impacted by performance issues in the virtual servers.

This page depicts the default parameters that need to be configured for the RADLBVSStatTest test.

• The TEST PERIOD list box helps the user to decide how often this test needs to be executed.

• Besides SNMP, this test also uses the Radware CLI to pull metrics on real servers. To run the CLI commands, the test first needs to establish an SSH connection with the Radware Alteon load balancer. Specify the SSH PORT to enable the test for establishing the SSH connection in the SSH PORT text box.

• This test also uses the Radware CLI to pull metrics on real servers. To use the CLI, the test first needs to connect to the Radware Alteon load balancer via SSH, and then run commands using CLI. For running the commands, this test requires the privileges of a valid SSH user with permission to run the CLI commands. Specify the user name and password of such a user against SSH USERNAME and SSH PASSWORD text boxes, and confirm the password by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

• In the SNMPPORT text box, specify the port at which the the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; the default value is 161.

• By default, the eG agent supports SNMPVERSION 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPVERSION list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.

• The SNMPCOMMUNITY name is used for communicating with the firewall. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVERSION chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

• The USERNAME parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges - in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter.

• The CONTEXT parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context ( also called a contextName). If the USERNAME provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the USERNAME in the Context text box. By default, this parameter is set to none.

• Specify the AUTHPASS password that corresponds to the above-mentioned USERNAME. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPVERSION selected is v3.

• Confirm the AUTHPASS by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

• The AUTHTYPE parameter appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. From the AUTHTYPE list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified USERNAME and PASSWORD into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options:

  • MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm

  • SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm

• The ENCRYPTFLAG appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option.

• If this ENCRYPTFLAG is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the ENCRYPTTYPE list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types:

  • DES - Data Encryption Standard

  • AES - Advanced Encryption Standard

• Specify the encryption password in the ENCRYPT PASSWORD text box.

• Confirm the encryption password by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

• Specify the time duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in the TIMEOUT text box. The default is 10 seconds.

• By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic - for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components - to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set the DATA OVER TCP flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

• Once the above values are provided, click on the UPDATE button to register the changes made.

When changing default configurations of tests, the values with “$” indicate variables that will be replaced by the eG system according to the specific server being managed - for instance, $hostName is the host/nickname of the target host, $port is the port number of the server being monitored. E.g., for a server xyz:80, $hostName will be changed automatically by the eG manager to “xyz*” and $port will be changed to “80” when configuring a test.