WebSphere eXtreme Scale Best Practices for Operation and Management

Chapter 7. Operations and monitoring 181

eXtreme Scale grid is not working, this client fails to complete those operations. This

stand-alone ping client can be deployed and operated from a cron job on a UNIX or AIX

platform.

7.5.6 Additional monitoring tools

WebSphere eXtreme Scale can be integrated with several popular enterprise monitoring

solutions. Plug-in agents are included for IBM Tivoli Monitoring and Hyperic HQ, which

monitor WebSphere eXtreme Scale using publicly accessible management beans. CA Wily

Introscope uses Java method instrumentation to capture statistics.

IBM Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent for WebSphere eXtreme Scale

The IBM Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent is a feature-rich monitoring solution that you can

use to monitor databases, operating systems, and servers in distributed and host

environments. WebSphere eXtreme Scale includes a customized agent that you can use to

introspect WebSphere eXtreme Scale management beans. This solution works effectively for

both stand-alone and WebSphere Application Server deployments.

CA Wily Introscope

CA Wily Introscope is a third-party management product that you can use to detect and

diagnose performance problems in enterprise application environments. You can configure

CA Wily Introscope to introspect selected portions of the WebSphere eXtreme Scale process

to quickly view and validate WebSphere eXtreme Scale applications. CA Wily Introscope

works effectively for both stand-alone and WebSphere Application Server deployments.

Hyperic HQ

Hyperic HQ is a third-party monitoring solution that is available at no cost as an open source

solution or as an enterprise product. WebSphere eXtreme Scale includes a plug-in that allows

Hyperic HQ agents to discover WebSphere eXtreme Scale container servers and to report

and aggregate statistics using WebSphere eXtreme Scale management beans. You can use

Hyperic HQ to monitor stand-alone WebSphere eXtreme Scale deployments.

For more information about using CA Wily Introscope and Hyperic HQ, see Monitoring with

vendor tools at this website:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wxsinfo/v7r1/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.web

sphere.extremescale.admin.doc/cxsmonitorvendor.html

7.6 Applying product updates

Just like any other piece of enterprise software, WebSphere eXtreme Scale needs to be

updated from time to time, for example, by upgrading from V7.0 to V7.1 or applying a fix pack

or interim fix. In a production environment, it is vital to understand the impact of applying

updates and maintaining software. Minimizing the interruption of the WebSphere eXtreme

Scale grid is desirable. In certain cases, a loss of the grid for a brief period of time can have a

big impact, particularly when dealing with grids that hold large data sets.

WebSphere eXtreme Scale is designed with these concepts in mind. It is possible to apply

software maintenance to the product

without interrupting the service. Although, a number of

conditions need to be met in order to apply software maintenance to the product without

interrupting the service.