Chapter 11, SCO Doctor for Networks

The SCO Doctor for Networks Architecture

 SCO Doctor for Networks utilizes a client/server architecture in which the SCO Doctor user interface program acts as the client, requesting data, file transfer and remote command execution services from the SCO Agent process. The SCO Doctor interface then organizes and stores the data it has received, and displays it on demand. Throughout the network, SCO Doctor also provides the interface for centralized control of all system management operations.

Although a significant part of SCO Agent's role is to supply data to SCO Doctor, it is more than just a server process. The SCO Agent process is also a background data collection and analysis engine. It intelligently observes and manages a single system and initiates action programs and operations, either automatically, or when instructed by the CMS. Having an intelligent SCO Agent that can proactively and autonomously manage a system, relieves the CMS of the burden of initiating and controlling all monitoring and management procedures.




The Central Management Station

The Central Management Station or CMS is, as its name suggests, the place at which management operations are centralized. The term CMS is not intended to restrict these management tasks to a single geographic location, and is best thought of as the set of systems that can act as management stations. According to need, the CMS may be comprised of only one station or it may include many stations in diverse locations.

The CMS can be staffed by any number of network administrators, working on a full or part time basis. Each will have their own instance of doctor, configured to their personal taste, and will be able to monitor remote system performance, respond to incoming alerts, produce reports and perform other doctor functions.

If the CMS consists of multiple systems, each member of the CMS group must be able to share data via the Network File System (NFS) with one system acting as the NFS server. This server will be the central repository for data and configuration files. All other members must mount the required directories when performing management tasks.

If NFS is not supported, and your require multiple management stations, each management system can be considered a distinct CMS. As such it will be responsible for its own disjoint set of remote systems. This structure allows system management tasks to be shared by multiple and possibly geographically disparate systems. For example, a large company may have management stations on both coasts. By sharing the load between the east and west coast administrators, longer time periods of the day will be covered by live administration.

Of course, all the features of SCO Doctor for Networks are available to each management system, as well as the ability to monitor multiple systems in multiple windows and the ability to login to the remote systems.


Remote Systems

A remote system is any system managed by a CMS. Each remote system runs an agent process whose role is to intelligently observe and manage the system and to take corrective action whenever necessary - in many cases without the need of intervention by either CMS support staff or local users. Each day, the agent exports management data, in the form of historical databases, back to the CMS for inclusion in the Historical Database.