Server Monitoring

[Dan DeCoursey]

Hello,
I have a small server farm ( 15) all HP ML's
I have one server (running MS SQL) that mysteriously freezes( screen saver is on but mouse/kbrd are unresponsive. Thus forcing a cold start (I can use ILO but not all have access or trained on it)

I have all this HP "stuff" ILO/SIM
will these tools permit server monitoring alert that a server is down ( either all the way or partially) and keep detialed logs that would help diagnose why the unit froze?

[NJK-Work]

SIM would tell you if a server is down. Assuming you have setup alerts and such. But I have only found SIM useful for hardware faults - such as drive has failed, or power supply failure. Something like an OS freezing could be hardware related, but usually SIM will not provide enough information to help in those regards. Your server, if running the HP agents, can tell some things in the Integrated Management Log, and you don't need SIM for that.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I have experienced these mysterious lock ups on servers in the past myself, but SIM has never helped me at all. I usually found that I had to have the entire system board replaced (or something similar) but SIM never provided any clues about that - I had to figure it out on my own.

I find SIM useful for inventory information and "basic" hardware monitoring. That is why I use it.

Nelson

[marsh_1]

hi,

i'd tend to agree with nelson here, hp sim is good for what it is (and it's free !) but if you want more detailed os or sql logging then you'll need to get some diagnostics set up for your database, perhaps raise a call with hp about the whole issue.

hth

[Phil.Howell]

once the server becomes unresponsive you generally find that it stops logging as well - what you can do is enable a crashdump

see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244139
and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969028

When the server hangs, trigger a dump and send a copy to HP and a copy to Microsoft.
Phil