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Knowledge Center > Tutorials
Dell: Monitor the Health of a Dell Server
Using ipMonitor's SNMP - QA Monitor, Administrators can monitor critical components of a Dell server to determine its overall health. When combined with ipMonitor's Alerting abilities, such consistent monitoring can be used to prevent downtime and ensure that the server continues to operate at top efficiency levels.
The SNMP - QA Monitor can be configured in various ways to monitor the combined current status of:
  • Power supplies
  • Fans
  • Intrusion
  • Memory
  • Temperature Probes
  • Voltages
Before You Begin

Important! The sample Monitors defined throughout this tutorial assume that the Dell Server supports OIDs defined by MIB-Dell-10892. Monitors were tested against servers running DellOpenManage™ Server Administrator 1.6+. Contact the vendor or supplier if this information is not known, or if an update is required.

Available Resources
Click the XML icon to download resources designed to be used with this tutorial. The XML file includes six preconfigured Monitors, as well as a predefined Group for the Monitors. These Monitors report the same values seen in the Dell OpenManage™ interface.
To incorporate the Dell MIBs described in this article into your ipMonitor installation, access the SNMP MIB Database Builder located within the ipMonitor Support Portal.

Note: Custom databases are only available to registered customers. You must log in to access this section.

1. Expand the Enterprise branch, and place a checkmark beside Dell Computer Corporation.

2. Click the Construct MIB Database button located at the bottom of the page.

Shortly after selecting your custom MIBs for creation, you will receive an email indicating that your database is ready for download. This email will contain a link to your personalized SNMP MIB database. Additionally, each visit to the Support Portal home page will also contain the link to your most recently created database.
Click the PDF icon to open a printable PDF version of this tutorial. It includes all the information found here, including images from the ipMonitor software, diagrams, and links to additional resources.

Sample Monitor Settings
Group: Dell Server :: Server Health

Monitor 1

Monitor Name Dell Diagnostic Service :: Combined Status - Fans
Monitor Type SNMP - QA Monitor
SNMP Object Type systemStateCoolingDeviceStatusCombined
OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10892.1.200.10.1.21.1
Returns The cooling device status of all cooling devices in this Dell chassis. The result is returned as a combined status value.

1 = other
      the status of the object is not one of the following:
2 = unknown
      the status of the object is unknown (not known or monitored)
3 = ok
      the status of the object is ok
4 = nonCritical
      the status of the object is warning, non-critical
5 = critical
      the status of the object is critical (failure)
6 = nonRecoverable
      the status of the object is non-recoverable (dead)

Monitoring Condition Pass if equal to 3

Monitor failure indicates that the status of the cooling devices in this Dell chassis is currently not 'ok'.

Monitor 2

Monitor Name Dell Diagnostic Service :: Combined Status - Intrusion
Monitor Type SNMP - QA Monitor
SNMP Object Type systemStateChassisIntrusionStatusCombined
OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10892.1.200.10.1.30.1
Returns This attribute defines the intrusion reading of all intrusion detection devices in this Dell chassis. The result is returned as a combined status value.

1 = other
      the status of the object is not one of the following:
2 = unknown
      the status of the object is unknown (not known or monitored)
3 = ok
      the status of the object is ok
4 = nonCritical
      the status of the object is warning, non-critical
5 = critical
      the status of the object is critical (failure)
6 = nonRecoverable
      the status of the object is non-recoverable (dead)

Monitoring Condition Pass if equal to 3

Monitor failure indicates that the status of the intrusion detection devices in this Dell chassis is currently not 'ok'.

Monitor 3

Monitor Name Dell Diagnostic Service :: Combined Status - Memory
Monitor Type SNMP - QA Monitor
SNMP Object Type systemStateMemoryDeviceStatusCombined
OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10892.1.200.10.1.27.1
Returns This attribute defines the memory device status of all memory devices in this Dell chassis. The result is returned as a combined status value.

1 = other
      the status of the object is not one of the following:
2 = unknown
      the status of the object is unknown (not known or monitored)
3 = ok
      the status of the object is ok
4 = nonCritical
      the status of the object is warning, non-critical
5 = critical
      the status of the object is critical (failure)
6 = nonRecoverable
      the status of the object is non-recoverable (dead)

Monitoring Condition Pass if equal to 3

Monitor failure indicates that the status of the memory devices in this Dell chassis is currently not 'ok'.

Monitor 4

Monitor Name Dell Diagnostic Service :: Combined Status - Power Supplies
Monitor Type SNMP - QA Monitor
SNMP Object Type systemStatePowerSupplyStatusCombined
OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10892.1.200.10.1.9.1
Returns This attribute defines the power supply status of all power supplies in this Dell chassis. The result is returned as a combined status value.

1 = other
      the status of the object is not one of the following:
2 = unknown
      the status of the object is unknown (not known or monitored)
3 = ok
      the status of the object is ok
4 = nonCritical
      the status of the object is warning, non-critical
5 = critical
      the status of the object is critical (failure)
6 = nonRecoverable
      the status of the object is non-recoverable (dead)

Monitoring Condition Pass if equal to 3

Monitor failure indicates that the status of the power supplies in this Dell chassis is currently not 'ok'.

Monitor 5

Monitor Name Dell Diagnostic Service :: Combined Status - Temperature Probes
Monitor Type SNMP - QA Monitor
SNMP Object Type systemStateTemperatureStatusCombined
OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10892.1.200.10.1.24.1
Returns This attribute defines the temperature status of all temperature probes in this Dell chassis. The result is returned as a combined status value.

1 = other
      the status of the object is not one of the following:
2 = unknown
      the status of the object is unknown (not known or monitored)
3 = ok
      the status of the object is ok
4 = nonCritical
      the status of the object is warning, non-critical
5 = critical
      the status of the object is critical (failure)
6 = nonRecoverable
      the status of the object is non-recoverable (dead)

Monitoring Condition Pass if equal to 3

Monitor failure indicates that the status of the temperature probes in this Dell chassis is currently not 'ok'.

Monitor 6

Monitor Name Dell Diagnostic Service :: Combined Status - Voltages
Monitor Type SNMP - QA Monitor
SNMP Object Type systemStateVoltageStatusCombined
OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10892.1.200.10.1.12.1
Returns This attribute defines the voltage status of all voltage probes in this Dell chassis. The result is returned as a combined status value.

1 = other
      the status of the object is not one of the following:
2 = unknown
      the status of the object is unknown (not known or monitored)
3 = ok
      the status of the object is ok
4 = nonCritical
      the status of the object is warning, non-critical
5 = critical
      the status of the object is critical (failure)
6 = nonRecoverable
      the status of the object is non-recoverable (dead)

Monitoring Condition Pass if equal to 3

Monitor failure indicates that the status of the voltage probes in this Dell chassis is currently not 'ok'.

Note: All imported Monitors are initially disabled. This allows you to make changes to the default settings before the Monitors are enabled to go live in a production environment. Once the Monitors are imported, the following settings will need to be verified (and if necessary, modified) for each Monitor:

To learn more about modifying the above parameters, please refer to the 'Configuring the SNMP - QA Monitor' section of this tutorial.

TIP

For detailed instructions regarding importing XML files into your ipMonitor installation, please refer to the tutorial entitled "How to Import and Export Configuration Settings".



Configuring the SNMP - QA Monitor

For the purposes of this tutorial, we'll be referring to the preconfigured Monitors included in the XML resource download. Alternatively, you can create a new Monitor by clicking the Monitors menu option and then selecting Add a Monitor. Choose the SNMP - QA Monitor from the Multi-Transaction / QA category.

Identification

  1. Enter a unique, descriptive name for the Monitor in the Name field.
  2. Choose whether to automatically add the new Monitor to a particular Group.
  3. Check the Enabled checkbox.
  4. Choose whether you want the Monitor to Store Monitor Statistics for Recent Activity and Historical Reports.
Test Parameters

  1. Specify the location of the Dell server. Both IP Address and Domain Name are valid entries.
  2. If needed, specify a different UDP Port number. By default, the standard Port Number used for SNMP communication (Port 161) is already entered.
  3. If you are using one of the preconfigured Monitors, the appropriate OID for the monitoring task is already entered. Otherwise, you will need to specify an OID path in the OID field.
  4. Enter the SNMP Community string that allows ipMonitor to communicate with the SNMP Service.
  5. Select the SNMP Version used by the device to be monitored. Both ipMonitor and the target device must use the same SNMP Version. Available options are: SNMP Version 1 and SNMP Version 2.
Analysis of Test Results

The following example uses the Analysis of Test Results settings configured for the Dell Diagnostic Service :: Combined Status - Power Supplies Monitor provided in the XML resource download.

The type of data supported by the selected OID determines the possible methods of analysis using the SNMP - QA Monitor.

  1. In order to return the desired value (the power supply status of all power supplies in this Dell chassis), the SNMP - QA Monitor is configured to analyze the result as Numeric Data.
  2. The expected result is determined to be equal to (==) 3, ensuring that the Monitor will pass if the returned data indicates that the status of all power supplies is 'ok'.

TIP

By default, the Timing Intervals for each parameter are set to 300 seconds. If needed, adjust these defaults to meet your specific monitoring environment's requirements until the optimum settings are reached.



Additional Information

For more information regarding the SNMP - QA Monitor, refer to the Monitors section of ipMonitor's Context-Sensitive Help system, and then select Monitor Types, followed by SNMP - QA. The Context-Sensitive Help can be accessed by clicking the Help link located in the top right corner of ipMonitor's Administration web interface.

For information on other features and concepts related to those discussed in this article, refer to the following ipMonitor resources:

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Last Updated: April 7, 2006 | What did you think of this topic?

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