EV Observe - Box Overview
A Box collects a set of monitored data (both metrics and indicators) at regular intervals on information system components such as servers and routers.
- It is deployed as close as possible to the IT assets to be monitored on internal or customer sites.
- It sends data to the EV Observe platform where the data is stored, consolidated and made available to users via the Web app.
- It sends email or SMS notifications to inform users of the health status of the information system.
The Box can be:
- A virtual machine (VM) such as VMware, Hyper-V, Azure or Clonezilla.
- A physical machine, i.e. a Box provided by EasyVista.
Once it is deployed and configured, you must set up monitoring to ensure that it is always working properly.
See Monitor the EV Observe platform
Box contents and characteristics
Box contents
A Box contains the following:
- The latest supported versions of Ubuntu (Linux OS) and Nagios, an open source IT monitoring solution released under the GPL license.
- A communication tool for sending and receiving messages between the platform and the Box.
- An email server in charge of sending emails from the Box.
- All of the services in the Service Template Catalog in the form of monitoring plugins.
- Utilities for accessing databases such as Oracle or SQL.
Box characteristics
The resources allocated to each Box must be adapted based on the monitored scope and the target data volume, i.e. number of hosts to be monitored, number of deployed services and their run frequency.
Virtual machine
- Prerequisites to VM deployment
- CPU: 2 vCPU > 2ghz
- RAM: 2 GB
- Disk space: 20 GB
- Network interface: 1 Gbps
Physical machine
- Installation of the base
- CPU: 2 vCPU > 2ghz
- RAM: 2 GB for up to 250 monitored hosts
- Network interface: 1 Gbps
Box deployment
You deploy a Box on the EV Observe platform in different steps.
- Step for deploying a new machine (only for virtual machines)
Note:
- The deployment of a virtual machine depends on the virtual environment, e.g. VMware or Hyper-V. See the detailed procedures.
- No deployment is required for a physical machine.
- Step for installing and configuring the new machine
- Deployment of the machine in the Web app
- Configuration of the machine using an install script
Note: For physical machines, you should perform this step only if the Box provided by EasyVista is not shipped with a predefined configuration enabling its immediate deployment on the target network.
Notes
- The version upgrade of a Box is performed automatically by the EV Observe platform.
- You should also follow the installation and configuration procedure if you need to replace an existing Box that is completely defective, i.e. unable to connect to the network or local console after a restart. In this case, you will not be required to set up monitoring for the Box as this will already be done.
- If a Box becomes unstable but is still accessible, you can migrate it to a new Box using specific procedures. You should also follow these procedures if you want to install the latest Ubuntu version supported by EV Observe on a machine.
- In the event that a Box becomes completely inaccessible, a Disaster Recovery Plan procedure can replace the Box or restore its backup.
Caution
- Each customer is in charge of the monitoring and maintenance of the Box.