Sun Management Center Overview

Sun Management Center software is an open and extensible system management tool. The Sun Management Center product is divided into a set of three base components. Four base Sun Management Center add-on products provide additional system management support. Other add-ons that provide platform-specific support are also available as described in Additional Add-on Products.

This section discusses the following topics:

• Sun Management Center Architecture and Base Components

• Sun Management Center Base Add-on Products

• Additional Add-on Products

• Developer Environment

The installation and setup of all Sun Management Center software, including add-on products, can be performed with a single installation command as described in Chapter 6, Sun Management Center 3.5 Installation and Setup.

Sun Management Center Architecture and Base Components

The Sun Management Center software management framework is based on a three-tier architecture consisting of the Sun Management Center console, server, and agent components, which provide the core Sun Management Center functions.

Figure 1–1 Sun Management Center Basic Architecture

• The Sun Management Center Server executes management tasks, and sends requests to Sun Management Center agents to perform management tasks. The server stores network hardware and software information as well as network and Sun Management Center configuration in a database. The Sun Management Center server is normally installed on a single dedicated machine, and only one Sun Management Center server is required on a network.

• The Sun Management Center Agent responds to the Sun Management Center Server directives, accesses management information on the local machine, provides alarm determination, and monitors local resources. The agent is automatically installed on the Sun Management Center server machine, and is optional for all other machines on your network. Installing the Sun Management Center agent on each machine provides thorough management and reporting capabilities that are otherwise not available.

• The Sun Management Center Java Console is the graphical user interface that you use to monitor your network and run network management tasks.

• The Sun Management Center Web server is installed with the server layer on the same host as the server layer.

  The Web Server enables you to access the Sun Management Center Web server console from any system that supports either one of the following Web browsers.

  • Netscape Navigator^TM 4.5.1 or higher

  • Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher

Sun Management Center initiates operations by sending requests to the Sun Management Center agents installed on each system. Based on SNMP technology, the agents process server requests. The agents also act autonomously, collecting and processing data locally. Agents can act on observed conditions to send SNMP traps or execute management operations. The agents can raise alarms or initiate specific actions through customized rules and thresholds even when connection to the manager is severed. For further information about SNMP, see Security Keys and SNMP Community String and SNMP Daemons and Legacy Agents.

Management and monitoring functions of the Sun Management Center agent are structured into loadable modules. The agent modules provide flexibility, enabling you to establish as little or as much monitoring and management as required on a per system basis. Additional modules can be dynamically loaded into Sun Management Center agents from the Sun Management Center console without disruption of the management or agent systems. For further information about Sun Management Center modules, see “Sun Management Center Software Modules” in Sun Management Center 3.5 User's Guide

Sun Management Center Base Add-on Products

Sun Management Center provides four add-ons that are distributed as part of the Sun Management Center distribution on CD or the Web download image:

• Advanced System Monitoring — Provides full kernel reader functionality, Solaris health monitoring, file system monitoring, directory size monitoring, process monitoring, IPv6 protocol monitoring, MIB-II Instrumentation, and log viewing.

• Performance Reporting Manager — Adds analysis, reporting, and graphing capabilities.

• Service Availability Manager — Tests and measures the availability of network services including DNS and NIS naming services, Web server, directory, LDAP, Telnet, FTP, mail, and Solaris calendar services.

• System Reliability Manager — Enhances reliability, helping to increase service levels and decrease administrative costs.

For detailed information about base add-on and additional add-on products, see the Sun Management Center Web site at http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/sunmanagementcenter/.

Additional Add-on Products

Depending on the hardware platform on which you are installing Sun Management Center software, your system might require additional platform-specific add-ons. The add-on products provide additional functionality such as additional support for specific Sun hardware architectures, configuration readers, and new agent management. For information about a specific hardware platform, see the Sun Management Center supplement for your hardware platform. For information about additional add-ons for Sun Management Center, see the Sun Management Center Web site.

You should always read your Sun Management Center supplement for architecture-specific installation instructions before installing Sun Management Center software on a particular hardware platform. Refer to the documentation subdirectory on the Sun Management Center 3.5 CD (2 of 2).

Add-on products are released in one of two ways:

• As part of the Sun Management Center distribution (CD or Web download image)

• Separately (add-on product only)

Add-on products released as part of the Sun Management Center distribution are installed during the installation process. The basic components are installed first, followed by installation of the add-on products.

Many add-on products offer architecture-specific support. Therefore, the installation checks your hardware. For example, if an add-on product supports workstation systems, you are given the opportunity to install the workstation add-on when you install Sun Management Center on a workstation host. In most cases, user confirmation is required prior to installing an add-on product.

If the add-on product is released separately from the Sun Management Center CD distribution, the add-on product includes its own installation instructions in the accompanying supplement.

Developer Environment

The developer environment enables you to extend Sun Management Center software functionality in various ways. You can perform the following tasks:

• Create custom management modules

• Create client programs that interface with Sun Management Center

• Integrate applications with the Sun Management Center console

If you are installing the developer environment, you should run the Sun Management Center 3.5 developer environment and the Sun Management Center 3.5 production environment on separate, dedicated servers.

For further information about the Sun Management Center 3.5 developer environment, see the Sun Management Center 3.5 Developer Environment Reference Manual.