1 Overview
This section provides an overview of Historical Data Recording (HDR) and how it works on the C-Series products. It also provides information about enabling and disabling HDR on the OCSBC.
What is HDR
Historical data recording (HDR) refers to a group of management features that allow you to configure the OCSBC to collect statistics about system operation and function, and then send those records to designated servers. System statistics, defined in detail below, are saved to a comma-separated value (CSV) file, which are then sent to the designated server(s).
Information types are grouped so that you can refer to a set of statistics by simply invoking their group name (For example, the system statistics are in a group called System; interface statistics are in a group called Interface; etc.). Within each group, there are several metrics available.
The following table describes the type of HDR statistics that the OCSBC can collect and forward to a designated server.
| HDR Statistics | Description |
|---|---|
| Group Name | The name of the group that contains the HDR statistics. This name is similar to the current OCSBC ACLI parameters. For example, system, interface, session-agent, session-realm, etc. The OCSBC uses the group name when generating the .CSV file (for example, system.csv, interface.csv, etc.). |
| Group Statistics | Various statistical parameters within a group. These statistical parameters appear in the first record of the header in each .CSV file (for example, in the system.csv file, the header would include the statistic headings of CPU Utilization, Memory Utilization, Health Score, etc.). |
| Type | Type of statistical parameter. This document
makes use of the following data types:
counter - A counter is an integer with a minimum possible value of 0 and a maximum value of 4294967295. A counter is always increasing in value or remaining unchanged. It decreases only in response to reaching its maximum possible value, at which point it’s next value (when the next counted entity or event occurs) will be 0. gauge - A gauge is an integer with the same bounds as a counter. However, it does not always have an increasing value. Its value may go up or down. period - A period type represents a value determined as the sum of a number of events which occurred during a specified window of time, or stated alternatively, a time period. There are three windows defined, the "current window", the "previous window", and the "sliding window". For more information about these windows, see Windows of Time . config - For the config type, the value for this field comes from a configuration record. timeticks - For the timeticks type, each tick is 1/100th of a second. string - A statistic type pertains to statistics that display as an alpha-numeric character string. |
| Timer Value (seconds) | For period statistics (statistics that use a period timer), this is the default value, in seconds, of the timer. This value is usually not configurable. However, this value may fall within a range of values if applicable. |
| Range | The range of values that a group statistic may use when the OCSBC collects statistics. |
For descriptions of specific HDR Statistics and values, see HDR Groups and Group Statistics.
Enabling/Disabling HDR
In the system configuration, you can enable HDR by first turning on the system’s collection function, then choosing the records you want to capture, and finally setting up server(s) to which you want records sent.
The main collect configuration (found within the main system configuration) allows you to create global settings that:
- Enable or disable HDR at boot time
- Set the sample rate in seconds, or the time between sample individual collections
- Set the time, in seconds, between individual pushes to designated servers (configured in the push receiver configuration accessed via the collect configuration)
- Set the time you want the collect to start and stop; time is entered in year, month, day, hours, minutes, and seconds
You also configure settings for each group of data you want to collect, and the push receiver (server) to which you want data sent.
For more information about configuring HDR on the OCSBC, see the Configuring HDR section.
Protocol Use
You can configure HDR to send files using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) for added security. FTP is the default.
Note:
Public key authentication is not available when you choose SFTP. Instead, the OCSBC uses password authentication. However, for SFTP to work, it is still required that you load the SFTP’s host public key on the OCSBC.About the CSV File
When HDR is enabled, statistical records are forwarded from the OCSBC to push servers that send the data (in standard format) to a receiving server for viewing in a comma-separated value (CSV) file on the server. Before pushing a file, the collector creates the directory by group name for which the statistic belongs (for example, fan, sip-client, system, etc.), if the directory does not exist from a previous push.
The collector can push multiple CSV files per directory. Each file is formatted as <Unix timestamp>.csv (for example, 1302041977.csv). The first record of each file is a header containing the attribute name. For example, in the System directory, a file name of 13020441977.csv can contain the header names of CPU Utilization, Memory Utilization, Health Score, Redundancy State, etc. The collector appends a Timestamp heading attribute to the beginning of every record as well. You can open the CSV file for viewing with any application that reads a CSV file format. For more information about the CSV file, see HDR Data.
Note:
The records in a CSV file may display differently, depending on the record data included in the file, and the method used to open the file. For more information about the display of record data in a CSV file, see Appendix A, CSV File Data Formats.Collection Interval and Push
In your HDR configuration, you can set parameters that allow you to:
- Select the groups for record collection
- Set the frequency of record collection
- Set the frequency of off-box record collection
After configuring and enabling HDR, the OCSBC forwards group records to push servers that send the data to a receiving server. The number of records in a push equals the push interval divided by the sample interval time multiplied by the number of groups, plus one:
push interval ÷ sample interval time x number of groups +1 header record per group = number of records in a push
For example, if you set a push interval time of 60 minutes and a sample interval time of 5 minutes, with 10 groups, the OCSBC would send 120 group records plus 10 header records (for a total of 130 records) for each push:
[(60 ÷ 5) x 10] +10 = 130
You can configure an option parameter (disabled by default) that instructs the OCSBC to send a trap when data has been successfully pushed. This trap is defined in the ap-smgmt.mib. It contains the name of the node that successfully pushed the HDR file to an HDR server, a unique file name for the HDR file that was pushed, and the IP address of the push receiver (configured in the global collection configuration). For more information about the HDR SNMP traps, see the product-specific OCSBC MIB Reference Guide.
Note:
After each push, the OCSBC clears (deletes) all records. The OCSBCSD also clears files on system reboot, and after three consecutive push failures.