BMC Software
`on Application
`Management
`
`May 1995
`
`

`
`

`
`Contents
`
`Introduction ................................................. 1
`
`BMC Software's Key Focus Areas .................................... 1
`
`Applications • Today's Management Challenge ............... 3
`What is an Application ............................................ 3
`
`Keys to Managing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
`
`PATROL and Application Management ....................... 5
`
`PATROL Knowledge Modules ....................................... 5
`
`Automating Application Management:
`Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) . ............................. 7
`
`PATROL'S Differentiation .......................................... 7
`
`The Alternative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
`
`Empowering PATROL with Knowledge ................................. 8
`
`Degrees of Extensibility ........................................... 8
`
`Managing Business Processes:
`DataMat Trading Application, Italy ......................... 11
`
`Product Integration ............................................. 11
`
`Summary .................................................. 13
`
`

`
`

`
`Introduction
`
`Today an increasing number of organizations are
`embracing clienVserver technology as a solution
`to a growing number of business problems.
`However, the inherent complexities of running a
`distributed computing environment have daunted
`many organizations. They are simply finding ~
`almost impossible to control and operate this
`environment efficiently. Subsequently, this is lead(cid:173)
`ing to system down-time and overrun budgets.
`Perhaps even more problematic is that compa(cid:173)
`nies are not realizing the true business problem
`solving potential of clienVserver technology.
`
`Most management systems available today do
`not have a business application focus. They are
`only concerned with managing individual compo(cid:173)
`nents such as a database or a network and do
`not take into account the true complexities of a
`distributed computing environment. This problem
`is becoming the key obstacle faced when deploy(cid:173)
`ing large scale clienVserver systems.
`
`BMC Software is the leading supplier of manage(cid:173)
`ment software that enables the deployment and
`management of enterprise-wide clienVserver
`applications. Applications that run in open sys(cid:173)
`tems environments, proprietary environments or
`across both.
`
`BMC Software's Key Focus Areas
`
`BMC Software's products deliver solutions in two
`key areas: data management and application
`management. BMC Software's family of data
`management tools include solutions for cross
`platform, heterogeneous support of RDBMS
`administration and utility functions, advanced
`change management, data replication and move(cid:173)
`ment, recovery management and performance
`management.
`
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`Page 2
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`
`Applications • Today's Management Challenge
`
`The business problems facing today's corpora(cid:173)
`tions are increasing in complexity. Rapidly
`responding to customer orders, managing finan(cid:173)
`cial investment portfolios and developing new
`and innovative products are just some of the
`problems faced. Often it is how an organization
`solves these problems that determines its overall
`success and ultimately gives it the edge over its
`competitors. Increasingly, organizations are turn(cid:173)
`ing to open systems technology to solve business
`problems. Implementing a sales order entry sys(cid:173)
`tem, a financial accounting package or multime(cid:173)
`dia customer service application are just some
`examples of how technology can improve the
`overall efficiency of the organization.
`
`With new open systems technology comes a
`whole myriad of problems. More components
`mean that more can go wrong. A full file system
`on one machine, a bottle necked CPU on another
`or a poorly tuned database can bring an entire
`system to a halt. Effective management of these
`applications is fast becoming the key to the suc(cid:173)
`cessful adoption of client/server technology.
`
`What Is an Application
`
`An application can be considered a group of
`many different technologies which together form
`a cohesive system. Collectively, these solve one
`
`or more business problems. Application man(cid:173)
`agement is the integrated, centralized manage(cid:173)
`ment of all the elements critical to running
`complex business applications including data(cid:173)
`bases, networks, operating systems, hardware
`and business-defined processes.
`
`Typically, an application will consist of a data
`management component, data manipulation
`modules, a network enabling client to server and
`server to server communication and a presenta(cid:173)
`tion layer or graphical user interface.
`
`The solution to application management is
`automation -
`the ability to proactively detect
`problems across a complex distributed comput(cid:173)
`ing environment and to fix them before major
`crises results. However, this challenge is made
`far more complex by the number of technologies
`available to the organization: databases from
`Oracle, Sybase and IBM; application develop(cid:173)
`ment tools from PowerSoft, Gupta and Microsoft;
`hardware from Sequent, Hewlett-Packard and
`Sun; applications from SAP, and CA, etc. Add to
`this that the technology itself is deployed in many
`different ways across different organizations and
`you begin to get some idea of the challenge
`faced when managing applications.
`
`Technology
`
`Figure 1: How org•nlzatlons deploy technology to solve buslneu problems
`
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`Page3
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`

`
`Keys to Managing Applications
`
`Any tool offering automated support for the
`application management function must posses
`two key attributes. It must take a holistic view of
`the environment and It must be adaptable to
`managing any technology.
`
`Taking a holistic view means managing all the
`components that make up the application. Any
`unmanaged component represents a weak link in
`the system and ultimately, the source of undetect(cid:173)
`ed problems which could affect the throughput of
`the application as a whole. Also, for purely practi(cid:173)
`cal reasons it makes sense to take a holistic view
`because of the interdependencies that exist
`between the different components. For example,
`managing a database properly is almost impossi(cid:173)
`ble if you do not consider the programs that
`access it, the frequency of this access and the
`complexity of the access paths taken to reach the
`data.
`
`The second key capability of the application man(cid:173)
`agement system is that it can manage potentially
`any technology. This is particularly important for
`large organizations since the choice of implemen(cid:173)
`tation options is so great.
`
`Page 4
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`

`
`PATROL and Application Management
`
`Ensuring applications run 24 hours a day calls for
`
`PATROL Knowledge Modules
`
`round the clock monitoring and proactive prob(cid:173)
`lem resolution. PATROL, BMC Software's
`
`application management system, is one of the
`only products in the market today that was devel(cid:173)
`oped specifically to solve these issues. Intelligent
`
`agents run on each managed server or worksta(cid:173)
`tion and serve to automatically discover and
`proactively monitor and manage all objects in the
`environment.
`
`When problems arise, PATROL's agents initiate
`appropriate recovery actions. PATROL's intelli(cid:173)
`gence keeps network traffic to a minimum by per(cid:173)
`forming actions without requiring constant
`communication with the console. Any problem
`that cannot be repaired are escalated to a central
`graphical management console where they are
`reported to administrators by voice alert, pager,
`fax, email or any other appropriate mechanism.
`
`PATROL provides an off-the-shelf solution to
`
`commonly encountered management scenarios
`such as managing a Sybase database, a UNIX
`operating system or an Oracle Financials
`application. BMC Software supplies this off-the(cid:173)
`shelf management capability in the form of knowl(cid:173)
`
`edge modules. Knowledge modules are libraries
`of expertise that contain rules for how PATROL
`will manage a specific object. Any number of
`knowledge modules can be loaded into PATROL
`to provide a complete solution to managing het(cid:173)
`erogeneous systems. Off-the-shelf knowledge
`modules are available for common technologies
`including Oracle, Sybase, CA-Openlngres and
`others. BMC Software also provides the ability for
`customers and third party vendors to create addi(cid:173)
`tional modules, making PATROL one of the most
`extensible and easily customizable application
`management systems on the market.
`
`Technology
`
`/
`
`t
`
`PATROL
`
`Figure 2: PATROL manages technology In sync with how It Is uMd to solve buslne .. problems
`
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`Page 5
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`

`
`Knowledge modules currently developed by
`BMC Software partners are generally designed to
`manage technology in which they have expertise.
`Partners include hardware vendors, such as
`Sequent Computers, Data General, application
`developers and system integrators. This
`approach ensures that a rich set of knowledge
`modules is available.
`
`Organizations are also free to develop their own
`knowledge modules to manage their own in(cid:173)
`house developed applications, plus the technolo(cid:173)
`gies not currently supported by BMC Software or
`one of BMC Software's partners. Because
`PATROL is so extensible, it can focus on manag(cid:173)
`ing technology as it is used in the organization,
`rather than just providing an out of box solution to
`isolated technology problems. This is especially
`important because the way in which technology is
`deployed will vary quite significantly across and
`between different organizations.
`
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`

`
`Automating Application Management: Advanced
`Micro Devices (AMD)
`
`Advanced Micro Devices (AMO) is a leading
`semiconductor manufacturer with headquarters in
`Santa Clara, Calif. Business problems faced by
`AMO stem from their manufacturing process
`being carried out on global scale. "Front end"
`fabrication of silicon wafers may start life in
`Malaysia, continue through Thailand, Singapore
`and Taiwan and finish with the "back end"
`assembly in the US. The fact that the manufactur(cid:173)
`ing process is highly complex with huge volumes
`of data being collected at each process point fur(cid:173)
`ther exacerbates this problem. For quality control
`purposes, this production data needs to be avail(cid:173)
`able wherever the lot is located.
`
`To solve this business problem, AMO has built an
`Oracle-based system called SAPPHiRE
`(Systematic Approach to Product Performance
`History in Reliability Engineering). A custom built
`replication server ensures that data is always
`available locally wherever it is needed. Of course,
`should this application ever be down, the entire
`manufacturing process is jeopardized potentially
`leading to unfulfilled orders and an idle plant.
`
`AMO manages this application with PATROL from
`BMC Software. PATROL gives administrators in
`Austin, Texas a complete picture of the
`application and alerts them to any problems that
`may arise. AMO purchased off-the-shelf PATROL
`knowledge modules for Oracle and UNIX, and
`took advantage of PATROL's extensibility features
`by developing their own knowledge module to
`monitor the replication of data that needs to exist
`worldwide. Because the manufacturing process
`is sequential, each site relies heavily on the other
`sites that do adjoining parts of the processing. To
`perform data correlation from the back-end to the
`
`front-end, its critical that each site knows the path
`and genealogy (the record of all the splits and
`combines the product has gone through during
`manufacturing) of each part. PATROL takes over
`the responsibility of monitoring this global manu(cid:173)
`facturing application and providing proactive noti(cid:173)
`fication of problems and potential problems.
`
`This example shows how technology solves busi(cid:173)
`ness problems and how PATROL contributes to
`this by managing the application in its entirety
`and not just the database component or the oper(cid:173)
`ating system. Because the application is so
`sophisticated, a true management solution could
`only be reached by using PATROL's sophisticat(cid:173)
`ed customization features.
`
`PATROL'S Differentiation
`
`PATROL's ability to manage different technolo(cid:173)
`gies through loadable knowledge modules is
`unique in the industry. It depends on an architec(cid:173)
`ture that makes a clear distinction between how
`problems are discovered and resolved and what
`technologies are to be managed.
`
`Without any knowledge modules loaded,
`PATROL consists of an architecture for generical(cid:173)
`ly discovering applications, detecting problems
`and resolving them when they occur. It knows
`how to manage an application generically, but
`does not know which ones to manage or how to
`specifically manage a particular application until
`a knowledge module is loaded.
`
`When a knowledge module is loaded for Oracle,
`for example, rules for discovering Oracle
`instances are automatically sent from the central
`management console to each agent where they
`
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`

`
`are applied as part of the agent's application dis(cid:173)
`covery cycle. Now PATROL knows how to discov(cid:173)
`er instances of an Oracle database. Agents that
`discover Oracle instan~es communicate with the
`management console to obtain rules about how
`to detect problems and fix them should they
`occur. The agent then has all the information it
`needs locally to resolve problems. This means
`time is not wasted and unnecessary network traf(cid:173)
`fic is not generated copying recovery procedures
`from a central console when they are required.
`Knowledge propagation is transparent which
`means that users do not need to worry about
`copying information from the central console to
`the independent agents.
`
`PATROL's clear distinction between how applica(cid:173)
`tions are managed generically and what specific
`technologies are to be managed makes it very
`adaptable to any given scenario. BMC Software
`knowledge module developers, BMC Software
`partners and end-users need only concern them(cid:173)
`selves with defining knowledge. They do not
`worry about how applications are to be discov(cid:173)
`ered across many servers, how parameters are to
`be scheduled and executed, how problem reso(cid:173)
`lution is implemented or how knowledge is propa(cid:173)
`gated across the management environment. All
`this is taken care of by PATROL.
`
`The Alternative
`
`Perhaps the best way to understand the benefits
`of PATROL's unique approach is to consider the
`alternative approach taken by other vendors. With
`other application or database management tools,
`the knowledge about the technology is hard
`coded into the base product together with the
`rules for knowledge propagation, parameter exe(cid:173)
`cution and application discovery. This means that
`each time a product is required to support a new
`technology or different technology, it has to be
`reconstructed from the ground up. This creates a
`
`significant task for the supplier and, for the end(cid:173)
`user, rules out any opportunity for extending the
`product. The net result is that the organization
`ends up with only a partial solution.
`
`Empowering PATROL with
`Knowledge
`
`Knowledge modules are created through
`PATROL's graphical management console. A
`knowledge module typically consists of
`application discovery rules, parameter definitions,
`recovery actions and menu commands.
`
`Application discovery rules describe how the
`application is to be discovered such as the file,
`executables and other resources that must exist
`for PATROL to recognize instances of the
`application. If PATROL agents make only a partial
`discovery, the application is deemed to be in a
`"not-ok" state. Parameters run against the
`application and return statistics about its status.
`Thresholds can be set for parameters which
`cause recovery actions to be initiated if they are
`reached.
`
`Application discovery rules and parameters can
`be written using any language. However, BMC
`Software has developed a sophisticated, yet easy
`to use application management language called
`PATROL Script Language (PSL) which caters to
`complex management scenarios not easily han-
`d led by conventional programming languages.
`
`Degrees of Extenslblllty
`
`It is important for any application management
`
`tool to be able to support any management sce(cid:173)
`nario. Although an off-the-shelf solution goes a
`long way toward solving many application man(cid:173)
`agement problems, the real differences that exist
`between organizations means they will always
`have a need to do things differently. In short, an
`
`Page 8
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`

`
`off-the-shelf solution, unless it can easily adapt to
`different scenarios. represents a constraint.
`
`associated with batch transactions, gateways to
`other systems or replication servers.
`
`The most sophisticated and complete level of
`application management occurs where the busi(cid:173)
`ness processes that are supported by the appli(cid:173)
`cations are also managed. Specifically, the
`overall system as it relates to a business problem
`is being managed as a whole.
`
`Only PATROL provides support for all levels of
`application management.
`
`There are four levels of application management.
`These are:·
`• Managing the application executables
`• Managing all application components as a sin(cid:173)
`gle entity
`• Managing the application's architecture
`• Managing the application together with the
`business processes that use it
`
`The simplest level of application management is
`the ability to discover programs and run-time files
`that make up the application. This allows the tool
`to detect when and where the application is run(cid:173)
`ning, and more important, to take recovery action
`should a process and/or file associated with the
`application suddenly disappear. At this level of
`application management, parameters are created
`that probe aspects of the application to detect
`specific problems and initiate appropriate recov(cid:173)
`ery actions should they occur. For example,
`detecting a full log file and notifying an operator.
`
`The next level of application management builds
`on this by grouping together the application exe(cid:173)
`cutables with other system components that
`make up the application. Once grouped in this
`manner, the application as a whole can be man(cid:173)
`aged as a single entity. In distributed computing
`environments, even the definition of an
`application can get quite complex. For example,
`a sales order entry system may be made up of a
`number of databases, gateways to legacy sys(cid:173)
`tems, desktop clients, servers, printers,
`application programs and other resources such
`as files. memory and CPU.
`
`The third level of application management occurs
`where the underlying architecture of the
`application is known by the management tool and
`is managed automatically. For example, queues
`
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`Page 10
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`
`Managing Business Processes: DataMat Trading
`Application, Italy
`
`Product Integration
`
`PATROL is clearly focused on application man(cid:173)
`agement, however, there are other functions
`
`under the distributed systems management
`umbrella that an organization may be looking for
`as well. For example, network configuration, tape
`management, systems operations, etc. As a
`result, BMC Software is committed to integrating
`PATROL with best of class products in other
`areas of systems management. These products
`may be part of BMC Software's data manage(cid:173)
`ment solutions or they may come from BMC
`Software partners.
`
`DataMat is· an application builder in Italy special(cid:173)
`
`izing in providing solutions for the financial com(cid:173)
`
`munity. The DataMat system allows stock trading
`organizations on the Milan Stock Exchange to
`quickly respond to customer requests for deal
`trading. This is an Oracle-based application inter(cid:173)
`faced directly to the Milan Stock Exchange which
`essentially receives stock orders and distributes
`them to traders for subsequent action. Any
`
`application that is involved in the management of
`large sums of money demands careful manage(cid:173)
`ment. PATROL from BMC Software is deployed
`as the application management component.
`PATROL'S knowledge modules for UNIX and
`Oracle ensure that the database and operating
`environment run efficiently. PATROL has also
`been extended to manage the application exe(cid:173)
`cutables themselves to ensure that unexpected
`service disruption is avoided since the cost of
`down time may be severe.
`
`In addition, since the cost, in business terms, of
`inefficient trader activity or misplaced orders can
`be severe, PATROL has also been extended to
`monitor the business processes themselves. In
`this case, it tracks incoming critical orders to
`ensure they are dealt wtth in a timely manner. It
`monitors the traders average order processing
`time and sets off an alarm if there are too many
`
`orders in a queue for a trader.
`
`This is a good example of how PATROL provides
`a complete application management solution. Not
`
`only is it managing the database, operating sys(cid:173)
`tem and application executables, it is also man(cid:173)
`aging the business processes that the application
`
`supports. In doing so, PATROL ensures that the
`organization using this application maximizes its
`full potential.
`
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`Page 12
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`
`Summary
`
`PATROL's application focus means the applica(cid:173)
`
`tions critical to a company's business can be
`managed in their entirety. PATROL ensures there
`
`are no weak links that can jeopardize the
`application availability and as a result have a
`negative affect on a company's bottom line.
`
`BMC Software has delivered this solution by
`developing an overall architecture which is effi(cid:173)
`cient, scalable and reliable. Off-the-shelf solutions
`
`for commonly encountered management scenar(cid:173)
`ios have been added. These have been
`enhanced with a comprehensive partner program
`that extends the off-the-shelf offerings to vendors
`other than BMC Software. Finally, the tools that
`BMC Software and its partners use to create
`knowledge modules are delivered to end-users
`allowing them to build their own customized
`knowledge modules for a complete applications
`management solution.
`
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`Page 13
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`Page 14
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`
`For more information on
`PATROL, call BMC Software at
`713 918-8800 or 800 841-2031
`
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