ELM Enterprise Manager - What's New in ELM 6.5
See What's New in ELM Enterprise Manager Version
6.5
We're excited to announce that TNT Software's ELM
Enterprise Manager 6.5 is now available! This new release
is packed full of enhancements for performance, 
reliability, ease of use and more. Monitoring
servers and managing event logs has never been easier and gets
better with each new release of ELM.
The latest version pushes the bar even higher with a new
database design, workflow improvements, new licenses offering a
versatile mix of monitoring features, more configurability and more
control.
Here you'll find highlights of the newest features in ELM
Enterprise Manager 6.5.
New, Improved Database Schema - Smaller Footprint, Better
Performance
One of the key accomplishments of ELM
Enterprise Manager 6.5 is an entirely new and improved database
design. With the mountainous volumes of event data it is a well
known fact that databases can grow exponentially large, causing
difficulty with performance and storage management.
To counteract the storage management
challenges, we have created a new, normalized database structure
for ELM 6.5. This new database utilises a number of different
approaches for storing messages more effectively.
The first and most noticeable difference is a Star Schema. By
reducing redundancy through breaking the different types of data
down that make up an event, separating format strings from
parameters, and reallocating space requirements for normalisation,
the overall footprint of the database has been dramatically
reduced.
Test results in our production lab averaged a reduction of 54%
in database size for event records!
v6.5 also utilises
features in SQL Server 2008 as well as new embedded code
(which is used a a function of SQL) that allow events to be batched
in memory and inserted into the database more efficiently than
previous methods of events going in one by one.
Security improvements have also been made by allowing ELM to
schedule and run the maintenance plan now as opposed to a SQL
Agent.
Note:
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (or newer) is required for ELM
Enterprise Manager 6.5
Partitioning: A new
strategy for partitioning has also been implemented which allows
SQL to skip inapplicable data (whenever possible) when running
queries, resulting in better performance.
Archiving
Archiving is more efficient, with a new interface for Retention
Policy that allows better controls and filters that build the
queries for archiving. There are fewer "moving parts" allowing the
queries to run more uniformly and condensed rather than
sequentially resulting in better performance.
SQL Server 2008 Requirement
In order to take advantage of the new
database features in ELM Enterprise Manager it will require access
to SQL Server 2008 and creation of a new database. However, after
surveying clients and gathering feedback from database experts, our
studies have shown the overall improvements gained far outweigh the
cost, if any, of migrating to SQL Server 2008.
*Percent of reduction in database size will vary in
different environments.
New Licenses
Extensive research and
customer input allowed TNT Software to take a close look at
the monitoring features offered and the most used and high
valued capabilities users have been seeking. New with version 6.5
is what TNT Software call a "Core" License - combining the best of
the best at a more attractive price point. Details of each of the
features found in this new license can be found in the links below,
which will take you to TNT's web site.
TNT
Software's studies also indicated that customers would benefit from
a lighter weight product offering to compliment our Windows server
and workstation monitoring. We've introduced the new "Network"
License to satisfy this need as well with version 6.5. This new
license includes features most valuable for network devices
(firewalls, routers, switches, etc.) and is priced to bring even
more value to ELM monitoring environments.
Notification Methods Connected to Event Views - No More
Rules
With the powerful event filtering capabilities in ELM for
collection, views, notifications and reporting, TNT's market
research indicated that this enormous amount of flexibility
sometimes led to a disconnect between seeing an event and
configuring ELM to send a notification on that event occurring.
TNT Software's product management and development teams
were put to the test to come up with a more streamlined way for
their end users to setup notifications based on what the
users are seeing in the ELM Console. The previous method for
creating a notification was based on three building blocks.
- A Filter looking for specific conditions.
- A Notification Method (email, pager, etc.)
- A Rule tying #1 and #2 together.
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In ELM Enterprise Manager 6.5, they've taken a new approach to
setting up Notification Methods based on Event Views to streamline
and simplify setting up notifications. The basic premise is
"What You See is What You Get." Rules have gone
away.
Notification Methods are Now Tied Directly to
Views
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Each View now has the option of
assigning a Notification Method directly to it. Any events being
displayed in that Event View (based on the Filter criteria) will
generate a Notification (or increment the Notification threshold
counter).
This presents a few different options.
You can customise an existing Event View, fine tuning Filters, and
then setup a Notification Method.
You can also create a new Event View
(or new Event Views) based off of an event and assign a
Notification from that new Event View. Views could be created for
various operational groups (Security, Network Managers, etc) and
filters setup to include events and therefore Notifications
specific to each of these groups as well.
Event Views and therefore Notifications
can also be assigned to Agent Categories to improve
organisation.
However you prefer to approach it,
assigning Notification Methods is much easier to do, while
retaining the same rich, powerful filtering ability ELM is known
for.
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What happens to existing Notification Rules when I
upgrade?
During the upgrade process from older versions of ELM to version
6.5 the installer looks for existing Notification Rules. Any that
are found are converted to a new Event View and the existing Event
Filters and Notification methods are imported into and assigned to
that Event View.
Notification methods have also been improved with the addition
of variables in the Message Contains field which include the Event
View(s) that triggered the notification(s). This makes it even
easier to pinpoint where notifications of Event Activity are coming
from. (ie. This Event View triggered this Event from this Machine
at this Time...)
Ping Monitor in All Licenses
It's the simple things in life that make us happy. With that in
mind TNT Software has added the Ping Monitor to ALL of the licenses
available in ELM Enterprise Manager. This simple but effective
feature will allow you to continually check availability of all
systems being monitored by ELM without the need for other 3rd party
tools or applications.
Ping Monitor
The Ping Monitor sends custom ICMP echo requests to verify
TCP/IP connectivity and the Quality of Service. It provides an
early warning alert of a problem with the remote system's
status.
Agent Categories Available in Filters - Use to
customise Event Views, Notifications and More
ELM's powerful filtering capability
just got more powerful! TNT software has added the ability to
utilise your existing Agent Categories within filters. Pick one or
several categories as your filter criteria for even more control of
your Event Views, Notifications and More.
Dynamic Control
In ELM 6.5, any agent you add to a category is automatically
added to existing Filters that are using that Category in it's
criteria. You no longer have to go in and add the agent to the
Agent Name field of the Filter when you make changes.
Similarly, if you were to remove an agent from an Agent Category
- you don't have to go in and manually remove that agent name from
the Filter criteria. It happens dynamically!
Performance and Usability Improvements
Agents Tab Added to Monitor Items
At times a situation
arises where you need to modify an existing Monitor Item, but you
may not realise just how many systems will be affected by this
change.
Now in ELM 6.5 you'll find a new tab on each Monitor Item
labeled "Agents". This shows all Agents in your ELM deployment that
the Monitor Item is assigned to.
This is also a great shortcut if you want to add or remove this
monitoring feature to Agents in your deployment!
Shortcut links have also be included for deploying a
New Agent to a system where you wish to use this
monitoring feature, or to view Properties of an
existing Agent.
Quickly Add Performance Counters to a Performance
Collector
Another great shortcut fo
r fine tuning your
Performance Collectors is the ability to quickly add a new
Performance Counter through a shortcut TNT has added! This simple
feature makes working with performance metrics in ELM a lot
easier.
This will also save users a lot of time and moving around to
different parts of ELM to get to the Performance Counter
Definitions they want to add to Performance Collectors.
Event View Improvements
A common practice with ELM's Event Views is to switch to Summary
View mode and sort by count to see where your heaviest event
activity is and then investigate. However, in a busy environment
this can be challenging as events continue to flood in, the ELM
Console continues to refresh and your sorted event count can move
quickly down the screen as seen in this example.
The Pause feature found in Detail Event Views (where events
really move quickly!) has been added to the Summary Event View as
well in ELM Enterprise Manager 6.5, making investigation into event
activity much easier.
New Shortcut to Create Event Filters from Within an
Event View
TNT Software has made it much more efficient to work with Event
Filters in Event Views by adding a quick shortcut to create New
Event Filters. Whether you are creating a new Event View or
modifying an existing one, this new shortcut will be a real time
saver when you don't have an existing Event Filter in place and
need to create a new one on-the-fly.
Command Script Notification Now Supports
Microsoft PowerShell
By popular demand, TNT Software has added Microsoft PowerShell
support to ELM's Command Script Notification. PowerShell provides
full access to COM and WMI, enabling administrators to perform
administrative tasks on both local and remote Windows systems.
Streamlining and Efficiency
TNT Software has gone through ELM Enterprise Manager
from top to bottom, from Monitoring to Reporting, in an effort
to streamline, standardise, and consolidate menus, features, and
shortcuts. This effort has led to some older features being
removed, unused features being disabled, and other features being
easier to find. There are too many little enhancements to list them
all but they're sure you'll find the overall experience more
efficient and streamlined leading to a better experience working
with ELM.
Alerts Container Discontinued
In an effort to streamline the UI and minimise confusion, the
Alerts container has been removed from ELM Enterprise Manager 6.5.
Just the Alerts sometimes gave the impression that they were some
form of notification method which they were not. For current ELM
users who have been utilising the Alerts container in their daily
operations have no fear; we have included a way to easily re-enable
Alerts for those who request.
The upgrade to ELM Enterprise Manager 6.5 is free of charge to
all clients with a current Support and Maintenance Agreement.