NimBUS for Active Directory Monitoring

Summary:
The NimBUS for Active Directory Monitoring solution periodically collects availability and performance data from Active Directory components using specialized software probes. Status data is consolidated, analyzed and displayed in graphical enterprise consoles, performance reports and SLA reports.

Active Directory is a collection of integrated Directory Services. For Active Directory to function optimally the underlying set of supporting services must be performing. The NimBUS for Active Directory solution monitors not only the Active Directory service and each of the underlying components but also delivers a complete 360° view of the service, monitoring the response times experienced by end users. It includes real-time alerting, performance reporting, and service level monitoring to ensure that Active Directory meets business expectations.

Primary Features:

Realtime alerting - proactive response for conditions impacting Active Directory service quality
Performance monitoring and reporting - degradation detection and resource capacity planning
SLA creation, monitoring and reporting - managing Active Directory QoS in line with business requirements

Additional Features:

Web-based Active Directory Enterprise Console - intuitive display and event navigation
Event log parsing for Active Directory "error" messages with prioritized alarm generation
Flexible alarm notification options, i.e. pager, SMS, email, cell and more
Active Directory alarm escalation for alerts that have not been handled within a designated time
Active Directory process monitoring with automated stop/restart options
Active Directory service core (CPU, Disk, Memory) resource utilization monitoring
Active Directory service edge (LDAP, DNS, DHCP) response time monitoring
File Replication Service Monitoring
Active Directory Performance Counter monitoring
Active Directory SLA 'rate-until-violation' calculation
Web-based Performance, QoS and SLA Reporting

Figure 1. NimBUS for Active Directory provides performance monitoring and reporting for key Active Directory Services. This performance awareness is critical for early detection of degradation and excessive resource consumption trends. The screen shot below shows the results of LDAP response time monitoring.

Figure 2. Service Level Agreement (SLA) and Service Level Objective (SLO) creation, monitoring and reporting are key functions of NimBUS for Active Directory. In the Active Directory SLA configuration depicted below, DNS and LDAP directory services (technologies that Active Directory is dependant upon) have their own SLOs defined. Each are weighted according to their potential impact on Active Directory service quality, and then each are closely monitored to ensure that neither compromises the Active Directory SLA. In this scenario DNS has breached its service level objective and as a result the Active Directory service has fallen out of SLA compliance for the specified period.

Figure 3. The 'NimBUS Manager' console depicted below is displaying a listing of specialized Active Directory alarm and performance monitoring probes. These probes are easily distributed via drag-n-drop to all servers supporting Active Directory services.