Owner's Manual

MetaConsole for Unicenter NSM: Getting Started for Canon Guide 6
Are you managing devices of multiple service providers?
To manage devices of multiple service providers, you might consider dividing the
management load among multiple MetaConsole servers. This would also allow you
to have multiple administrators with different job functions (such as managing
servers and managing printers).
Are you managing a large number of devices?
To manage many devices, you might consider dividing the management load among
multiple MetaConsole servers. By decreasing the load on each MetaConsole server,
you allow the server to respond more quickly to client requests and improve client
performance.
Do devices of the same service provider require different settings?
If different devices belonging to the same service provider require different settings,
you can set up two MetaConsole servers, each with a different range for the service
provider and with the appropriate alarm events selected.
Must the navigation tree reflect logical groupings of devices?
If devices have logical groupings that need to be reflected in the client’s navigation
tree, you can use multiple servers. For example, Marketing and Engineering might
be set up with separate servers so users from each department can locate appropriate
devices easily.
Are you running MetaConsole across a firewall?
If you are using MetaConsole across a firewall, you might consider setting up a
MetaConsole server with an address accessible outside the firewall and configure it
to manage only the devices that you want the person accessing this server to be able
to manage. As MetaConsole clients use HTTP to access the MetaConsole server,
access to the server itself will be available; HTTP access is typically available across
a firewall.
Running MetaConsole as a Service
If you are running MetaConsole on a computer running Windows NT or Windows 2000,
you might consider running MetaConsole as a service. Services can be started
automatically after the operating system boots and do not require a user to log on. This is
especially useful when you are running MetaConsole on an unattended computer.
Choosing MetaConsole Discovery
The properties file console.properties contains the variable NetaphorDiscover,
which determines whether MetaConsole does device discovery (see Chapter 5 for
console.properties details).
If
NetaphorDiscover is set to true, the MetaConsole server performs discovery, and
MetaConsole can be used to manage devices. This places all relevant devices in the same
place in the map, for easy monitoring. If
NetaphorDiscover is set to false, the
MetaConsole server does not perform discovery, and MetaConsole cannot be used to
manage devices.