Brocade Fabric Watch Administrator's Guide v6.1.0 (53-1000601-02, June 2008)

Fabric Watch Administrator’s Guide 3
53-1000601-02
Fabric Watch and Web Tools
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DRAFT: BROCADE CONFIDENTIAL
Fabric Watch and Web Tools
Web Tools provides a graphical user interface that can be launched from an Internet browser as an
alternative to Telnet and the command line interface. You can use Web Tools to perform any of the
following Fabric Watch-related operations:
• Activate Fabric Watch.
• View fabric and switch events.
• View and modify threshold and alarm configurations with the Fabric Watch view.
• Upload and download the configuration file.
• View and configure the FRU module.
• View and configure the e-mail address to which event messages are sent.
• View Fabric Watch reports.
Refer to the Web Tools Administrator’s Guide for information about how to use Web Tools.
Introduction to fabric health
Fabric health refers to the capability of the fabric to support data being routed through it. A healthy
fabric enables effective data transmission between networked devices.
Although the concept of fabric health initially seems fairly simple, it can be a deep and complex
topic due to the number of factors that are involved. One of the more obvious criteria for fabric
health is the condition of the network hardware. A switch or port failure could easily prevent data
packets from reaching their destination. Network traffic can also influence fabric health.
If the number of packets routed through a port exceeds the port bandwidth, it causes network
delays and packet losses. Even environmental factors can become issues, as network hardware
can fail to function properly when stored in locations that do not meet the environmental conditions
for the device. For example, switches can fail when stored in rooms that are too hot.
Because of the varied and complex factors in determining fabric health, you need fabric monitoring
software such as Fabric Watch to help you to quickly detect, identify, and resolve fabric health
issues by continuously monitoring possible issues and reporting any potential concerns. Fabric
Watch automatically provides detailed reports on detected issues and helps you correct failures.
Fabric Watch provides customizable monitoring thresholds. You can configure Fabric Watch to
provide notification before problems arise, such as reporting when network traffic through a port is
approaching the bandwidth limit. This information enables you to perform preemptive network
maintenance such as trunking or zoning and avoid potential network failures.