BlackBerry User Messages Test

Whenever the BlackBerry® Enterprise server experiences processing bottlenecks or flaky connectivity with the BlackBerry devices, the delivery of messages to the devices is bound to be affected. Anomalies can range from a delay in delivery to total failure of the delivery mechanism. To assess the extent of the damage, administrators would need to know the length of the pending message queue, the count of failed messages, and also the number and names of users who are affected by the delay/delivery failure. The BlackBerry User Message Details test provides this information. For every user whose BlackBerry device is connected to BES, this test reports the number of pending messages, failed messages, and expired messages, so that administrators can accurately identify the devices/users who were worst hit by processing delays/failures in the BES.

Target of the test : A BlackBerry Enterprise Server

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each user's BlackBerry device that is connected to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed
Host	The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured.
SNMPPort	The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; The default value is 161.
SNMPVersion	By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.
SNMPCommunity	The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the firewall. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.
Username	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter.
Context	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the Username provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the Username in the Context text box. By default, this parameter is set to none.
AuthPass	Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPversion selected is v3.
Confirm Password	Confirm the AuthPass by retyping it here.
AuthType	This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options: MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit
EncryptFlag	This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option.
EncryptType	If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types: DES - Data Encryption Standard 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard AES - Advanced Encryption Standard AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit
EncryptPassword	Specify the encryption password here.
Confirm Password	Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.
Timeout	Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.
Data Over TCP	By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.
EngineID	This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Filtered messages	Indicates the number of messages that were filtered based on the filter preferences set by this user on his/her BlackBerry handheld device during the last measurement period.	Number	By using the Filter option, the user provides directions to the BlackBerry server to automatically redirect the email messages to the specified location or the user can just try to block the messages using this option.
Pending messages	Indicates the number of messages that were waiting to be delivered to this user's BlackBerry handheld device.	Number	When the BlackBerry Enterprise Server is unable to deliver a message to a BlackBerry handheld device, the pending count on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for that BlackBerry handheld device user will increase by one. Messages cannot be delivered to the BlackBerry handheld device if it is outside an area of wireless network coverage or is turned off. Once the BlackBerry handheld device is turned on, or returns to an area with wireless network coverage, the pending messages will be delivered. The pending count on the server will then decrease on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Comparing the value of this measure across users will help you identify to which user the maximum number of pending messages were addressed.
Expired messages	Indicates the number of messages that were not delivered to this user's BlackBerry handheld device and are subsequently purged by the Blackberry Enterprise Server during the last measurement period.	Number	Ten minutes after the connection between the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and the BlackBerry Infrastructure closes, the BlackBerry Infrastructure notifies the sender’s BlackBerry device and deletes the message that is not delivered. The wireless network can queue up to 5 undelivered messages for up to 7 days. If more than 5 undelivered messages exist in the queue, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server stores the messages in the BlackBerry Configuration Database. The BlackBerry Infrastructure does not store data to send to BlackBerry devices. If the BlackBerry Infrastructure is not responding and the connection closes unexpectedly, the wireless network deletes the undelivered messages. The BlackBerry device does not receive the messages and it does not send acknowledgment packets to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. When the BlackBerry Infrastructure becomes available again, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server resends messages that it did not receive acknowledgment packets for. Comparing the value of this measure across users will help you identify to which user the maximum number of expired messages were originally addressed.
Failed messages	Indicates the number of email messages that the messaging agent received from this user's BlackBerry handheld device and was unable to process during the last measurement period.	Number	Comparing the value of this measure across users will help you identify which user's messages failed the most.
Forwarded messages	Indicates the number of messages that were forwarded to this user's BlackBerry handheld device from the BlackBerry Enterprise Server during the last measurement period.	Number
Failed connections	Indicates the number of times the connection between the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and this user's BlackBerry handheld device failed during the last measurement period.	Number	Comparing the value of this measure across users will help you identify which user's handheld experienced the maximum number of connection failures. You may want to investigate the network links between such devices and the BES to ascertain the reasons for the frequent failures.