Cluster HTTPS Details Test

This test auto-discovers the HTTPS clusters of the target Coyote Load Balancer and for each HTTPS cluster, this test reports the active connections and calculates load on each server in a HTTPS cluster. Also, this test helps administrators to figure out the HTTPS cluster that is busy processing data/compressed HTTPS responses in HTTPS clusters thus enabling administrators to initiate pre-emptive measures.

Target of the test: Coyote Load Balancer

Agent deploying the test: An external agent

Outputs of the test: One set of results for each HTTPS cluster of the Coyote Load Balancer that is being monitored.

Descriptor: HTTPS Cluster

Configurable parameters for the test

Parameter

Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the target host to be monitored.

SNMPPort

The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; the default value is 161.

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.

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.

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 switch. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

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.

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.

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, 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.

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.

ISPASSIVE

If the value chosen is Yes, then the server under consideration is a passive server in a cluster. No alerts will be generated if the server is not running. Measures will be reported as "Not applicable" by the agent if the server is not up.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement

Description

Measurement Unit

Interpretation

Total connections

Indicates the total number of connections processed in this HTTPS cluster.

Number

If a sudden/consistent increase in the value of this measure is noticed, you might have to investigate further to identify the reason for this occurrence.

Active connections

Indicates the number of active connections currently available in this HTTPS cluster.

Number

This measure indicates the connection load on the server. By observing the graph of this measure over time, you can analyze the rate of growth of the load on the server. By comparing the value of this measure across all the clusters, you can instantly identify overloaded clusters; this in turn brings irregularities in load balancing to light.

Connection usage

Indicates the current usage of connections for this HTTPS cluster.

Percent

 

Total transactions

Indicates the total number of transactions (client requests and server responses) processed on this HTTPS cluster.

Number

 

Data received

Indicates the data received by this HTTPS cluster.

KB

Compare the values of these measures across the HTTPS clusters to identify the HTTPS cluster that is experiencing the maximum traffic.

Data transmitted

Indicates the data transmitted by this HTTPS cluster.

KB

Compare the values of these measures across the HTTPS clusters to identify the HTTPS cluster that is experiencing the maximum traffic.

Current compressed HTTP responses

Indicates the number of HTTPS responses currently compressed by this HTTPS cluster.

Number

 

Total compressed HTTP responses

Indicates the total number of HTTPS responses compressed by this HTTPS cluster, since restart.

Number

 

Compressed data received

Indicates the total amount of compressed data received by this HTTPS cluster.

KB

Comparing the values of these measures across the clusters will help you identify the cluster that is the most busy cluster in terms of receiving compressed data. This in turn, helps the administrators to identify load balancing irregularities, if any.

Compressed data transmitted

Indicates the total amount of compressed data transmitted by this HTTPS cluster.

KB

Comparing the values of these measures across the clusters will help you identify the cluster that is the most busy cluster in terms of transmitting compressed data. This in turn, helps the administrators to identify load balancing irregularities, if any.