Integrating NerveCenter with a Network Management Platform - Integrating NerveCenter with HP OpenView Network Node Manager - The Reliability of NerveCenter Informs Sent to HP OpenView Network Node Manager -
Sending NerveCenter Informs to HP OpenView Network Node Manager      How to Configure OpenView to Integrate with NerveCenter

The Reliability of NerveCenter Informs Sent to HP OpenView Network Node Manager

Since NerveCenter informs are sent via the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) they tend to be more reliable than SNMP traps. TCP allows for the following:

• NerveCenter informs take priority over SNMP traps.
• A direct connection is made between the NerveCenter Server and the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter.
• The NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter can acknowledge the receipt of a NerveCenter inform.

The following diagram illustrates how the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter acknowledges informs.

How NerveCenter handles inform acknowledgement

When a NerveCenter behavior model performs the Inform alarm action:

• The NerveCenter Server sends an Inform message to the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter. The NerveCenter Server places the inform in a queue.
• The NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter sends the inform message to OpenView. At the same time, the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter sends a packet back to the NerveCenter Server acknowledging it has received the inform packet.
• Once the NerveCenter Server receives the inform acknowledgement, it deletes the inform from its queue.

If for any reason the NerveCenter Server loses its connection to the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter the informs will be held in its inform queue. Once the server regains its connection, any inform that was not acknowledged as received will be sent again.

By default, the NerveCenter Server is not set to have informs acknowledged. If you want NerveCenter to keep track of informs and their acknowledgement, you must enable the inform acknowledgement feature. The section How to Save NerveCenter Informs until Acknowledgement explains how to enable the inform acknowledgement feature.

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   To use the Inform acknowledgement feature, you must use version 3.6 or later of NerveCenter Server and the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter.

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While the connection between the NerveCenter Server and the OpenView Platform Adapter is down, any new informs will be placed in the inform queue. The queue length is limited. If the number of informs waiting to be sent exceeds the queue limit, NerveCenter will delete the oldest inform so the newest inform can be added to the queue. If NerveCenter drops informs it will also fire the predefined trigger NC_INFORMS_LOST. (See the book Designing and Managing Behavior Models for complete details on using this and other predefined triggers in behavior models.) By default, the queue depth is set to 10000 informs. You can however set the queue to whatever depth you prefer. The section How to Configure the Inform Queue Depth explains how to set the inform queue depth.

How to Save NerveCenter Informs until Acknowledgement

By default, NerveCenter Server does not save informs to wait acknowledgement. If you want NerveCenter to keep track of informs until the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter acknowledges their receipt, you must enable the inform acknowledgement feature. This section explains how to enable the inform acknowledgement feature.

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   To use the Inform acknowledgement feature, you must use version 3.6 or later of NerveCenter Server and the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter.

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  To enable inform acknowledgement:

1. Open NerveCenter Administrator and connect to the appropriate NerveCenter Server. If you need help opening NerveCenter Administrator or connecting to a NerveCenter Server, see Managing NerveCenter.
2. Select the Actions tab.

   NerveCenter displays the Actions tab.

   

   In the Inform OV area is a checkbox labeled Save informs until acknowledged by OVPA. By default, this box is not selected.

3. Check the box labeled Save informs until acknowledged by OVPA.
4. Select Save.

The NerveCenter Server will now save Informs in its queue until the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter acknowledges their receipt.

How to Configure the Inform Queue Depth

When the NerveCenter inform acknowledgement feature is enabled, any new informs will be placed in the Inform Queue should the NerveCenter Server lose its connection to the NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter. Once the connection is restored, NerveCenter will resend any unacknowledged informs. The section How to Save NerveCenter Informs until Acknowledgement explains how to enable the inform acknowledgement feature.

The inform queue length is limited. If the number of informs waiting to be sent exceeds the queue limit, NerveCenter will delete the oldest inform so the newest inform can be added to the queue. If NerveCenter drops informs it will also fire the predefined trigger NC_INFORMS_LOST. (See the book Designing and Managing Behavior Models for complete details on using this and other predefined triggers in behavior models.)

This section will step you through the process of setting the maximum Inform Queue depth.

 
  To configure the maximum depth for the Inform Queue:

1. Open NerveCenter Administrator and connect to the appropriate NerveCenter Server. If you need help opening NerveCenter Administrator or connecting to a NerveCenter Server, see Managing NerveCenter.
2. Select the Actions tab.

   NerveCenter displays the Actions tab.

   

3. In the Max Queue Depth box enter the desired number of informs you want to be saved in the Inform Queue.

   By default, the Inform Queue depth is set to a maximum of 10000 informs.

4. Select Save.

When the number of informs in the Inform Queue exceed the number entered in Max Queue Depth, NerveCenter will begin dropping informs to include more recent informs.