Managing NerveCenter - Administering NerveCenter - The Role of a NerveCenter Administrator -
NerveCenter Login Rights      Running the NerveCenter Server

The Role of a NerveCenter Administrator

Because NerveCenter is intended to run in the background, quietly monitoring your network, it does not require a great deal of administrative maintenance. There are, however, a few regular habits a NerveCenter administrator should develop. These include:

• Backing up the NerveCenter database. See Backing up the Database on page 162.
• Checking to see that there is available disk space for each log file.
• Checking log files to make sure they are truncating to the correct size. See Specifying Settings for Log Management on page 148.
• Checking for logged errors or messages in the event viewer for Windows or the system log files for UNIX. These errors or messages could indicate problems that could be currently affecting NerveCenter performance or could later develop into a problem.
• Checking all your NerveCenter Server's Server Status pages to make sure all necessary connections are available. See Viewing Information about the Status of a NerveCenter Server on page 42. You will want to monitor information on the following tabs:
  • Node Source: Is the connection with the node data source still available?
  • Inform Configuration: Is the inform recipient list current?
  • Connected NerveCenter: Does this list show all the NerveCenter Servers that may potentially send the active server an inform packet?
  • OpC Host: Is the connection to the machine hosting OpenView IT/Operations still available.
• Updating any relevant changes in IP addresses, such as the location of a node data source or inform recipients.
• Keeping various NerveCenter login rights current to reflect changes in personnel. See Managing NerveCenter Security on page 129.
• Keeping the NerveCenter serial numbers up to date. See Working with NerveCenter Serial Numbers on page 53.
• Maintaining your network management platform with good procedures. For example, in Network Node Manager running ovtopofix -a weekly to reconcile the Network Node Manager databases.
• Monitor Open Software Technical Support Web for news ideas and procedures at www.open.com.