Advanced Management Technologies for Exchange 5.5

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Advanced Management Technologies For Exchange
5.5 Greg ToddProgram ManagerNT Solutions
GroupBMC Software, Inc.
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(No Transcript)
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Agenda

• Current issues with problem diagnosis
• Application availability timeline
• Theory of root cause analysis (RCA)
• Primer on RCA
• How RCA can help you today
• Demos of RCA on Exchange 5.5
• Systems management vision
• Management maturity curve
• The future of Exchange management

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The Business Problem

• Event automation 1 priority of IT executives
• Problem diagnosis is a critical aspect that
  requires attention
• Wasted Time80 of down time spent diagnosing20
  of time spent fixing
• Wasted ResourcesDiagnosis often a
  finger-pointing exercise
• Frustrated UsersUsers have no idea what to expect

Gartner, 1998
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Application Availability Timeline
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Application Availability Timeline
time
PoF
PoN
PoD
PoR
PoP
Root Cause Analysis
Monitoring
Recovery
Evolution
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Application Availability Timeline
Application Violating Service LevelSignificant
Decrease
FasterServiceRestoration
time
PoF
PoN
PoD
PoR
PoP
Root Cause Analysis Diagnosis Time Reduced
Monitoring
Recovery
Evolution
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Benefits Of RCA

• Based on well-established theories
• Quicker problem resolution
• Problem isolation saves resources to address the
  real problem
• Symptom filtering allows administrator to ignore
  sympathetic events
• Performs tests to find the root cause
• Far superior to rules-based approach
• Key enabler to make systems self-sufficient
• Provides impact analysis capability

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RCAKey concepts

• Symptoms are problems tobe investigated
• Faults are the root causes ofthese symptoms
• Tests are active tasks whichgather information

RCA is a problem analysis methodology geared
towards finding the real cause of a problem and
preventing it from happening again.
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Rules-Based Approach Vs. RCA

• Rules-Based
• Symptom received
• Possible causes looked up in a fixed table of
  rules
• Set of possible causes presented to user
• Only suggested actions can be provided to user

• Root Cause Analysis
• Symptom received
• Possible causes determined from a generic fault
  model
• Each cause is tested against suspects
• Actual root cause is presented to user after
  suspects are eliminated
• Specific actions can be provided to user

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Root Cause AnalysisFor Exchange Server
Three components that work synergistically
Exchange Server
Windows NT
IP Network
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High Level RCA Architecture
EnterpriseConsole
Mid-LevelManager
ManagedNode
ManagedNode
ManagedNode
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RCA Architecture BMC PATROL
Exchange Server and OS KMs
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Root Cause AnalysisSample problem
Remote Office Exchange Server
Inbound Server
T1 Link to Remote Office
Exchange Server D
Inbound Messages
BridgeheadServer
To Internet
BridgeheadServer
Firewall
Exchange Server A
Outbound Messages
Exchange Server B
Outbound Server
Exchange Server C
Legend
Internal Mail
Internal Internet Mail
Internet Mail
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PATROL RCASample problem

• Symptom received by model
• Queue Growth Alarms from multiple Exchange
  Servers

• Suspected root causes found in model

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PATROL RCASample problem

• Suspected root causes tested

• Root cause isolated
• CPU usage high on bridgehead

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Demo

• Simple RCA Scenario

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Sample Generic Fault Model
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Sample Specific Fault Model
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Sample Specific Fault ModelClose-up
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Demo

• RCA Engine
• Causal Directed Graphs

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Demo

• Root Cause Analysis
• Exchange, NT, IP Network

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Demo

• Impact Analysis
• Exchange, NT, IP Network

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Benefits Of RCA

• Based on well-researched theories
• Quicker problem resolution
• Problem isolation saves resources to address the
  real problem
• Symptom filtering allows administrator to ignore
  sympathetic events
• Performs tests to find the root cause
• Far superior to rules-based approach
• Key enabler to make systems self-sufficient
• Provides impact analysis capability

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Systems Management Vision

• Wheres all this stuff going?

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Phases Of Management Maturity
Based on commonly known process control theory
Applies directly to management of complex
software systems
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Maturity Phases
MONITOR

• Monitoring is plumbing
• Included with Windows 2000 and Exchange 2000
• Server-centric data and event collection
• Monitors component and system data
• No awareness of other systems or apps
• Basic alerting, scripting, and actions
• WMI, PerfMon, HealthMon,Exchange 2000 monitoring

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Maturity Phases
MANAGE

• Application-specific and server-centric
• View and take action on components
• Availability and performance monitoring
• Rich reporting
• Application SLA definition
• ASAP resolution when out of compliance
• Most correlation done in your head
• Some tools have reached this level
• Key enabler to Control phase

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Maturity Phases
CONTROL

• Places system automation in control
• Provides holistic view of systems
• Enables high level of SLA compliance
• Quick problem diagnosis
• Action Reaction
• Proactive correction before users feel impact
• Management automation maturing

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Maturity Phases
STABILIZE

• Provides utility-level service
• Reliable as electric, telephone, water
• Assures continuous application service
• Clusters
• Built-in fault tolerance, re-routing, workload
  management
• Failure does not impact service
• Prediction / impact analysis
• Awareness of impact on SLAs caused by planned
  changes

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Maturity Phases
VIRTUALIZE

• The system learns how to intelligently deal with
  various issues
• Automatic everything
• Actions and responses for the IT group
• Alerts and communications
• Acquires and stores knowledge for future
  reference
• Uses policy engines to control actions
• Systems become truly self-sufficient
• User becomes self-serviced

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Virtualization ExampleProblem Research Assistant

• Correlates problem root cause diagnoses with
• Previous resolutions - presents the user with
  previous remedies based on exact matches or best
  guess
• On-line technical documentation - integrates with
  vendor-supplied support documentation (e.g.
  Microsoft Knowledge Base articles)
• Technical Support Request Generator - formats
  required user information and diagnosed fault
  into a support request, according to vendor-
  specific templates

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Virtualization ExampleProblem Research Assistant
SupportRequests
DiagnosedFaults
Problem ResearchAssistant
Correlation Backend
Bridge
Previous Resolutions
Help
RCA Server
Domain Model
Domain Model
OnlineTechnicalArticles
ProblemResponseHistoryRepository
Domain Model
IP Reachability Analyzer
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RCA Takes Management To The Next Level
VIRTUALIZE
STABILIZE
Many Players Many Choices
CONTROL
MANAGE
RootCauseAnalysis
MONITOR
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Summary

• GOAL No interruptions in service
• RCA is key to Exchange availability
• Accelerates the diagnosis process
• Can assess impact of failures before-hand
• Not unreasonable to achieve five 9s
• RCA paves the way to virtualization
• Managed systems that learn and adapt
• You never have to intervene
• Free to invest more time in pro-activity
• RCA is in beta now!!

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Call To Action

• Demand sophistication and simplicity in Exchange
  management solutions
• Solutions that learn
• Solutions that are easy to use
• Start thinking of Exchange availability in terms
  of utility-level service
• Consider where to implement RCA in your current
  environment
• Bring along those whom you service
• Take care of your users
• Communicate with them as you progress

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