You need to consider these points:
NetView is great for SNMP device management.
NetView is SNMP based (connectionless), TEC is ORB/socket connection based
(assuming TEC is communicating with Tivoli framework products). If you have
devices (e.g. routers) sending SNMP traps to NetView, you have no security they
got to NetView. On the other hand, communication between TEC and Tivoli
framework enabled devices is more reliable being connection based.
Yes, NetView polls, but so does Tivoli aents such as Sentry, however Sentry
agents run on the local host, removing any network timing/failure component,
whereas NetView polls from the closest MLM.
TEC has a fully programmable rules engine which is limited only by your skills
in Prolog. NetView's event rules engine is far more limited. What you're
getting for the 50K is a far more sophisticated event rules engine - you need to
decide if you need that or not. You can always write rules in a scripting
language but Prolog is object orientated - ala inheritance and all that good
stuff that is supposed to stop you writing heaps of code.
Bear in mind that currently TEC has a maximum throughput of around 15 events per
second (this is dependant upon the host speed, and complexity of rules but its a
good rule of thumb). If you get thousands of node downs when a router fails,
TEC will get swamped.
At the end of the day, we have taken this approach;
NetView for polling node up/node down, and network management - it is good at
this.
NetView for SNMP enabled devices that are not Tivoli framework supported.
Tivoli framework for framework enabled devices.
Rgds.
Holger Heimann <hh@IT-SEC.DE> on 08/02/99 21:52:24
Please respond to Discussion of IBM NetView and POLYCENTER Manager on NetView
<NV-L@UCSBVM.UCSB.EDU>
To: NV-L@UCSBVM.UCSB.EDU
cc: (bcc: Leonard I. Bocock/NZ/Unisys)
Subject: NETVIEW vs. TEC
I'm trying to understand the practical differences (not the marketing or
historical ones) between Netview and the Tivoli Enterprise Console (TEC) for
*monitoring* purposes.
We habe a Netview 5.0 Demo Version here under NT (yuck!) and know the TEC
just from papers and a recent demonstration.
As far as I understand, Netview is basically SNMP based and works by polling
network devices. TEC supports agents and is therefore somehow passive and
capable to monitor almost everything by design. Both support thresholds,
rulesets etc.
On the other hand, one can also configure traps and actions in Netview as
well as it can be used with external agents that monitor whatever you like,
like the TEC. So one can, at least for monitoring, do roughly the same with
both.
So, if I want to get something from green to red on some well defined
condition and execute some action then, I finally can use both, can I?
What am I missing for the 50K$ price-difference?
Thanks,
Holger Heimann
www.it-sec.de
|