Availability Reports
WOCU-Monitoring facilitates the monitoring of the level of Availability of the monitored technological infrastructure. Through the Availability Report it is possible to evaluate compliance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in a quick and easy way.
The process of creating and executing reports is detailed below, establishing a series of filters and parameters configured by the user.
Configuration and generation of Availability Reports
In general, when creating reports, the user must access the blue New Report button, located in the Reports section.
Before generating the report, it will be necessary to set a number of filters and parameters as described below.
Export of Availability Reports
WOCU-Monitoring also allows the automation of the reporting operation, thanks to the possibility of scheduling its generation and launch at the user’s discretion through the New Scheduling option. More information at: Scheduling.
Report
In this drop-down field, the user must select the type of report he/she wishes to create, in this case it will be Availability.
Note
Depending on the type of report selected, new fields to be defined will be automatically included.
Template
In this optional field the user selects the template to be applied to the Report. Templates are created prior to reports. This element is further developed in section Templates.
Name
Mandatory field in which the user assigns an identification term that differentiates the report from the rest.
Description
Optional field where the user may include descriptive text relating to the report.
Visibility
In this field the user determines whether the report will be visible to the rest of the users, i.e. a public report, or whether it will be private and only visible to the creator of the report.
Scope
This parameter determines the scope of the Availability Report, as the report will refer to one or the other type of Assets monitored in WOCU.
The four options available are as follows:
Hosts Only: Selecting this option will cause the report to refer only to the Hosts monitored in WOCU-Monitoring.
Only BP Hosts: By selecting this option the report will refer only to monitored Business Processes (BP Hosts).
Hosts & Services Only: By selecting this option the report will refer only to the monitored Hosts and Services.
Only Business Processes (Only BPs - Hosts & Services): by selecting this option the report will refer only to monitored Business Processes (Hosts and Services).
All: By selecting this option the Availability Report will refer to all types of Assets monitored in WOCU-Monitoring: both Hosts and Services as well as Business Processes.
Group services by
This configuration parameter allows for certain groupings to be made in the detail information about the services monitored by WOCU-monitoring which is reflected in the final report in its Services by service Availability Panel.
The Grouping of Services (Group by) options are as follows:
Command
Selecting this option will display the information from the Services by service Availability Panel will display the report results for the Services grouped in function to the checking command executed by the system in the check for each Service.
For example, the
check-cisco-healthcommand will group the results of the health check of the monitored Cisco Hosts. That is, this action groups together different Services from different Hosts.
Description
Selecting this option will display the information from the Services by service Availability Panel will display the report results for the Services grouped in function to the name or description of each Service.
Continuing with the previous example, under the description of the Service
health_powersupplythe status of the power supplies of all monitored Cisco* devices will be grouped. That is, through this action, Services from different Hosts are grouped.
Attention
The Service Command and Service Description grouping options cannot be applied when the selected Scope is Host. In this case no grouping will ever be applied.
None
By selecting this option the Services by service Availability Panel informationwill display the report results for the Services without any grouping. The information in the Panel, in this configuration, details one by one the different Services associated with each of the Hosts.
Important
When this option is selected, an additional field is introduced to the Panel (Hosts) to indicate the Host to which the Service whose percentage of Availability is detailed corresponds.
Host Group
This configuration parameter allows filtering of the data collected and reflected in the report, showing only those datarelating to the Host Group existing in WOCU-Monitoring.
To select and filter the results of the report by a specific Host Group, simply choose the name of the group from the Host Group drop-down menu. All the groups registered within the realm will be displayed.
To deactivate the filter, the user must choose the No HG filter option, which appears first in the list.
Threshold
This configuration parameter sets the value (in percentage) of the minimum service level threshold that is considered adequate or acceptable. This percentage is closely linked to the fulfilment of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and is a simple way to evaluate and measure the Availability of a technological infrastructure over a period of time.
By default, the value set in the User preferences is defined. To change it, click on the up and down arrows in the box itself. Each click will add or subtract one unit to this percentage.
Important
The value must be between 0 and 100%, with a maximum of two decimal places.
The value must be between 0 and 100%, with a maximum of two decimal places. When defining a value that does not conform to the above requirements, the system will return the following error messages, preventing the correct configuration of the report:
Assumed initial state
These options allow the user to assume and assign the initial state of devices and services, in the event that WOCU-Monitoring has not collected enough data to define them.
Possible states for Host:
Down
UP
Unreachable
Current state
Possible states for Services:
OK
Warning
Critical
Unknow
Current state
More information in Statements of Assets in WOCU.
Note
It shall not be possible to select an initial status for a service, when the selected Scope is Host.
Select unavailable states
Every asset monitored in WOCU-Monitoring always has a status associated with it, which is categorized based on whether it is available or not. These configuration options allow the user to choose the status of devices and services so that they are considered non-operational (unavailable).
The possible states associated with unavailable elements are:
For Host:
Down
Unreachable
Pending
For Services:
Warning
Critical
Unknow
Pending
More information in Statements of Assets in WOCU.
By clicking on a specific box you can activate or deactivate this option. Note that once selected, the box marked with a tick (✓) will appear inside it.
It is worth mentioning that the Down and Critical states, for hosts and services respectively, are always considered to be unavailable. Therefore they cannot be deselected
Note
It shall not be possible to select a status for unavailable services, when the selected Scope is Host. In this case the options will not be visible in the report configuration.
Include Down Times
The system allows to inhibit for a certain period of time the warnings and alarms of an Asset, which is going to suffer a fall or other known and/or planned event that will affect the status of the Asset.
Checking this box will include all scheduled downtimes on the Assets that make up the report.
Filter service by
This field allows filtering by certain services, in order to monitor their level of availability in the report. This filter acts in the context of:
Host & Services
Only BPs - Hosts & Services
All
The filtering of services will be carried out by defining a regular expression, giving greater flexibility and customisation of the filtering to the operator himself.
For this purpose, the services whose name/description meet those defined in the regular expression will be picked up and displayed in the generated report. On the other hand, services that are outside the entered pattern will be excluded by the system.
Important
Regular expressions will be case insensitive to facilitate filtering.
A simple string or complex regular expressions can be used (see the python documentation for reference).
The regular expression must be valid, otherwise the form itself will do the corresponding validation.
Date intervals
This parameter is used to establish the time period for which the Availability calculation will be made.
There are a number of time criteria already in place:
Today: Filters and displays only data recorded during the period of elapsed time in today’s day.
Yesterday: Filters and displays only data recorded yesterday.
Last 24 hours: Filters and displays only data recorded in the last 24 hours.
Last 48 hours: Filters and displays only data recorded in the last 48 hours.
Last 7 Days: Filters and displays only data recorded in the last seven days.
Last 30 Days: Filters and displays only data recorded in the last thirty days.
This Week: Filters and displays only data recorded during the time period elapsed in the current week (from the start day of the week to the current day).
Previous Week: Filters and displays only data recorded in the previous full week (Monday to Sunday).
Last 30 days: Filters and displays only data recorded in the last 30 full days from the current date.
This Month: Filters and displays only data recorded during the time period elapsed in the current month (from day 1 to the current day of the month).
Previous Month: Filters and displays only data recorded in the previous full month (day 1 to days 28/30/31).
In case you want to set a specific period of time there is the option Custom Range. To configure the time frame it is necessary to set a start date and an end date. By clicking on one of the days, this date will be set as a selection, being marked with a blue background. In addition to the day, a specific time can be set for that day, using the drop-down menus in the hour, minute and second boxes, until the desired time is set. The selected date and time can be seen both in the upper boxes and in the lower part of the view.
By clicking on the button with the plus sign (+), it is possible to add multiple date ranges for data collection in the configured report. Date ranges can be deleted by clicking on the red button with the cross (X), the range disappears and only the remaining date ranges are applied when the report is run.
Attention
It is of course not possible to choose start and end dates after the current date, nor to set an end date before the start date.
Once the programming is done, you must press the Apply button for it to be applied.
Execution and scheduling of Availability Reports
To save the configuration and generate the report, click on the blue button Create.
Once the report has been created and programmed, you will go back to the initial screen of this section, where the reports will be stacked sequentially in the reports in the Centralized Report Management. Within the panel is the user can access the generated report by clicking on the name of the report.
Next, the user is directed to a new, exclusive report window where the information generated and collected by the system is presented. These panels are described in detail in the following section.
Export of Availability Reports
WOCU-Monitoring also allows the automation of the reporting operation, thanks to the possibility of scheduling its generation and launching at the user’s discretion through the Scheduling option
Export of Availability Reports
WOCU also allows the export of the Availability Report in PDF, CSV and JSON format. These condense all the information on the Availability of the monitored Assets into a document that is easy to disseminate and simple to analyse. These options facilitate the immediate sending of information.
Using the Export to PDF, CSV and JSON buttons located in the global report panel next to the other available actions, the corresponding files will be downloaded.
Important
WOCU-Monitoring will return the following error message when the report scopeexceeds a certain number of Hosts. The default number is 1,000 Host, but this number may vary depending on the monitored environment and infrastructure.
Note on the PDF Availability Report
This section briefly describes the main elements of this document. For more information, please refer to Analysis and Options for Availability Reports.
Cover
The cover page shows as the main title the type of report generated, in this case Availability.
Configuration
The following page presents the filters and parameters set in the configuration of the generated report. These are:
There are
Identifier: Identifier code of the report.
Name: identification name assigned to the report.
Description: descriptive text relating to the report.
Create at: indicates the date and time the report was created.
Scope: details the name of the Realm that is the subject of the report and what type of Realm it is.
Date interval: indicates start and end time and date of the period.
Exported at: Indicates the time and date when the report was exported to PDF.
Custom configuration parameters:
Scope: indicates the scope of the Availability Report (Host, Host & Services, Business Processes, All).
Services grouped by: indicates the type of grouping of services for the calculation of availability. This field shall not appear in the report when no grouping type is applied, i.e. Host is selected in the Scope parameter.
Hostgroup: reports the host group selected for the availability calculation. This field shall not appear in the report when it is not configured in the Hostgroup parameter.
Threshold: indicates the minimum percentage of availability set.
Assumed initial states: indicates the status assigned and assumed by the user for both Host and Services. Assets with assumed states shall be notified with an attention signal icon (⚠).
Unavailable states: indicates the type of state(s) categorised as unavailable, chosen by the user, for non-operational Host and Services.
Services filtered by: indicates the regular expression defined and applied in the report for the filtering of services.
Comments
The next page is intended for comments added by the report creator or WOCU administrator.
There is the possibility to remove the comments page from the exported report. In the export confirmation window, there is a checkbox to select whether or not to export the report with the attached comments. If the box is not checked, this page will not be displayed in the exported report.
Global summmary
The following page includes an export of the Availability Panels corresponding to the selection of assets made by the user in the filters. A graphical summary of the percentage of Availability obtained for the set of selected elements is provided.
Availability Dossier
The same page includes the Availability Dossier Panels by status corresponding to the selection of assets made by the user in the filters. A numerical summary is provided indicating the elements that meet or do not meet the minimum percentage of Availability established.
Hosts Availability.
If the selection of assets made by the user in the filters refers to or includes hosts, the report shall include this section detailing, one by one, the statistics and availability data of the selected hosts within the given time frame.
For each Hosts a graphical summary is included showing:
Host Name.
Date range: indicates start and end time and date of the period configured for the collection of availability data.
Initial state info: indicates the initial state of the host, together with the exact date and time at which WOCU recorded this state. Remember that in the event that the system has not collected enough data to to define the initial status, the user may assume and assign a starting state during the report configuration in the Assumed initial state. This status shall be identified in the report by the icon of an attention signal (⚠) followed by the word Assumed.
Total Downs: indicates the total number of downs (loss of availability) suffered by a host during the set time frame.
Time Down: recorded in days, hours and minutes the time during which the host has been unavailable.
Availability: reached by the host during the set time frame. The bar changes size and colour depending on the percentage of availability reached. At the same time, it is complemented with numerical information on this percentage.
Events timeline: graphical representation of the host status in WOCU during the set time frame.
Additionally, this summary is accompanied by the host status change history, where all events recorded in WOCU are detailed. This history allows a detailed study of the activity of a host.
Service availability
If the selection of assets made by the user in the filters refers to or includes services, the report will include this section detailing, one by one, the statistics and service data of the selected assets within the given time frame.
The information in this section includes three fields:
Services with an assumed initial state (current state): services with the initial state assumed by the user will be identified in the list with an attention sign in front of the percentage bar.
Hosts Name: to which each service belongs.
Name of each Service.
Percentage of Availability: reached by the service. Services with assumed statuses shall be notified with an attention signal icon (⚠).
Analysis and Options for Availability Reports
The information generated by WOCU for the Availability Report is presented to the user through a total of seven panels grouped in four main groups or rows.
Note
Accionando sobre la etiqueta del nombre se accede al informe. Es este espacio el informe es presentado íntegramente a través de paneles y gráficos, para su lectura e interacción por parte del usuario.
All Availability Report Panels include next to the descriptive text their Time from: X - Time to: X.
Report configuration panel
As in the Availability Report exported in PDF, there is a configuration panel where the filters and parameters set in the configuration of the generated report are presented. These are:
There are
ID: Report identifier code.
Name: identification name assigned to the report.
Description: descriptive text relating to the report.
Comments: displays comments added by the user.
Create at: indicates the date and time the report was created.
Create by: indicates the user who created/owns the report.
Realm: indicates the name of the Realm which is the subject of the report.
Scope: indicates the scope of the Availability Report (Host, Host & Services, Business Processes, All).
Threshold: indicates the minimum percentage of availability set.
Assumed hosts initial states: Indicates the user-assigned and assumed state for Hosts.
Unavailable states for hosts: Indicates the type of state or states categorized as unavailable, chosen by the user, for non-operational devices.
Services grouped by: indicates the type of grouping of services for the calculation of availability. This field shall not appear in the report when no grouping type is applied, i.e. Host is selected in the Scope parameter.
Assumed services initial states: Indicates the state assigned and assumed by the user for Services.
Unavailable states for services: Indicates the type of state or states categorized as unavailable, chosen by the user, for non-operational Services.
Date interval: indicates start and end time and date of the availability data collection period. In multiple time frames, the periods shall be presented in tabular format. Remember that the total range limit is 31 days.
Downtime: Indicates the inclusion in the report of the scheduled downtimes in the component assets.
Global Availability Report Panels
In the second row of the Availability Report there are two panels that graphically display the percentage of availability obtained, as calculated by WOCU-Monitoring for Hosts and Services, during the configured time period.
The area covered in green represents the percentage of availability reached. Inside each graph, the percentage availability value is included, together with the Threshold predefined by the user, which is also marked on the graph with a dashed line. Depending on the compliance or non-compliance with the established minimum availability Threshold, a green ✓ will appear in front of the availability percentage, when the availability exceeds the set value, or a red X if it does not.
In the previous example, the percentage obtained for the availability of Hosts (96.27%) is below the established threshold (98%). The same happens with the percentage value obtained for the Services (88.68%).
Note
If the option to display the Business Processes (Business Processes) or the All (All) option has been chosen in the Scope parameter, the panels will display the Business Process Hosts and the Business Process Services, respectively.
Availability Dossier Panels by State
In the third row of the Availability Report there are two panels that count the compliance status of the different Hosts (Hosts) and Services (Services) monitored. WOCU thus allows you to know how many have met the availability Threshold, set for the established period.
The compliance status of these panels is as follows:
Always Available
The green figure indicates how many of the assets have 100% availability.
Above Threshold
The yellow figure indicates how many of the assets have an availability below 100% but above the Availability percentage set in the Threshold.
Below Threshold
The orange figure indicates how many of the assets have an availability below the availability percentage set in the Threshold.
Never Available
The figure in red indicates how many of the assets have an availability of 0%.
Total Hosts/Services
The figure in black indicates how many assets of this type are monitored in WOCU.
This panel, in addition to serving the user as a numerical summary, also performs filter functions, which have effects on the fourth group of Availability Report panels: Availability Report Asset Detail Panels. By clicking on the different availability compliance states, the following detail panel will display only the devices and services selected in this panel.
Important
If the option to display Business Processes or All is selected in the Scope parameter, the panels will display Business Process Hosts and Business Process Services, respectively.
Availability Report Asset Detail Panels
In the fourth row of the Availability Report are two panels that give detailed visibility on the availability of monitored hosts and services on an individualised and/or aggregated basis.
WOCU-Monitoring thus facilitates detailed availability analysisfor each element, and even allows the study and analysis of the degree of availability achieved for a certain type of service, thanks to the Services grouped by option discussed above.
Attention
If in the Scope parameter the option to display Business Processes or the option All has been chosen, the panels shall display, respectively, Business Process Hosts and Business Process Services.
Hosts by host Availability
This panel provides the percentage of availability for each Host. In this way, WOCU-Monitoring allows you to observe the detail of the availability of critical infrastructure elements or simply an individualized analysis of the elements.
The detail panels have the following fields:
Hosts
Indicates the name of the host or service for which availability data is provided.
Total Downs
Indicates the total number of downs (loss of availability) suffered by a host during the set time frame.
Time Down
Indicates the total number of downs (loss of availability) suffered by a host during the set time frame.
Percentage
Indicates the percentage availability value reached by the asset, in the time period set for the report. The field contains a bar that changes size and colour depending on the percentage of availability reached. In turn, the bar is complemented by the icon of an attention signal, when the initial status of the asset is assumed by the user.
Downtime
Clicking on any record in the Hosts table will pop up a new window with specific availability information about the host:
This window provides the following information:
✓ Host
✓ Realm origin: Realm in which the host is embedded.
✓ Date range: indicates the start and end date and time of the period configured for the collection of availability data. In the case of having configured several time frames, this field will display each of them.
✓ Time bar: which provides a history of the availability of the host over the established time range. A simple legend accompanies this graphical representation, informing the total time (given in days and hours) that the host has been available (in green) or unavailable (in red).
Along with the exact date and time at which this status was reached and recorded, the Initial State of the host is added.Remember that in the event that the system has not collected sufficient data to define the initial state, the user may assume and assign a starting state during the configuration of the report in the parameter Assumed initial state.
In this case, WOCU-Monitoring will indicate that the initial state has been assumed by the user with the text: ⚠ Initial state has been assumed. This situation will also be recorded and displayed in the time bar.
✓ Event history table: where the alternating states occurred during the defined time range. More information on states and associated colours in Statements of Assets in WOCU.
Each entry in the table shall contain the following information:
Time: details the exact date and time when a status change was recorded and therefore an event was generated.
State: Indicates whether the device is available (✔️ in green) or not available (❌ in red) for the date and time when a new status was recorded. Remember that unavailable states are configured by the user during report generation in the
Select unavailable states for hostsparameterEvent: Indicates the status that the system calculated for the device at the time of receipt of the event.
When there are Assets with scheduled downtimes and the Include Down Times has been checked during the report configuration, this view may change. We will illustrate this case with the following example:
The scheduled downtime period(s) between one date and another, are also recorded and represented in the time bar. In order to identify this situation, the legend includes a new entry in the field that indicates the color code associated with said state, along with the following explanatory text: During this period no events will be recorded and host state is assumed to be UP >> During this period no events will be recorded and the state of the devices is assumed to be UP.
Important
Downtimes are included in the availability band (UP).
Finally, in the Event History Table where the alternation of states is recorded, the set of scheduled downtime periods occurring during the defined time range shall be listed.
Each entry in the table shall contain the following information:
Time Column: date and time at which the start or end of the downtime period, and therefore of the event, was recorded. Thanks to the labels shown in the Event Column, we can identify whether the period starts (
Downtime Start) or ends (Downtime End).State column: indicates the optimum availability status of the host (✔️ in green). Remember that the down times are included in the total availability range (UP) of the host.
Services by service Availability Panel
This panel provides the percentage of Availability for Services. Through this mode WOCU allows to observe the availability detail of critical infrastructure elements or simply an individualised analysis of the elements.
The detail panels have the following fields:
Services
Indicates the name of the host or service for which availability data is provided.
Percentage
Indicates the percentage availability value reached by the asset, in the time period set for the report. The field contains a bar that changes size and colour depending on the percentage of availability reached. In turn, the bar is complemented by the icon of an attention signal, when the initial status of the asset is assumed by the user.
Hosts (optional)
Additionally, it is worth remembering that if the user uses the Group by filter with the None option, an additional Hosts** field will appear that will identify the device to which each listed Service belongs.
Important
Clicking on any record in the Services table will redirect the user to the Detailed view of Services associated to a Host.
Calculation of availability
Framed in a specific time interval, the availability calculation of the configured sample is obtained by the following formula:
Note
Equivalently, the availability of Services is obtained with the formula presented.
→ Where i is a Host, if it is a Host Report (Hosts) or a Service, in Service-based Reporting.
→ where n is the total number of Hosts or Services.