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ServicePilot NBA for z/OS


Network & Application Performance Software for z/OS, Installs in minutes to analyze performance for thousands of end-users

Overview

One solution from ServicePilot Technologies is better than a suite of products…

ServicePilot NBA for z/OS is an end-to-end application monitoring tool for the z/OS environment that provides visibility into network behavior so that administrators can optimize their networks for the way a business actually runs. ServicePilot NBA for z/OS provides an integrated, holistic view of the users and the systems with which they are interacting, as well as visibility into where the users are and when they access those systems. Enterprises are able, therefore, to analyze and solve problems before they impact end-users and business service delivery and pinpoint:

  • How to quickly and easily detect and resolve response-time issues
  • How to quickly discover and respond to misuse and unauthorized access
  • How to determine the business impact of an issue before it becomes a problem
  • How to discover and rapidly trouble-shoot issues
  • How to quickly and efficiently take corrective actions that will reduce compliance costs

Key Benefits

As a single, unified solution ServicePilot NBA for z/OS meets corporate compliance requirements, decreases time-to-repair and provides transparency across functional areas of operation to enhance real-time control for positive business results:

  • Improves business-critical application performance
    • Builds the entire application path between mainframe and end-users
    • Combines data flows with user identity
    • Measures and analyzes application performance in real time
    • Profiles and analyzes typical application behavior

  • Protects with security oversight across network enterprise
    • Protects sensitive hosts through HIDS
    • Correlates and prioritizes security and network intelligence
    • Detects security threats, misuse and sub-optimal performance
    • Discovers misuse and unauthorized access
    • Alerts and advises key security personnel

  • Optimizes IT operations
    • Complete, extensive and direct data collection in real-time
    • Easy to install and configure with immediate results
    • Troubleshoot issues faster
    • Increases network team efficiency across the enterprise

  • Maximizes the corporate Return on Investment
    • Low TCO: the power of many in an all-in-one solution
    • Cost effectively licensed by LPAR

Specifications

Architecture

ServicePilot NBA for z/OS is based on a real-time technology that collects all the data as it passes through the IP stack. This passive probe technology allows users to work at the datagram level as well as have end-to-end views of backbone activity.

  • Passive Probe
  • Collection of data directly from the source
  • Datagram level
  • End-to-end view of backbone activity
  • 100% Assembler
  • Very low overhead
  • Natively integrates with ServicePilot ISM
  • Consolidated view of multiple ServicePilot NBA probes

Administration and Configuration

  • z/OS: from v1r1 up to v1r11
  • Easy to install and configure with immediate results
  • Intuitive and easy to navigate
  • Automatic discovery of IP resources
  • Immediate access via browser interfaces
  • Web Browser (IE 5.5 or higher, Netscape 7.1 or higher, Firefox 1.0 or higher)
  • Silverlight plug-in
  • Optional client interfaces: SNMP Manager, CLI TELNET Console, SYSLOG server
  • Customizable reports using PDF format

Technical Specification Summary

Features

Key Product Features

ServicePilot NBA for z/OS provides an all-in-one, real-time view into mainframe network behavioral analysis and is designed to identify the “who, what, where and when” in the network.

  • IP Trace
    • Real-time and easy-to-use IP tracing tool
    • A single click starts a trace on the mainframe and captures IP traffic
    • Trace data can be saved in sniffer or text format for analysis with third party tools
    • Trace filtering on IP address, port number and interface
    • User-friendly interface to display a meaningful presentation of the trace
    • 1 minute, 15 minutes or unlimited trace

  • IP Monitoring and Behavior Analysis
    • Real-time & daily historical view of IP traffic
    • Logical and physical Interface activity
    • At-a-glance assessment of system availability & performance
    • Statistics export via email and via SMF files
    • Summarizes z/OS and TCP/IP activity and performance
    • Host & network response time for IP resources (i.e. local & remote applications, IP networks and TCP connections)
    • Connection diagnosis - Traffic, response time and errors for each TCP connection
    • Performs traffic analysis (application and user flows)
    • On demand or batch (based on length of retained data) reports
    • Determines who is responsible for and who is affected by an unexpected event
    • View of several probes on the same screen

  • Reporting using PDF format
    • Includes all information accessible from the Web user interface for one or more LPAR(s)
    • Customizable Reports
    • Extended archiving
    • Data export: CSV format
    • Performance management reports
    • Reports on content errors

  • Real-time alarms on abnormal behavior
    • Analyze and alert on IP resource abnormal behavior (e.g., bad application response time, bandwidth consumption
    • Defines behavior rules to associates action(s) with condition
    • Alerts on network & system availability and performance
    • Displayed via Web browser
    • Other alert formats: SMTP Trap, Syslog, email
    • Integrates with your enterprise requirements
    • Automatic audit to support enterprise policies
    • Reduces cost of compliance

  • Real-time intrusion detection
    • Uses Deep Packet Inspection technology
    • Detects malicious traffic on enterprise network
    • Notifies operators when condition is matched
    • Proactively detects issues before they disrupt users
    • Reacts quickly to behavior changes

FAQs

NBA stands for Network Behavior Analysis. More specifically, NBA for z/OS offers a unified flow analysis system for applications and users by analyzing traffic on a z/OS platform and correlating and consolidating complex transaction components as they travel through CICS, DB2 or IMS.

NBA for z/OS can be downloaded from the ServicePilot website. It requires a login and password which you can request here. This will provide you with access to the FREE version of NBA for z/OS. To request a free, 30-day evaluation of the latest FULL version of NBA for z/OS, please contact your sales representative here.

NBA for z/OS Free Edition traces all the IP traffic flowing through the IP dataspace. This traffic can be browsed, either as the trace is running, or once it has been archived.

NBA for z/OS FULL Edition includes tracing (FREE edition) as well as monitoring of all IP stack activity including TCP, UDP, ICMP, OSPF, Enterprise Extender and XOT. It also permits the monitoring of resources: Host presence; port activity; router activity; connection and interface states; and traffic level.

NBA for z/OS can be downloaded and installed on your z/OS system in as little as 30 minutes. Configuration consists of security definitions, defining NBA datasets, and modifying the JCL in the started task. IP resources are automatically discovered on initialization of NBA for z/OS and you will have immediate access via a browser interface.

Trace data can be viewed as the trace is running. Optionally, trace data from 1 minute to up to the previous 15 minutes can be displayed. A user-friendly interface displays a meaningful presentation of the trace.

NBA for z/OS is based on a real-time technology that allows its collector interface to provide availability and performance data for network components on the mainframe. NBA for z/OS uses non-invasive probes to browse the data as it traverses the IP stack as well as at the datagram level. Optionally, ping is used for remote application availability monitoring.

Yes, traces can be saved in text or sniffer formats for import into products such as WireShark.

NBA for z/OS analyzes mainframe traffic, correlates and consolidates complex transaction and delivers the appropriate detailed statistics using more than 40 indicators:

  • Availability %
  • Traffic - In/Out Bytes, In/Out Packets, Packet Size Distribution
  • Bandwidth - In/Out bps, In/Out pps
  • Response Time – Host and Network, Response time distribution
  • IP – Fragmented packets
  • TCP - Active/Started/Stopped Connections, Anomalies (Duplicate ACK, RST, Retransmits, Window < 1500 Bytes)

NBA for z/OS is accessed via a Web browser using JAVA. Microsoft Silverlight is required in order to access the behavior analysis feature of NBA for z/OS.

ServicePilot NBA for z/OS Behavior Analysis offers a unified flow analysis system for applications and users. It correlates and consolidates complex transaction components (CICS, DB2 or IMS) and delivers detailed statistics on transaction flows. Thanks to its user identity tracking, ServicePilot NBA for z/OS correlates usernames with host IP addresses related to transactions. It identifies the “who” behind the “what”, pinpoints the source of mainframe activities with specific end-users and automatically determines who is responsible for, as well as who is affected by, an unexpected event.

When applied to IP Networks, the Behavior Analysis feature of ServicePilot NBA for z/OS helps you identify who is consuming network resources. Filters can be customized and applied for accurate analysis. Analysis can be done on Last 24 Hours statistics or on previous days’ or weeks’ statistics.

No servers or agents are required to use NBA for z/OS.

NBA for z/OS is compatible with all SAF products (RACF, TOP SECRET, ACF2).

NBA for z/OS is written in Assembler language and uses passive probes to browse and analyze data as it traverses the IP stack. Therefore only a small amount of CPU cycles are required by NBA for z/OS.

Yes, NBA for z/OS monitors HPR and EE providing the following:

  • List of Switched Pus
  • For each Switched PU
    • Status (CONNECTABLE, INACTIVE...)
    • Nb RTPs (Last minute value)
    • List of RTPs for a Switched PU
  • For each RTP
    • Nb sessions attached (Last minute value)
    • Sent bytes (Real-time)
    • Received bytes (Real-time)
    • Sent Network Layer Packets (Real-time)
    • Received Network Layer Packets (Real-time)
    • List of Sessions for an RTP
  • For each « CP Name » as well as information about the topology of an APPN network.
ServicePilot NBA for z/OS also collects IP data from distant HPR nodes. It is then possible to know the traffic evolution for each distant node, as well as its prioritized distribution (Network, High, Medium, Low, LLC commands).

Yes, ServicePilot NBA for z/OS permits the generation of on demand and/or batch reports on applicative resource or user behaviors. The batch reports are dependent on the duration of information retention, which may be set by the administrator. These reports can be exported into a csv file or pdf format.

ServicePilot NBA for z/OS can detect suspicious connections, analyze network traffic and understand their relevance with a defined set of rules. It protects the corporate network against malicious traffic and generates real-time alarms. Using DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) technology, ServicePilot NBA for z/OS looks for a pattern within a packet from a defined point and triggers a response according to the search result.

ServicePilot NBA for z/OS can generate alerts because of Deep Packet Inspection rules. These rules allow the detection of: bad or malformed traffic, bad ICMP messages, and application attacks (FTP, Telnet, HTTP...). A default set of rules is provided but you can define your own detection rules according to your environment.

ServicePilot NBA for z/OS sets behavior rules adapted to the enterprise by linking one or several actions with conditions applied on the application or network resource availability and/or performance.

When the conditions are met (i.e., bad application response time), ServicePilot NBA for z/OS notifies operators by generating real-time alarms. These alerts are displayed via a Web browser or a 3270 interface and are automatically archived in SMF format. Operators will be able to see meaningful changes in behavior and take action before these changes affect or disrupt users.

Yes, by defining alarms based on network & system availability and performance metrics, notification can be formatted to be sent as an SMTP trap, a syslog message, or an email or pager.

Yes, many parameters can be modified while the product is running, then they can be updated by reloading via the Web interface.

NBA for z/OS can be used by individuals involved in installing, configuring, operating, and securing z/OS networks, network and security professionals, including I/T, I/S managers, systems planners, analysts, integrators, and administrators, technicians responsible for diagnostic including network operations personnel.

Yes. However, NBA for z/OS is so easy to configure and navigate that most users do not require additional assistance. Our customers have reported that they were able to very quickly become familiar with NBA for z/OS and found the GUI interface to be very intuitive and easy to use.