|
1.
|
How can IT processes be documented with b4, and are they revision safe?
|
|
IT processes are graphically depicted with b4 (visualized), and also graphically changed (modeled). From this graphical documentation the processes are automatically generated by the „Graphical Rules Engine“, and also according to the condition of the infrastructure, and they are also time reliant. Therefore, these processes are absolutely IT audit safe.
|
|
2.
|
A tool for monitoring and automation? - We have this already!
|
|
b4 is not a pure monitoring and automation tool.
b4 is a tool for process visualization, modeling and automation. You probably don´t yet have such a tool!
Because b4 with its Graphical Rules Engine is unique in the market place, offering you through its graphic display, an overview of your entire IT infrastructure. By this, any eventual shortcomings can be identified and can then be remedied (preventive maintenance). This gives Your company more security and at the same time saves unnecessary costs. The amortisation of the cost incurred by the purchase of b4, is already realised in three-quarters of a year!
|
|
3.
|
What does the b4 controller do, if the power supply fails?
|
|
When the main power supply fails, this usually starts the uninterruptible power supply (UPS). How long this electricity
supply lasts, depends on the UPS-type and the number of servers. The b4 controller monitors not only the network, but also the USV. It can recognise exactly how long the emergency power supply will last, and begins as late as possible with the „back-up“ storage of data. Then the controller shuts down the servers in the order according to the dependence of the systems to each other. So that no data is lost and the operation can be maintained for as long possible.
|
|
4.
|
How does b4 differ from conventional products of this kind?
|
|
1. Simple handling.
2. The possibility to automatically react to changes in the infrastructure (Rule Engine).
3. An excellent price-performance ratio.
4. b4 is very well qualified for medium-sized companies with more than 20 servers.
|
|
5.
|
How many resources does a b4 agent need?
|
|
With MS- Windows 2003 and b4 version 4.2, using an Intel Xenon dual processor-2.8 Gh, we carried out a measurement: Per b4 service about 2-3 MB of main memory is required.
The CPU load was always below 1%. On the Hard-drive, the b4-Agent required about 50 MB of fixed-memory.
|
|
6.
|
On which operating systems does the controller b4 run?
|
|
MS-Windows 2000 and MS-Windows 2003;
The Agents can be installed on Windows NT/2000/2003/XP, Linux, Solaris, HP Unix and AIX.
|
|
|
With which protocol communicates the b4-controller and b4 agent?
|
|
The communication between controller and agent is taken care of by the TCP / IP Protocol. For this, special configurable ports are required.
|
|
8.
|
Does b4 have open interfaces to be able to work with other products?
|
|
b4 supports many different interfaces which allow communication with other products within the IT environment, e.g.. HTML, SNMP, SYSLOG, TEXT FILE, SQL,....
For special applications b4 also offers a Software Development Kit (SDK), which results in a very close integration.
|
|
9.
|
Is the TCP / IP communication initiated via the b4-controller or agent?
|
|
The communication is exclusively started by the b4-Agent.
|
|
10.
|
Does b4 support hardware monitoring tools such as: Inside HP manager, DELL Open Manage, FSC Server-View or IBM Director?
|
|
b4 has its own monitoring services, but can also receive in parallel the messages of the o.g. Tools and react accordingly.
|
|
11.
|
Can one via b4 start own scripts e.g.. (Perl, Shell, BAT, EXE, ...)?
|
|
The b4 Rule Engine has a number of integrated actions, that can be extended by own scripts.
|
