Glossary

Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1): A formal notation used to define data types and encode data values. A language that describes the data structures that make up an abstract syntax. ITU-T (formerly CCITT) specification X.409 is equivalent to ASN.1. ASN.1 is used to define a management information base (MIB). ASN.1 is a common requirement of the SNMP and CMIP network management protocols.
activity message: A log message that primarily provides information about events that occur in the system rather than reporting error conditions.
AFS: Attributed File System
agent: A component of network management that exchanges data about managed resources with a network manager. Agents provide a software interface to managed resources, and gather data about them at a manager's request.
agent/manager model: A model where a manager communicates with many distributed agents via a network or system management protocol.
alarm: A message reporting that a managed object is in an abnormal state (i.e., a managed object has passed a pre-defined threshold).
API: See application programming interface.
application programming interface (API): A set of calling conventions that define how to invoke a service.
architecture: The structure and interrelationship of components in a system or in an environment.
ASN.1: A standard notation used to define a management information base (MIB). See Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1).
BEA TUXEDO System: A robust middleware engine for developing and deploying business-critical client/server applications. It handles distributed transaction processing, application messaging, and the full complement of services necessary to build and run enterprise-wide applications.
client: A process that interacts with users and submits requests to a server.
client/server: 1) A model used in distributed systems where one host acts as a system server, and the other host acts as a client. 2) A distribution model in which there are two types of applications: client applications that request that tasks be performed, and server applications that perform those tasks. 3) A programming model in which application programs are structured as clients or servers. A client program is an application program that requests services to be performed. A server program is an entity that dispatches service routines to satisfy requests from client programs. A service routine is an application program module that performs one or more specific functions on behalf of client programs.
CMIP: See Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP).
Common Management Interface Protocol (CMIP): A protocol for network management defined by ISO standards. The network management protocol for OSI networks.
configuration management: Monitoring the state of an application process (i.e., whether a process is running, stopped, or restarted), and controlling a process' software revision level (i.e., providing the software's current version).
database: A collection of one or more tables or files under the control of a database management system.
database management system (DBMS): A program or set of programs that let users structure and manipulate the data in the tables of a database. A DBMS ensures privacy, recovery, and integrity of data in a multi-user environment.
DBMS: See database management system.
EGID: Effective group identification number.
enterprise-wide environment: This term refers to all components in a distributed environment, both local and remote.
escalation procedure: An alternative method for logging a log message when the main logging option fails.
error message: A log message that indicates that a process detected an error condition which must be recorded in a log.
EUID: Effective user identification number.
event notification: A means for application processes to communicate with each other about important occurrences in the system (i.e., they send event notifications to each other).
event management: A process sending an event notification to one or more other pro-cesses. Event management is primarily used for setting or modifying configuration parameters in running processes (e.g., modifying their logging options or forcing them to re-read their configuration files).
field: 1) A way of addressing a single item of data in a database table. A field is the data that exists at a column/row location in a database table. 2) A field is also an area of a window where data displays.
GID: Group identification number.
graphical user interface (GUI): A high-level interface that uses windows and menus with graphic symbols instead of typed system commands to provide an interactive environment for a user.
GUI: See graphical user interface.
host: A computer running application software. A host may be at your site (i.e., local) or at another site (i.e., remote).
identification string: Portions of a file that get expanded by BEA Manager utilities to contain file and system identification information. If compiled, these strings are placed into object file functions, where their information is then available. These are also called ident strings.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO): An organization that produces standards.
ISO: See International Organization for Standardization.
managed object 1) A software entity, defined in a Management Information Base (MIB), that represents a managed resource (such as a process, a piece of hardware, or a system performance attribute), and is controlled by a management device.
2) In Simple Network Management Protocol, a managed object represents a manageable attribute of a managed resource, such as the average transit time of transactions through an application or the number of interface cards in a host computer.
managed resource: The physical resource whose attributes are represented by managed objects in a Management Information Base. A managed resource can be a software entity such as an application or queue, or a hardware device, such as an interface card or hub.
management framework: A system that provides a unified view of hardware and software resources on distributed systems and enterprise-wide networks to aid network administrators to manage and control these resources.
management information base (MIB) 1) A virtual storage database that uses ASN.1 notation. The MIB contains each object that the system management software monitors and controls. Each has a unique object name and a unique object identifier.: 2) A BEA TUXEDO System component that provides a complete definition of the object classes and their attributes that together comprise the BEA TUXEDO System. The total BEA TUXEDO System Management Information Base is organized into a generic MIB and component-specific MIBs for each major component. Configuration and administration of the BEA TUXEDO System can be done programmatically.
manager (system manager): A component of network management that requests data from an agent, and takes actions based on that data.
message (log message): A means for sending data and values across applications. Messages represent statistical or status information about application processes, and consist of a header, containing message ID data; and a body, containing user-defined information.
message definition block: The total body of data that comprises a message definition, such as the command name, the subsystem name, and the internal and external recommendations, collectively.
MIB: See management information base (MIB).
MIB group: A group of objects, represented by the name or OID of an object in the OID (or registration) tree, which contains a collection of managed objects. A MIB group may contain other MIB groups, or it may contain scalar or tabular objects.
node application: A piece of application software that you can invoke on a host.
MOPS: Management operations per second.
object identifier (OID): OIDs are unique designators of attributes of managed resources and are used in both SNMP and CMIP network management. An OID is a unique number that defines an object in the MIB. The numbers that comprise the OID describe a path to the object through a tree hierarchy, which is often called an OID tree or a registration tree. When the SNMP agent wishes to access a specific object, it traverses the OID tree in the MIB file to find the object.
OID: See object identifier.
OLTP: See online transaction processing.
online transaction processing (OLTP): The execution of units of work in a performance-critical environment that appears to the user as immediate; real-time; usually having internal recoverability, history-keeping and consistency-assurance features.
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI): A consortium that facilitates communications between different types of computer systems.
OSI: See Open Systems Interconnection.
PID: See process ID (PID).
polling: An activity where a manager interrogates an agent at a periodic interval. The agents report the values of the specified managed objects. Checking at periodic intervals to determine if a managed object value has crossed a specified threshold.
private MIB: A MIB that is defined under the private MIB directory. Private MIBs contain objects that are specific to a company's software needs. The identification number of the BEA private MIB is 1.3.6.1.4.1.140.
process events: Event notifications that cause a process to execute a specific task when they are delivered.
process ID (PID): A unique number that identifies a process.
process management: Managing the state of an application process (i.e., whether a process is running, stopped, recovered, or restarted) and its software version.
register a process: A term used to describe how a process provides information about itself in shared memory for event management and/or process management. Once a process registers, process management software can track it.
requestor: A process that receives messages from clients, converts these messages to a common internal form, determines the appropriate server or servers for the transaction request, and forwards the request to a server.
RCS: Revision control system.
RDBMS: Relational database management system.
server: A process that provides services to requesting processes. Each server includes one or more services, each of which performs specific transaction processing functions.
severity: The severity of a message or event notification is a rating used to represent the importance or impact of the event being reported. For example, a message that indicates high usage of network bandwidth reports a less severe event than a message telling you that a server has crashed.
shared memory manager (SMGR): The Shared Memory Manager subsystem, which provides mechanisms that enable you to manage a set of shared memory segments. You can use SMGR as a basic building block for any application that require processes to communicate through shared memory.
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP): A de-facto standard network management protocol developed by the Internet community.
SMGR: See shared memory manager.
SNMP: See Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
SNMP agent: An agent using the SNMP protocol to exchange data with the system manager.
SNMP mask: A means for hiding selected SNMP traps, letting you cause alarms only in certain instances.
standard MIB: A MIB developed as a standard by the Internet community. Examples are MIB I and MIB II.
TCP/IP: See Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): A network protocol that is part of the Internet suite of protocols.
Timer Events: Events that signal the passing of time to a process. This tells the process that it is time to execute a specific task.
Token: An individual element in the message definition block, such as the command or the subsystem name.
trap: An SNMP data packet containing information about an error that occurred with a managed object. Traps are unsolicited event notifications, that is, notifications generated by an agent on its own initiative.
UDP: See User Datagram Protocol.
UID: User identification number.
User Datagram Protocol (UDP): The TCP/IP datagram transport layer protocol.
window: An area of a user's screen in a Graphical User Interface system. A window is a mechanism used by applications for interacting with a user.