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Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.announce
From: Errol Ginsberg <zulu!errol@uu4.psi.com>
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: NetWatch - SNMP monitor for NEXTSTEP
Reply-To: info@ridgeback.com
Organization: Next Announcements
Approved: sanguish@digifix.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
---------------------
For more information, contact:
Errol Ginsberg
Telephone: 310/456-6094
Fax: 310/456-9715
E-mail:info@ridgeback.com
or zulu!info@uu4.psi.com
NetWatch - The First SNMP Network monitor for NEXTSTEP
------------------------------------------------------
San Francisco, CA - May 18, 1993. Ridgeback Solutions is
now shipping NetWatch(TM), the first SNMP management
solution for NEXTSTEP. NetWatch enables a network
administrator running NEXTSTEP to easily monitor any
SNMP MIB-I or MIB-II device, such as bridges, routers,
hubs and workstations running SNMP.
Good network management is essential to keeping LANs
operating smoothly and minimizing the time required for
a network manager to find and fix problems.
NetWatch features
-----------------
NetWatch runs on NEXTSTEP and provides support for
setting up unlimited topology maps with background
graphics that may be linked in a hierarchical and/or
logical fashion. Alarms, each with its own poll time,
user-defined severity level and color may be set for any
MIB-II variable thereby allowing automatic monitoring
of key network devices. NetWatch can send email, dial a
pager, flash the node alarming and run a user program as a
result of an alarm occurring. Alarms common to several
devices may be set up simultaneously, thereby easing
configuration. All alarms are written to an alarm log and
may be viewed by the user in a format similar to the NeXT
Mail application.
Judicious use of graphics in the alarm set up application
greatly eases alarm management. A global alarm view
shows the alarm configuration and current state for all
alarms for all devices in one easy-to-read screen.
For each alarm occurrence, alarm details are written to a
log with the IP Address, Hostname, Time and Date. The user
may use the Alarm Log to review, acknowledge and delete
alarms.
Thresholds may be set by the network manager to monitor
these critical parameters automatically and be alerted
when there is a problem. By choosing the threshold values
carefully, the network manager can be alerted to
potential problems and fix them before the end-user is
even aware that there was a problem with the network.
Once a device is selected in a topology map, it may be
queried using the Query Application to build queries of
one or more of each group of variables that makes up
MIB-II. Each query may have it's own poll time allowing
the user to selectively request some groups of variables
more frequently than others. Each MIB query occurs in
it's own window so that the user may selectively hide some
queries while viewing others.
The SNMP agent, AGeNT(TM) for NEXTSTEP and Sun OS 4.1
-----------------------------------------------------
Ridgeback also provides SNMP agents, AGeNT, for
NEXTSTEP and Sun OS 4.1. When AGeNT is installed on
workstations, the user may use NetWatch to easily
monitor and generate alarms based on Swap File Size, Free
Disk Space, CPU utilization, a Login or Logout on a
user-specified workstation and a user-specified
process dying. The SNMP agent is a complete
implementation of the MIB-II specifications with
extensive private extensions and makes use of standards
such as the Internet Protocol(IP), User Datagram
Protocol(UDP) and the Simple Network Management
Protocol(SNMP).
Partial Customer list for AGeNT and NetWatch
--------------------------------------------
Phibro Energy
Department of Defense
US Navy
US West
Fannie Mae
Government of Alberta
Several Universities
HP Openview(TM), IBM Netview 6000(TM), and SunNet(TM) Manager
-------------------------------------------------------------
AGeNT's private extensions have been successfully
compiled and tested with Hewlett Packard's Openview 3.0
Network Manager, IBM Netview 6000 and Sun's SunNet
Manager. Network Management applications such as
Openview or SunNet Manager and the Ridgeback Solutions
SNMP agent allow network managers to easily integrate
computers running NEXTSTEP into their overall network
management framework.
Pricing and Availability
------------------------
NetWatch is priced at $1995 and includes 10 SNMP agents for
computers running NEXTSTEP. Additional SNMP agents may be
purchased separately. A discount schedule is available for
the purchase of 10 or more copies of AGeNT. NetWatch and
AGeNT for NEXTSTEP 68040 are available immediately.
NetWatch and AGeNT for NEXTSTEP/Intel will be available
in June 1993.
Company Background
------------------
Ridgeback Solutions, founded in
1991 and based in Malibu, CA, specializes in the
development of network management and communications
applications for UNIX workstations. The company was
founded by Errol Ginsberg, who was previously vice
president of engineering for Fibermux, a $60 Million
manufacturer of LAN concentrators and multiplexors.
Ridgeback Solutions is privately held and funded.
****
NetWatch and AGeNT are trademarks of Ridgeback
Solutions. NeXT is a trademark of NeXT Computer, Inc. All
other brand names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Marcel Waldvogel and Netfuture.ch.