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From: Conrad Geiger <Conrad_Geiger@NEXT.COM>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.announce
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: NetWatch: First SNMP Network Monitor for NEXTSTEP
Date: 5 Aug 1993 03:03:32 -0400
Organization: Next Announcements
Lines: 118
Sender: sanguish@digifix.com
Approved: sanguish@digifix.com
Message-ID: <23qbc4$gp8@digifix.digifix.com>
Reply-To: info@ridgeback.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:
Now Available in Multi-Architecture Binary Form
Los Angeles, CA - August 3,1993 - Ridgeback Solutions announces the
availability of the Multi-architecture ("fat") binary versions (for
Motorola and Intel) of NetWatch and AGeNT. NetWatch is the first
SNMP management solution for NEXTSTEP. It allows a network
administrator running NEXTSTEP to easily monitor any SNMP MIB-I or
MIB-II device such as bridges, routers and hubs. An SNMP agent for
NEXTSTEP, AGeNT, enables users to integrate their NEXTSTEP
computers into any SNMP network management environment.
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 for NEXTSTEP
NetWatch runs on NEXTSTEP and allows the user to monitor any SNMP
MIB-I or MIB-II device. Support is provided for setting up
unlimited topology maps with background graphics that may be linked
in a hierarchical and/or logical fashion. Alarms 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.
For each alarm occurrence, alarm details are written to a log with
the IP Address, Hostname, Time and Date. The user may scroll
through the Alarm Log to review all the 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 on his machine.
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 that makes up MIB-II. Each query can have its own poll time
allowing the user to selectively request 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.
NetWatch support for computers running NEXTSTEP and Sun OS 4.1.x
Ridgeback provides an SNMP agent, AGeNT(TM), for NEXTSTEP and Sun
OS 4.1. When AGeNT is installed on workstations, the user may
easily monitor and generate alarms such as Swap File Size greater
than a user-specified Threshold, Free Disk Space less than a
user-specified Threshold, Loss of Communication to a workstation, a
Login or Logout on a user-specified workstation and SNMP
Authentication errors.
The SNMP agent, AGeNT for NEXTSTEP and Sun OS 4.1
The SNMP agent is a complete implementation of the MIB-I and MIB-II
specifications and makes use of standards such as the Internet
Protocol (IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and the Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP). Ridgeback Solutions took advantage of
the Private Extension capability supported by the SNMP standards to
define and add its own Private Extensions for NEXTSTEP and SunOS.
These extensive enhancements to MIB-II allow the monitoring via
SNMP of Swap File size, Disk Space Available, Disk Space Used,
Applications running, Memory Status, User Login Information and CPU
utilization.
HP Openview(TM), IBM Netview6000(TM) and SunNet Manager(TM)
AGeNT's private extensions have been successfully compiled and
tested with Hewlett Packard's Openview(TM) 3.0 Network Manager, IBM
Netview6000(TM) and Sun's SunNet Manager(TM). Network Management
applications such as Openview(TM) or SunNet Manager(TM) and the
Ridgeback Solutions SNMP agent allow network managers to easily
integrate NEXTSTEP computers into their overall network management
framework.
Pricing
NetWatch is priced at $1995 and includes 10 SNMP agents for
computers running NEXTSTEP. Additional SNMP agents for may be
purchased separately. A discount schedule is available for the
purchase of 10 or more copies of AGeNT.
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 $50 Million manufacturer of LAN hubs
and multiplexors. Ridgeback Solutions is privately held and funded.
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These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Marcel Waldvogel and Netfuture.ch.