Connect the Dots: Monitoring, Metrics, and Alerting

If the history of system administration resembles firefighting, then the future more closely resembles city planning. As IT systems grow in complexity and scale, system administrators are uniquely positioned to help their organizations “connect the dots” by identifying the information that will improve decision-making and then communicating it in the right context. Topics will include: making service-level metrics part of routine system monitoring, reducing the on-call burden and shifting the balance from reactive to proactive work, anticipating useful diagnostic data, capturing historical data to identify trends, using forecasts to manage capacity and prevent problems before they occur, sharing information throughout the organization using blogs and other media, and how to demonstrate the value of these efforts to senior management.

Transcript

1. CONNECT THE DOTS http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-3247053188 David Shafer • UI Tech Forum • May 30, 2013
2. Schaefer Schaeffer Schafer Schaffer Shafer Shaffer Shafner (Not Really An Option) This One
4. http://www.last.fm/music/Foreigner/+images/81717445
5. DON’T BE A HERO Only You Can Prevent Active Directory Forest Fires http://www.flickr.com/photos/navalsurfaceforces/5552828713/
7. 86 74 52 26 0 20 40 60 80 100 Jun–Aug Sep–Nov Dec–Feb Mar–May Storage Services Alertable Incidents (June 2012–May 2013)
8. CATALOG YOUR SERVICES (Models Optional) http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2131982712/
10. INFORMATION NEEDS CONTEXT http://www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/2984777106/
16. TELL A STORY http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjoselibrary/3812501631/
18. Define (and Refine) Your Services Monitor Relevant Metrics Communicate the Good with the Bad
19. David S. Shafer ITS Storage Services The University of Iowa david-shafer@uiowa.edu DavidScottShafer @DavidSShafer QUESTIONS?