1: Introduction
1-4 AlterPath BladeManager Manual
One-Click Access to Blades and Switches
Placing the mouse cursor over a chassis name from the Chassis List form
allows the system administrator to access the BladeManager through the web
or CLI. The default session type is configurable.
To access a blade, the regular user can choose and click on any blade or
switch listed on the Blades List form. This opens a console session (through
Secure Shell) for that particular blade, allowing the user to remotely fix
problems related to the target blade.
By placing the mouse cursor over a blade or switch console name from the
Blades List form, the user can select KVM, serial over LAN (SOL), or to
power ON/OFF the selected blade or switch.
Centralized Data Logging System
The BladeManager provides continuous online and offline data logging of all
system messages. It captures all console log messages and writes them to its
internal hard disk drive. With a console log capacity of 20GB, the secure
online/offline storage ensures availability of all important console messages.
Each line of the logfile contains a timestamp (a feature which prevents
tampering) and provides a tool for analyses and audit trailing. Each time a
user connects to a blade or switch, BladeManager adds a timestamp to the log
file. The user identification timestamp is recorded in the data buffer and
logged separately on the BladeManager access log database.
Log File Compression and Rotation
When a log file reaches a certain size (which is specified by the
administrator), the system automatically compresses the file and then creates
a new file to collect a new set of console data. The file rotation should be
seamless with no data loss as the system copies from one file to another.
The administrator has the option to move the compressed log file to another
server for archiving.
Prioritized Triggers & Alarms
BladeManager’s event handling feature enables the system to identify
possible issues and alert the user. As the BladeManager sends a message to
the hard disk for storing and consolidation, it also scans the message for