System performance monitoring

"- Help, we haven’t received events forN hours!
- How did you notice it?
- Well, the console became too quiet ... "
From a conversation with technicalsupport. ‍

Themain task of any Notification Transmission System is the delivery of events tothe console. System performance can be monitored by received events: they arecurrent and reach the operator. If any of the elements in the system fails, itis important to quickly identify the malfunction and respond promptly. It isthe operator who is constantly, 24 hours present on the console, therefore, heis charged with the primary control of the system’s performance. He should beable to see that there is a problem and inform the technical specialists aboutit on time. The "Security Center" porovides special algorithms tofacilitate this task for the operator.

 Considerthe 3 main points of control of receiving events: control of receiving eventsin general, monitoring the passage of events on each communication channel,monitoring the reception of events for each object. 

1. Monitoring the passage / reception ofevents in general
(How to control that the server is not frozenand the SC is working)

 Inthe Duty Operator module at the very bottom there is a window with the displayof the last received event. In the module settings, you can set theinterval (30 seconds by default) no more than which events will appear there.The interval is needed to avoid the squall of events in this line and theconstant sound of them. 

In the upper right corner, the system time is displayed with an accuracy of a second. In case of normal operation, the time on top is up to date (may be checked by any other watch), events appear at the bottom with a specified interval. By controlling the constant sound and time of the latest received events, you can be sure that the whole system is working and the events from the objects are transmitted correctly.

“Disturbing” silence and irrelevant time is a clear sign of problems.  

Here are a few reasons for problems, which can cause everything to hang up and events from objects do not reach the operator: PC malfunctions (RAM, HDD, power ...), blocking after updating antivirus, firewall, firewall, operating system error or installed software.

The interval of appearance and the sounds for the tests themselves may be changed and in order to pick the most comfortable for the operators.  

2. Control of sources, event processors, communication channels
(How to control central stations, receive events via IP channels and COM ports)

Events in the "Security Center" can be received via various communication channels from various central stations, third-party software and directly from objects. To receive events, SC uses sources and event processors. It is important to control the operation of each source or event processor separately, this allows you to understand with which element of the system the problem.

Event sources

In the settings of all Event Sources there is a parameter "Control time (min)".

If no events have passed through the source within the specified time, the system will generate an alarm according to the internal source number.   Monitoring time allows you to track the fact of receiving events by the source and inform the operator about the absence of events.

An example of a communication alarm in the absence of events from the SC:

The value of the Control time is selected depending on the source load, the number of events that passes through it. You can create a report (1-13-By communication channels)  in the Report Manager to understand how many events come through a particular communication channel.  

When setting up the Event Sources, it is also important for everyone to indicate their (unique) internal object number, to create an object card with the same number and Central Station event template.

Event processors

Processors control the availability of the connection and the possibility of sending events, i.e. the channel itself. If the connection is broken for some reason, an alarm will be generated by the internal number of the processor:

Event processors are also important to separate by different object numbers and create separate cards using the "Event Processors" template. In the settings of the processor, configure the Interval of activity correctly (2-3 times more on the client than on the server).

Examples of malfunctions that can be quickly identified with the correct configuration of sources and event processors: the failure of the central station, loss of internet connection, the failure of network equipment, the lack of communication on ports...

For rapid response, the engineer of the console can receive SMS notification  in case of communication alarms.

3. Control of communication channels for each object
(How to control that the object is in online and events pass via all channels)

In the Object manager module there is the Control time tab, in which the most important of the parameters for the object is set - Control time. If no events are received from the object within the specified time, an alarm will be generated.  When there are several communication channels on an object, then to control each one, it is necessary to use individual settings for each type of channel.

An example of a communication alarm: for different channels:

Control time is set depending on the intervals of tests from the object. You cam evaluate the accuracy of the total time, and on what objects it is indicated using the report "1-06-On time deviation".

The reasons for the absence of events from an object can be different: “jamming” of the object by intruders, problems of the operator or provider, interferences in the air, equipment radio leakage, malfunction of the object equipment (control panel, transmitter) ...

For new GSM devices, you can control IP channels by the following method article.  

Applying and properly setting up all three of the above points in the complex, you can quickly detect and respond to various malfunctions ranging from the object to the operator’s workplace. .

A detailed description of the settings of the "Security Center" software can be found in Instruction manual.

• Installation and first start-up
  Backing-up
  Security Center settings.
  Work with modems
  Event templates
  Integration with equipment and third party software