Windows TCP Monitors

These monitors allow the monitoring of typical network services to port level, internally and externally.

TCP Monitors allow the grouping of rules under the title of a master rule. For example, if a series of rules check a router and subsequent connections, the master rule would first check that the router can be contacted. If not, a single alert is raised for the master rule and subsequent rules in the group are ignored. If the router can be contacted, the other rules are then run in sequence. This prevents multiple alerts being generated in circumstances where a single point of failure is the cause.

NOTE: Only one master rule is allowed per Rule Group.
WARNING: If a specific Group is not defined then a ‘(default)’ Group is created and used.

TCP Rule Grouping and setting a Master Rule

Groups are added at TCP Monitor level.

To specify a new group for a TCP Monitor:

  1. Click the Add Group button at the bottom of the display.
  2. Enter a unique Name and Description for the new TCP Rule Group. If there are rules highlighted in the main display when this Group is created, the option is given to move the selected rules to the new group.

Setting a Master Rule

Once the rules in the TCP Group have been defined, right-click on the rule to be defined as the master rule for this Group. From the pop-up menu, select Set As Master Rule. An asterisk '*' symbol is placed next to the rule in the main display to identify it as the master rule.

This rule is the one that is initially checked for this Group. If this fails, an alert is raised and remaining rules are ignored.

To remove the master rule setting, select the rule with the '*' icon beside it and right-click. From the pop-up menu select Clear Master Rule.

NOTE: Master rules have less settings: It is not possible to specify when the rule is active, and the 'Advanced' settings cannot be used to, for example, suspend the rule.

The following TCP Monitors are available in Network Server Suite:

TCP FTP Monitor

Checks the operation of FTP servers by connecting to them and issuing a command. An alert is raised if the connection fails or invalid response is received to the command.

TCP HTTP Monitor

Checks the operation of HTTP servers by connecting to them and requesting a URL. Alert raised if connection fails or invalid page data returned. Pages can also be checked for contents. Pages requiring authentication and proxy servers are supported as are secure addresses (i.e those beginning with HTTPS). In order for the connection to an HTTPS address to be successful, the required domain must prefix the user name, for example; halcyon\jsmith, in the Authentication Settings tab.

NOTE: If multiple criteria are specified when entering Page Must Include/Page Must Not Include data, use Enter to separate criteria.
NOTE: URL Authentication only works with a browser based pop-up request for user name and password. HTTP and HTTPS pages that embed this information are not supported.

The TCP HTTP Monitor also supports a file path as well as a URL. Use the ‘Load Page From’ drop-down selection, available on the criteria tab to specify whether the path is a URL or a file path.

NOTE: If a wildcard file path is specified, only the most recent file is processed.
TCP HTTP Monitor Status Code Checking

An additional feature within the TCP HTTP Monitor allows you to check the HTTP status code returned.

Enable this feature to be able to compare the returned HTTP Status Code against a pre-defined value, range of values or series of values.

Use the first set of selection parameters to be able to enter a range of values between (or outside of) which the returned status code must be returned in order to raise an alert or pass the check (dependent on other criteria settings).

Use the second set of selection parameters to enter a single value or comma separated values against a comparator to specify the status code check to be made.

TCP HTTP Monitor Authentication

The TCP HTTP Monitor supports TLS authentication.

TCP NNTP Monitor

Checks the operation of NNTP (news) servers by connecting to them and issuing a command. Alert raised if connection fails or invalid response received to command.

TCP Ping Monitor

Checks the status of remote devices by sending ICMP ping. The number of ping attempts per device and success percentage can be specified. Alert raised if success percentage falls below threshold.

TCP POP3 Monitor

Checks the operation of POP3 servers by connecting to them and issuing a command. Alert raised if connection fails or invalid response received to command.

TCP SMTP Monitor

Checks the operation of SMTP (mail) servers by connecting to them and issuing a command. Alert raised if connection fails or invalid response received to command.

TCP Telnet Monitor

Checks the operation of TCP and User Datagram Protocol Servers (UDP) by connecting to them and optionally issuing a command. Alert raised if connection fails or invalid response received to command.

TCP/UDP Generic Monitor

Checks the operation of TCP and User Datagram Protocol Servers (UDP) by connecting to them and optionally issuing a command. Alert raised if connection fails or invalid response received to command.

All TCP Monitors check a specific IP address or host name with optional port, username and password.

All TCP Monitors have a default interval setting of 5 minutes between connections.

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