Project Status

Date Category Notes

Jan 3-5, 2001 Planning Brainstorming Sessions

Jan 16, 2001 Software Collaborated with Joe Hall and installed Oracle 8. Created draft_database_design.xls which is a simple set of tables along with fields to contain the data collected.

Jan 20, 2001 Software Collaboration on installation efforts. Successfully installed the following software packages:

Netscape Enterprise Server, version 4

Perl 5.6.0

Perl::Graphics Driver (GD), version 1.32

GDlib graphics library 1.8.3

FreeType font rendering engine, version 1.1

JPEG graphics library, version 6B

PNG graphics library, version 1.0.3

XPM graphics library, version 3.4j

zlib data compression library, version 1.1.3

Jan 23, 2001 Meeting Presented SMART Project Proposal to UCCS Faculty. Project was approved.

Feb 2, 2001 Documentation Finished SMART Requirements Document

Feb 4, 2001 Planning Design/collaboration Meetings with Joe Hall

Feb 6, 2001 Documentation Finished initial webpage design for the project. Decided it would be easier to create a log spreadsheet in Excel called smart_status for ease of documentation. Periodically, I'll transfer the log entries from it to this status web page.

Feb 18, 2001 Planning Database Schema Design Meeting with Joe Hall. Developed initial list of tables needed for system/node performance data collected by Joe Hall's "Collector Agents." Collaborated with Joe on agent performance, functionality, and exactly how they'll send data to the Oracle database tables. Experimented with the Perl-to-database interface code.

Feb 19, 2001 Software Collaboration Meeting with Joe Hall. Successfully installed Oracle WebDB 2.2

Feb 20, 2001 Software Successfully installed the following software packages:

Oracle Enterprise Manager, version 2.1

Perl:DBI for Oracle, version 1.14

Perl:DBD for Oracle, version 1.06

Feb 22, 2001 Software Oracle WebDB reporting errors such as "Can't allocate 16,048 bytes of memory. Query failed."

Feb 23, 2001 Software Wrote Perl code to test Perl's interface to Oracle.

Feb 24, 2001 Software Wrote Perl code to test Perl's graphical image capability.

Source: http://pm02rg.res.cw.net:7777/cgi-bin/gd_example_source.cgi

Output: http://pm02rg.res.cw.net:7777/cgi-bin/gd_example.cgi

Feb 25, 2001 Software Joe Hall is in Virginia relocating all servers. Corresponding/collaborating with him via email and phone. He's going to meet with an Oracle DBA to try and pin down the causes of our Oracle DB errors. Again, we think it's something to do with the default table specified during installation scripts.

Feb 26, 2001 Software Determined the CGI/Perl bin port is 7777. Will need this when connecting to the Oracle tables storing system performance information.

Feb 28, 2001 Software Joe met with an Oracle DBA in Reston to discuss the memory allocation problem we were having when running queries with WebDB. The DBA said Oracle's default database tables sizes were grossly incorrect and advised against using Oracle's default database table sizes when initially installing Oracle.

Feb 28, 2001 Software Reinstalled Oracle again, this time using 100MB to 500MB as default table sizes for various table spaces. Tested WebDB and the memory allocation problem I was having with WebDB is now fixed.

Mar 1, 2001 Software Experimented with Seagate's Crystal Reports software. Crystal Reports Installed development suite and began learning to use. Ran into some limitations when connecting it to a host on the Internet. Will obtain books and more documentation to find out more about this software. As specified in early design documents, I intend to use it primarily to create dynamic web-based charts.

Mar 5, 2001 Software Reinstalled Oracle again, this time due to the required domain name changes during the system relocation. The new hostname is now pm02rg.rst.cw.net.

Mar 6, 2001 Software Reinstalled WebDB again due to the hostname changing.

Mar 9, 2001 Database Created initial set of tables via Oracle software. Seems to be working fine. Sticking to initial design, each collector query will put a data-time-group (DTG) stamp on the information request along with the system information we want (i.e. memory, CPU utilization, network throughput).
Mar 14, 2001 Database Explored WebDB capabilities. Determined there are some limitations with schemas and table access rights/permissions. Explored sample tables and schemas provided with Oracle software.

Mar 17, 2001 Software Reinstalled Perl and Perl:DBI due to the hostname changes. Certain Perl libraries had hardcoded the old hostname.

Mar 18, 2001 Software Reinstalled Perl:DBD due to the hostname changes. Certain Perl libraries had hardcoded the old hostname.

Mar 19, 2001 Documentation Learned Oracle WebDB charting functionality and capabilities. Looks like I might be able to use some of the charting options with the tool however it does seem quite basic and may not provide enough to meet SMART requirements. Updated Oracle schema privileges, and build-in rights. SMART schema updated and now I'm able to implement charts within this user. Access privileges updated for WebDB user as well as SMART user. Learned WebDB query functionality and experimented with more WebDB operations.

Mar 19, 2001 Documentation Created layouts and design schemas for system performance reports. Looking at developing three initial reports to track daily performance (CPU loads, disk utilization, network traffice) by hour, hourly by minute, and monthly by day.

Mar 21, 2001 Code Created a beta version of the alarm agent on the server. Together, we identified hardware and operating system provided data that will be collected. Identified commands and methods needed to collect data. Joe tested alarm notification functions successfully. Using really low thresholds for testing, I'm now getting system performance reports via email. Joe is now working auto alarm actions (i.e., when disk space exceeds a threshold, SMART should attempt to free file space by removing core dump files and temps).

Mar 22, 2001 Design Revised system design document to reflect changes in new database schema and architecture. Scrapped initial table format/architecture after doing some brainstorming with Joe. Next layout takes more advantage of a relational database architecture, adds robustness, and eliminates raw Oracle tables we had initially thought would work well. Determined table joins, foreign keys, as well as primary keys.

Mar 23, 2001 Design Recreated 13 Oracle tables using direct SQL command line inputs. Modeled db schemas and table architectures using Microsoft Access. Updated draft copy of system design document. Modified primary key and foreign keys in system table (host). Updated project web page with latest activities and development progress. Modeled reports, charts, and queries using MS Access.

Mar 24, 2001 Code/Design Combined the service response oriented Oracle tables into a more eloquent design which reduced redundant fields spread over four tables. Also, collaborated with Joe Hall and identified some data we forgot about. Created a new table which contains alarming information. In addition, Joe and I developed some Perl/CGI code that will read a data file and present it in a Web Browser over port 7777. Developed a Java Applet Chart Applet that uses embedded HTML parameters as input and builds a 2D chart. Added a link to it in the contents frame of this site. Finally, continued to model reports, charts, and queries using MS Access.

Mar 29, 2001 Code/Design Demonstrated Seagate Crystal Reports (CR) designer today and some initial reports. For the moment I'm linking it to the MS Access database I built since Joe Hall is still working on his Perl code to populate the database. Also, struggling with the Perl database extraction program and how to build the connection to the Oracle database. I'll have to get with Joe Hall later and see if he's got some ideas how to solve the problem.

Mar 31, 2001 Code/Design Built some more reports today using CR and also determined that I'll have to install a Web Server component on the Unix server in order to "Web enable" the report products. Although the CGI code for putting the reports on the Web is short and concise, they appear to offer most of what I need to meet the software requirements. On the other hand, the CR reports appear to be very powerful and the design tool enables a wide variety of layout and styles--just got to get it working over the Web. My plan is to get together with Joe Hall and investigate what other Seagate component needs to be installed.

Apr 1, 2001 Code/Design Working with Joe Hall today we developed some sql code to extract CPU Performance Reporting Data using live data in the Oracle database. SQL Source CPU Performance Code.

Apr 2, 2001 Documentation/Design Developed rough draft of a software test plan. Integrated a requirements matrix using the software requirements document developed earlier. Defined test methods: demo, analysis, inspection. I'll probably incorporate another column to describe the priority of the requirement. Looking at progress up to this point, it looks like I'll be a bit behind in completing some of the requirements. Spoke with Joe Hall today and it looks like Dr Sebesta would like documentation turned in around 23 April so that does not leave a lot of time left.

Apr 3, 2001 Documentation/Design Updated rough draft of Software Test Plan. Draft Software Test Plan

Apr 6, 2001 Documentation/Design Updated Software Test Plan. Software Test Plan

Apr 10, 2001 Documentation/Design Began working on draft copy of final project report. Draft final Report

Apr 18, 2001 Test Began functional system testing.

Apr 20, 2001 Documentation/Design Updates to draft copy of final project report. Draft final Report

Date	Category	Notes
Jan 3-5, 2001	Planning	Brainstorming Sessions
Jan 16, 2001	Software	Collaborated with Joe Hall and installed Oracle 8. Created draft_database_design.xls which is a simple set of tables along with fields to contain the data collected.
Jan 20, 2001	Software	Collaboration on installation efforts. Successfully installed the following software packages: Netscape Enterprise Server, version 4 Perl 5.6.0 Perl::Graphics Driver (GD), version 1.32 GDlib graphics library 1.8.3 FreeType font rendering engine, version 1.1 JPEG graphics library, version 6B PNG graphics library, version 1.0.3 XPM graphics library, version 3.4j zlib data compression library, version 1.1.3
Jan 23, 2001	Meeting	Presented SMART Project Proposal to UCCS Faculty. Project was approved.
Feb 2, 2001	Documentation	Finished SMART Requirements Document
Feb 4, 2001	Planning	Design/collaboration Meetings with Joe Hall
Feb 6, 2001	Documentation	Finished initial webpage design for the project. Decided it would be easier to create a log spreadsheet in Excel called smart_status for ease of documentation. Periodically, I'll transfer the log entries from it to this status web page.
Feb 18, 2001	Planning	Database Schema Design Meeting with Joe Hall. Developed initial list of tables needed for system/node performance data collected by Joe Hall's "Collector Agents." Collaborated with Joe on agent performance, functionality, and exactly how they'll send data to the Oracle database tables. Experimented with the Perl-to-database interface code.
Feb 19, 2001	Software	Collaboration Meeting with Joe Hall. Successfully installed Oracle WebDB 2.2
Feb 20, 2001	Software	Successfully installed the following software packages: Oracle Enterprise Manager, version 2.1 Perl:DBI for Oracle, version 1.14 Perl:DBD for Oracle, version 1.06
Feb 22, 2001	Software	Oracle WebDB reporting errors such as "Can't allocate 16,048 bytes of memory. Query failed."
Feb 23, 2001	Software	Wrote Perl code to test Perl's interface to Oracle.
Feb 24, 2001	Software	Wrote Perl code to test Perl's graphical image capability. Source: http://pm02rg.res.cw.net:7777/cgi-bin/gd_example_source.cgi Output: http://pm02rg.res.cw.net:7777/cgi-bin/gd_example.cgi
Feb 25, 2001	Software	Joe Hall is in Virginia relocating all servers. Corresponding/collaborating with him via email and phone. He's going to meet with an Oracle DBA to try and pin down the causes of our Oracle DB errors. Again, we think it's something to do with the default table specified during installation scripts.
Feb 26, 2001	Software	Determined the CGI/Perl bin port is 7777. Will need this when connecting to the Oracle tables storing system performance information.
Feb 28, 2001	Software	Joe met with an Oracle DBA in Reston to discuss the memory allocation problem we were having when running queries with WebDB. The DBA said Oracle's default database tables sizes were grossly incorrect and advised against using Oracle's default database table sizes when initially installing Oracle.
Feb 28, 2001	Software	Reinstalled Oracle again, this time using 100MB to 500MB as default table sizes for various table spaces. Tested WebDB and the memory allocation problem I was having with WebDB is now fixed.
Mar 1, 2001	Software	Experimented with Seagate's Crystal Reports software. Crystal Reports Installed development suite and began learning to use. Ran into some limitations when connecting it to a host on the Internet. Will obtain books and more documentation to find out more about this software. As specified in early design documents, I intend to use it primarily to create dynamic web-based charts.
Mar 5, 2001	Software	Reinstalled Oracle again, this time due to the required domain name changes during the system relocation. The new hostname is now pm02rg.rst.cw.net.
Mar 6, 2001	Software	Reinstalled WebDB again due to the hostname changing.
Mar 9, 2001	Database	Created initial set of tables via Oracle software. Seems to be working fine. Sticking to initial design, each collector query will put a data-time-group (DTG) stamp on the information request along with the system information we want (i.e. memory, CPU utilization, network throughput).
Mar 14, 2001	Database	Explored WebDB capabilities. Determined there are some limitations with schemas and table access rights/permissions. Explored sample tables and schemas provided with Oracle software.
Mar 17, 2001	Software	Reinstalled Perl and Perl:DBI due to the hostname changes. Certain Perl libraries had hardcoded the old hostname.
Mar 18, 2001	Software	Reinstalled Perl:DBD due to the hostname changes. Certain Perl libraries had hardcoded the old hostname.
Mar 19, 2001	Documentation	Learned Oracle WebDB charting functionality and capabilities. Looks like I might be able to use some of the charting options with the tool however it does seem quite basic and may not provide enough to meet SMART requirements. Updated Oracle schema privileges, and build-in rights. SMART schema updated and now I'm able to implement charts within this user. Access privileges updated for WebDB user as well as SMART user. Learned WebDB query functionality and experimented with more WebDB operations.
Mar 19, 2001	Documentation	Created layouts and design schemas for system performance reports. Looking at developing three initial reports to track daily performance (CPU loads, disk utilization, network traffice) by hour, hourly by minute, and monthly by day.
Mar 21, 2001	Code	Created a beta version of the alarm agent on the server. Together, we identified hardware and operating system provided data that will be collected. Identified commands and methods needed to collect data. Joe tested alarm notification functions successfully. Using really low thresholds for testing, I'm now getting system performance reports via email. Joe is now working auto alarm actions (i.e., when disk space exceeds a threshold, SMART should attempt to free file space by removing core dump files and temps).
Mar 22, 2001	Design	Revised system design document to reflect changes in new database schema and architecture. Scrapped initial table format/architecture after doing some brainstorming with Joe. Next layout takes more advantage of a relational database architecture, adds robustness, and eliminates raw Oracle tables we had initially thought would work well. Determined table joins, foreign keys, as well as primary keys.
Mar 23, 2001	Design	Recreated 13 Oracle tables using direct SQL command line inputs. Modeled db schemas and table architectures using Microsoft Access. Updated draft copy of system design document. Modified primary key and foreign keys in system table (host). Updated project web page with latest activities and development progress. Modeled reports, charts, and queries using MS Access.
Mar 24, 2001	Code/Design	Combined the service response oriented Oracle tables into a more eloquent design which reduced redundant fields spread over four tables. Also, collaborated with Joe Hall and identified some data we forgot about. Created a new table which contains alarming information. In addition, Joe and I developed some Perl/CGI code that will read a data file and present it in a Web Browser over port 7777. Developed a Java Applet Chart Applet that uses embedded HTML parameters as input and builds a 2D chart. Added a link to it in the contents frame of this site. Finally, continued to model reports, charts, and queries using MS Access.
Mar 29, 2001	Code/Design	Demonstrated Seagate Crystal Reports (CR) designer today and some initial reports. For the moment I'm linking it to the MS Access database I built since Joe Hall is still working on his Perl code to populate the database. Also, struggling with the Perl database extraction program and how to build the connection to the Oracle database. I'll have to get with Joe Hall later and see if he's got some ideas how to solve the problem.
Mar 31, 2001	Code/Design	Built some more reports today using CR and also determined that I'll have to install a Web Server component on the Unix server in order to "Web enable" the report products. Although the CGI code for putting the reports on the Web is short and concise, they appear to offer most of what I need to meet the software requirements. On the other hand, the CR reports appear to be very powerful and the design tool enables a wide variety of layout and styles--just got to get it working over the Web. My plan is to get together with Joe Hall and investigate what other Seagate component needs to be installed.
Apr 1, 2001	Code/Design	Working with Joe Hall today we developed some sql code to extract CPU Performance Reporting Data using live data in the Oracle database. SQL Source CPU Performance Code.
Apr 2, 2001	Documentation/Design	Developed rough draft of a software test plan. Integrated a requirements matrix using the software requirements document developed earlier. Defined test methods: demo, analysis, inspection. I'll probably incorporate another column to describe the priority of the requirement. Looking at progress up to this point, it looks like I'll be a bit behind in completing some of the requirements. Spoke with Joe Hall today and it looks like Dr Sebesta would like documentation turned in around 23 April so that does not leave a lot of time left.
Apr 3, 2001	Documentation/Design	Updated rough draft of Software Test Plan. Draft Software Test Plan
Apr 6, 2001	Documentation/Design	Updated Software Test Plan. Software Test Plan
Apr 10, 2001	Documentation/Design	Began working on draft copy of final project report. Draft final Report
Apr 18, 2001	Test	Began functional system testing.
Apr 20, 2001	Documentation/Design	Updates to draft copy of final project report. Draft final Report