System Monitoring shared service modes

The System Monitoring shared service runs in an internal mode or an external mode.

Internal mode

The internal mode provides the following monitoring services:
  • Provides a hub monitoring server, remote monitoring server, IBM® Cloud Pak System Software Monitoring Portal, Monitoring Agent for IBM Cloud Pak System Software, and connectivity information that enable automatic configuration of predeployed monitoring agents.
  • Performs automated load balancing to avoid overloading a remote monitoring server. When an agent is started as a result of a newly deployed workload, the agent connects to the remote monitoring server that has the fewest agents connected. Agents are assigned an instance of the remote monitoring server during startup and are not stopped and restarted for load balancing purposes.
  • Determines when scaling out operations take place to provision a new instance of remote monitoring server. When you deploy the System Monitoring shared service, you specify the maximum number of active monitoring agents that can connect to a remote monitoring server. If more agents are deployed, a new instance of the remote monitoring server is created and those agents connect to the new remote monitoring server.
  • Determines when scaling in operations take place to deprovision an instance of remote monitoring server. When you deploy the System Monitoring shared service, you specify the minimum number of active monitoring agents that can connect to a remote monitoring server. If the number of active monitoring agents connecting to every remote monitoring server is less than the value that you specify, one remote monitoring server is deprovisioned to release resources, the monitoring agents that connected to that remote monitoring server then connect to another active remote monitoring server, and their functions are not impacted.
  • Provides troubleshooting operations that are compliant with the Troubleshooting Framework Guidelines.

External mode

The external mode provisions an elastic set of remote monitoring servers that connect to an external hub monitoring server and warehouse. It provides external connectivity to agents that run within the cloud group.