CUB USER GUIDE - Authortech Documentation Consultancy
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1. 1 20 Printed 08 1 1 06 Glossary 35 Hard Disk 31 Help system E 11 Whats TRIS voii aii 11 35 Layers pictorial representation 10 3 Log ci ia 23 31 Manual Cleanup 32 Mediation ccccccccsssecceseseeeeesneeeeessneeersnees 13 Mediation 5 5 See Operational Measurements Operational Measurements 3 10 35 e AN 11 17 advantage Sirenin eri 17 OS E E E E 35 Mate ce 6 35 PAD 11 14 Polling 1 2 2222 22 2 22 13 Retrieval Process 27 A 13 Switch kdata ooooooconncccconoocccnonoccnnonnnoninoncnnns 13 A E eee ee 35 Sequential Data 29 Statistical Data 3 11 35 Translation oooooococonnncccononcconononcnnnnnannnnnnnoos 16 14 Statistical Data 17 SWIIGCH cuarenta 3 SOM iii 21 A e 35 Translati2. 13 Concurrent Data Retrieval 29 24 DAT noni cite oa 35 Data flow diagram ee 10 tormattind iia 11 packets iio 14 N E 13 13 Data components CDR data eiii n 10 Events 10 pictorial 10 Statistical data 11 Data 17 Database 17 tables aan acti ds 17 Datta flow sicscissscceasseccesessineceescceeaanscccesecsecerascs 9 Directory Structures 23 DIRPHOLD coccocooccnononcnonononcnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnninnnnnnos 35 DMS ici 21 35 Double Server Failsafe Operation DSFO A 6 DTX 3 10 13 35 OR 3 35 Events Data 10 Translation nne 15 Transportes cosita nata 14 File 31 File Transfer 28 FMS 35 See Fraud Management System Formatting 5 28 Fraud Management 21 Front Ends See User Interfaces 35
3. Process 3 Auditing Process After the data for Switch 1 has been formatted a third process is initiated This process takes a snapshot of the two dynamic log files that have been generated by the first two processes and then produces an audit file for the respective Switch This audit file is called adt log and is stored in the directory sites lt site name gt audit Example products unity audit dalee u_yyjjjcsi adt The length of this process is of the order of seconds Process 4 Database Loading Process The CDR data is loaded into the CDR table in the database Figure 5 depicts the flow of the various processes for sequential polling and Figure 6 depicts the various processes for concurrent polling Process 1 data retrieval Process 2 formatting for AS 400 Process 3 produce audit files Process 4 database loading process time gt Figure 5 Sequential Data Retrieval and Processing 26 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Issue no 1 2D Chapter 8 e CDR Data File Processing Process 1a data retrieval Process 2a formatting for AS 400 Process 3a produce audit files Process 4a database loading process Process 1b data retrieval Process 2b formatting for AS 400 Process 3b produce audit files Process 4b database loading process time gt Figure 6 Concurrent Data Retrieval and Processing The system can be set up for concurrent or sequential polling or a combination of both
4. A Log is a record of an event The term Log and Event may often be interchanged A Switch is the common term for a Digital Telephone Exchange or DTX Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 4 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Chapter 2 e Diamond Infrastructure 2 Diamond Infrastructure This chapter describes the Diamond mediation infrastructure and how Unity fits in with it It consists of the following sections e 2 1 Overview e 2 2 Double Server Fail safe Operation DSFO 2 1 Overview of Infrastructure Figure 1 provides an overview of the Diamond mediation infrastructure Daleside 0 D D DNS Syst m SystemX SysfemX System x DSE DSA DSB psc DSD 0 0 Woodborough F Shepshed woo A SHE System DMS 0 Mansfield Oswin MAN OSW System X DMS 0 0 Grimsby Northfield GRI NOR Lincoln 7 LIN Handshake System X Handshake LAN using TCP IP User Interface User Interface User Interface Romote Userinteriace Figure 1 Overview of Diamond Mediation Infrastructure The Diamond Mediation Infrastructure c
5. Itis possible that a disaster such as a fire in the computer room could cause destruction of Titan and the communications equipment In the case of Titan follow the procedure for a Severe DR and in the Communications case follow the procedure for a Major Communications Problem Severe This is the procedure that you should follow in the event that Titan is lost permanently or will be out of action for a long time e g titan has to be taken away for repair 1 Disable the crontab on Titan if Titan still exists Set the correct polling sequence on Phoebe Start Phoebe Polling Enable Crontab on Phoebe Ensure switches are being polled and file numbers reduced Collect any live files from Titan using AS 400 if connection available Recover any data still on Titan to Phoebe Configure Cablemaster to collect data from Phoebe 2 6 mn Configure Rater to collect data from Phoebe 10 Configure Fraud to collect data from Phoebe After titan has been rebuilt and reinstalled 1 Set correct polling sequence on Titan Test Poll from Titan Carried out by support team Disable crontab on Phoebe Start Titan Polling Enable Crontab on Titan Collect any live files from Phoebe using AS 400 if connection available Ensure remaining data collected from Phoebe Configure Cablemaster to collect data from Titan N o COL gt Configure Rater to collect data from Titan o Configure Fraud to collect data fr
6. Please see 1 Introduction Typing Conventions The following typographical conventions are used throughout this guide e Dedicated file names paths and commands etc are formatted with the courier font For example directory filename e Placeholders for mandatory information are enclosed in angular brackets Optional parameters are enclosed in square brackets Multi valued parameters are separated by a character For example 1 lt filename gt day year month e References to keyboard operations are in capital letters For example CTRL ALT SHIFT ENTER e Names of menu options and buttons as they are appear on the screen are written in bold type For example Cancel e Some special terminology specific to the software is written in bold type where it needs to be emphasised For example Alarm Details Issue no 1 2D 1 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 2 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Chapter 1 e Introduction 1 Introduction This chapter provides you with a general introduction to Unity It consists of the following sections e 1 1 What is Unity e 1 2 Some Terminology 1 1 What is Unity Unity is a complete solution for the mediation of CDR data Call Detail Records The Unity system handles the transfer of CDR data from every envisaged type of Switch to the central server where the data are stored processed and sorted The central server interfaces with one or more PC based wo
7. The Billing Systems Cablemaster and the Fraud System retrieve billing data via Ethernet using FTP Rater retrieves data via an NFS mount to an intermediary Linux PC Normally Titan polls call data from each Switch at regular intervals defined by the system For Diamond this is normally every hour These raw data are temporarily stored in the system which employs mirrored disks for first level backup purposes The data are then formatted and copied to the Unity Database and other locations where they await collection by the billing and fraud systems The criticality of the data on the two different types of Switches is different as described below Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 System X Switches The DR system for data polled from System X Switches is critical because once the data have been polled they are immediately deleted and can never again be recovered This means that if the polled data are lost due to disaster before they are backed up or picked up by the billing system they are permanently lost This likelihood is significantly reduced by mirroring the disks in case of disk failure but the risk cannot be completely eliminated for example fire or flood DMS Switches DMS Switches are not quite as critical as System X in that once the data have been polled from the DMS they are not deleted but rather marked for deletion This means that it is possible to recover the data even after a total loss of Titan howev
8. depending on which combination is more efficient in terms of data availability For instance if the polling process for one Switch takes a long time say a couple of hours whilst the other Switches only take a few minutes each it would be advisable to poll this Switch in parallel to the others which may be being polled sequentially with respect to one another Dataphone will ensure that the optimum polling process is set up After all the various processes are finished the data are in formats suitable for billing purposes and for the FMS Once used these data are held in the system for seven days in order to allow an audit to be carried out on historic data after which they are deleted 27 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 28 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Chapter 9 e Maintenance The system is maintained by Dataphone according to the contractual agreement There are however occasions when a qualified system administrator or operator could carry out certain administrative tasks The following sections summarise the automatic file management processes the possible fault conditions error messages and remedial actions This chapter consists of the following sections e 9 1 Manual File Management e 9 2 Automatic Backup Procedure e 9 3 Hard Disk Capacity e 9 4 Manual Cleanup Tasks 9 1 Manual File Management The unprocessed files designated with a with a preceding u_ are placed in the relevant System X or
9. Rater CDR Data Events Dala Statistics Data Billing Data Logs and OMs Alarms CDR Data Events Data cg Transport Transport Transport Raw CDR data file dumped to disk Format Format CDR Data ene Statistics for Unity Data User Interfaces Figure 3 Unity Data flow with Existing Billing System for one of the Switches Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 8 e CDR Data File Processing System X DMS 0 CDR CDR ici Translation Translation FMS formatter y i aa Module for Module for for DMS yste System X DMS AL FMS formatter CableMaster formatter for for System X MS Unity Database CableMaster Management Biling System System Figure 4 CDR Data flow for different Switch types 8 2 Directory Structures The following directory structure is placed on the Unix server NOTE The directory structures and filenames are specific to Diamond and do not apply to other versions of Unity 8 2 1 The Directory products unity Issue no 1 2D This is the home directory for the CDR transfer This resides on a logical disk and is parent to all of the following sub directories The Sub directory products unity bin This sub directory contains all the necessary executable file
10. Unity Data flow and Layers Statistical Data Like the Events data the Statistical data consists of a stream of data available at one of the Switch s asynchronous ports This data stream consists of a list of operational measurements and is accessed upon request by the host Statistical data are not currently processed for System X Switches 3 3 The Transport Layer The transport layer is responsible for the successful transfer of data from the Switch to the Unity Server Titan The Switches are connected to Titan via an X 25 network The transport layer consists of the CDR transport module for copying the CDR data from the all the Switches to Titan a PAD emulator for piping the Events data from the DMS Switches to Unity s Events Translation module Currently only the DMS Switches are supported for Events data Statistical data are not currently supported Titan polls all the Switches for CDR data files part simultaneously on a regular basis The files are stored on Titan for further processing This is explained in more detail later 3 4 The Translation Layer The translation layer is responsible for interpreting organising and formatting the raw Switch data arriving at Titan Again there is a module for each of the data components CDR data Events data and Statistical data The raw data are formatted collated and organised into formats suitable for storage in the Unity Database the SMS computer and the FMS 3 5 The Unity Databas
11. e 5 2 Events Data Translation e 5 3 Statistical Data Translation 5 1 CDR Data Translation When the CDR data transfer process for a Switch is finished a copy of the raw CDR data files is made and placed in one of Unity s allocated directories CDR data files are low level binary files and can have various formats depending on the Switch and its chosen format Unity automatically recognises the data type and subsequently translates it into an intelligible format for further processing After the CDR data transfer process has successfully copied these files to disk it automatically initiates the CDR Translation processes which are responsible for a Extracting the call data collating them and placing them into the Unity tables b Formatting a copy of the CDR data file into a format suitable for the CableMaster billing system c Formatting the CDR data file into a format suitable for the FMS 5 2 Events Data Translation Issue no 1 2D Currently only DMS Switches are supported for Events data The following description does not apply to System X Switches The Events data transport layer pipes the Events data to the Events Data Translation Module where they are collated sorted and placed in the Unity table ULOGS The translation process for the DMS is now described in detail Event records arriving from the Switch are already assigned one of four priority levels depicted by a prefix to the identifier consisting of zero o
12. user who is paged can be set up in the Unity Pager Interface Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 8 e CDR Data File Processing 8 CDR Data File Processing Part of the Diamond solution is the existing CableMaster billing system and the FMS Although it would be possible to use a billing system that utilises the Unity database tables a solution presently exists whereby a copy of the raw CDR data file is formatted for and processed by Cablemaster This chapter describes how this is achieved and details the directory structures and files used in the CDR transfer process as well as their naming conventions This chapter consists of the following sections e 8 1 General Description of CDR Data Transfer 8 2 Directory Structures e 8 3 CDR File Naming Convention 8 1 General Description of CDR Data Transfer Figure shows how NTL s existing billing system interfaces with Unity The CDR data file downloaded from the Switches are simply copied into other directories on Titan where they are then formatted accordingly and passed onto the CableMaster billing system and the FMS system Figure 4 shows the CDR data flow in more detail for the different Switch types i e System X and DMS Issue no 1 2D 19 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 20 Format CDR Data for FMS Format CDR Data for
13. 1 2D CDR Data Events Data Statistics Data Data at Switch Billing Data Logs and Alarms OMs Synchronous port Asynchronous port Asynchronous port Local or remote X 25 network CDR Data Events Data Statistics Data Transport Transport Transport Transport Layer Format CDR Format Events Format Statistics Translation Layer Data Data Data Information Stored in Unity Tables Unity Database J User Interfaces Local or remote TCP IP connection Figure 2 Unity Data flow 3 2 Data at the Switch The raw data originating at the Switch consist of three data components namely CDR data billing data Events data Logs and Alarms and Statistical data Operational Measurements CDR Data The CDR data exist in the form of one or more data files each comprising many call records When the host polls the switch new data files are downloaded from the Switch to Titan for processing Events Data The Events data consist of logs and alarms that the switch generates These data are not generally stored on the Switch they are simply streamed via an asynchronous port as and when they are generated It is up to the host to ensure that it retrieves the messages as they are sent Events data are not currently processed for System X Switches 8 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 3 e
14. 15 6 1 How the Data are 15 6 2 Brief Description of Unity Tables ooooocconnnnccccnnnoncccnnonancncnnnnancncnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns 15 7 Alarm Management 17 AA Plan OUTS sedal 17 7 2 Dealing with FARIS aos 18 8 CDR Data File Processing 19 8 1 General Description of CDR Data 19 8 2 Directory i Ea 21 8 2 1 The Directory products unity cccccocconcnnnnnnnnnnnnononononnnonenonenonenonenns 21 8 2 2 The Directory sSites nas 23 8 2 3 The Directory export home amaia 23 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 8 2 4 The Directory export home ama fms lt Ssite gt 24 8 3 CDR File Naming Convention 24 8 4 The ProcosSOS conca 25 9 Maintenance 29 9 1 Manual File Management coronilla 29 9 2 Automatic Backup 29 9 3 Hard Disk A A ee eats pact eh eee ek ed 30 9 4 Manual Cleanup Tasks unitaria 30 10 Disaster Recovery 33 10 1 Mediation System Operation 33 10 2 Main Elements of the Disaster Recovery System 34 10 3 Outline of procedures veia 35 Glossary 37 Index 39 vi Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Contents Table of Figures Figure 1 Overview of
15. 5 3 Statistical Data Translation This is not currently implemented for NTL Midlands Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 6 e Data Storage and Access 6 Data Storage and Access This chapter describes the storage platform for the Unity data lt consists of the following sections e 6 1 How the Data are Stored e 6 2 Brief Description of Unity Tables 6 1 How the Data are Stored The raw CDR data files are stored in specially assigned directories on the Unix server as described later in this manual Once processed they are backed up and marked for deletion These data files are translated into formats suitable for the Unity database the CableMaster billing system and the FMS Once the data have been translated for the Unity database they are stored in the Unity Database in the form of tables The platform chosen for the Unity database is a Unix based Oracle system This platform offers a robust efficient solution that is essential for handling the large amount of data storage and processing involved with telecommunications data mediation These Unity tables contain all the information that any display monitoring or billing process would ever need Certain data such as the raw CDR data files and ASCII log files are available in their raw forms on the hard disk These may be used for other processes as described later Interfacing with the Unity Database The Unity Database concept offers a superior means of storing and ac
16. CUB USER GUIDE CUSTOM UNITY BACK END VERSION 1 2D CUB User Guide Version 1 2D ii Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Copyright Copyright Notice Copyright O 1998 Dataphone UK Limited All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced transmitted transcribed stored in a retrieval system or translated into any language in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without prior written permission from Dataphone UK Limited The information furnished herein is believed to be accurate and reliable However no responsibility is assumed by Dataphone UK Limited for its use nor for any infringements of patents or other rights of third parties resulting from its use Trademarks Notice Dataphone is a trademark of Dataphone UK Ltd All third party trademarks are the property of their respective holders Millenium Compliancy Notice Unity has been examined for year 2000 problems and may be used on and beyond that date Dataphone UK Limited Offices South East Regional Office SERO Dataphone UK Limited Unit 11 Chiltern Court Asheridge Road Chesham Bucks HP5 2PX United Kingdom Tel 44 0 1494 794800 Fax 44 0 1494 794888 e mail sales dataphone co uk Web www dataphone co uk East Midlands Regional Office EMRO Dataphone UK Limited Unit 11 The Courtyard Whitwick Business Park Stenson road Coalville Leicestershire LE67 42
17. DATA Table containing CDR data UCDRDATA contains details of the actual CDR records This data are used for the Unity CDR interface UKNOWNLOGS Table of Known Events This is a table of known events New events can be memorized by Unity and stored in this table upon requirement This table is accessed via the Unity Events Interface ULOGS Table of Current Events This table contains details of the event records sometimes known as logs URETENTION Table containing record lifetimes This table is used by Unity s cleanup operation It specifies the default number of days that a record should be retained before deletion for each table USOURCE ID Table of alarm source IDs This table contains a list of the alarm source IDs with their descriptions USTATEVENT Table of Statistical Events This table is used by the Unity Statistical Interface USWITCHLIST List of Switches This table contains a list of the Switch ID numbers UTIMECHANGE Clock change information This table contains details of time change information for internal use UTTICKET Trouble tickets definition This table contains details of the Trouble ticket records It is written to by the Unity Trouble tickets interface UUNKNOWNLOGS Table of Unknown Events This is a table of unknown events It stores a list of Event records that have not yet been memorized by Unity This table is accessed via the Unity Events Interface UUSERS List of Users This ta
18. DMS live directory The AS 400 regularly checks this directory and picks up the files for processing After the AS 400 has retrieved all the formatted data from this directory it must rename the original files replacing the u_ for unprocessed with a b_ for backup For example the file u_98264E1C must be renamed to b_98264E1C NOTE It is imperative that the AS 400 system carry out this task otherwise the clean up operation will not work Titan regularly checks for b_ files in the live directory and moves them to the bkup directory where they are copied to DAT tape during the nightly tape backup process 9 2 Automatic Backup Procedure Issue no 1 2D The automated file manager regularly checks for backup files and moves them to the location sites lt site name gt bkup These are later backed up onto tape and deleted from the hard disk A clean up operation is carried out every night All critical directories are searched and all files older than 7 days are backed up to a DAT tape and then deleted A further clean up operation takes place automatically once a week This is initiated by a file manager application on Titan In this case the files in all of the backup directories are backed up to a DAT tape and then compressed and moved to a holding directory for a further seven days You must make sure that a blank clean tape is inserted in the DAT drive every Saturday night The time periods are configurable if required
19. Diamond Mediation Infrastructure 5 Figure 2 Unity 8 Figure 3 Unity Data flow with Existing Billing System for one the Switches 20 Figure 4 CDR Data flow for different Switch types 21 Figure 5 Sequential Data Retrieval and 26 Figure 6 Concurrent Data Retrieval and Processing 27 Table of Tables 23 Table 2 Glossary of Abbreviations 37 Table 3 Special Terms sitial tetas 37 ETT _ Printed 08 11 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D viii Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Preface About this Manual This manual describes the operation of the Custom Unity Back end for the company Diamond The software has been specifically customised for Diamond and the manual reflects this customisation This manual is not suitable for use with other versions of Unity This manual is the sister manual of the UIMS User guide version 3 2G which describes the Unity Front ends and can be used in conjunction with this manual Cross References Cross references are in the form section number section title For example
20. MS or a quiet System X it could be several days There are then two options 1 Retrieve data from the Switch backup tapes 2 Physically move Phoebe to each site and poll that switch locally using a spare packet switch Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Glossary CDR Call Detail Recording DAT Digital Audio Tape DIRPHOLD Device Independent Recording Package Hold DMS Digital Multiplex System Nortel type of Switch DTX Digital Telephone Exchange FMS Fraud Management System FTP File Transfer Protocol for Internet LAN Local Area Network OM Operational Measurement Statistical Data OSI Open Systems Interface PAD Packet Assembler Disassembler SCSI Small Computer Systems Interface SMS Subscriber Management System SYSX GPT System X switch TCP IP Transfer Control Protocol Internet Protocol UNIX An operating system The UNIX editor WAN Wide Area Network 25 CCITT data communications protocol for WANs Table 2 Glossary of Abbreviations CDR Data Generic term for the operational data sent from the Switch that is ultimately used for billing purposes CDR stands for Call Detail Record and may be of many different formats Billing Data Another term for CDR data Event An occurrence of something for which the Switch sends a warning message The event may or may not be a problem In many cases it is just informative Events data are streamed t
21. Please contact Dataphone technical support if you wish to redefine these time periods 29 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 9 3 Hard Disk Capacity The hard disk capacity should be checked regularly at least once a week If the hard disk gets too full you may experience errors This could happen if either the automated tape backup or the automated file management process has failed This in turn may be due to the DAT drive not being operational for example being switched off no tape in the drive disconnected etc To remedy this situation do the following 1 Ensure the tape drive is fully operational and that a blank writeable tape is inserted 2 Log onto Titan using the Username root and appropriate password You will be prompted by the hash sign after successful log on 3 Carry out the procedure described below to free up some hard disk space Procedure to Release Hard Disk Space Execute the system command df This command produces information pertaining to the hard disk Look for the partitions products export home and sites in turn and note the percentage used under the sused column If this figure is more than 90 insert a blank DAT tape in the tape drive and carry out the following commands at the prompt and follow them by a carriage return 1 products unity bin 2 dcc_fmanage this may take several minutes This operation should back up all files more than seven d
22. S system and the FMS Fraud Management System This process also generates its own detailed transfer log files which are stored in a directory accessible to the user This log file can be viewed directly with a standard ASCII editor if required The most convenient way of viewing this log file is to copy it to a PC and view it using Notepad Some of the essential information contained in the log file is also stored in the Unity database where it is subsequently used by the Unity User Interfaces to display the information see the accompanying UIMS manual The detailed log file is dynamic and is being appended continually as the retrieval process continues The exact length of each transfer process depends on several factors such as the quantity of raw data to be retrieved the data transfer rate and the Switch response time but is typically of the order of tens of minutes Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D NOTE The maximum transfer rate limited to 64Kbps when using X 25 transfer This limit is set by the X 25 specification and is the absolute maximum data rate of an X 25 compatible synchronous port The CDR data transfer is carried out automatically There is normally no need for operator intervention There are however a few basic administrative tasks that must be carried out from time to time by a qualified system administrator For further details of administrative tasks see 9 Maintenance 4 2 Event
23. Tel 44 0 1530 811110 Fax 44 0 1530 811112 e mail sales dataphone co uk Web www dataphone co uk Issue no 1 2D iii Printed 08 11 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D iv Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Contents Table of Contents Preface 1 About this Manual 1 Gross Retrasan 1 o e 1 1 Introduction 3 1 1 What is Unity ss 3 1 2 Some AA 3 2 Diamond Infrastructure 5 2 1 Overview Of Infrastructure ooooconocccccncnccccnnnnnononnnnnnccncnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnnnannnnnnnnnnnos 5 2 2 Double Server Fail safe Operation 6 3 Unity Data flow and Layers 7 3 1 General Description of the 7 3 2 Dala 8 The Transport Layer unica 9 34 The Translation Layer sisi ici 9 3 5 The Unity 6850 2 iaa 9 3 6 The User Interfaces 9 4 Transport Layer 11 E EEE eo 11 4 2 Events Data Transport tilapia 12 4 3 Statistical Data Transports codes 12 5 Translation Layer 13 5 1 CDR Data Translat 13 5 2 Events Data Translation 13 5 3 Statistical Data TranslatiON oooonooccnnniciconncocccononcnnccnnnnnnnccnnnnnnnncnnnnnnancnnnnnns 14 6 Data Storage and Access
24. Unity User Interface Operation It is also very important to clear alarms after they have been dealt with The automatic Unity Cleanup Operation is not allowed to permanently delete alarms until they have first been cleared If you do not clear alarms the Alarm Queue will simply increase in size slow down the performance and eventually the system will get overloaded Dealing with and clearing alarms is fully described in the Unity User Guide Issue no 1 2D 31 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 32 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Chapter 10 e Disaster Recovery 10 Disaster Recovery This chapter describes the procedure that must be followed in order to avoid or minimise the loss of call data from the Switches in the event of operation failure This chapter consists of the following sections 10 1 Mediation System Normal Operation There are four major components in the normal working system The General Unity Server Titan A SUN Server as described in 2 1 Overview of Infrastructure The Switches The Switches themselves are also relevant in the DR system in that they may require human intervention as part of the process The Communications Links There is a frame relay network using ONI equipment connecting Titan at Daleside Road with each switch The protocol used is X 25 with XFER for DMS and X 25 with OSI for System X This network has sufficient redundancy to work normally in the event of a single failure
25. abetic character indicating the file sequence This is to ensure that incoming files from the switch in the same polling session do not overwrite each other The first file is designated with an uppercase A character the second file with a B character and so on until all 26 uppercase characters have been used up The 27th file is designated with a lower case a character and so on There is therefore a capacity of 52 files In the normal case there will be no more than a few files but in the case of testing there may be significantly more If more than 52 files are produced in one session the sequence wraps around and starts with A again Therefore 52 files is the maximum amount of files that can be processed in one session Examples The files u_99212S1A and u_9212S1B indicate the first polled files of the day retrieved from the Switch at Shepshed The first polled file for the year 2000 will be u_0000151A The formatted files for the FMS have the above name but with the fmt extension 8 4 The Processes Issue no 1 2D There are four main processes involved in a CDR polling operating cycle The processes utilise the UNIX multi tasking capabilities to increase the efficiency of the procedure The four processes which can run sequentially concurrently or a combination of both are summarised below Process 1 Retrieval Process At regular intervals Unity polls the Switch and receives the raw CDR data The individua
26. able and NTL s Regional Monitoring Centre RMC will raise the alarm if any System X Switch exceeds 10 MB of stored data Disaster Recovery Definition The normal definition of Disaster Recovery is the ability to resume normal operations as soon as possible with minimum disruption and loss of data in the event of catastrophic failure In the context of this document we extend this definition further to deal with events that are not quite a disaster in the strict sense of the word but which could result in loss of data if prompt action is not taken For example a spare part might take so long to be delivered that there is a risk that there may not be enough time to install it and get Titan back up and running before the Switch starts to overflow There are four grades of Disaster in the scope of this document e Very Severe Total and permanent loss of Titan plus major communication problem e Severe Total and permanent or long term loss of Titan e Hot Standby Temporary Loss of Titan e g Repair taking several hours e Major Communication problem Loss of communication that cannot be resolved in the time available Each disaster grade is now described in more detail and an outline procedure is described For further details of the individual steps involved please contact Dataphone technical support Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 10 e Disaster Recovery 10 3 Outline of procedures Issue no 1 2D Very Severe
27. ays old to the DAT and then delete them from the hard disk Now recheck the percentage used by executing the df k command once again The percentage used should now be less than 75 If it is not then contact Dataphone technical support 9 4 Manual Cleanup Tasks 30 Mail system The system administrator should check the Unix mails on a regular basis Unwanted mails should be deleted If in doubt please call Dataphone for advice Delete Old Log Files The support staff should check the CDR transfer logs and format logs regularly to monitor smooth and fault free operation These files should be backed up for future reference and then deleted from the server If the log files report any problem you should contact Dataphone immediately Register Unknown Events Unity User Interface Operation It is very important to register new events as and when they arrive This is especially the case when the Unity installation is quite young as a lot of the events originating from the Switch will be unknown As Unity matures its library of known events increases and the number of new unknown events will reduce If unknown events are never registered the number of records stored in the Unknown Events Queue will simply increase and eventually Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Chapter 9 e Maintenance overload the system lt is easy to register unknown events Event handling is described fully in the Unity User Guide Clear Old Alarms
28. ble contains a list of users and their security levels It is accessed by the User Manager 16 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 7 e Alarm Management 7 Alarm Management A very important part of Unity is the Alarm Management System It is conceivable that anything in any part of the system could have a problem at some stage whether it be a problem at the Switch the X 25 network a module on Titan or a user interface This chapter describes the way Unity receives and processes alarms It contains the following sections e 7 1 Alarm Sources e 7 2 Dealing with Alarms 7 1 Alarm Sources Issue no 1 2D The alarm sources can be broadly split into three main categories 1 Alarms generated from event records sent from the Switch external alarms 2 Alarms arising from the data transmission transport alarms 3 Alarms arising from Unity s modules sub systems or Uls internal alarms Every potential alarm source has been assigned an Alarm Source ID This enables Unity to exactly identify the source and nature of the alarm record the event in the Alarms table in the Unity database and subsequently display details about the alarm including a full description and its priority The Alarm Source ID is also used in the Unity Alarms Interface and the Unity Paging Interface This is mostly used for technical support services and will help Dataphone to quickly identify and rectify any problem Alarm types can be broadly cat
29. cessing mediation data All relevant data are conveniently stored in Unity tables in the Oracle database This concept offers the following advantages 1 The stored data format is completely independent from the Switch type and its raw data formats In other words it offers complete isolation from back end processes 2 It offers complete design flexibility for display monitoring and billing systems which may now be developed independently of the Switch type and raw data formats 3 The Unity database may be accessed across different platforms in real time enabling any display monitoring or billing process to be designed on and reside on any required platform e g PC based 4 Oracle is a renowned powerful and professional solution and can handle large quantities of data 6 2 Brief Description of Unity Tables This section contains a brief description of the main Unity tables with which the Unity User Interfaces interact Although not essential reading this section may help to enhance your understanding the Unity system Issue no 1 2D 15 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D UALARMS Alarms table UALARMS contains details of the alarm records This table is the main source of information for the Unity Alarms Interface UBILLINGSTATUS CDR status information UBILLINGSTATUS contains information about the CDR data files This table is the source of information for the transfer view of the Unity CDR Interface UCDR
30. e The Unity Database stores all the data in meaningful tables in the Oracle database residing on Titan The tables are then easily accessed as and when required by any sub system or user interface 3 6 The User Interfaces Front ends Issue no 1 2D The Unity User Interfaces are user friendly PC based front ends that interface with the Unity Database These front ends present the data to the user in easy to understand manner The main interface is called the Unity Interface Manager or UIM for short Through this interface you can access all other Unity front ends The Unity User Interfaces are equipped with a comprehensive help system consisting of both the context sensitive WhatsThis type help as well as the usual main help system Just about every label field and button on the interfaces have context sensitive descriptions associated with them Please refer to the sister UIMS manual for a complete description Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 10 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Chapter 4 eTransport Layer 4 Transport Layer The Transport layer is responsible for the successful transfer of data from the Switches to the customer s computer system lt consists of three separate sub systems one for the CDR data one for the Events data and one for the Statistical data Each of these sub systems is described in the following sections e 4 1 CDR Transport e 4 2 Events Data Transport e 4 3 Statistical Data Transpo
31. e also stored in the Unity database for analysis and presentation You can view this log file directly by transferring a copy to a PC and importing it into a standard ASCII editor such as windows Notepad The Sub directory products unity etec This directory contains the files CRONTAB on CRONTAB off config dat sysxfmt_seq dat sysxpoll_seq dat and dmspoll_seq dat The CRONTAB files control the automated CDR operation config dat contains the configuration commands for Unity and the seq dat files contain the poll sequence number for the various operations If you wish to terminate the automated poll use the following command crontab CRONTAB off To restart the process enter crontab CRONTAB on WARNING If the automatic polling sequence is stopped it will not be resumed until it is manually switched on again this time using the CRONTAB on file as the argument The crontab command should only be used under the direction of Dataphone technical support The Sub directory products unity audit This directory contains a sub directory for each of the Switch sites Table 1 where the audit file for the respective Switch is held Each of the site specific directories contains further sub directories old older and oldest When a newer audit log file is produced the existing one is transferred to the sub directory old The one that is in old Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 8 CDR Data File Processin
32. egorised into three main groups External Alarms A significant proportion of the alarms are produced by Unity s logging sub system where the Events originating from the Switch are processed The logging sub system translates these Events and stores them in tables in the Unity database Alarms are raised from these logs see 5 2 Events Data Translation with a default priority level assigned to them by the switch The alarm priority may be changed by an administrative user if required You may for example need to change the priority of an alarm when it appears for the first time You do this by reassigning the priority via the Unity Events Interface All alarms raised from Events data are assigned a common source ID Transmission Alarms Unity generates alarms if any errors arise from the transmission of data from the Switch to Titan There are three possible sources for these alarms the CDR data transfer the Events data transfer and the Statistics data transfer Each of these three alarm sources is assigned its own source ID Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D Internal alarms Not only may the modules themselves generate alarms but the links between modules may also generate alarms Every module sub system and link that makes up Unity may generate an alarm for which it assigns a unique alarm source ID This makes it much easier to track possible problems within the Unity system NOTE You may only change
33. er the period in which the data may be recovered is unknown and should be assumed to be small 33 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 10 2 Main Elements of the Disaster Recovery System 34 The essence of the Disaster Recovery System relies upon a second server called Pheobe which resides in a different geographical location and a series of procedures Phoebe is a Sun E450 system similar to Titan but with less capacity and without the Oracle Database These procedures were developed in view of several worst case scenario assumptions 1 The System X Switches can only store data for a maximum of 24 hours thus making it unacceptable for a Switch not to be polled on a complete working day 2 System X switches do not write reliably to tape devices Tape backups should therefore be regarded as the absolutely final backup 3 The use of tapes should be avoided as it is difficult to handle tapes of any sort for billing data 4 Inthe event of a real disaster System X data may be lost 5 Inthe event of a simple failure of part of the system no data will be lost 6 In the event of a system failure that requires the invocation of Pheobe the only DR functionality required is that of sending data to the FMS Cablemaster and Rater 7 Inthe event of a complete disaster no functionality is necessary except for the collection of data by Cablemaster Rater and FMS As an additional warning in the near future alarm systems will be made oper
34. g is transferred to older and the one that was in older is transferred to oldest The old audit file in oldest is then lost This is the only form of backup for the audit files as they can easily be reproduced from existing backed up log files The Sub directory products unity lock This directory contains locks for the Switch that is currently being polled These locks are an essential part of the polling synchronisation and are not to be tampered with under any circumstances The Sub directory products unity dmstmp This directory is used for holding the intermediate raw DMS data to be formatted before it is transferred to its final location The Sub directory products unity sysxtmp This directory is used for holding the intermediate raw DMS data to be formatted before it is transferred to its final location 8 2 2 The Directory sites This is a symbolic link shortcut to the main directory export home ama where the data for each respective site is held in site specific directories 8 2 3 The Directory export home ama This directory contains the data that is retrieved from the Switches on a regular basis It occupies an entire logical partition and is typically of the order of a few Gigabytes The exact size of the partition is dependent on the estimated quantity of data retrieved from the Switches and how long it is to be held before archiving or deleting Each Switch is assigned it s own sub directory on th
35. is partition The sites are named as follows dalee DMS at Daleside DSE E dalea System X at Daleside DSA A daleb System X at Daleside DSB B dalec System X at Daleside DSC daled System X at Daleside DSD D oswin DMS at Oswin Road OSW shepshed DMS at Shepshed SHE S northfld DMS at Northfield NOR N wood System X at Woodborough WOO W Road mansfld System X at Mansfield MAN grimsby System X at Grimsby GRI G lincoln System X at Lincoln LIN L Table 1 Site Names Issue no 1 2D 23 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D Each site sub directory is divided to four further sub directories live caw bkup and audit Examples The sub directory sites dalee raw contains the raw data retrieved from the DMS at Daleside Road East The sub directory sites wood live contains data corresponding to the System X at Woodborough Road formatted for the AS 400 billing system The sub directory sites oswin bkup contains files from the DMS at Oswin that have already been sent to the AS 400 and are now due to be backed up before deleting The sub directory sites shepshed audit contains the audit trail per file polled for the DMS at Shepshed 8 2 4 The Directory export home ama fms lt site gt This is the home directory for the files to be used by the FMS Like the sites directory this directory has a sub directory for each Switch These sub directories co
36. l files are then transferred from the Switch to the Unity server over the X 25 network The data are stored in a directory that has been 25 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D assigned to the particular Switch i e export home ama lt site name gt This process also generates the transfer log files and places them in the directory products unity LOGS This log file is dynamic and is being appended continually as the retrieval process continues The exact length of the process depends on several factors such as the quantity of raw data to be retrieved the data transfer rate and the Switch response time but is typically of the order of tens of minutes The process repeats itself on a regular basis e g hourly Process 2 Formatting Process After all the files have been retrieved from the Switch a second process is automatically initiated to format the data retrieved from the Switch The raw data are formatted into two formats One for the SMS for billing purposes and one for the FMS The AS 400 formatted data are placed in the directory export home ama lt site name gt live and the FMS formatted data are placed in the directory export home ama fms lt sitename gt This process also generates the format log file and places it in the directory products unity LOGS This log file is dynamic and is being appended continually as the formatting process continues The length of this process is of the order of minutes
37. ne two or three stars If there are no preceding stars the event is not interpreted as an alarm but if there are any stars the event is interpreted as an alarm and allocated a default priority level For example TRK 138 is an informative event and is not registered as an alarm DPNS 403 is a minor problem and is registered as an alarm with default priority level 7 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D TRK 102 is a major problem and is registered as an alarm with default priority level 4 TRK 103 is a critical problem and is registered as an alarm with default priority level 1 These default priority levels can be altered by an administrative user if required You do this by means of the Unity Events Interface described in the accompanying UIMS manual When Unity is first installed a lot of the Event records sent from the Switch will be new Unity learns about new events and every time a new event record is sent Unity remembers it along with its new priority level allocated by the administrative user An unknown event becomes known when it is registered by the user via the Unity Events Interface When you view this log using the Unity Events Interface you can register it by reassigning its priority level whereby the log is thereafter known to Unity Over the course of time the amount of unknown logs will become scarcer as they are registered whilst the library of known logs will increase
38. nown as the Disaster Recovery server DR The two servers are connected over both the LAN Ethernet LAN running NFS and the X 25 network A full description of the Disaster Recovery Procedure is given in chapter 10 Disaster Recovery 6 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 3 e Unity Data flow and Layers 3 Unity Data flow and Layers This section describes the flow of data from the Switch to Titan It consists of the following sub sections e 3 1 General Description of the Data flow e 3 2 Data at the Switch e 3 3 The Transport Layer e 3 4 The Translation Layer e 3 5 The Unity Database e 3 6 The User Interfaces Front ends 3 1 General Description of the Data flow Issue no 1 2D Figure 2 broadly depicts the flow of data from the Switch through Titan to the User Interfaces This data flow diagram is instructive in the understanding of how Unity works and also the model that is used for the mediation monitoring process as used by the Unity Interface Manager The description in this chapter applies to the pure Unity concept and therefore does not cover the CDR data management aspects for the SMS and FMS systems which are described later in the manual This chapter describes the pure Unity concept where all the data are stored in an Oracle database It does not describe the existing CDR data transfer and processing system where an AS400 billing system is used Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version
39. ntain the files that have been formatted for the FMS It is the responsibility of the FMS to move these files regularly to their own processing system This responsibility lies with the FMS for security reasons WARNING Any files in the fms directory that are older than seven days will be automatically deleted It is therefore important that the FMS has means to retrieve the files on a regular basis and carry out its own backup procedure In case of emergencies it is possible to reconstruct the FMS files from backed up raw data Should this situation arise this operation may only be carried out by Dataphone personnel 8 3 CDR File Naming Convention The lengths of the filenames are limited to 10 characters this is because the IBM AS 400 cannot handle filenames that exceed this character length The CDR files naming conventions are u_yyjjjspa where 24 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 8 e CDR Data File Processing _ designates unprocessed file yy designates the year number for example 98 jij designates the Julian day of the year For example 212 for 31st July Switch Code For example for Daleside East p is the alphanumeric poll sequence number This is only meaningful if the automated system is in place The poll sequence synchronises itself at 00 00 hours such that the first poll of the day is poll number 1 the second poll is 2 etc The poll sequence is reset to 1 every midnight a is an alph
40. o a specific port on the Switch Alarm A record of a problematic Event that has a non zero priority level Statistical Data Generic term for operational measurements carried out at the Switch Like Events data Statistical data are streamed to a specific port on the Switch Operational Measurement A DMS term for a statistical data record Table 3 Special Terms Issue no 1 2D 37 Printed 08 11 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 38 Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 11 06 Index Alarm 19 Alarm Source ID 19 Alarms definition 3 35 visor 19 A ea 19 a 20 19 Auditing 5 28 Automatic Backup Procedure 31 Billing See CDR Data CableMaster ooccccnoococcconoconononccnnononcnconnanoninnnnos 5 Call Record Data See CDR Call T6COrdS ici nacos 13 COR ranita 3 35 CDR Data 3 10 13 35 filename 1 26 CDR Data File 21 CDR Data 21 CDR Data 15 17 CDR
41. ocessed The Data is formatted for various requirements like the existing billing system CableMaster the Fraud Management System FMS and the Oracle Database Events data originating from the DMS Switches are also collected and processed This version of Unity supports the transfer and processing of CDR data for both Switch types and Events data for the DMS Switch type only The transfer and processing of Statistical Data is not currently supported for this version of Unity To maintain compatibility with the existing billing system copies of the CDR data files are kept on the Unity Server and are reformatted for the existing CableMaster billing system Raw files are collected via an NFS mount for RATER The Unity system also provides all other necessary operations like file handling processes such as backup and cleanup as well as the required interfacing with other peripheral devices such as printers This is explained in further detail in 9 Maintenance 2 2 Double Server Fail safe Operation DSFO To ensure that the billing data retrieval operation is not affected by hardware failure the retrieval part of the Unity system is designed to run on two servers such that when one fails the other can be invoked The primary server Titan has a higher spec in terms of storage space and has Oracle based Unity database installed The secondary server Pheobe has the same retrieval architecture but no Unity database Pheobe is also k
42. om Titan 11 Choose start data for Oracle Database 12 Re install old data into Oracle 35 Printed 08 11 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 36 Hot Standby This is the procedure to carry out in the event that you expect that Titan will be back on line relatively soon but it may take a time that is long enough to result a risk of data overflow on the Switches An example of this might be for example hardware failure e g CPU where the spare part is taking substantially longer than expected to arrive Clearly it would be prudent to start polling the switches from Phoebe in the meantime However there is no need to change the settings on systems such as Cablemaster for such a short period 1 Ensure Titan is not polling and will not start to poll if the fault is repaired by a third party Start Phoebe Polling Ensure switches are being polled and file numbers reduced Fix Titan Test Poll from Titan Carried out by support team 2 3 4 5 Stop Phoebe Polling 6 7 Start Titan Polling 8 Move Data from Phoebe to Titan with appropriate filenames Major Communications Problem This is the procedure to be carried out in the event that there are communications problems resulting in the likelihood that one or more switches will not be polled for such a time as they may fill up You can calculate the approximate time available from past records For a busy System X switch this may be only a matter of hours whereas for a D
43. on 11 15 Transport 11 13 19 UALARMS dido aida 18 UBILLINGSTATUS coccooooccconoccnnnnonnnnnnananoninnnoos 18 2 18 18 ULOGS 15 18 Unity Alarm 20 Unity 11 17 35 iia 18 User 11 USOURCE lDoiccnnnccnncccnoncnonnccnoncnnancninnnnnnaninns 18 USWITCHLIS Toooooocccccnocccnononcnonannnononananoninnnoos 18 18 5 1 18 USERS 18 WAN 35 E E 35 Calin easiness 14 A 13 39
44. rkstations running a variety of User Interfaces either locally or remotely where the overseeing maintenance personnel can easily view and interact with the various data as required Unity is flexibly designed so that it can be tied into a company s existing mediation infrastructure Every customer has different requirements therefore the Custom Unity Back end needs to be specifically tailored to suit individual customer requirements 1 2 Some Terminology Issue no 1 2D To save confusion with terminology throughout this manual some terms are now clearly defined DTX is a generic term for Digital Telephone Exchange DTXs are more often referred to as Switches CDR data is a generic term for the operational data sent from the Switch that is ultimately used for billing purposes CDR stands for Call Detail Record and may be of many different formats Billing data is another term for CDR data An Event is an occurrence of something for which the Switch sends a warning message The event may or may not be a problem In many cases it is just informative Events data are streamed to a specific port on the Switch An Alarm is a record of a problematic Event that has a non zero priority level Statistical data is a generic term and consists of operational measurements carried out at the Switch Statistical data are streamed to a specific port on the Switch An Operational Measurement or OM is a particular record of Statistical Data
45. rt 4 1 CDR Transport Issue no 1 2D The CDR transport manages the electronic transfer of billing data between the Switch and Titan Of the three data components the CDR data transport is by far the most complex as it must ensure absolute integrity and security of the billing data If the connection is lost during a CDR transfer for example the transport mechanism must ensure that another attempt is made to retrieve the same data without loss or corruption of the data The Unity CDR Transport sub system is a highly secure system and operates discretely in the background with a high degree of reliability Minimal user intervention is required thus technical staff are spared the burden of the system administration usually involved with this kind of mediation Being a UNIX based system Unity takes full advantage of the multi tasking functionality offered by this operating system The CDR Transfer operation is invoked automatically at regular intervals Unity polls the Switches and receives the raw CDR data in the form of data files containing the call records This polling process is in synchronisation with the respective Switch The exact polling sequence and intervals are functions of the Switch configurations The data files are transferred from the Switches to the Unity server over the X 25 network These data files are stored in especially assigned directories Copies of the files are made for backup purposes and reformatting for the SM
46. s Data Transport Currently only DMS Switches are supported for Events data The following description does not apply to System X Switches Titan is fitted with an X 25 card for connection to the Switch via the X 25 network Unlike for the CDR data no special synchronisation is required between the Switch and Titan for Events data The connection is relatively simple in that the log information is streamed out of the Switch in the form of data packets and sent directly to an assigned synchronous port on Titan bypassing the external PAD The internal PAD emulator simply disassembles the data packets strips the unwanted addressing envelope and pipes the useful ASCII data through to the translation layer The real time log information streaming out of the Switch is continuous and is not stored If the connection is broken the log information is lost for the period of time that the connection is broken 4 3 Statistical Data Transport This is not currently implemented for NTL Midlands Issue no 1 2D Printed 08 1 1 06 Chapter 5 eTranslation Layer 5 Translation Layer The Translation Layer is responsible for translating the data arriving from the Switch into an intelligible format suitable for entering into the Unity database There is a translation sub system for each of the three data components CDR data Events data and Statistical data Each of these sub systems is described in the following sections e 5 1 CDR Data Translation
47. s and scripts WARNING None of the files in the above directories are to be edited by the customer Only Dataphone personnel are qualified to manipulate these files Unauthorised usage may cause loss of synchronisation and could even result in the loss of billing records from the Switch or the Unity server The Sub directory products unity LOGS This directory contains the log files created during individual transfer and formatting cycles There are several different types of log files depending on 21 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D 22 the Switch type and the format type but are generally of the form lt operation gt _yy333j_PX log where yy is a two digit year number and jjj is a three digit number representing the day of the year in the Julian format and X is the poll sequence The following examples should clarify this Examples The following log files were created on the 212 day of 1998 i e 31 July 1998 sysxfr_99212_P2 1og is a log file concerning the transfer of a file of poll sequence number 2 from a System X Switch dmsxfr_99212_P3 1og is a log file concerning the transfer of a file of poll sequence number 3 from a DMS Switch fmsfmt_99212 1log is a log file concerning the fms formatting of a file of poll sequence number 4 These log files contain all the information needed to trace the mediation operation Some of the essential information contained in these log files ar
48. the priority of external alarms You do this via the Unity Events Interface You cannot change the priority of internal alarms 7 2 Dealing with Alarms Once alarms have been raised they need to be dealt with The purpose of an alarm is to bring the user s attention to a problem with the system The problem may be minor and dealt with very easily and quickly or it may be major where the solution is more difficult In any case once the problem has been solved the alarms can be cleared by a user with sufficient security clearance usually the system administrator The Unity Alarm Interface UAI is the front end that the user uses to deal with alarms This is described fully in the accompanying UIMS manual Unity handles existing or potential problems by raising alarms and providing the means of issuing Trouble tickets Each time an alarm is activated you have the option to create a Trouble ticket A Trouble ticket is a means by which you can track the rectification process of a particular problem This facilitates successful problem management and the feature should be used wherever possible You manage Trouble tickets using the Unity Trouble tickets Interface which is accessible from the Unity Interface Manager Interface Trouble tickets are fully explained in the accompanying UIMS manual NOTE If you have the optional Unity Pager Interface you can page somebody in the event of certain alarms The alarms that trigger a pager and the
49. urrently consists of eight sites with a total of twelve Switches four of which are DMS Switches the other eight being System X Switches The Unity Servers Titan and Pheobe are physically located at Daleside and Woodborough respectively The billing system is an AS 400 based Subscriber Management System running CableMaster and is based at Daleside as is the Fraud Management System The Woodborough and Daleside sites are connected to each other not only via the X 25 WAN but also via the company LAN by means of NTL s own gateway One or more PCs can be connected to the LAN to manage Issue no 1 2D 5 Printed 08 1 1 06 CUB User Guide Version 1 2D Unity This end user software is called UIMS Unity Interface System Manager The Switches communicate with the Unity servers via the X 25 network The core of Unity is a Unix based server called Titan the General Unity Server Titan consists of the following components e A Unix server This server is a powerful SPARC based Sun machine hardware version 5 2 running Solaris version 2 6 fitted with an X 25 Interface e An X 25 switch with integrated PAD Packet Assembly Disassembly with associated cabling and line drivers e Unity back end software pre installed and configured e Oracle database version 8 0 pre installed and configured Brief Description The Switches are polled on a regular basis in order to transfer the CDR Data to the Titan where they are checked stored and pr
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