Get CPU/disk data from a non-Ignition server

Ignition
1

I have a client with a complex automated storage and retrieval system, which has 8-10 virtual servers running on the same physical infrastructure as the Ignition server. Following an incident where one of those servers had a performance issue affecting production without any visible indication, they would like for Ignition to display a dashboard of all of these servers, highlighting things like CPU usage (%), memory usage (%), and disk free/used space. I do not have the ability to install any software or tools on the target servers.

Assuming there is a routable network path between the Ignition server and all of these servers, does Ignition have any tools available to retrieve this data from those servers and store it in tags?

2

You can't get this information just because you have a routable path to these servers. These servers are going to need monitoring software installed that collects and exposes this information. I'd be having this conversation with the IT group managing the servers to see what options you have.

3

Thanks Kevin, that’s what I was afraid of. Unfortunately these servers were commissioned by the OEM of the equipment and nobody manages them, and IT doesn’t want to touch them.

I’ll have the conversation with the relevant people. Do you have any suggestions for monitoring software? Either specific packages or just a general “you will need one with x technology”? That world is a little outside my area of expertise so I’m not even sure what questions to ask yet - going to have to do some reading.

4

If you can at least tell us whether they're Windows or Linux servers then I'm sure some people with more experience than me will be able to make reccomendations.

5

Mostly Windows, but a couple are Linux I believe.

6

This is not a sustainable situation for production equipment. :frowning:

Somebody will have to step up.

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7

Totally agree. The IT department at this company has been slow to accept the way IT and OT are converging and it’s starting to show in examples like this. There’s some structural change required.

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8

Also if you can log into the Hypervisor, you can set up information monitoring of the VM instances via SNMP on the hypervisor instead of the client OS. Ignition has a couple of third party modules that can do SNMP.

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9

You’ll learn who owns those systems the hard way when production stops for a system crash.

It’s much better to find them ahead of time.

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