10G OEM Grid Control R2 Reporting Capabilities

For example, instead of maintaining an Excel Spreadsheet containing information on database releases and versions for all databases in our environment, I created a report that produced this information. 9I OEM's reporting capabilities allow me to generate the report whenever I need to. Hey, I'm a database guy, I try and use spreadsheets as little as possible. 9I OEM also allows me to schedule reports to run on a regular basis and format them using basic HTML commands. We continue to rely upon these features quite heavily here at Giant Eagle.

10G Grid Control R1
When we installed 10G R1, one of the first features we intended to test was the tool's reporting functionality. We were hoping that 10G R1 would usher in a new era of management reporting capabilities. Weren't we surprised when we found that 10G R1 provided little to no reporting features. This lack of reporting functionality became an immediate issue for us.

10G Grid Control R2 to the Rescue
I asked a few of my Oracle contacts to tell me if and when 10G Grid Control was going to provide pre-created and AD-HOC reporting for targets under its control. I was told that the very next release of 10G Grid Control would provide the capabilities I was looking for. When 10G Grid Control R2 became available, we immediately downloaded and installed the product. What was the first feature we looked for? You guessed it…. Reporting! We were pleasantly surprised when we found that 10G Grid Control R2 did indeed provide a robust reporting tool set.

I am always slightly concerned when I review an R1 version of anything. Whether it is an entirely new piece of software or a single software feature, I expect it to be somewhat rudimentary, maybe even a little buggy. This is definitely not the case with 10G R2's reporting feature. I would describe 10G R2's reporting toolset as an excellent first implementation and definitely a step in the right direction.

Using 10G R2's Reporting Features
Let's begin our review by activating 10G Grid Control R2 and navigating to the Reporting Home page. We accomplish that by selecting the Reports tab displayed at the top, right hand side of 10G Grid Control R2's Home page. 10G Grid Control R2 responds by displaying the Reporting Home page.

The Reporting Home page begins with a set of input boxes that allow users to enter search criteria to quickly find the report they are looking for. Directly below the input boxes, you'll notice a series of buttons that provide users with the capability of creating, deleting and editing the reports. Administrators choose the report they want to customize, perform the customization (including report scheduling) and save it back to the report library under a different name. 10G Grid Control R2 makes it that simple. We'll create a custom report later in this blog.

10G Grid Control R2 Reports
10G Grid Control R2 provides over 110 reports for us to choose from. What really impresses me the most about the reports is not the depth of the reports but the breadth. The scope of these reports is much broader, covering virtually all of the components involved in a database application environment. I certainly can't cover every report that 10G Grid Control R2 provides, but I think it is important to highlight some of the interesting categories and individual reports.

• Deployment and Configuration - 10G Grid Control R2 provides a wealth of information on the infrastructure that supports the Oracle application environment. We are able to view hardware configurations as well as operating system, database and application server releases and patches. In addition, we are also able to generate reports on Oracle database and application configuration information. The benefits that this category of reports provides cannot be understated.

  Instead of us having to log on to the individual targets to retrieve Oracle database and application server configuration data or being forced to ask those pesky operating system administrators to provide us with the O/S and hardware configuration information, we can just log on to 10G Grid Control R2 and retrieve all of the data we need with a few quick points and clicks. I like it!

• Monitoring - One of my favorite report categories of all time and the category that I firmly believe has the most potential. What I find exciting is all of the performance measurement reports in this category. The measurement information ranges the spectrum, providing everything from application web pages that are experiencing poor performance to beacon service tests.

  I think that out of all of the performance enhancements available in 10G R2, I am most excited about the potential that Oracle beacons offer. A beacon is owned by the 10G Grid Control central agent and shows up as a separate target type. Here's the cool part. A beacon's job is to run pre-recorded transactions that monitors:

  • Availability and performance of all network devices including host computers and IP traffic controllers
  • Availability and performance of web pages and web applications
    
    

  We are rapidly becoming a very large Oracle application server shop. Although I haven't had a chance to perform any in-depth evaluations on beacons yet, I have run a simple test or two. Rest assured I intend to provide you with a few blogs on beacons because I am very interested in learning more about beacons and the potential benefits they may provide.

  10G Grid Control R2 provides a beacon report page that provides performance information for each hop starting from the client desktop to the connection's final destination (usually an Oracle database). Each leg of the journey is displayed along with the amount of time it took to complete the hop. This will allow administrators to quickly identify which component is the cause of the performance/availability problem in complex, multi-tier environments.

• Security - 10G Grid Control R2 provides a wealth of security reports. With today's security concerns, they are definitely needed. Take a look at the various security reports, I think you'll find that 10G Grid Control R2 is an excellent first step in providing administrators with the security information they need to protect and secure corporate database assets.

• Storage Reports - Two of my favorites are the Row Chain and Reclaimable Space reports. Another beneficial report is the Monthly Space Usage reports that allow administrators to track database growth historically. Tracking growth historically allows administrators to predict future space requirements. Looks like I will be able to finally retire my Chris Foot special Space Tracker reports.

Report Examples
Let's continue our discussion by running a couple of reports. I chose the Operating System Summary report which displays O/S release and patch information for all monitored host targets. I then chose the Oracle Database Software Summary report which shows release and patch information for all monitored database targets. Two reports that I intend to run on a pretty regular basis.

Creating and Scheduling Reports
We create custom reports and schedule reports to run on a regular basis using the same process. I begin by selecting the report I want to customize or schedule by checking the radio button displayed at the beginning of each report's row. For this discussion, I chose the Database Security Report. I then click the "Create Like" navigation button to begin the customization.

10G Grid Control R2 responds by displaying the Create Report Definition General page. The general page provides users with the ability to change the title and category, add targets, etc. I continue the process by clicking on the Elements navigation tab at the top of the page. 10G Grid Control R2 displays the Create Report Definition Elements page that allows me to alter the report's text formatting and edit the SQL that creates the output. Let's click on the Set Parameters navigation button displayed at the end of the Table From SQL row to look at the SQL.

10G Grid Control R2 displays the Create Report Set Parameters page. This page allows me to change the SQL statement being executed to meet my specific requirements. I also use this page to control the number of rows displayed on a page and add custom column headings.

When complete, I click on the Schedule navigation tab to continue. 10G Grid Control R2 displays the Create Report Schedule page. I use this page to schedule the report to run on a regular basis. I do this by clicking on the Schedule Report and Repeating navigation buttons at the top of the Create Report Schedule page.

10G Grid Control R2 responds by expanding the Scheduling options. I am now able to choose the frequency, start and repeat until dates. I complete the page by specifying if I want to save copies of the report in the repository, identifying e-mail addresses to mail the report to and setting the report's purge criteria.

The last page I need to complete is the Create Report Access page. The Create Report Access page allows administrators to specify which users are able to execute and view our newly customized report.

The final step is to hit the OK button to create the report. 10G Grid Control R2 executes a quality check to ensure that all of the report's parameters are set correctly. If the customization passes the review, the report is created.

Conclusion
I think you will agree that 10G Grid Control R2's reporting feature is pretty robust for a "V1 release."

Thanks for reading!