Understanding the data collection mechanisms available can help you effectively plan your deployment. Before installing the BMC TrueSight IT Data Analytics (IT Data Analytics) product, you need to decide the data collection mechanism that you want to use for data collection later.
You can collect data both locally and remotely using the data collection mechanisms available with the product. Depending on the data collection mechanism you select, you can either use a Collection Station or Collection Agent for collecting data. Your selection of the data collection mechanism depends on various factors such as your environment, where your data resides, your company policy, and existence of PATROL Agents in your environment.
The following information provides deeper understanding about the various data collection aspects.
You can either use the Collection Station or Collection Agent as your data collection mechanism while configuring data collectors.
The Collection Station is a component that is automatically installed when you install the product. This mechanism serves a dual role – one of data collection and the other of acting as a proxy (or receiver) for Collection Agents that forward data to the IT Data Analytics server.
The Collection Agent serves a similar role as that of the Collection Station with respect to data collection, but it is designed to be run on remote nodes that have existing PATROL Agents installed and running on them. Collection Agents need to be configured by installing BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics. You can configure Collection Agents on BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics in any of the following environments:
Collection Agents can be useful in the following scenarios:
Data collection can be done with local or remote data collectors. Understanding the fundamentals of local versus remote data collection can help you better plan your deployment.
Both local and remote data collectors can run from within the Collection Station or within the Collection Agent (configured on BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics). However, in most deployments local collection can be more suitable only if you already have PATROL Agents deployed with BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics configured on your target hosts (where your data resides).
To understand the local and remote collection workflow and the respective data collectors supported, see:
Local collectors are designed to collect data from the same host on which the Agent (Collection Station or Collection Agent) they are being run on resides. Therefore, while creating a data collector the Target Host field is not required while configuring local data collectors (as it is automatically derived based on the Agent host). Normally you can use a Collection Agent for local data collection. While a Collection Station can also be used for local data collection, BMC recommends you to limit it to only monitor IT Data Analytics log files. The Collection Station plays a dual role of data collector and receiver and using it for data collection might overload its bandwidth.
The following figure depicts local collection of data using a Collection Agent:
Local collection via Collection Agent
Remote collectors are designed to collect data from a different host than which they are running on. This is done by connecting to the remote target host. For most remote data collectors (except one) you can see a Target Host field in addition to the Collection Host field (where you need to select the Agent). The exception to this is the Receive over TCP/UDP data collector which receives data from any sender that connects to its socket as opposed to connecting out to the target host.
The following figure depicts remote collection of data using a Collection Station:
Remote collection via Collection Station
The following figure depicts remote collection of data using a Collection Agent:
Remote collection via Collection Agent
The following table provides a list of local and remote data collectors available with the product:
1 The Upload file data collector can be used for uploading a data file for one-time indexing.
Data collectors are run within a collection framework that is present in both the embedded Collection Station component (deployed with the product) as well as the Collection Agent (configured on the PATROL KM for IT Data Analytics). While configuring data collectors on the Administration > Data Collectors tab, you need to specify the Agent (Collection Station or Collection Agent) on which the data collector must run. At the time of adding a data collector, the Collection Host (Agent) field lists all the connected Collection Stations and Collection Agents available for selection.
Collection Stations can perform data collection but they also need to serve as the receiver for external data that is forwarded to the IT Data Analytics server.
BMC recommends you to use a Collection Station in the following scenarios to simplify your deployment setup:
In deployments where the Collection Agents are used as the primary Agent for data collection, BMC recommends you to not use the Collection Station for data collection so that it is fully dedicated to the receiver role. This is necessary so that the Collection Station is not overloaded with remote data collectors as it also needs to serve as a receiver for Collection Agents forwarding data to the IT Data Analytics server.
(In the following figures, Data Queue refers to a mechanism that guarantees data delivery)
The following figure depicts data collection using a Collection Station:
Data collection via Collection Station
The following figure depicts data collection using a Collection Agent:
Data collection via Collection Agent
The Collection Agent configured on BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics allows data collectors to run and collect data directly from any host that has an existing PATROL Agent. If you already have PATROL Agents deployed in your environment, then using Collection Agents can simplify the management of the data collectors. By using BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics, you do not need to manage host (or domain) user names, passwords and have as many socket connections in your environment.
You can configure Collection Agents by using PATROL Configuration Manager or BMC ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration. The primary purpose of BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics is to manage the Collection Agents configured and monitor their health and status. This KM forwards Information about the performance and health of the Collection Agents to PATROL Configuration Manager (or BMC ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration) and log data to the IT Data Analytics server.
The data collector instances running in the Collection Agents are administered using the Administration > Data Collectors tab on the product user interface or CLI commands such as importcollector and exportcollector.
The following figure depicts data collection using BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics (Collection Agent):
(Click the image to expand it)
Data collection using BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics
For information about adding data collectors, see Managing data collectors.
For information about setting up Collection Agents, see Setting up Collection Agents.