Tips for creating alarms

Use the following information to more effectively create alarms:

• Do not rely on one instance of Alarm Management in a multi-image environment. Run Alarm Management in every CAS.
• Avoid using CONTEXT ALL or other multi-image contexts in alarm definitions. Keep alarm definitions within a single image.
• You can use any data on any view, but since the MAKEALARM wizard uses the values from the view, it is much easier to customize the view the way you want the alarm to work and then use the MAKEALARM wizard to create the alarm definition. To display the filters that were set in your product view, use the SHOWFILT primary command in that view.
• Realtime views make the best alarms. They can be tabular or summary views. Realtime views can pin-point an immediate problem or trouble maker. Definitions that use persistence, provide reliable results for decision making.
• Interval-type views can also make good alarms depending on how long the interval is. Interval data tends to average measurements and flatten the results. If the interval sets are too long then the alarm might not be that valuable.
• Avoid making alarms based on long-term views. There are too many history records involved. Critical problems will be masked by averaging.