diff --git a/pandora_doc/ChangeLog b/pandora_doc/ChangeLog index 89234a6d6a..26d1aa67d3 100644 --- a/pandora_doc/ChangeLog +++ b/pandora_doc/ChangeLog @@ -1,3 +1,7 @@ +2006-09-13 Raul Mateos + + * Updated /en/pandora_chapter1.xml + 2006-09-12 Raul Mateos * Updated pandora_chapter 3 to 9. diff --git a/pandora_doc/en/pandora_chapter1.xml b/pandora_doc/en/pandora_chapter1.xml index d50f3f6290..dbdbf86d9d 100644 --- a/pandora_doc/en/pandora_chapter1.xml +++ b/pandora_doc/en/pandora_chapter1.xml @@ -1,14 +1,100 @@ Introduction + + What is Pandora? + + Pandora is a monitoring tool that allows a system administrator + to visually analise the status and efficiency of Operating + Systems, Servers, Applications and Hardware Systems - such as + firewalls, proxies, databases, Web servers, tunnelling servers, + routers, switches, processes, services, remote access servers and + so on. All integrated into an open and distributed architecture. + + + Pandora can be implemented over any operating system, with specific + agents for each platform. Pandora can also monitor any TCP/IP + hardware system, such as load balancers, routers, switches, printers + and so on. + + + + Pandora architecture is formed of four main components: + + - Web Console: + Pandora's user interface. The user controls and operates the system + with it. Several Web consoles can be implemented in a single system. + The Web console is written in PHP, and rests on a database and + a Web server. It is compatible with any platforms - GNU/Linux, + Solaris, Win2000, AIX, etc. However, the official supported platform + is GNU/Linux. + + + + The console permits the user to + control the status of the agents, view statistical information, + generate graphs and data tables, keep a system incident control, + as well as to generate reports and change the alerts, agents, + and user profile settings. + + + - Core Server: + The core server is the receptor of + the data packages and generates the alerts - it is the brain + of the system. Several servers can work alongside for larger systems. + It has been developed in Perl and works over any platform, although, + the official platform is GNU/Linux. + + + + The core server accesses Pandora + database, which is shared with the Web server, and stores the + processed data packages. The server is executed under the name of + "Demonio", and processes the packages stored in its file system. + The data is generated by the system agents. Despite the server's + low system resources comsumption and simple installation and + operation, the core server is the most critical element of the system. + The core server receives and processes the produced data, and fires + the alerts and the events. + + + - Central Database: + At the moment the system only supports MySQL. The central database + keeps all the information Pandora needs to work - agent data, + settings, user information, incidents, system settings, etc. The + system can use a MySQL cluster to store the information, or a high + disponibility solution for larger sytems. + + + This database can work with any of + the platform officially supported by MySQL. Pandora can be implemented + with MySQL versions 3.0 and 4.0, although the latest is recommended. + + + - Pandora Agents: They collect all the + system's data. They are executed in each local system, although + they can also collect remote information by intalling monitoring + sytems for the agent in several different machines + - called satellite agents. + + + + They have been developed to work under a specific platform, + making use of the specific tools of the used language: VBSCript/Windows + Scripting for Microsoft platforms (Win2000, WinXP y Win2003) and + ShellScripting for Unix - which includes GNU/Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX + and BSD, as well as the Nokia's IPSO. Pandora agents can be developed + in virtually any language, given its simple API and being open source. + + Pandora Administration The web console is the tool used to administrate - Pandora. It is written in PHP and doesn't need any + Pandora. It is written in PHP and doesn't need any third party software to work, neither FLASH, JAVA, - nor ActiveX plug-ins. The Web console can be run + nor ActiveX plug-ins. The Web console can be run over any web browser supporting HTML and CSS (IE5+ or Mozilla 4+).