Definitions
Host Group Configuration
Devices on the monitored network are tracked individually. However, for reporting and alerting it is often convenient to track similar devices as a group. For example, the traffic statistics for all hosts in the same geographical location can be aggregated and reported as one host group. Similarly, all web servers or all database servers can be tracked as a host group.
A host group can contain individual members and one or more other host groups. The Navigator and Insights features can report selected performance metrics for host groups. Network usage policies can be defined for host groups and alerts sent when the policies are violated.
A host group is defined by the IP addresses of its members. AppResponse 11 is shipped with four default host groups: one for each of the three blocks of reserved IP addresses and one for all public IP addresses.
Recommended Practices When Using Host Groups
Take care to observe these considerations when defining and using Host Groups:
◼ Limit the Total Number of Host Groups to No More Than 1500 per System
AppResponse 11 was designed for deployments that accommodate up to 1500 Host Groups. The user interface will not prevent you from defining more than 1500, but more than 1500 is not supported, and can cause significant performance issues.
◼ Limit the Number of Host Group Members to No More Than 100
To avoid an excessive load on the system, minimize the number of comma-separated items in the Members field when you define each Host Group. When the system calculates metrics in real time, it checks monitored packets against each comma-separated item (IP address, IP range, or IP subnet) in each Host Group definition. A complex Host Group definition that includes a long list of members can increase computation loads and affect monitoring performance on the system.
To keep your Host Group definitions as simple as possible, it is recommended practice to:
◼ Include no more than 100 comma-separated entries in any Host Group definition.
◼ Specify IP address ranges, rather than individual IP addresses, whenever possible.
◼ Expect Some Delay When Drilling Down In an Aggregated Host Group
AppResponse 11 supports Host Group aggregation up to three levels: parent > child > grandchild. A Host Group is a union of all its member Host Groups and all the IP addresses in those Host Groups. You may observe a visible delay in the updating of the user interface when you drill down from a Host Group to IP addresses or IP conversations.
Defining Host Groups
To define an additional host group
1. Go to the Definitions > Host Groups page.
2. Choose Add to open the New Host Group page.
3. Enter the name and description as you want them to appear throughout the product.
4. Select the Active check box if you want to start collecting and reporting data for the group as soon as you add it.
5. Specify the Inbound and Outbound bandwidth you want to allocate to the host group. This is typically the full capacity of the links. However, it can be less than that.
The Insights feature reports the percent utilization of the bandwidth you specify here.
– If the full bandwidth of an Inbound or Outbound link is dedicated to this host group, you can specify the full link capacity and AppResponse 11 will report the percentage of the full link capacity that this host group is consuming.
– If you want to allocate only a portion of the link capacity to this host group, you can specify an amount that is less than the full link capacity. AppResponse 11 will report the percent utilization of the amount you allocated. Note that if the host group consumes more bandwidth than you allocated, the percent utilization value will exceed 100%.
6. Specify the IP addresses of the members. The following formats are accepted:
– Individual IP addresses.
– Comma-separated list of individual IP addresses.
– Address ranges specified as the first address and last address of the range separated by a dash. Do not include spaces. For example, 10.0.0.0 – 10.0.0.100
– If an IPv6 range such as ::1 – ::ffff:ffff:ffff is added, it will include all IPv4 addresses. Embedded IPv4 addresses such as ::ffff:a0a:a0a are treated as IPv4 addresses by AR11, i.e., 10.10.10.10. The IPv4 embedded addresses are in the range ::ffff:0:0 – ::ffff:ffff:ffff.
– For IPv4 only, address ranges using full CIDR format are supported. For example, 10.0.0.0/8 is supported, but 10/8 is not supported.
Press Tab or Enter to move to the next entry.
7. If the host group you are defining is to include members of another host group that has already been defined, choose the plus sign (+) beneath the Member Host Groups field. This opens a list in which you can select host groups to add. If the list is long, you can search on the name of the host group you want to add.
8. Choose OK to add the host group(s) and return to the New Host Group page.
9. If you need to delete a host group you added, select the host group in the Member Host Groups section and choose the minus (-) icon below the text field.
10. Choose Save.
The new group is included in the list. Note that if you added an existing host group as a member of your new host group, that existing host group is now listed under your new host group. It no longer appears at the first level of the list. Expand your new host group in the list if you want to view or edit the host group that it now contains.
Importing Business Groups from an Upgraded AppResponse 9.6.x Appliance
Customers using a 2200, 3300, 3800, 4300, 5100, or 6000 appliance can choose to export business groups (BGs) and import them into AppResponse 11 when they upgrade their software. For information on exporting business groups, see the AppResponse 9.6.2 release notes.
All BGs and BG containers can be imported and merged with AppResponse 11.1.0 and later host groups.
Autonomous System (AS) numbers are not supported and they should be removed from an exported .csv file before it is imported by AppResponse 11.1.0.
Importing 9.6.x Exported Business Groups
1. Go to Definitions > Host Groups in the AppResponse 11 web UI.
2. Click Import in the top-right corner of the page header.
3. Specify or choose the name of the exported .csv file in the window that opens, for example,
AR9-BG-Export.csv.
4. Business groups are imported as follows:
– Corrupted business group definitions in an exported .csv file generate errors. These definitions must be fixed before the .csv export file can be imported.
– If a business group has the same name as a host group, a warning is displayed that the host group exists and its definition will be overridden. Click Proceed to continue or close the window and revise the export .csv file.
– AppResponse 11host groups do not support IPv6 CIDR blocks. Convert IPv6 CIDR blocks to IPv6 ranges before importing a .csv file.
Editing a Host Group
To edit a host group
1. Go to the Definitions > Host Groups page.
2. Hover your mouse over the row that lists the host group. This displays the edit (pencil) and delete (x) icons.
3. Choose the edit icon to open the Edit Host Group page.
4. After you make your changes, choose either Apply to save and exit or Revert to return to the previous settings.
To delete an individual host group, hover your mouse over the entry for the host group and choose the delete (x) icon.
To delete multiple host groups, select the check boxes at the beginning of the rows listing the host groups and the choose Delete near the top of the table.
Exporting and Importing Host Groups
Host group definitions can be exported to a CSV (comma separated value) file, a format used by many spreadsheet applications, edited in the CSV file, and subsequently imported back in to AppResponse 11. This provides a convenient mechanism for editing a large number of host group definitions in a short amount of time.
The Host Group CSV file provides the existing host group definitions with the following fields:
◼ Version [AR11]
◼ Data Type [Hostgroups]
◼ Timestamp
◼ Name
◼ Description
◼ Enabled
◼ Bandwidth In
◼ Bandwidth Out
◼ Hosts
◼ Member Hostgroups
The Import and Export controls are located at the upper right of the Host Group Configuration page.
To export host group definitions to CSV file:
1. Go to the Definitions > Host Groups page.
2. Click Export at the upper right of the Host Group Configuration page. The host group table is written to CSV file immediately; the default file name is “hostgroupsAR11.csv”.
3. Double-click the CSV file to open it in your default spreadsheet application, or drag the file to a folder to edit it at a later time.
To import host group definitions from CSV file:
1. Go to the Definitions > Host Groups page.
2. Click Import at the upper right of the Host Group Configuration page. A dialog box appears; type the name of the CSV file you want to import, or click Choose File to browse the file system and select it. Click Import to execute the process, and the contents of the file are read in to the host group table.