You use the Managed Groups node to define groupings of managed objects, based on how you perceive the operators at your site need to monitor and manage these objects. The groupings you create can then be used to form zones. A zone contains the full collection of what a user of Operations Sentinel Console can view and manage in Operations mode at one time.
A managed group can contain subgroups. Managed objects cannot appear in a subgroup if they do not satisfy the object filters of the subgroup’s ancestors. You define a subgroup exactly as you would a managed group. They are simply another way to further classify your site's managed objects.
Operations Sentinel supplies a managed group called All Objects. There are nine subgroups under the All Objects group:
Arbitrary Systems
MCP Components
MCP Systems
OS 2200 Components
OS 2200 Consoles
OS 2200 Systems
Servers
UNIX/Linux Systems
Windows systems
Each of these groups has a filter condition that includes only the managed objects of that object class. You can use these managed groups however needed; but it is recommended that you do not alter or delete these groups.
Managed Group Example
You know your site needs to create zones based on location. There are certain systems that need to be managed only at the Buffalo site, certain systems that need to be managed only at the Seattle site, and other systems that need to be managed at both sites. You would create the following:
A managed group named Buffalo; it contains only the systems the Buffalo site is responsible for managing.
A managed group named Seattle; it contains only the systems the Seattle site is responsible for managing.
A managed group named Common Systems; it contains the systems that both sites need to monitor and manage.
Then when you create zones for these sites, you can include the Buffalo and Common Systems managed groups in Buffalo’s zone and the Seattle and Common Systems managed groups in Seattle’s zone.
This is a simple example of how you can use managed groups. If your site has many managed objects that have to be managed by many different sites, job roles, and/or times of day, you might need to make subgroups of managed groups and so forth. Operations Sentinel has provided you with a robust tool that can be used at any size of data center, or not at all. If every managed object at your site needs to be managed at all times of the day, you could simply use the All zone supplied with Operations Sentinel and not use managed groupings of the objects.