Application Performance Measurement MIB
RFC 3729

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Network Working Group                                      S. Waldbusser
Request for Comments: 3729                                    March 2004
Category: Standards Track

                Application Performance Measurement MIB

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
   for use with network management protocols in TCP/IP-based internets.
   In particular, it defines objects for measuring the application
   performance as experienced by end-users.

Table of Contents

   1.  The Internet-Standard Management Framework . . . . . . . . . .  2
   2.  Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
       2.1.  Report Aggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       2.2.  AppLocalIndex Linkages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       2.3.  Measurement Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       2.4.  Instrumentation Architectures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
             2.4.1.  Application Directory Caching. . . . . . . . . . 10
             2.4.2.  Push Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       2.5.  Structure of this MIB Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
             2.5.1.  The APM Application Directory Group. . . . . . . 13
             2.5.2.  The APM User Defined Applications Group. . . . . 13
             2.5.3.  The APM Report Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
             2.5.4.  The APM Transaction Group. . . . . . . . . . . . 13
             2.5.5.  The APM Exception Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
             2.5.6.  The APM Notification Group . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   3.  Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   4.  Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
   5.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
       5.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
       5.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Waldbusser                  Standards Track                     [Page 1]
RFC 3729                        APM MIB                       March 2004

   6.  Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
   7.  Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

1.  The Internet-Standard Management Framework

   For a detailed overview of the documents that describe the current
   Internet-Standard Management Framework, please refer to section 7 of
   RFC 3410 [8].

   Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
   the Management Information Base or MIB.  MIB objects are generally
   accessed through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
   Objects in the MIB are defined using the mechanisms defined in the
   Structure of Management Information (SMI).  This memo specifies a MIB
   module that is compliant to the SMIv2, which is described in STD 58,
   RFC 2578 [1], STD 58, RFC 2579 [2] and STD 58, RFC 2580 [3].

2.  Overview

   This document continues the architecture created in the RMON MIB [7]
   by providing analysis of application performance as experienced by
   end-users.

   Application performance measurement measures the quality of service
   delivered to end-users by applications.  With this perspective, a
   true end-to-end view of the IT infrastructure results, combining the
   performance of the application, desktop, network, and server, as well
   as any positive or negative interactions between these components.

   Despite all the technically sophisticated ways in which networking
   and system resources can be measured, human end-users perceive only
   two things about an application: availability and responsiveness.

      Availability - The percentage of the time that the application is
      ready to give a user service.

      Responsiveness - The speed at which the application delivers the
      requested service.

   A transaction is an action initiated by a user that starts and
   completes a distributed processing function.  A transaction begins
   when a user initiates a request for service (i.e., pushing a submit
   button) and ends when the work is completed (i.e., information is
   provided or a confirmation is delivered).  A transaction is the
   fundamental item measured by the APM MIB.

Waldbusser                  Standards Track                     [Page 2]
RFC 3729                        APM MIB                       March 2004

   A failed transaction is a transaction that fails to provide the
   service requested by the end user, regardless of whether it is due to