Determining the Failure Type

Key initial classifiers for a failure are:

• The console log.

  This contains an easy-to-read history of enterprise server system activity leading up to the problem. When viewing the console log:

  • Investigate messages with levels other than information first.
  • Frequently, the enterprise server will continue to appear normal for some time after a failure so the 10 to 15 minutes before the failure should be investigated in detail (including the information messages).
• The list of processes.

  Inspect the processes associated with the failing enterprise server (providing the server did not shut down). Loops may be indicated if there is a significant difference in the CPU time for a process between the list in the healthy data capture and the list in the problem data capture.

• The list of shared memory areas and semaphores.

  An unusual number of objects may indicate an operating system problem. To evaluate this, compare the list with one obtained when the enterprise server system is in a healthy state.

These classifiers coupled with the external symptoms should provide enough information to assign the failure to one of the types of failure listed.