About Neverfail System Plug-in

The Neverfail System Plug-in for Neverfail Continuity Engine adds system performance monitoring features to identify critical hardware and operating system performance issues that could affect system availability.

Supported Versions of Microsoft Windows

x64 / Intel 64 Platform (64-bit hardware)

• Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Standard / Enterprise / Datacenter
• Microsoft Windows 2012 Standard / Datacenter
• Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Standard / Datacenter
• Microsoft Windows 2016

Install and Uninstall the Neverfail System Plug-in Using the Advanced Management Client

The Neverfail System Plug-in can be installed either via the Neverfail Continuity Engine deployment process or by using Application -> Plugins in the Advanced Management Client using the procedure below. Neverfail recommends that for initial deployments of Neverfail System Plug-in, installation should be performed using Engine Management Service. 

Note: Plug-ins should be installed only on the active server. Installation of a plug-in on a passive server may cause an Exception to occur.

Install the Neverfail System Plug-in

1. Unzip the Neverfail System Plug-in to a convenient location.
2. Launch the Advanced Management Client.
3. Navigate to Applications : Plugins.
4. Click  Install... The Install Plugin dialog appears.
5. Click Browse... and navigate to the location of the SystemNFPlugin.dll file.
6. Click OK to complete the installation.

Uninstall the Neverfail System Plug-in

1. Launch the Advanced Management Client.
2. Navigate to Applications : Plugins.
3. Select the Plug-in to uninstall from the list.
4. Click Uninstall... A confirmation message appears.
5. Click Yes.  The Plug-in is uninstalled.

When the Plug-in is uninstalled, the associated files are not removed. This is by design for future functionality.  To remove these files:

1. Copy the contents of the r2\plug-ins\<sponsor>\<version> folder to a different location such as C:\temp.
2. Delete the contents of the r2\plug-ins\<sponsor>\<version> folder.
3. To reinstall the plug-in, when prompted for the location of the plug-in files, navigate to the new folder location (C:\temp).

Note: As an alternative, reinstallation can be accomplished by using the download files from the original download location after removing the plug-in.

Monitoring

Monitoring the system environment can be broadly categorized as:

• Active Server and Service Availability Monitoring
• Application and Performance Monitoring

Active Server and Service Availability Monitoring

Neverfail monitors the availability of a server by sending continuous heartbeat signals via the Neverfail Channel to the other server in the pair. The “Yes I am alive” response ensures that not only is the other server powered-up, but also that it is available if needed. The heartbeat signal interval is configurable from the Advanced Management Client.

Application and Performance Monitoring

Neverfail monitors general system performance via the Neverfail System Plug-in. The Neverfail System Plug-in performs this operation by checking select WMI counters at predetermined intervals to ensure that results of the check are within defined parameters. Neverfail System Plug-in uses 'Rules' to take action should a check reveal results outside of the defined parameters.

Note: Many of the rules listed below are provided in the disabled state because default values cannot be provided as these values depend upon the server and application load.

Rules

The following Performance Monitoring Rules are installed by the Neverfail System Plug-in:

• DiskAvgSecsPerRead
• DiskAvgSecsPerWrite
• DiskIO
• DiskQueueLength
• DiskReadsPerSec
• DiskWritesPerSec
• DiskWriteable
• FreeDiskSpace
• FreeDiskSpaceOnDrive
• MemoryCommittedBytes
• MemoryCommittedBytesPercent
• MemoryFreePTEs
• MemoryPageReadsPerSec
• MemoryPageWritesPerSec
• MemoryPagesPerSec
• MemoryPagingFileUseage
• PageFaultsPerSec
• ProcessorIntsPerSec
• ProcessorLoad
• ProcessorQueueLength
• RedirectorBytesTotalPerSec
• RedirectorNetworkErrorsPerSec
• ServerBytesTotalPerSec
• ServerWorkItemShortages >= 3 
  If the rule for server work item shortages is triggered, consult Microsoft documentation on setting the registry values for InitWorkItems or MaxWorkItems accordingly.
• ServerWorkQueueLength
• SystemContextSwitches
• VersionCheckForWindowsOS

To configure/modify the Rules:

1. Launch the EMS Web UI (or Advanced Management Client).
2. Navigate to Rules.
3. Select the Rule to configure or modify from the list of Rules.
4. Click Edit... near the top of the Rules pane. The Edit Rule dialog appears.
5. Configure or modify the following fields:
   • Condition: (the condition being evaluated)
   • Duration: (the length of time the condition exists)
   • First Failure: (action to take upon first failure) The default is set to Alert.\
   • Second Failure: (action to take upon second failure) The default is set to Alert.
   • Third Failure: (action to take upon third failure) The default is set to Alert.
6. Click OK to save your changes.

Note: This dialog also can be used to enable and disable the selected Rule.

Tasks

The following 'Tasks' are installed by Neverfail System Plug-in:

• File Filter Discovery
• Registry Filter Discovery
• Protected Services Discovery
• Application Data Discovery
• Pre Stop

To configure/modify these 'Tasks', follow the steps below:

1. Using the EMS Web UI or  Advanced Management Client, click on Tasks.
2. Select the desired 'Task'.
3. Click on the Edit button at the top of the 'Tasks' pane.
4. Configure/modify the 'Interval' field. 
   Note: 'Interval' is the only field available for configuration/modification and is measured in seconds (secs).
5. Click OK to save the changes.
   Note: This dialog is also used to Enable/Disable the selected 'Task'.

Protected Services

The following Services are protected by the Neverfail System Plug-in:

• DHCP Client
• SCOPE Data Collector Service
• Task Scheduler – if “Protect Task Scheduler” option is set on True in the Edit plugin section

Protected Data

The Neverfail System Plug-in defines one protected folder.

C:\\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\TASKS\**

Automatic Filter Discovery

The Neverfail System Plug-in provides Automatic Filter Discovery.

The Automatic Filter Discovery component is configurable and runs every 2 minutes by default.

Applies To

Neverfail System Plug-in 401.0.2 or higher
Neverfail Continuity Engine 8.1 or higher

Related Information

None

KBID-3002