Netspy Network Gateway Accounting

NetSpy
network gateway accounting (NGA) function collects connect time and traffic statistics for cross-network LU-LU sessions.
rm
It collects this information from the NCP NPA Logical Unit (NPALU) in gateway NCPs.
NetSpy
writes network session accounting data to the
NetSpy
user-defined SMF record with a subtype of "C". This record is further divided into these subtypes: "S" for start, "E" for end, and "I" for interval.
MICS
processes each of these subtypes.
Processing NGA data has the following benefits:
  • NGA is the only source of accounting data for sessions just passing through your network. For example, you are company B and a terminal in company A's network traverses your gateway NCP to connect to an application in company C's network. Since neither the terminal nor the application for this session resides in your network, no other accounting data sources that are currently supported by
    MICS
    can collect on it.
  • The gateway NCP is often the best accounting data source for cross network sessions, because it is the only source that can identify the network IDs for the terminal and the application, determine whether a session is cross network, and determine whether the PLU and SLU names are real or aliases. Without this information, it can be impossible to identify to whom an accounting invoice should be sent.
  • NGA is a flexible network accounting collection function. It can collect data on cross network sessions with virtually any type of SNA terminal (including locally attached, dial-up, or NCP BISYNC).
NGA data collection has the following limitations:
  • Many configuration fields, such as SLULINK and SLUPU, are often missing in the NGA data. This occurs because either the gateway NCP NPALU did not obtain this information or the monitor (NPM or
    NetSpy
    ) did not write the information to SMF.
  • The
    NetSpy
    interface to multi-session manager products, such as NetView Access, does not apply to
    NetSpy
    recorded NGA data. This is because the NGA data is gathered by the gateway NCP, which has no interface to multi-session managers. Therefore, if you collect NGA data for sessions that are directed through a multi-session manager, the real PLU will not be identified in either the
    NetSpy
    or NPM NGA data, but only in the multi-session manager.
  • All NGA and NSA data recorded by NPM or
    NetSpy
    for LU-LU sessions with TSO will contain synonym names for TSO in the data element PLU. This can be easily corrected by coding the
    MICS
    exit SNTPLURT. Refer to Section 7.10 for a description of SNTPLURT and how it is used to establish a single value for PLU for VTAM applications (such as TSO) for which multiple application (APPL) statements are defined to VTAM.
For more information about
NetSpy
and the network gateway accounting features, refer to the
NetSpy
and the IBM Tivoli NetView Performance Monitor documentation.