Service Director - IBM RS/6000 User Manual

The Call Home function can be initialized to call either a service center telephone
number, a customer administration center, or a digital pager telephone number. The
Service Processor can be configured to stop at the first successful call to any of the
numbers listed, or can be configured to call every number provided. If connected to the
service center, the Service Processor transmits the relevant system information (the
system's serial number and model type) and Service Request Number (SRN). If
connected to a digital pager service, the Service Processor inputs a Customer Voice
Telephone Number defined by the customer. An established sequence of digits or the
telephone number to a phone near the failed system could be used to signal a system
administrator to a potential system failure.
During normal operations, the Service Processor can also be configured to monitor the
AIX Operating System. If AIX does not respond to the Service Processor heartbeat, the
Service Processor assumes the Operating System is hung. The Service Processor can
automatically initiate a restart and, if enabled, initiate the call home function to alert the
appropriate parties to the system hang. Enabling Operating System Surveillance also
affords AIX the means to detect any Service Processor failures and report those failures
to the Service Director application.
Unlike the Service Director, the Service Processor cannot be configured in a
client/server environment where one system can be used to manage all dial-out
functionally for a set of systems.
Prior to installing the Service Processor feature, ensure that you have the latest levels
of Service Processor microcode and system firmware. You also need a properly
configured modem. For more information on configuring a modem, see "Modem
Configuration Menu" on page 54.

Service Director

The Service Director is a software extension to the AIX Operating System that monitors
the system while the AIX Operating System is running. The Service Director monitors
and analyzes all recoverable system failures, and, if needed, can automatically place a
service call to a service center (without user intervention).
The service center receives the machine type/serial number, host name, SRN, and a
problem description. The service center analyzes the problem report and, if warranted,
dispatches a service person to the customer site. The service center also determines if
any hardware components need to be ordered prior to the service person's arrival.
The Service Director code also gives the user the option to establish a single system as
the problem reporting server. A single system, accessible over the user network, can be
used as the central server for all the other systems on the Local Area Network (LAN)
who are running the Service Director application. If the Service Director application on a
remote client decides a service request needs to be placed, the client forwards the
information to the Service Director server, which dials the service center telephone
number from its locally attached modem. In this scenario, the user only needs to
maintain a single analog line for providing call-out capabilities for a large set of servers.
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Chapter 2. Using the 44P Series Model 270