RELEASE TWO DESCRIPTION

In release two we have implemented the final two thirds of the Custodian project by extending release one. As release one implemented the ability for users to configure the settings in the database, release two uses these configuration details to monitor numerous servers, and alert appropriate recipients when required.

• Disk Space Usage Percentage.
• CPU Usage Percentage.
• Physical Memory Free Percentage.
• Virtual Memory Free Percentage.
• Committed Memory Percentage.
• Processor Interupt Time Percentage.
• Processor Interupts per Second.
• Free Paging Space.
• Number of Pages Read/Written.
• Disk Queue
• Failed Login Attempts.
• Event Logs.
• Failed Automated Services.
• Current Network Bandwidth
• Network Bandwidth - Bytes Recieved.
• Network Bandwidth - Bytes Sent.

• Prototype 1 - This prototype was deployed in order to develop an appropriately professional interface for the configuration component of the software. This process took place over a four week period, during which different interfaces were developed and evaluated as shown below.
• Prototype 2 - The second prototype was developed to poll muliple servers over specified time intervals. This was achieved by using a timing mechanism in order to determine which servers were required to be polled.
• Prototype 3 - The third prototype was developed to alert specified recipients by email, SMS and net send messages. The sending of these alerts was achieved by utilising a number of publicly available classes, including CSocket and MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes).
• Prototype 4 - The fourth prototype was developed to monitor the resources, as listed above, and to return the values from the monitoring in a format to be compared against the thresholds stored in the database.

INTERFACE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The following screen dumps show the process undertaken to complete the interface:

Interface 1

• Comments

• Bad Points
  • Too much white space
  • Very graphical and arty, perhaps not professional enough
  • Not enough details to allow proper assessment
  • Menu on left hand side to small
• Good Points
  • Use of blue is attractive

Interface 2

• Good Points
  • Use of blue is attractive
  • Use of a background is good
  • Rollover menu bar across the top is effective
  • White box is OK when we have a background
• Bad Points
  • Graphic on left hand side of screen in screen space that is not being utilised
  • Need to get rid of multiple large buttons, change to Edit, Add and Delete

Interface 3

• Good Points
  • Large buttons for menu work effectively
  • Use of picture in top left is very effective
  • Overall layout is professional
• Bad Points
  • Need to get rid of multiple large buttons, change to Edit, Add and Delete
  • Too much white space, perhaps add a background colour. Maybe the white space should be split in to two sections with different background colours.
  • Colours are OK, but may need work, perhaps blues?

Interface 4

• Good Points
  • Small text for menu does not work as well as it could
  • Use of picture in top left is very effective
  • Overall layout is professional
• Bad Points
  • Need to get rid of multiple large buttons, change to Edit, Add and Delete
  • Too much white space, perhaps add a background colour. Maybe the white space should be split in to two sections with different background colours.
  • Colours are OK, but may need work, perhaps blues?

Interface 5- The Final Product

THE FINAL PRODUCT

The final release of Custodian has combined all the prototypes developed through the year into a software application that fulfills all the requirements, as specified by the Department of Education.

The configuration component of the software is fully functional, with extensive error checking combined with a professional and user friendly interface.

The monitoring component of the software, running as a service, allows a number of servers to be polled for a variety of resources as configured by the user. It stores all the data it retrieves and when required, sends alerts in an appropriate format to the specifed recipients.