Stats Collector Configuration

Orchestrator > Software & Setup > Setup > Stats Collector Configuration

Orchestrator collects statistical data from your appliances to monitor performance, network traffic, and appliance status. Before Orchestrator release 9.1.0, the process of collecting, storing, and retrieving this data impacted performance due to the amount of data stored on and requested from the database.

To improve Orchestrator performance, Orchestrator 9.1.0 includes a new Stats Collector feature that eliminates the use of Orchestrator resources for monitoring your appliances. This new architecture enables you to scale your network with greater performance.

The new Stats Collector feature collects statistics from appliances and provides the information to Orchestrator. When enabled, the new Stats Collector runs in parallel with the legacy stats collector to collect the necessary historical statistical data. After collecting that data, you can discontinue legacy stats collection. You will not experience performance improvement until you discontinue legacy stats collection.

Prerequisites

Upgrade all appliances to version 9.1.0 before enabling the new Stats Collector feature.
Create at least one remote stats collector for every 150 appliances. If you have less than 150 appliances, you can use the predefined local stats collector. Each remote stats collector must meet the following minimum requirements:
- CPU: 4 GHz
- RAM: 16 GB

Before You Begin

Before you configure the new Stats Collector feature in Orchestrator, you must:

Create a Remote Stats Collector.
Authenticate the Remote Stats Collector.

Create and authenticate as many remote stats collectors as needed.

Create a Remote Stats Collector

To create a remote stats collector, use the Command Line Interface (CLI) to run an Orchestrator on a virtual machine (VM) in Stats Collector Mode only, as follows.

Open an SSH session to the Orchestrator you want to use as a remote stats collector.
Log in as admin or a user with administrative privileges.
Switch to root:
su - root
When prompted, enter the root password. If you do not know your root password, contact Support.
Change to the gms directory:
cd gms
Enter orch-setup, and then press Enter.
Enter -m, and then press Enter.
Enter the root password, and then press Enter.
At the prompt, enter s.
To proceed, enter y.

This VM is now a remote stats collector. Note the DNS name. You will need the DNS name when you configure the remote stats collector in Orchestrator.

Authenticate the Remote Stats Collector

After you create a remote stats collector, authenticate it by copying the Orchestrator public key and pasting it into the same folder on the new remote stats collector, as follows.

Open an SSH session to the Orchestrator.
Log in as admin or a user with administrative privileges.
Go to:
cd /home/gms/sc/publickeys
To list the public key, enter ls, and then press Enter.
Copy the public key.
Open an SSH session to the remote stats collector.
Log in as admin or a user with administrative privileges.
Go to:
cd /home/gms/sc/publickeys
Paste the public key, and then press Enter.

Configure the New Stats Collector Feature

After the remote stats collectors are created and authenticated, configure the new Stats Collector feature in Orchestrator. Complete the following tasks:

Back up Orchestrator. For more information about backing up Orchestrator, see Back Up on Demand.

Before you enable the new Stats Collector feature and discontinue legacy stats collection, it is recommended that you back up the Orchestrator database. Discontinuing legacy stats collection is permanent. To return to your previous configuration, you must restore the Orchestrator configuration backup.
Add Remote Stats Collectors. You need at least one remote stats collector for every 150 appliances. If your network contains less than 150 appliances, you can use the predefined local stats collector.
Associate Appliances with a Remote Stats Collector or Associate Appliances with the Predefined Local Stats Collector
When the necessary historical data has been collected, Discontinue Legacy Stats Collection.

Add Remote Stats Collectors

You must add at least one remote stats collector for every 150 appliances in your network.

To add a remote stats collector:

Navigate to Software & Setup > Setup > Stats Collector Configuration.

The Stats Collector Configuration tab opens.
Click Edit Remote Stats Collectors.

The Edit Stats Collectors dialog box opens.
Click Add Remote Stats Collector.

The New Stats Collector dialog box opens.

Configure the following elements as needed:

Field	Description
Name	Name of the remote stats collector.
DNS Name	DNS name you noted when you created this remote stats collector.
Port	Port number the remote stats collector is running on.
Protocol	HTTPS

Click Save.

Delete a Remote Stats Collector

To delete an existing remote stats collector, click the delete icon (X) in the last column of the entry in the table.

Associate Appliances with a Remote Stats Collector

To associate appliances with a remote stats collector:

Navigate to Software & Setup > Setup > Stats Collector Configuration.

The Stats Collector Configuration tab opens.
In the Orchestrator appliance tree, select one or more appliances to associate with a specific remote stats collector. You can associate up to 150 appliances with each remote stats collector.

WARNING: The statistics for an appliance are tied to the remote stats collector it is associated with. If you associate an appliance with a different remote stats collector, you lose all statistical data associated with that appliance.
Select the Add check box next to the remote stats collector you want to associate the selected appliance(s) with.
Click Apply.

The Apply Changes dialog box opens.
Click Apply Changes.

Associate Appliances with the Predefined Local Stats Collector

If you are installing Orchestrator version 9.1.0 or upgrading to version 9.1.0 or later, Orchestrator provides a default stats collector called local. You cannot edit or delete the local stats collector. You can associate up to 150 appliances with the local stats collector.

NOTE: If you are upgrading to Orchestrator 9.1.0, all appliances will be automatically associated with the local stats collector.

NOTE: If you run Orchestrator in Orchestrator Only mode (orch-setup -m o), the local stats collector will be disconnected.

To associate appliances with the local stats collector:

Navigate to Software & Setup > Setup > Stats Collector Configuration.

The Stats Collector Configuration tab opens. This tab displays the stats collector configuration for all appliances selected in the appliance tree to the left.
In the Orchestrator appliance tree, select one or more appliances to associate with the local stats collector.
Select the Add check box next to the local stats collector.
Click Apply.

The selected appliances are associated with the local stats collector. The Changes column indicates the stats collectors that were added and removed.

Enable the New Stats Collector

After you associate appliances with either the local stats collector or new remote stats collectors, you must enable the new Stats Collector feature to begin collecting data.

NOTE: The legacy stats collector continues to collect statistics in parallel with the new Stats Collector feature until you discontinue legacy stats collection. For more information, see Discontinue Legacy Stats Collection.

WARNING: You cannot disable the new Stats Collector after you enable it. It is recommended that you back up Orchestrator before you enable the new Stats Collector. For more information about backing up Orchestrator, see Back Up on Demand.

To enable the new Stats Collector:

Navigate to Software & Setup > Setup > Stats Collector Configuration.

The Stats Collector Configuration tab opens.
Click Enable New Stats Collection.

The Enable New Stats Collection dialog box opens.

Before you can enable the new Stats Collector feature, you must upgrade all appliances to version 9.1.0. The Enable New Stats Collection dialog box lists appliances that must be upgraded to support the new stats collection.
Click Enable New Stats Collection Now.

Discontinue Legacy Stats Collection

WARNING: Do not discontinue legacy stats collection until you have collected sufficient historical data with the new Stats Collector feature. For example, if you need 30 days of statistical data, enable the new Stats Collector, wait 30 days, and then disable the legacy stats collection.

To discontinue legacy stats collection:

Navigate to Software & Setup > Setup > Stats Collector Configuration.

The Stats Collector Configuration tab opens.
Click Discontinue Legacy Stats Collection.

The Discontinue Legacy Stats Collection dialog box opens.

WARNING: This step permanently disables legacy stats collection and deletes all legacy statistics.
Click Discontinue Legacy Stats Collection.