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Using RSS for Administration

Learn about RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and how it can be used in system administration. Discover the benefits of using RSS, how to use it, and different tools available for RSS administration.

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Using RSS for Administration

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  1. Using RSS for Administration Chad Miller DBA Manager, Raymond James Financial

  2. Using RSS for System Administration • What is RSS • Why should you use RSS • How to use RSS • How to use RSS in system administration RSS

  3. What is RSS? • RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a Web feed format used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed" contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually. • RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader" or an "aggregator". The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds. – Wikipedia • ww.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english • Video RSS Feed icon in IE and Firefox RSS

  4. Traditional Way RSS

  5. RSS Way RSS

  6. RSS Way System Administration RSS

  7. Why RSS • Workers get an average 156 e-mails a day, according to the Radicati Group Inc., a research group • According to Gartner the average SQL Server DBA manages 36 SQL instances or 2 TB of data • Administrative information originates from multiple sources: SQL Server, MOM/SCOM, system logs, help desk systems, scheduling systems • New sources of information in SQL Server 2008 include Policy Based Management and Performance Warehouse RSS

  8. RSS File Structure • <rss version="2.0"><channel>     <title>Chad Miller’s Blog</title>         <link>http://chadwickmiller.spaces.live.com</link>     <description>SQL Server, PowerShell and so on</description>     <item>     </item>    </channel></rss> RSS

  9. Admin Usage • Lightweight • Dashboards • Fits between an email and report • Need to aggregate information from different sources • Complimentary to existing monitoring solutions (MOM/SCOM, PBM) • Leverages existing monitors by aggregating information RSS

  10. Admin Scenarios • Databases missing backups • SQL Replication Issues including down or latency problems • SQL Error Log for Error Messages • Open Microsoft Operation Manager Alerts • Open Help desk tickets • Drives with less than 20% free space • Uptime RSS

  11. Characteristics of Good Monitoring Solutions • Agentless • Simple to deploy, maintain and extend • Follows a manage by exception philosophy • Open architecture which allow integration with other tools • Implements alert suppression • Easy to customize • Automatically resolve alerts when monitor returns to healthy state • Provides meaningful and actionable alerts • Does not negatively effect performance of monitored systems • Provide entire environment view instead of instance RSS

  12. Report vs. RSS RSS

  13. RSS vs. Other Monitoring Solutions RSS

  14. Policy Based Managment • Introduced in SQL Server 2008 • Uses RAISERROR to write to SQL Server Errorlog and Windows Event Log • Events IDs 34050 to 34053 • No SCOM integration • No SNMP connectors • Solves some problems but creates new integration issues • RSS enable PBM data RSS

  15. Aggregate Monitoring Systems Data • MOM/SCCOM • SQL Agent • Help Desk System • New Tickets • OLA Monitoring • Provides a single portal, an RSS aggregator, to view instead of having to log into numerous systems RSS

  16. RSS Administration Architecture • RSS Admin Architecture RSS

  17. Server-side RSS Generators • xSQLSoftware RSS Reporter – Specifically geared towards DBAs includes built-in feeds for database space and failed jobs • CodePlex PoshRSS – Open source web application for generating RSS feeds from any Powershell script • RSSBus Desktop/Server – RSS Server suitable for not only administration but also application development contains many advanced features. Numerous “connectors” including SQL and Powershell RSS

  18. Server-side Software RSS

  19. Server-side Software RSS

  20. Server-side Software RSS

  21. Client Side Readers • Internet Explorer • Outlook • Powershell • SQL Server CLR • RSSOwl RSS

  22. RSSOwl • Open source reader • Java based • Portable version – requires no installation • Export to HTML and PDF • Demo RSS

  23. Case Study • Using RSS for System Administration since September 2007 • 434 Administration focused RSS feeds • Based on exceptions conditions • Out of 434 feeds generally less than 12 to review • Databases missing backups • SQL Replication Issues including down or latency problems • SQL Error Log for Error Messages • Open Microsoft Operation Manager Alerts • Open Help desk tickets • Drives with less than 20% free space • Uptime • Complimentary solution to existing monitoring products MOM/SCOM RSS

  24. Internet Explorer RSS • Treats feeds as favorites • Updated information is shown in bold • No aggregation capabilities • Demo RSS

  25. Outlook 2007 RSS • Treats feeds like email • No aggregation capabilities • Demo RSS

  26. Powershell RSS • Example Powershell script which checks feeds and emails results • http://poshcode.org/742 RSS

  27. SQL Server CLR RSS • Because RSS is simple XML you can consume RSS from within SQL Server using a CLR • http://blogs.msdn.com/jgalla/archive/2005/09/13/464881.aspx • Demo RSS

  28. Client-side RSS Feed Reader RSS

  29. OPML Files • OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) is an XML format for outlines. Originally developed by Radio UserLand as a native file format for an outliner application, it has since been adopted for other uses, the most common being to exchange lists of web feeds between web feed aggregators. – Wikipedia • Supported by aggregators/readers including Outlook and Google Reader RSS

  30. Generating an OPML file with Powershell • Feed definitions are stored in XML file or as files in file system • Powershell can be used to generate an OPML file of all available RSS feeds • Technique is particularly useful after defining a large number of feeds RSS

  31. Questions? • Chad Miller – cmille19 <AT> gmail • http://chadwickmiller.spaces.live.com/ • http:www.xsqlsoftware.com • http://www.codeplex.com/PoshRss • http://www.rssbus.com • http://www.rssowl.org/ RSS

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