Managing Availability
Availability Management is a key ITIL processes, and within ASM Core, you can define and monitor the availability of items within the CMDB such as a service or a configuration item.
Availability is made up of two main components, Schedules and Outages.
Schedules are periods of time in which a CMDB item is set to be available or unavailable. These are defined and then applied to a CMDB Item.
Outages can be planned or unscheduled interruptions that affect the availability of that item. You can view outages of a CMDB item, as well as a snapshot of an item's availability for a chosen week.
Availability is managed using the Availability explorer option from a CMDB Item Details window.
You must activate Track Availability in order to use the availability management options.
Activating Track Availability for CMDB Items
In the Explorer pane, expand CMDB Item, then select Availability.
The Availability window appears, with the applied time zone.
Select the tick box to activate the Track Availability options.
Select the Edit icon to view the details in edit mode if necessary to activate the option.
Once this is activated then the page will display all the Availability tabs which default to Availability.
Setting Targets
Select the Targets tab on this window. This opens the Targets window.
Select the start date and time from the Starting from drop down menu and time field. This is the start date and time from which the target percentage uptime is to be measured. Select the Calendar icon in the date field to display a calendar.
Set the Percentage of uptime required for each: month, calendar month, or week
Set Availability Thresholds and Escalation recipients. Tick each box to enable select escalation levels. Select recipients by clicking the Recipient button. You can specify how long before breach each notifiction should occur.
Select the Save icon to save the details and activate Track Availability.
Viewing Availability of a CMDB Item
In the Explorer pane, expand CMDB Item, then select Availability.
The Availability window appears, with the applied time zone.
Track Availability should be selected to view the details.
On the Availability tab, you can see a calendar-type display, known as the Weekly Time Control . This displays the availability for the selected CMDB Item for the current week. The following information is included in the grid:
| Availability Required | Time periods when the CMDB Item is expected and required to be available |
|---|---|
Scheduled Activity (within the Contracted Availability period) | Scheduled activities (such as back-ups or maintenance) occur during this time period. No unauthorized changes should be made to the CMDB Item during this period. |
Availability Not Required | Changes to the CMDB Item can be scheduled within these time periods as there are no scheduled activities occurring |
Scheduled Activity (within the Uncontracted Availability period) | Activities are scheduled for this period |
Planned Outages | Outages that are planned for the future |
Unplanned Outages | Outages that have taken place unplanned |
The information is taken from the availability schedule service hours applied to the CMDB Item. The control displays any public holidays occurring in that particular week in addition to Outages that have been raised against the CMDB Item.
You can use the Period Starting drop-down list to view the availability details for another week. The control dynamically changes according to your selection. The specified weeks must always start on a Sunday.
Scheduling Availability of a CMDB Item
In the Explorer pane, expand CMDB Item, then select Availability.
The Availability window appears, with the applied time zone.
Select the Schedules tab.
All defined schedules are listed in the Schedules pane. Select the one you want to see the details displayed in the calendar grid.
There are four period types that make up a schedule:
| Availability Required | Time periods when the CMDB Item is expected and required to be available |
|---|---|
Scheduled Activity (within the Contracted Availability period) | Scheduled activities (such as back-ups or maintenance) occur during this time period. No unauthorized changes should be made to the CMDB Item during this period. |
Availability Not Required | Changes to the CMDB Item can be scheduled within these time periods as there are no scheduled activities occurring |
Scheduled Activity (within the Uncontracted Availability period) | Activities are scheduled for this period |
6. If you wish, select a set of public holidays from the Holidays drop-down list.
7. Select the Save icon to save the details. The window is redisplayed, showing the updated details.
Setting Availability Targets and Thresholds
You can set availability targets and thresholds for a CMDB Item. Targets are based on setting a percentage of uptime for the CMDB Item within a selected time period.
Outages that occur during uncontracted time periods, as defined by the applied schedule for the CMDB Item, do not impact your target.
When an item is in a 'no change period', or 'frozen' using the Freeze icon on the Details window, then options such as availability targets and thresholds are grayed out.
You can select Edit to activate these fields. If you do so without removing the item from its No Change period first, then a warning will appear asking you to confirm that you wish to continue.
In the Explorer pane, expand CMDB Item, then select Availability.
The Availability window appears, with the applied time zone.
Select the Targets tab.
Complete the details.
| Percentage Uptime | Type the percentage of time you want the CMDB item to be available for, and in the drop-down list to the right, select the time period in which the uptime target should be measured. You can select from three options: Week, Month (4 weeks) or Calendar Month |
|---|---|
Starting from | Select the start date and time from which the target percentage uptime is to be measured. Select the button to display a calendar. Use the and arrows to scroll across the months. Select a start date by selecting the date on the calendar. Select the month at the top to display a list of months from which you can make a selection. For the time field, you can use the arrows to scroll through the time by hour or type the time in the field. |
Availability escalation level 1 | Select the checkbox to apply an escalation if the availability target is at risk of breach |
minutes before breach | Specify the number of minutes before the breach that an escalation should be triggered and recipients informed |
Recipients | Identify the recipients of emails in the event of an escalation |
Availability escalation level 2... | You can specify up to three escalation levels in the same way. When the checkbox is selected for the first escalation, the next escalation level becomes available. |
Availability Target Breach | Select the checkbox to generate a notification if the target is breached. Then add the recipients, as for the escalation levels. |
Select Save to save your changes and apply the availability target settings to the CMDB Item. The screen is refreshed and the Availability tab appears, showing the scheduled availability.
Copying Availability Settings
You can copy the availability data including the schedule and target from another CMDB item (configuration item, service, service action, or service bundle) to the current CMDB item.
In the Explorer pane, expand CMDB Item, then select Availability.
The Availability window appears, with the applied time zone.
Select the Copy icon from the toolbar.
In the Copy Availability dialog box, select the CMDB Item from which you wish to copy the availability data. Type in the name of the CMDB item or search for the item.
Select OK to import the availability data from the selected CMDB item. If the selected CMDB Item does not have availability enabled, a warning message appears, giving you the opportunity to confirm or cancel the copy.