Collector Service systemhound 2007
From systemhoundwiki
Contents |
Collector service
Description
The systemhound Collector (SHC) is a service that runs on the systemhound server. Its job is to accept logged information from systemhound user machines and make sure that the user machines are kept up to date and are consistent with released systemhound software. The SHC runs as a service on Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista.
The SHC uses the TCP/IP protocol to accept connections from machines that are contacting the systemhound server. The communication session can involve both the upload and download of files to and from the remote user machine.
Overview
During a session the remote machine identifies itself to the SHC and uploads any systemhound logged data to the SHC server. Having completed the upload process, the remote machine will request the SHC to check for any new or new versions of systemhound programs that it is required to run. Should this be the case the SHC will deliver the new files to the user machine in a download process. Once the session has been completed the user machine will initiate a closedown of the systemhound session.
| Remote machine connects to the systemhound server |
| Remote machine identifies itself to the systemhound server |
| Remote machine delivers any log file information to the server |
| Remote machine receives an update of systemhound plugins, if appropriate |
| Remote machine initiates the closedown of the session |
Figure A1: sample session
Transport
The protocol used by systemhound to communicate with the remote machines is a custom designed protocol running over the TCP/IP transport layer. The TCP/IP port, which is used to accept calls by the SHC, is configurable by the systemhound Administrator. By default, systemhound uses port 4004.
Security
The SHC session with the remote machine is secured by the use of an encryption algorithm. All data transferred to and from the SHC is in encrypted form, which will prevent the ’sniffing’ of data on the network. In addition, the use of an encryption method prevents the ’spoofing’ of systemhound sessions.
Network traffic
The SHC session has been designed to minimise the amount of network traffic that is generated during a typical session. The systemhound log files containing the inventory data are compact in themselves. Typically they are between 10-40Kb depending on the amount of software present on the user machine. All systemhound programs that are used by the remote host are compiled to be optimally small in size – typically less than 50KB.
The frequency at which the remote client communicates with the SHC is configurable through the Central Configuration Tool (data upload). The more frequently the client is configured to communicate with the SHC, the more network traffic will be generated. However, it should be noted that network traffic is minimal if no updated log file or new systemhound plugins are available.
| Recommended frequency | |
| Minimum | 1 hour |
| Maximum | 24 hours |
Figure A2: recommended data upload frequency
Note: Although it is possible to change the frequency of connection through the Central Configuration Tool via the data upload option, it should be remembered that the clients will only be updated at the time of the next connection to the SHC. Therefore if the client was previously configured to connect to the SHC every 7 days, an updated connection rate of 24 hours may take seven days to propagate to the client.
