Methods and apparatus for site wide monitoring of electronic mail systems
First Claim
1. In a messaging system having a message server arranged to process messages for hosts in multiple host domains and that includes at least one message server component, a message server performance parameter monitor for monitoring a message server component performance parameter associated with the message server component, comprising:
- a test message transmitter coupled to the message server component suitably arranged to transmit a test message to the message server component, wherein the test message corresponds to one of the multiple host domains;
a component message receiver coupled to the message performance parameter monitor suitably arranged to receive a component response message from the component that is based upon the test message;
an evaluator unit coupled to the component response message receiver arranged to determine the message server component performance parameter based upon the component response message and the test message;
a data store unit coupled to a comparator unit arranged to store the determined message server component performance parameter; and
a display device coupled to the data storage unit for displaying the determined message server component performance parameter.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A messaging system capable of providing monitoring capabilities of mail services provided by a mail server is disclosed. Monitoring of mail services can be done automatically without requiring a local administrator to have knowledge about the specific implementation details about mail services that are provided by the mail server. In addition, the messaging system provides the ability to perform a variety of monitoring tasks remotely.
116 Citations
20 Claims
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1. In a messaging system having a message server arranged to process messages for hosts in multiple host domains and that includes at least one message server component, a message server performance parameter monitor for monitoring a message server component performance parameter associated with the message server component, comprising:
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a test message transmitter coupled to the message server component suitably arranged to transmit a test message to the message server component, wherein the test message corresponds to one of the multiple host domains;
a component message receiver coupled to the message performance parameter monitor suitably arranged to receive a component response message from the component that is based upon the test message;
an evaluator unit coupled to the component response message receiver arranged to determine the message server component performance parameter based upon the component response message and the test message;
a data store unit coupled to a comparator unit arranged to store the determined message server component performance parameter; and
a display device coupled to the data storage unit for displaying the determined message server component performance parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
wherein the email performance parameter monitor compares at least one of the periodically calculated response times with a threshold value response time that represents a response time expectation value; - and
wherein the email performance parameter monitor operates to provide an error notification when the at least one measured response time exceeds the threshold value response time.
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8. A monitor as recited in claim 2, wherein the mail server component is selected from the group comprising a transfer unit, a messaging store, and a directory server.
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9. A monitor as recited in claim 2, wherein the mail performance monitor operates to monitor various virtual domain attributes associated with the one or more virtual host domains.
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10. A monitor as recited in claim 9, wherein the various virtual domain attributes include IMAP, IMAPS, POP3, POP3S, LDAP, and SMTP.
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11. A monitor as recited in claim 2, wherein the monitor operates to log email activities associated with one or more virtual host domains in the data storage.
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12. A mail performance monitor as recited in claim 2, wherein the monitor operates to display monitoring information associated with one or more virtual host domains.
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13. In an electronic messaging system,
a mail performance monitor suitable for monitoring the electronic mail services provided by an electronic mail server arranged to process mail messages for hosts in multiple host domains, the mail performance monitor providing a monitoring interface that can be used to initiate a set of monitoring commands to perform monitoring tasks associated with the mail services provided by one or more components of the mail server.
- 18. A computer readable media including computer program code for monitoring electronic mail services provided by a mail server for hosts in multiple host domains, the computer program code providing a monitoring interface that can be used to initiate a set of monitoring commands to perform monitoring tasks associated with the mail services provided by one or more components of the mail server.
Specification