Handling disabled elements

IKL Development
#1

I've got a case where I'm writing a script for Bluecoat that checks the DNS server states and response times was wondering what you guys think about disabled DNS servers.


Let's say we have three servers configured:

  • 1.1.1.1 - State = UP, Average response-time = 15 ms
  • 2.2.2.2 - State = DOWN, Average response-time = 15 ms, Latest response-time: 8ms
  • 1.1.1.1 - State = DISABLED, Average response-time = 15 ms, Latest response-time: 8ms


Questions:

  • Should I include the disabled DNS servers, and if so, should I mark them as up or down?
  • Should I use the average response-time or the latest response-time? I'm leaning towards latest.


Fire away!

#2

Hey Patrik, thanks for asking! My two cents on this:


  • Should I include the disabled DNS servers, and if so, should I mark them as up or down? I would include disabled DNS servers and mark them as such, to help keep track of configuration and ensure my setup is the way it ought to be.


  • Should I use the average response-time or the latest response-time? I'm leaning towards latest. Would it be possible to get both? If not, I would want to know the latest response-time. I would probably then use my analytics to try to determine the average if there's an issue.



#3

My general guideline would be:


1. Do whatever was done in other devices (just look at other IND scripts targeting the same metrics).
2. If no one has ever had to handle this situation in the IND scripts, just try to think what would the average network engineer want. In the above case:
Would the engineer care about disabled DNS servers? Or would that information be noise?