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86 IBM System p5 520 and 520Q Technical Overview and Introduction
Service Agent sends outbound transmissions only and does not allow any inbound
connection attempts. Only hardware machine configuration, machine status, or error
information is transmitted. Service Agent does not access or transmit any other data on the
monitored systems.
Three principal ways of communication are possible:
Dial-up using an attached modem device (uses the AT&T Global Network dialer for
modem access; it does not accept incoming calls to the modem)
VPN (IPsec is used in this case)
HTTPS (can be configured to work with firewalls and authenticating proxies)
Figure 3-3 shows possible communication paths for an IBM System p5 server that is
configured to use all the features of Service Agent. In this figure, communication to IBM
support can be through either a modem or the network. If an HMC is present, Service Agent
is an integral part of the HMC and, if activated, collects hardware-related information and
error messages about the entire system and partitions. If software level information (such as
performance data) is also required, you can also install Service Agent on any of the partitions
and configure Service Agent to act as either a gateway and a connection manager or as a
client. When you configure Service Agent as a gateway and a connection manager, it gathers
data from clients and communicates to IBM on behalf of them.
Figure 3-3 Service Agent and possible connections to IBM
Service Agent provides these additional services:
My Systems: Client and IBM employees authorized by the client can view hardware and
software information and error messages that are gathered by Service Agent on
Electronic Services WWW pages at:
http://www.ibm.com/support/electronic
Premium Search: A search service using information gathered by Service Agents (this is a
paid service that requires a special contract).
Performance Management: Service Agent provides the means for collecting long-term
performance data. The data is collected in reports accessed by the client on WWW pages
of Electronic Services (this is a paid service that requires a special contract).