6. DATA SOURCES › 6.6 Basic Network Accounting › 6.6.1 Accounting Information Sources

6.6.1 Accounting Information Sources

The basic network accounting approach supported by the CA
MICS Network Analyzer and CA MICS Accounting and Chargeback
permits the use of data from the following information
sources:

   o  CA NetSpy Network Session Accounting
   o  CA NetSpy Network Gateway Accounting
   o  CA NetSpy VTAM Interface: Terminal Activity
   o  Network Performance Monitor (NPM) Session
   o  NPM Network Session Accounting
   o  NPM Network Gateway Accounting
   o  NetView Session Monitor Response Time Monitor
   o  NetView Session Monitor Accounting and Availability
   o  CA NetMaster NTS Response Time Monitor
   o  CA NetMaster NTS Accounting

These sources provide different views of the data and permit
different ways of performing network accounting.  There are
six CA MICS Network Analyzer files that contain data from
these sources, and which may be used for accounting:

@sntactg


Each of these files is described in Chapter 5, along with a
list of the data elements associated with each file.  See the
CA MICS Data Dictionary for a description of specific data
elements and their use within each file.  This overview
should help you to select the information appropriate to your
billing needs.

Each file contains certain basic information:

   o  The NCP Network Accounting File (SNTNAC) contains
      network traffic (messages and characters) and connect
      time information for terminal sessions collected by the
      NCP NPALU.  Either CA NetSpy or NPM may input network
      session accounting or network gateway accounting data
      to this file.

   o  The CA NetSpy Terminal (SNTNSS) File contains a variety
      of information useful for billing purposes including
      information about the the volume of network traffic,
      the network session duration, and the response time
      associated with each monitored SNA session.

   o  The NPM User Activity (SNTPSU) File contains network
      response and traffic statistics, along with some
      interesting configuration and service information, such
      as transmission priority and virtual route number.  It
      does not contain session connect time since the source,
      NPM Session data, is missing this information.

   o  The NLDM Session Accounting (NVSNSA) File contains
      connect time, message and character traffic (divided
      into sent/received and control/data categories), and
      the performance class assigned by the installation as
      part of NetView implementation.  It contains a minimum
      of configuration information to keep the file size to a
      reasonable limit.  Either NetView or NLDM, or CA
      NetMaster NTS may be the data source for this file.

   o  The NLDM Session Connectivity (NVSNSC) File provides
      more complete connectivity information than the NVSNSA
      File, while retaining a minimum of information for
      billing purposes, including connect time, response
      events, and total characters transmitted.  Also, like
      the PSU file, it contains several interesting
      configuration and service elements, such as
      transmission priority and class of service.  Either
      NetView or NLDM, or CA NetMaster NTS may be the data
      source for this file.

   o  The NLDM Response Time (NVSRTM) File contains only
      response information, including number of times
      response objectives were met, number of responses
      completed within specific objective times, and average
      response time.  Either NetView or NLDM, or CA NetMaster
      NTS may be the data source for this file.

Section 8.1.3, Network Accounting Considerations, discusses
other important issues you should consider before choosing a
data source for billing purposes.