Data Providers collect the data necessary to fill the metrics and trigger the alerts. There are different kinds of Data Providers that collect data for different kind of metrics. The collected data is then passed to the DPC (Data provider connector) that assigns it to the fitting metrics and forwards the result to the Calculation Engine. There are Push Providers (which can be further differentiated into Push Generic and Push Introscope Providers) and Pull Providers. While all types of Data Providers are used by the MAI.
This part of the MAI, involves all the PUSH metrics. This metrics are collected on the managed object, by the Diagnostic Agent (more info). This will provide the SAP Solution Manager all the metrics collected via PUSH. The architecture can be seen here.
The metrics can be collected also by SAP Host Agent, who will send afterwards the information measured to the diagnostic Agent, and Solution Manager System to be processed by the MAI infrastructure. 2130510 - SAP Host Agent 7.21
PUSH Providers are primarily Java Agelets which run on the managed object. They are embedded in an SMD Java Agent which has to work in order for the collection to work. The Agent passes them an configuration XML that contains instructions on which metrics they are supposed to collect and where to get the data from. The XML is usually generated on configuration but can be changed at runtime. Incorrect configurations will result in collection errors and grey metrics. An Agent that does not have a configuration cannot trigger the Provider and therefore will not return any data. Also, the Agent has to be run and be connected to the DPC in order to deliver any data to the Solution Manager. Agent failures are a common reason for grey push metrics.
For this Data Providers themselves there are a lot of dependencies to other components, especially the Agents and the DPC (Data provider Connector). These dependencies can led to missing values and should be checked first. Another problem can be a wrong configuration, many Data Providers don't tolerate any wrong inputs and will throw exceptions if a parameter isn't set correctly. The E2E_MAI_SERVLET is key when it comes to troubleshooting Data Providers. It displays exceptions thrown by the Provider, can display the configuration and show the logs of the provider. It should always be consulted and can - in combination with the Agent Framework - tell us a lot about the current state of Agent and Provider.
The Agent Framework manages diagnostics agents installed in all managed systems, centrally. You can do the following:
Check or change the connection status of diagnostics agents. If, for example, User Experience Monitoring indicates that the data for a particular location is not being displayed, you can check that the diagnostics agent of its host is connected to the SAP Solution Manager.
If there are problems, you can specify an alternative diagnostics agent to collect data for a technical component.
