You can choose to have the event data for Common Base Events published to a Common Event Infrastructure (CEI) server. These events are structured identically to the events sent to loggers, but are stored on a database which can be accessed by viewers designed specifically for analyzing Common Base Events. Service component event points can be specified for monitoring with the Common Event Infrastructure server on a permanent basis for viewing and managing application flow, or on an ad-hoc basis for troubleshooting problems.
WebSphere ESB monitoring can publish the data in service component event points within Common Base Events that are fired across the Common Event Infrastructure (CEI) bus. This approach to monitoring allows you much more flexibility in analyzing your service component activities on your system. You can use the Common Base Event browser, which is included with WebSphere ESB, and optimized for CEI events.
Service component event points can be specified within an application, when it is created, for continual monitoring at all times after the application is deployed and running on a server. This method is known as "static" monitoring. You perform static monitoring on service component event points that are of particular importance in the proper flow of component processing on your system. With this information, you can easily oversee the overall actions of, and interactions between, the service component processes running on your system. Static monitoring also enables you to quickly detect deviations from the normal flow of these processes, which might indicate that your service components are not working properly.
To configure static monitoring of service components, you use WebSphere Integration Developer to select the service component event points in your applications. The selections are specified in the form of an XML file with a .mon extension that is deployed along with the application. When deployed on a running server or cluster, you cannot turn off or lower the detail level of the monitoring for events specified in the .mon file of the application; you must stop the server and redeploy the application to stop or change this kind of monitoring. For details about creating and deploying applications with .mon files, see the IEnabling event monitoring in WebSphere Integration Developer in the WebSphere Integration Developer Information Center.
You can also select service component event points for "dynamic" monitoring, which can be enabled and disabled on an application already deployed a running server. The rationale for performing dynamic monitoring using the CEI server is essentially the same as that for logging; to diagnose and troubleshoot problems on your system. The output is essentially the same as the data published to loggers, with Common Base Event elements comprising the structure for each event fired across the CEI bus. Also, like logging data, the differences in detail levels affect only how much of the payload is encoded within the event.