Monitoring and Housekeeping

What alerts can I use to monitor a PDR installation?

list of monitoring points summarises a list of potential monitoring points.

Table 21 list of monitoring points

Monitor	Failure Mode
The pdr.log file in the pdrBatcher or pdrLoader Log directory for text ERROR	Indicates a general error.
For a build up of files in pdrLoader reports or Reports\Queue directory	May indicate a failure of the local database, poorly performing insert queries, or a large file load backlog.
Scan log files for text “Detected inactivity timeout”	Indicates that the pdrBatcher has lost connectivity to the AEMO systems or has failed completely if the message is detected in the pdrLoader log.
Specific tables in the Electricity Data Model for timeliness.	Failure of a specific business process or replication of data for that process, e.g. Select max(lastchanged) from dispatchcasesolution Should be within 5 minutes of current time if DISPATCH data is replicating correctly.
Heartbeat file	This file is touched each time a file is processed. Check for an aging heartbeat file.

What do I put in place to keep a PDR installation running smoothly?

Ensure the following items are in place:

• Purge files from the pdrBatcher and pdrLoader Log directories older than a specified date.
• Purge files from the pdrLoader Archive directory older than a specified date.
• Purge files from the pdrLoader Error directory older than a specified date.
• For an Oracle environment, ensure that database statistics are kept up-to-date (refer to your Oracle DBA).
• You can purge rows from the PDR_REPORT_AUDIT table if the table reaches a size that causes issues, but AEMO recommend keeping at least 12 months online matching the AEMO file archive. The pdrLoader software contains a capability to manage this table content within a configurable data retention period.
• MarketNet passwords have a 90 day expiry, you need to have a password change process in place to ensure your password does not expire. If your password expires or becomes locked out, contact the AEMO Information and Support Hub.
• AEMO wholesale systems are updated on a six-monthly release cycle which includes changes to participant interfaces. These releases are typically scheduled for production late May and November so plan to have resources available to implement the releases around this time to keep systems on a supported configuration.
• Only enable data for loading that is actually required.
• Put in place a data archiving and purging strategy to keep the overall database size within manageable limits.
• pdrBatcher, pdrLoader and pdrMonitor applications are updated on an infrequent basis. Ensure you operate on a supported software version and complete update activity to remain in support. The latest Data Interchange software versions and details of changes are published in the technical specification for each wholesale market release.