Re: [hobbit] sms alert sample script - good solution?

[Oliver Grube <oliver_grube (at) campbellsoup.com>]

Hi all,

nice to read your opinions here. I just raised some thoughts about sending
perhaps critical alerts via eMail to an external SMS provider... ;-)
Phil, you are totally right... Now, when you say this, I remember, that we
also have reached the age of GSM Modems and no longer relay on the analogue
ones...
I have setup this kind of redundant alerting (like you describe) for a big
Datacenter (with the slow BigBrother) in y2k and at this time, the
analogue/ISDN modems were the best choice.
I also agree to all the arguments raised by all others commenting my eMail.
Sending SMS via eMail might be sufficient enough.
My intention was only to show, that there are reasons why this should not
be accepted as a reliable alerting path.
And, of course, even GSM Networks could fail...

mit freundlichen Grüßen - Best regards
Hälsningar - Met vriendelijke groeten
Sincères salutations

Oliver Grube
EU Security&Controls Manager



                                                                       
             "Phil Wild"                                               
             <philwild (at) gmail.c                                         
             om>                                                        To
                                       hobbit (at) hswn.dk                  
             2008-04-11 18:26                                           cc
                                                                       
                                                                   Subject
             Please respond to         Re: [hobbit] sms alert sample   
              hobbit (at) hswn.dk           script - good solution?         
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       




Hi Oliver,

Whoops! , I just reread your message and understand your comment better now
- when I first read it I didn't realise you were making comment on a
solution where someone was emailing an sms through a mail gateway rather
than an direct sms based soln.

Sorry

Phil

2008/4/12 Phil Wild <philwild (at) gmail.com>:
      Hi Oliver,

      Have a good read of the man pages around hobbit-alert. You do not
      need to involve email when sending messages at all and probably the
      most reliable method is with an attached GSM modem. It is much faster
      than analogue dialing a messaging provider.

      We use two gsm modems attached to two independent hobbit servers in
      two data centres connected to two different mobile providers. We have
      hobbit monitoring the messaging queues and have failover in place, if
      a message fails to get out via one provider after a number of
      retries, it is transferred to the other server.

      We have also planned to set up a ping test via sms where one modem
      sms's the other but it has fallen off the bottom of our todo list as
      the current configuration has proven to be very stable...

      It would be nice though if the modem hardware was more stable,
      regular restarts when they hang (wavenet modems). Can't say other
      brands are better and the monitoring and scripting has made them
      reliable enough so that we don't need to replace them and start
      again...

      Your carrier may also be able to provide a status message feature
      where you receive back an sms once your message has entered the
      recipients phone (extra messaging cost and no guarantee they will
      read it of course but then that is what escalation is for). I am sure
      it would be possible to script a confirmation check and retry on the
      other network if you really wanted to guarantee the message got to
      the phone...

      Cheers

      Phil

      2008/4/11 Oliver Grube <oliver_grube (at) campbellsoup.com>:



            Hello,

            this is just my opinion and something to thought about...

            I have read about SMS alerting here. I think, from a
            reliability point of view, this kind of alerting, is not stable
            enough.
            Your designs are based on sending an eMail to an SMS sending
            system.
            A simple question: How do you get alerts for your eMail system?
            We have implemented this functionality with a simple modem
            attached to the Hobbit system and we dial the SMS provider
            directly.
            I think, that this is a more reliable solution, if you want to
            do SMS Alerting.

            Another option is to give the important guys Blackberry or
            similar devices and let them read the alert via eMail.
            Advantage: they can access internal hobbit systems directly and
            confirm alerts...

            As I said... just some thoughts...

            mit freundlichen Grüßen - Best regards
            Hälsningar - Met vriendelijke groeten
            Sincères salutations

            Oliver Grube
            EU Security&Controls Manager


            Inactive hide details for "Benjamin P. August"
            <baugust (at) stanford.edu>"Benjamin P. August" <
            baugust (at) stanford.edu>







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