Candle bolsters MQSeries management

Candle wants to hold a light up to the operations of IBM's MQSeries Integrator, an applications messaging package optimised for handling e-business transactions.

Candle has introduced customisable software, dubbed Command Centre for MQSI V100, for monitoring and managing IBM's message oriented middleware from a single console.

Although IBM packages a configuration manager with its Windows NT-based MQSI for setting up the software and performing basic administrative tasks, the company does not offer tools for monitoring actual events and messages or overall MQSI performance.

MQSI has become an increasingly popular product for linking Web front ends to back-end data and applications, says Tim Grieser, a research director with IDC.

Using Candle's new software should make companies more comfortable relying on the MQSI piece of IBM's MQSeries suite to power business-to-business and business-to-consumer applications, he says.

Candle's Command Centre sits on the same NT Server running MQSI and feeds information about the IBM application's performance to a Java-based management console. IS staff can use Candle's software to see what messages are being sent and received and measure round-trip response times.

One of Command Centre's unique features, says Candle product manager Barry Lamkin, is that it can recognise behaviour patterns that indicate an impending crash or bottleneck on an MQSI server and alert IS staff via the console.

The Candle software can be configured to either correct the problem, or display instructions to IS staff on how to do so.