The client has a facility for monitoring hard disks and memory based on preset conditions and for reporting alerts when a failure is detected. This facility is called system monitoring. The information displayed on Local System Viewer is based on the settings specified here.

Alerts can be output using the following five methods:

1. Displaying the usage conditions on the System Conditions page of Local System Viewer (default)
2. Displaying alert messages on the Alert History page of Local System Viewer (default)
3. Reporting an alert by displaying a pop-up message
4. Reporting an alert to a higher system
5. Reporting an alert by changing the System Monitoring icon

If you use methods 1 and 2 only, you will miss any alert issued while Local System Viewer is not running. Therefore, to instantly recognize any alert issued, a client can use the System Monitoring icon (). This icon is displayed in the task bar notification area and acts as an interface for smoothly using the system monitoring facility. While this icon is displayed, changes to the icon inform you that an alert that has been issued. Double-click this icon to start Local System Viewer and check the alert details.

The following figure provides an overview of alert notifications.

Figure 2-63 Overview of alert notifications

You can specify details for alert notification methods and system monitoring targets in advance. For example, you can choose to notify a higher system only and not to display a pop-up message, or you can choose to monitor only the hard disk and not to report any alerts about memory.

To use these facilities, you must change the default settings during client setup. For details about the mechanism of system monitoring and how to specify the settings, see 11.8 Reporting an alert based on system monitoring in the manual Administrator's Guide Volume 1.

For details about how to check reported alerts at the higher system, see 7.4 Checking alert information reported from clients in the manual Administrator's Guide Volume 1.