Manager and Agent feature comparison

You can use the Manager and Agent features to efficiently divide required functions of Performance Tools over a distributed environment. This topic contains a description of these two features, the functions they each contain, and information about how to use them most effectively.

Performance Tools is available with two separately installable features. This topic explains the differences between the two features to help you decide which feature is more appropriate for your applications.

Manager feature

The Performance Tools Manager feature is a full-function package, intended to be used on the central site system in a distributed environment or on a single system. If you require analysis of trace data, viewing data graphically, viewing system activity in real time, or managing and tracking system growth, the Manager feature of the Performance Tools licensed program is more useful.

Agent feature

The Performance Tools Agent feature, with a subset of the Manager function, is a lower-priced package with the more basic functions. In a distributed environment, the Agent feature works well for managed systems in the network because the data can be sent to the Manager if detailed analysis is required. It is also an effective tool for sites that need a reasonable level of self-sufficiency but have no expert skills available.

The Agent feature of Performance Tools provides functions to simplify the collection, management, online display, data reduction, and analysis of performance data. The Performance explorer reporting function and its associated commands are included in the base option in the Performance Tools for iSeries™ licensed program and, therefore, are available with either the Manager feature or the Agent feature. The major Performance Tools functions not contained in the Agent feature are performance and trace reports, performance utilities (job traces and the select file utilities), system activity monitoring, and performance graphics.