Section 2 – Glossary of Terms
2.1 Mutiny
The company and the product/platform.
2.2 Mutiny Unit – Mutiny Appliance – Mutiny Box – Mutiny System
These terms refer to the Mutiny monitoring system you are installing. Depending on how you’ve purchased Mutiny, this may be a physical appliance (hardware), a virtual machine, or a hosted deployment.
2.3 Mutiny Licence – Node Licence
This refers to the licence file that controls how many devices (nodes) the Mutiny system can monitor. It is supplied as an ASCII-armoured text file or PGP-signed clear text.
Example:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Mutiny Licence - Copyright Mutiny Limited 2006
Organisation=Mutiny Limited & Resellers for 60 days only from July 2006
MutinyReference=MUT/AnyMutinyHW/0N/26-04-06/QRshnDJMzg
NodeLimit=0
SerialNumber=0
Agent EXCHRA=0
Agent SQLRA=0
Agent IISRA=0
Agent AppLogScan=0
Agent SysLogScan=0
LifeTime(months)=2
RenewalDate=20061001
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux)
iD8DBQFET1Qiybqvyjbqy5MRAiWdAJ95ZQM98PmX3COnSG5nB2ctWjv8ggCeO/N6
2CfobljplfyZuF+DG9/BZkU==z39A
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
2.4 Node(s)
A “node” is any device you intend to monitor. You might refer to these as servers, switches, routers, desktops, PCs, printers, firewalls, access points, or other network-attached equipment.
2.5 Node Icons
Nodes are represented by icons to help you quickly identify device types and roles.
Router, PC, Switch, Webcam, Server, Environmental Probe, Virtual Server.
2.6 SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol. One of the main protocols used by Mutiny to collect monitoring information from devices.
2.7 Front End
The web-based graphical user interface (GUI) used to view monitoring information and configure Mutiny.
2.8 Back End
The background services and components that perform the polling, data collection, alerting and processing required to power the front end.
2.9 Status
The Mutiny interface uses colours and symbols to indicate the status of monitored properties within nodes. The standard status states are:
2.9.1 
All monitored properties are present and within normal thresholds.
2.9.2 
One or more monitored properties have exceeded the Warning threshold.
2.9.3 
A Warning state that has been acknowledged by an operator/admin for a defined time period.
2.9.4 
One or more monitored properties have exceeded the Critical threshold.
2.9.5 
A Critical state that has been acknowledged by an operator/admin for a defined time period.
2.9.6 
Mutiny cannot retrieve one or more monitored properties (for example due to permission, protocol, or device-side limitations).
2.9.7 
The node (or property) has been excluded from polling.
2.9.8 
The node is not currently responding on the network, but connectivity failures are being ignored. This mode is often used for laptops/workstations or devices that are frequently powered off. Nodes may also be placed into this mode automatically when a parent node (for example an upstream switch) is unreachable.
2.9.9 [ICON] Maintenance Mode
The node is in maintenance mode. Events and alerts are suppressed until the node returns to normal operation.
2.10 Status Panel
Double-clicking a node icon opens the node’s Status Panel, which summarises monitored property groups and their current status.
2.11 Monitored Properties
The list of properties Mutiny monitors for each node is shown in the node’s Status Panel. The available properties vary depending on the node type and the information the device provides.
The first image shows a Status Panel for a Windows server. The second shows a Status Panel for a router (with a shorter property list).
Most property groups are self-explanatory. However, the Agents group needs further explanation. This group contains properties collected from the node (commonly via SNMP or other polling methods) that do not fit into the standard groups above. Examples include:
• RAID controller status on supported server hardware (for example HP or Dell)
• Temperature and humidity from environmental monitors
• Paper, toner and consumable status on printers
This group may also include data provided by Remote Agents, described in the next section.
2.12 Remote Agents (Mutiny Apps)
Remote Agents are small pieces of software installed on a monitored server or system to collect detailed information from specific applications or services that are not available via standard protocols alone.
See our PowerShell pages for more information:
https://www.mutiny.com/mutiny-support/ShellStore/
2.13 View
A View is a user-defined or pre-defined grouping of nodes, typically organised by service, location, customer, or function. Views can be displayed in several formats (for example Icon view, Cards view, Table view, Map view, and Wallboard).
2.14 Property
A Property is a specific measurable or testable item monitored on a node, such as ping reachability, CPU utilisation, disk usage, interface traffic, temperature, or the state of a service.
2.15 Event
An Event is created when a monitored property changes state (for example OK → Warning, Warning → Critical, or Critical → OK). Events are recorded in Mutiny and can trigger alerts depending on configuration.
2.16 Alert
An Alert is a notification generated from an event. Alerts can be sent by email, SMS/page (where configured), SNMP trap/inform, or via custom actions. Alert delivery can be enabled/disabled per node and per contact.
2.17 Adaptor / Adapter
An Adaptor (also referred to as an Adapter) is a Mutiny component that recognises specific device types and knows how to collect and interpret monitoring data for them (often via SNMP). Adaptors help Mutiny automatically configure monitoring for devices during discovery.
2.18 Polling
Polling is the process of Mutiny contacting a node at regular intervals to test connectivity and collect monitoring data. Polling typically runs on a one-minute cycle, but can be adjusted where required.
2.19 Polling Cycle
The Polling Cycle is the repeating schedule Mutiny uses to poll nodes. A full cycle includes connectivity checks (for example ping) and collection of monitored properties (for example SNMP), followed by status evaluation and event generation where relevant.
2.20 Data Collection
Data Collection is the storage of historical monitoring values (for example CPU, memory, disk and traffic statistics) so that trends can be graphed and analysed over time.
2.21 Acknowledgement
An Acknowledgement is an operator action that marks a Warning or Critical condition as recognised for a defined time period. While acknowledged, the status remains visible, but alerting behaviour can be suppressed according to your configuration.
2.22 Threshold
A Threshold is a configured value that determines when a monitored property changes status. For example, interface usage may become Warning above the Warning threshold and Critical above the Critical threshold.
