The Sentra STAR module provides a number of options for monitoring the STAR (SWIFT and TELEX Automated Routing) product by Software Integrators.
Based on the proven and successful Sentra architecture, the STAR module lets you probe and analyse the real-time flow of business and performance data and EMS alerts generated by the Software Integrator's STAR application.
The demonstration shows STAR service diagrams, charts, management reports and alerts executing against four separate SI data feeds.
- XML format data generated by the STAR Text Checker module. This file contains information about queues and their depths and is organised by country and Message Type (MT).
- HP NonStop EMS event log file data generated by the STAR application.
- Payment flow information.
- Sanctions filtering data.
Software Integrators designs and develops integrated message and payment solutions for banks and other financial institutions, with major clients in Europe, the USA and South Africa.
Software Integrators primary platform is the HP NonStop server and two of their key products are COPE (Complete On-line Payments Environment) and STAR (SWIFT and TELEX Automated Routing).
www.software-integrators.co.uk
The STAR Extraction Process
The Sentra for STAR product is equipped with two optimised extraction clients, the statistics collector process and the EMS event log process.
(1) The Statistics Collector Process
This Statistics Collector file contains information about the number of messages processed by the STAR application and it stores the data by message type, by queue name and by country in XML format. Separate totals are maintained for inbound and outbound transactions. There will be one extraction client installed for every statistics collector log file that needs to be tracked.
As queue information is updated in the statistics log file, the information is retrieved by the extraction client and relayed to a co-operative Sentra extraction process on the Windows server.
This Sentra extraction layer is a generic application that can process any XML file. Prior to the extraction layer being deployed, the associated XML schema definition or XSD file is pre-processed by Sentra and the field names and associated attributes listed in the file are retrieved. This information is then used to automatically create the SQL database tables required to store the XML data and also to derive the application processing required to parse the original XML file.
(2) The EMS event log process
The EMS extraction process will retrieve nominated STAR EMS events from one or more EMS collectors. The standard tokens such as timestamp, node, subject and manager will be extracted along with tokens specific to the STAR application such as queue name.
This information will be stored in the Sentra SQL database and can be processed by the reporting or rules engines.
To gain full access to the Sentra for SI's STAR screenshots, please register with this website (click the 'Register' link - at top right of page).
NOTE: Please provide a company / organisation email address during the registration process.
Once your website registration is approved (usually within 24 hours), then 'Login' to the website and navigate to this SI STAR monitoring web page and the STAR monitoring screenshots will be available for viewing at the bottom of the page.
If you are already a member of this website, 'Login' as normal.
To gain full access to the Sentra for SI's STAR sanctions screenshots, please register with this website (click the 'Register' link - at top right of page).
NOTE: Please provide a company / organisation email address during the registration process.
Once your website registration is approved (usually within 24 hours), then 'Login' to the website and navigate to this SI STAR monitoring web page and the STAR sanctions monitoring screenshots will be available for viewing at the bottom of the page.
If you are already a member of this website, 'Login' as normal.
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance is provided by the native facilities of the Microsoft SQL Server product (Master key, Certificates, Symmetric key, EncryptByKey, DecryptByKey using AES_256, Triple DES etc.) which is the database manager for the Sentra and RTLX environments as well as encryption (including column level encryption), masking and/or blanking of field values by Sentra, e.g. PAN numbers.
Data can be encrypted and compressed if required, as it is relayed from the HP NonStop platform.
The real-time STAR visuals and data presented to the user are based on the authorisation level of that user as set-up in Sentra. Further modifications can be automatically applied to data stored in the SQL database such as X’ing out (or blanking out) card numbers, e.g. XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-2207.
Sentra includes a multi-tier security model for users whereby groups are configured to access one or more functions within the product and then users are allocated to one or more Sentra groups. So for example, a user might only gain access to the MI reports group or the STAR querying group or both. If they are allocated to a group, they may still be restricted from using certain functions such as restricted query access on the STAR querying screen.
Though users may gain a secured level of access to the Sentra product, they of course will not be able to access the MS SQL or Oracle database directly.
In order for ITL to install RTLX Reactor / Sentra at one of the UK’s largest banks, strict security directives needed to be adhered to and a separate document relating to security considerations is part of the Sentra product evaluation delivery.
Also, since a NonStop application like BASE24 XPNET does not have an audit log, Sentra and RTLX Reactor are able to monitor the EMS logs for XPNET security violations and escalate potential security threats. Management Information reports can then be produced, e.g. end of day or cut off period.
Minimum Windows Hardware Requirements for COPE & STAR payment and EMS monitoring / querying:
For optimum performance, it is recommended that the minimum specification of your hardware and software is as follows :
- Windows Server 2003 / 2008 / 2008 R2 / 2012 (64-bit also) with the latest service packs
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 / 2008 / 2012 (64-bit also) with the latest service packs
- Either; Tomcat, IBM WebSphere, JBoss (formerly BEA WebLogic) web application servers (ask ITL about MS Internet Information Services- IIS) - also requires Java SE version 6+ (1.6)
- Browsers; Internet Explorer (IE) ver. 7+, Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox
- Intel Mid to High-End, Multi Core processor
- 16+ GB RAM recommended
- SCSI interface (SCSI2 Ultra-Wide recommended)
- 50 GB Single Drive for operating system and SQL Server software
- 100 GB Single Drive for the SQL server database (RAID 0+1 recommended)
- 20 GB Single Drive for the SQL server log file (RAID 0+1 recommended)
- Graphics resolution 1024 x 768 recommended
- 17" or larger colour monitor is also recommended
The above specification is for guidance only. The specification of your Windows server will be dependent on your individual needs. Please contact the Insider Technologies Helpdesk for assistance in establishing the specification of your server.
SQL Server Versions Supported by Sentra (also install Microsoft SQL Reporting Services)
The Sentra database is compatible with the following variants of SQL Server :
- 2005 / 2008 / 2012 Standard Edition
- 2005 / 2008 / 2012 Enterprise Edition
- 2005 / 2008 / 2012 Developer Edition*
- 2005 / 2008 / 2012 Express – the default installation on the CD uses SQL Express with Advanced services, so that SQL Reporting Services is available
* Some SQL editions include a concurrent workload governor. Performance degrades when more than five queries are executed concurrently. Sentra will work with these versions of SQL Server but performance may be unacceptably slow and its installation is not recommended for high volume usage.
SQL Express editions support databases with a limited maximum size (4Gb for SQL Express 2005). Users who anticipate large database storage requirements should consider installing the Enterprise edition of Microsoft SQL Server, or contact Insider Technologies for advice.