Mentor Server

Mentor Server Optimization

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Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to

describe the main Mentor Server
components and data flow

Mentor Server Optimization 2

Main Topics
• Introduce the Mentor server and roles
• Describe the main building blocks
• Review the enterprise server architecture
• Describe the data process flow
• Discuss the client-server interface

Mentor Server Optimization 3

Mentor Server
The Mentor server automates routine tasks, relieving the RF
engineer of manual tasks (such as network data collection, network
modeling, analysis, and optimization etc.).

• By automating these processes, the client significantly reduces the

process effort, and shortens the optimization cycles, leaving the
engineer with more time for analysis and decision making.

• The enterprise configuration allows the Mentor server to manage

medium and large networks under a single centralized system.

• The enhanced load-balancing capability allows efficient usage of

system machines, and redundancy in cases of component failure.

Mentor Server Optimization 4

Mentor Server – Roles
• Routine Task Automation
• Physical network configuration data collection
• Log, KPI, and mobile-measurement collection
• Collected data processing
• Data model creation
• Template-based scheduling of analysis and optimization tasks

• Security and Management

• Network element and cluster definitions
• User management

Mentor Server Optimization 5

Clients and Applications
• Desktop Clients
• Forte – RF optimization for GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks.
• Mentor – GSM/UMTS/HSDPA/LTE/CDMA/EVDO network
analysis and optimization.
• Mentor Server Admin – server management console for
automated data collection and processing, and security settings.

• Web Applications
• Insight – data-collection analytics tool.

Mentor Server Optimization 6

Main Server Building Blocks
The following are the main Mentor Server building blocks:

• Processing Servers
• Front-End (FE) Server (Windows) – manages connected client
requests, and controls and operates other agents.
• Agents (Windows) – perform raw data collection, network model
creation, and calculation tasks.

• Data Servers
• Oracle Database – stores server configurations.
• Call Database (run by a Linux machine) – stores the calls in a
generic structure, created based on the collected raw data.

Mentor Server Optimization 7

Server Deployment
The Mentor server can be deployed in two main methods,
according to the project requirements:

• Simple Server – central server handling all server-related tasks.

• Includes a local agent, which is usually used for running
calculation tasks (analysis and optimization), and shares the
same file storage as the main FE server.

• Enterprise Server – distributed system that includes one or more

remote agents, which are installed near the data devices and that
handle the collection and model creation.
• Each remote agent has its own local file storage.
• Scalable, supports large networks.

Mentor Server Optimization 8

Enterprise Server – Front-End Clustering
• The server supports FE server-clustering functionality, where the
system allocates a serving host from its group of existing FE servers.
• Only a single FE, the Master Server, manages the agents. If it
crashes, another FE server takes its place.
• Task state (queues containing the current status of the tasks) is
saved in a shared memory for all FEs, using Terracotta, enabling
any FE to be the master at any time.

• Benefits
• Provides load-balancing and resilience in the system.
• Provides high-availability to support user requests and agent
management.

Mentor Server Optimization 9

Enterprise Server – Agents Group
• Each network element (usually RNC/BSC) collection and modeling
task runs on a single defined agent.
• The raw data is saved on the agent’s storage (grouped according
to date and hours), and is later used for the model run.

• Agents Group – several agents can use the same storage, which
means that a network element can run on any one of them.
• Calculations can run on any agent.

Mentor Server Optimization 10

Enterprise Server Architecture

FE Servers & Agents Agents Data Devices

Mentor Desktop Client

Server
Forte Desktop Client Configuration
File System
Cellular Data
Agents Data Devices

Insight Web Application

Call DB

Server Admin Console

Mentor Server Optimization 11

Logical Entities – NEs and Clusters
• A Network Element (NE) is the smallest building block of a network
defined in the server (e.g. BSC, RNC).
• It contains configuration data (coordinates, antenna heights,
carrier definitions, etc.).

• A Cluster is a set of one or more NEs, and represents the view of the
engineer user.
• A NE can be contained in multiple clusters.
• Every user is permitted to view / edit one or more clusters.
• Each recurring calculation defined in the server is related to a
specific cluster.

Mentor Server Optimization 12

High-Level Process Flow
• Data Collection and Processing
• Logs, KPIs, and topology files for every network element are
periodically collected from the data devices by the agents.
• The agents process and parse the collected data into a generic
and unified format.
• For every NE, the agents periodically generate and save
network models in daily / NE resolution.

• Call Database
• The generic and unified format calls (txt files) are loaded into the
Call DB by a daemon process using SQL loader.

Mentor Server Optimization 13

High-Level Process Flow (cont.)
• Calculations
• Engineers can schedule recurring analysis, APD, and
optimization calculations to run on the server (through the Mentor
client or the Admin console).

Mentor Server Optimization 14

Data Processing Workflow

Log & KPI

Collection

Log Engineering
NE Modeling
Processing Tasks

Physical
Collection

Call DB

Mentor Server Optimization 15

Client-Server Interface
• Data Import
• Mentor users download the network configuration and model.
• Optionally, to support call-related features (e.g. virtual drive tests)
they can also import call data from the call database.

• Configuration-Change Updates
• Manual network-configuration changes made by engineers in the
Mentor client (new sites, missing data) are updated to a specific
cluster in the server (actual changes are delegated to the NEs).

• Scheduled Calculation Tasks

• Engineers can schedule recurring analysis and optimization tasks
to run on the server.

Mentor Server Optimization 16

Client-Server Interface – Import Workflow
Mentor Client Server

User requests cluster

data for several days

Data is merged from

NE/Daily level to
Cluster/Period level

Download via FTP/http

Import locally

Mentor Server Optimization 17

Client-Server Interface – Submit Workflow
Mentor Client Server

User performs changes in the

local environment.
User clicks “Submit”.

Calculates differences

User accepts/rejects

Submits changes

Mentor Server Optimization 18

Client-Server Interface (cont.)
• Configuration Sync
• When connected to the server, engineers receive pop-up
messages with updates of the configuration of their cluster:
• New topology file was collected, with changes.

• New changes were submitted manually by another user

• Notifications
• Event-based notification messages are sent to users or by email:
• Scheduled optimization task ends

• Collection task fails

• Etc.

Mentor Server Optimization 19

Client-Server Interface – Sync Workflow
Mentor Client Server

Client requests
differences (in the
background)

Calculates differences

User accepts/rejects

Apply changes on local

environment

Mentor Server Optimization 20

Lesson Summary – Q&A
• What are the main components comprising the enterprise
server?
• Describe the data collection and processing flow.

Mentor Server Optimization 21