Automatic Service Request (ASR) Resources for System Administrators

last updated on 2009-10-12

This resource center describes what ASR does for system administrators and how to get ASR. It also provides a list of resources to help you get the most out of ASR.

To find out more about ASR features and benefits, see the Auto Service Request for Sun Systems web page.

What Is ASR?

ASR is an automatic fault-reporting feature that is included with SunSpectrum service contracts and warranties for selected Sun servers.

What Does ASR Do?

When your Sun server detects a specific set of hardware faults, ASR automatically opens a Sun service request, without anyone having to call Sun service to report the problem. When Sun receives the fault notice, often the problem is diagnosed and the fault is resolved before you notice any problems, which reduces your downtime.

This feature is available at no cost on servers covered by a Sun warranty or a Sun Spectrum service plan.

How Does ASR Work?

The overview and setup instructions in the Sun Auto Service Request for Systems User Guide describe how the ASR software works. Basically, ASR has two main components:

• Sun Automated Service Manager (SASM), which is a management plug-in that you install on a system that is running the Solaris 10 OS and is covered either by a Sun warranty or a SunSpectrum service contract. This host collects fault data from the other ASR-enabled systems and forwards the data in encrypted form to Sun support.

• The ASR Support Infrastructure at Sun, which is software that receives the fault report and ensures Sun personnel open the report. When Sun begins to resolve the fault is determined by the terms of your warranty and SunSpectrum support contract.

The user guide also describes:

• How to prepare for installation
• How to install the SASM software on the host system
• How to enable ASR-supported servers
• How to manage service requests, problems, and upgrades

See the entire set of ASR documentation for more information.

What ASR Isn't and Won't Do

• ASR won't monitor your systems and software. It generates a service request only for a specific set of hardware faults. You still need to monitor your data center as usual.

• ASR is not a mission-critical feature. Unpredictable Internet network congestion and outages might delay the generation of the service request.

• ASR will not guarantee any Service Level Agreements (SLA). Since ASR depends on the Internet for communications, network communications issues can affect the delivery of telemetry and cause indefinite delays in creating service requests when faults occur.

How Do I Get ASR?

ASR is available only for the Sun servers listed on the Sun Products Qualified for ASR wiki page.

If you have an ASR-qualified server, you can download the ASR software from the Sun Download Center using the link found on the Sun.com ASR resource page.

If you purchase a new ASR-qualified server, you must still download the software, install it, and enable it on the server.

If your server is not ASR-qualified, continue to check Sun Products Qualified for ASR wiki page. Sun is testing and qualifying additional servers on a regular basis.

Recommended Resources

• Auto Service Request for Sun Systems web page, which provides links to a podcast, a data sheet, and other ASR resources
• Product documentation at http://docs.sun.com and the Documentation Center, especially the ASR document collection, which contains the user guide, release notes, and other documentation
• Sun wikis, such as the:
  • Sun Products Qualified for ASR wiki page