4 4 3 Beefalo:SEP sesam Graphical User Interface (GUI)

SEP sesam Graphical User Interface (GUI)

In order to improve usability, SEP sesam GUI is redesigned to be more user-friendly and more appealing without significantly changing the interface logic and affecting existing functions. The new GUI has been enhanced with new features, e.g., finding a specific content item (task, client, data store ...) is made easy with integrated filtering.

When SEP sesam GUI is started, it creates a connection to the SEP sesam database. After the connection has been established, the main GUI screen appears. This screen controls all SEP sesam procedures and operations.

It consists of menu- and toolbar (top). It provides the Main selection window (left), the content pane (middle), the properties pane (right), and activities display window (bottom).

The menu bar provides the options File, Activities, Configuration, Window and Help. Clicking on a drop-down menu or pressing Alt + the underlined letter activates the menu.

A function, action or command can then be selected from the listed sub-items. Sub-items can also be activated in a similar manner (mouse click or Alt + the underlined letter) to open input masks for additional or more specific actions.

The main toolbar offers the buttons Dashboard, Immediate start: Backup, Restore wizard, Backups (Index of backups by status), Calendar sheet, Start Disaster Recovery and About SEP sesam.

In the Main Selection window on the left components of the SEP sesam system are shown. Clicking on the sub-menus (the + sign of each component or right-click to Expand all), expands the tree to access detailed information. Selecting a component in the Main selection pane opens the corresponding object in the content pane.

At the bottom activities display window, messages and log file protocols for the selected drives or activities are shown.

Master GUI

The Master GUI is used to administer multiple SEP sesam Server environments from a single location. This mode can be activated by starting the GUI with parameter -M1 (default -M0).

In Master mode, additional SEP sesam Servers can be connected to GUI by selecting Configuration -> Remote server in the menu bar, then adding the additional servers, and setting their connections to On. Inaccessible servers are displayed in the table view. The GUI client must be authorized to administer additional SEP sesam Servers.

After an additional SEP sesam Server is configured and a connection is established, a server selection window opens in the upper right corner showing a list of available servers. The data relating to the media, calendar sheet, current messages and logs components as well as the monitoring sub-components corresponds to the server selected in this window.

The object trees displayed within the content pane of a Master GUI show all available SEP sesam Servers and their objects. This includes a view of the Job state filters, which can be set to the selected server or to all sesam servers.

Windows

SEP sesam allows you to adjust the layout of the GUI window by undocking, repositioning and rescaling the individual panes of the main GUI window, including the toolbars. For details, see Customizing GUI.

File:GUI layout Beefalo.jpg
Example of an adjusted GUI

Main Selection

In the Main Selection window (on the left) you can see a list of the components of the SEP sesam system. By clicking further down the tree where you can find more detailed information (or right-click to Expand all). Once you select a component in the main selection window a corresponding work window is opened.

Content pane

The Content pane, located in the middle of the GUI window, displays the corresponding object for the selected component. For example, locations and clients can be configured under Components -> Topology.

Activities display

The activities window at the bottom of the GUI displays two tabs: Current Messages and Performance.

Current Messages

Last notification shows the result of the last activity. If the option cyclic is enabled, cyclical refreshing of the Report Interval will return the relevant messages.

You can select desired drive for the output of the running notifications.

Example for the Drive selection:

*

all drives

1

drive 1

1,2

drive 1 and drive 2

2-5

drive 2 to drive 5

Performance

To select the drives you wish to watch or control, select the Performance tab (default position: bottom left).

The Performance display allows you to monitor and control selected drives. It displays the amount of data being backed up and the transfer rate of individual SMS channels for each of the selected drives.

GUI features

SEP sesam GUI can be adjusted almost without limitations. For details, see Customizing GUI.