A monitor in OpenEdge Management is defined as the combination of a resource, schedules, and rules. The schedule defines a block of monitoring time, and the rules determine how a resource's performance is judged while it is being monitored. Each rule verifies if a resource complies with its performance criteria. Rules are considered broken when a resource is not in compliance with the criteria that you set. When you are working with database, log file, AppServer, NameServer, and WebSpeed monitors, you can also use rule sets to monitor performance.

When you monitor a resource, you set up criteria by which you can keep track of the resource's performance. You can adjust the criteria against which performance is measured to meet your expectations as necessary. For example, you might want to monitor a database twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week, and receive notification if the database shuts down abnormally.

While you cannot create a resource monitor for AppServer Internet Adapters, DataServers (ODBC, Oracle, MS SQL Server), SonicMQ Adapters, WebSpeed Messengers, OE Web Server, or Web Services Adapters, you can create rules and use rule sets for instances of them. This allows you to establish conditions under which OpenEdge Management issues an alert to let you know that particular rule has been violated.