> #### Adding rules to the monitoring plan

> Rule definitions identify the specific attributes of a resource that you want to monitor, the severity of an alert Fathom generates in response to performance, and the action that occurs when an alert is generated. Rule definitions for system, network, and file resource types are composed of these elements:

> - Specific rules you set for each resource type. For example, the rule definition for a disk resource includes the setting of an alert that triggers if disk activity exceeds a specified percentage.
> Refer to the appropriate sections in Chapter 5, "Monitoring System Resources," Chapter 6, "Monitoring Network Resources," or Chapter 7, "Monitoring File Resources" for details about the specific rules for system, network, or file resources.

> - Alert severity, which is one of four alert levels: Information, Warning, Error, or Severe.
> - The Throw alert after failed poll(s) and Clear alert after successful poll(s) fields, which allow you to either monitor changing resource circumstances over any number of polling cycles rather than set an alert to occur immediately after a single failure of an active rule, or automatically clear the alert after a single successful cycle. Monitoring resource successes and failures over a number of polling intervals allows you to better reduce noise that would cause erroneous alerts due to normal fluctuation in resource behavior.
> - The On alert perform action and On clear perform action fields, which indicate whether the alert initiates an action. Possible actions include the sending of an e-mail to a a designated individual, the logging of the alert in a log file, or the combination of several different actions into one compound action.

> Figure 4–3 shows a sample rule definition for a disk resource type.

> Figure 4–3: Sample rule definition

> ##### Using default rules

> Fathom provides default rule values for system, network, and file resources. A rule indicates a performance standard that you expect and about which you want notification when broken. Default values provided by Fathom suggest performance settings you can use when creating your resources.

> Default rules help you to create your resources and associated values as quickly as possible. You can change default rule values to more specifically reflect your resource monitoring objectives at any time.

> For more detailed information about the default rules and their default values, see the relevant sections in Chapter 5, "Monitoring System Resources," Chapter 6, "Monitoring Network Resources,"and Chapter 7, "Monitoring File Resources."

> ##### Using resource-specific rules

> Each resource type has specific rules you can set to ensure that the resource monitoring data provides you with meaningful details about the resource. For example, you set a CPU resource monitor to monitor CPU-related performance characteristics, and you set a disk resource monitor to monitor disk-related performance characteristics. Resource-specific rules reflect how trend data intervals have different meaning to the various resource types.

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