Getting More Data Into aaa-reports!

Sooner or later the aaa-reports! database will fill up. If you have automation, old data will automagically be purged to make space for new logs resulting in a "reporting window" whose size depends on the amount of data imported every day. The more you import the smaller the window.

To make the window as large as possible there are some tricks you can try:

• Filter out junk data. In many TACACS+ Admin logs up to 90% of rows can be full of scripted commands from (amongst others) CiscoWorks. By setting up a pre-filter (Options/Import Options/Pre-Filter) you can filter out rows containing strings such as "Scripts", "ping" or "show". This can drastically increase the reporting window as matching rows are simply discarded during import.
• Use Multi-DB (new in v2.2). Depending on your deployment it may be possible to split your data and import each dataset into its own aaa-reports! backend database (or multi-db). For example, you have 2 ACS servers - one handling VPN and the other Device Admin. This is a prime candiate for 2 multi-dbs. Multi-Db can be enabled via the Options page.

The next major release, aaa-reports! enterprise edition, will feature an entirely new backend database engine with approximately 32GB of storage. Combined with Multi-DB and that's a HUGE potential.