1. 9/12/2006 TPTF MIS: Messages, Alerts, Notifications Pat Harris & MIS Team A portal is a web site or service that offers a broad array of resources and services such as e-mail, applications,, search engines, tools, and on-line reference material. TPTF 10/24/2006

2. Lead from the Front 9/12/2006 Overview Communication happens: –One source system to another –Source systems to data stores –Source systems to MIS –Data Stores to MIS –Source systems to Market Participant systems –Market Participant Systems to ERCOT A message is ANY communication –Alert, notification, email –Sent from a Nodal Source system

3. Lead from the Front 9/12/2006 Definitions Message – Everything is a message! Alert: A message sent –To MIS –To Market Participant system –Sometimes mirrored as an email –Usually used in Electrical Emergency control procedures (EECP) –ALWAYS requires a confirmation receipt Notification: a message sent –To MIS –Mirrored as an email –Sometimes posted as a document –NO RECEIPT REQUIRED

4. Lead from the Front 9/12/2006 Definitions Are alerts and Notifications point-to-point, or publish/subscribe? –Publish/subscribe. This means that messages are pushed through the queue, based on priority, and on to receiving systems who subscribe to the service. Why use a Messaging System? –The Messaging system tracks whether the message was received and sends messages based on priority assigned How do we interface to the Messaging system? –Data can be sent securely, transforming data as received according to standard descriptions. What if the Receiving system goes down? –Messaging information persists in the Messaging queue until a successful acknowledgement is received. If none is received, the message is re-sent periodically until acknowledged. What if the Messaging system goes down? –There are multiple messaging systems as part of the ERCOT Failover plan; if the Messaging System on server A goes down, Server B automatically supplies a messaging system to fill the need.