Apple Remote Desktop 3.1 - Manual (Page 116)

116 Chapter 8 Administering Client Computers
System Report Size
The file system data which is uploaded to the report database (labeled “File Search
data” in the Scheduling sheet of the Task Server preference pane) contains a significant
amount of data. For a client with 10 GB of files on the hard disk, the report data
uploaded can easily reach 5 MB in size. With hundreds or thousands of clients, this data
can add up quickly and might tax network resources. Data for other reports (System
Overview, Application Usage, and User History) are only 8 KB to 12 KB each, and have
little impact.
Uploading user accounting data and application usage data further increases the size
of the uploaded data for any one client. Since you may not want to store all the
possible information for a given client computer, you can customize which type of data
is collected, as desired.
Auditing Client Usage Information
With Apple Remote Desktop, you can get detailed information about who has been
using the client computers and how. There are two reports that help you audit
information about how the clients are being used:
 the User History report
 the Application Usage report
Generating a User History Report
The User History report is used to track who has logged in to a computer, when they
logged in and out, and how they accessed the computer. The client stores 30 days of
accumulated data, so the requested time can’t be more than the last 30 days. The
report shows the following information:
 computer name
 user’s short name
 access type (login window, tty, SSH)
 login time
 logout time
 remote login host (originating host to the login session: localhost, or some remote
computer)
Note: Multiple users logged in via Fast User Switching can lead to confusing or
conflicting reports. When a second or third user logs in to a computer, there is no way
of knowing which user is the active user. Session length may not reflect actual usage,
and login and logout times overlap.
User History report information is collected by default if you are installing Remote
Desktop for the first time. If you have upgraded an older version of Remote Desktop,
you need to enable its collection explicitly in the clients’ reporting policy. See “Setting
the Client’s Data Reporting Policy” on page 160 for instructions.