It is important to distinguish between alerts and events.
Event definition
Events can be defined as some conditions that occur in the network. They are generated on a given computer system or systems by the monitoring part of a program.
During the network monitoring process they are gathered and stored in an event log database.
Alert definition
Events become alerts when they are associated with particular actions.
Alerting actions are used for notifying appropriate users or executing other programs to resolve the problem. Each alert consists of a chosen event and at least one action.
