Measurement and Accounting for Linux on z/VM

Windows Server Analysis - ZVPS 4.3

This page explains managing performance for Microsoft Windows servers. The technology used by zVPS for distributed servers is standard snmp. Microsoft servers have implemented both the standard network mib in snmp, as well has the HOST mib. The HOST mib has also been implemented by all Linux snmp variants as well, and is extremely useful for general management of distributed servers.

Management Definition

The data provided for windows servers meets the Velocity Software requirements for performance management, meaning that all 4 parts of performance management requirements are met:

Performance Analysis means that metris are available to understand the workloads resource requirements.
Capacity Planning means the metrics are maintained for historical analysis in the zVPS performance database.
Operations Support allows any metric to have an alert maintained as part of the standard zVPS operations.
Chargeback Support provides the ability to monitor servers to the process level to understand how much resource is being consumed.

Host Mib

There are several types of data returned by the Host mib.

File System Data: Seeing all the mounted file systems that the windows servers have, how large they are, how full they are means that alerts can be set for disk "almost full" conditions to ensure applications do not fail for out of space conditions. Alerts can be set to check for file systems being mounted as well.

Screen: ESAHST2  Velocity Software - VSIVM4     ESAMON 4.303 04/19 20:45-20:46
1 of 3  LINUX HOST Storage Analysis Report      CLASS * NODE WIN*   2828 0414C7
 
                   <-Utilization->
         Node/       Pct Alloc      Storage
Time     Group     Size  Used Full Units  R/W Description
-------- -------- ----- ----- ---- ----- ---- --------------------------------
20:46:00 win64     8191  2601 31.7   66K      Physical Memory
                  16381  3124 19.1   66K      Virtual Memory
                   954K  694K 72.8    4K  r/w L:\ Label:Linux64  Serial Number
                  12292  8062 65.6    4K  r/w D:\ Label:FACTORY_IMAGE  Serial
                   941K  302K 32.1    4K  r/w C:\ Label:HP  Serial Number ad0b
         win10     8182  1250 15.3   66K      Physical Memory
                  16374  1143  7.0   66K      Virtual Memory
                   476K   149  0.0    4K  r/w E:\ Label:Edrive  Serial Number
                   3075  3075  100    2K  r/o D:\ Label:GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD  Se
                   305K 39646 13.0    4K  r/w C:\ Label:Cdrive  Serial Number

Hardware Configuration: The host mib also provides the hardware configuration and the status. The list of devices online seems to be complete, the status seems to be incomplete at this time.

Screen: ESAHST3  Velocity Software - VSIVM4     ESAMON 4.303 04/19 20:46-20:47
1 of 1   LINUX HOST Device Report               NODE WIN*           2828 0414C7
 
         <------------------- System Device ------------------------->
Server   Index Status  Errors Description
-------- ----- ------- ------ ----------------------------------------
win64       62 unknown      0 Fixed Disk
            61 unknown      0 Fixed Disk
            21 unknown      0 USB Wireless 802.11 b/g Adaptor
            10 unknown      0 Software Loopback Interface 1
             9 running      0 Unknown Processor Type
             8 running      0 Unknown Processor Type
             7 running      0 Unknown Processor Type
             6 running      0 Unknown Processor Type
             5 running      0 EPSON PC-FAX driver
             4 running      0 Microsoft Shared Fax Driver
             3 running      0 Microsoft XPS Document Writer
             2 running      0 EPSON WF-7520 Series
             1 running      0 Xerox Phaser 6180DN PS
win10       10 unknown      0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
             9 unknown      0 USB Wireless 802.11 b/g Adaptor
             8 unknown      0 Software Loopback Interface 1
             7 running      0 Unknown Processor Type
             6 running      0 Unknown Processor Type
             5 running      0 Unknown Processor Type
             4 running      0 Unknown Processor Type
             3 running      0 Microsoft Shared Fax Driver
             2 running      0 Microsoft Print To PDF
             1 running      0 Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4

Process Table: Windows has an "interesting" characteristic in how it updates the snmp data. The process table is available, but the performance metrics are not updated at the zVPS preferred time frame. With the standard one minute data collection standard with zVPS, MS Servers appear inconsistent. The reality is that the snmp process table data is updated every 2-3 minutes. If you monitor an MS server every 5 minutes, there would be data consistently. But monitoring every minute means there are gaps in the data. From this data, one can see the complete process table, but when looking at the active processes over time, one must recognize the MS deficiency. zVPS shows active processes - defined as those using more than .1% of a cpu. So in this example of one server, we know the active processes, but not in the exact detail as we would get from linux servers.
There is an "Idle" process maintained by Windows in the process table that gets credit for unused CPU. This process shows up every 2-3 minute and those intervals then represent correctly the previous 2-3 minutes. With the idle process, adding up all the processes adds up to the total system capability. This is a 4-cpu server, and typical of the environment, utilization is very low - but it IS measurable...

Screen: ESAHST1  Velocity Software - VSIVM4     ESAMON 4.303 04/19 20:41-20:48
1 of 1  LINUX HOST Software Analysis Report     NODE WIN64          2828 0414C7
 
                  <--Software Program---------->  CPU  Storage(K)
Time     Node     Name      ID   Type    Status  Total Intrval Pct   Current
-------- -------- -------- ----- ------- ------- ----- ------- ----- ---------
20:49:00 win64    *Totals*     0                     0  476.66   265     1868M
                  System I     1 OpSys   Running  825K  474.05   263     24576
                  System       4 OpSys   Running  1598    0.53  0.29    21762K
                  svchost.   512 Applic  Running  3919    0.45  0.25    22020K
                  winlogon   720 Applic  Running    46    0.03  0.02    10727K
                  nvSCPAPI   940 Applic  Running    34    0.03  0.02     6320K
                  svchost.   968 Applic  Running  1053    0.03  0.02      219M
                  spoolsv.  1624 Applic  Running    75    0.05  0.03    15593K
                  schedul2  1776 Applic  Running   142    0.11  0.06     8966K
                  nsbu.exe  2316 Applic  Running  4689    0.50  0.28    22544K
                  snmp.exe  2528 Applic  Running  1200    0.87  0.48     8495K
20:48:00 win64    *Totals*     0                     0    1.84  1.53     1872M
                  Skype.ex  4720 Applic  Running    86    0.14  0.12      133M
                  SkypeBro  4948 Applic  Running     5    0.02  0.02    57209K
                  TrueImag  5132 Applic  Running  2918    1.68  1.40    24367K
20:46:00 win64    *Totals*     0                     0  479.55   400     1871M
                  System I     1 OpSys   Running  824K  473.56   395     24576
                  System       4 OpSys   Running  1597    0.43  0.36    21762K
                  svchost.   512 Applic  Running  3919    0.37  0.31    21983K
                  csrss.ex   556 Applic  Running   451    0.02  0.02     5382K
                  winlogon   720 Applic  Running    45    0.02  0.02    10727K
                  svchost.   848 Applic  Running    55    0.10  0.08    10580K
                  nvSCPAPI   940 Applic  Running    34    0.04  0.03     6320K
                  svchost.   968 Applic  Running  1053    1.48  1.23      219M
                  schedul2  1776 Applic  Running   142    0.06  0.05     8970K
                  nsbu.exe  2316 Applic  Running  4688    0.75  0.63    26735K
                  snmp.exe  2528 Applic  Running  1199    0.89  0.74     8483K
                  Skype.ex  4720 Applic  Running    86    0.11  0.09      133M
                  SkypeBro  4948 Applic  Running     5    0.03  0.02    56361K
                  TrueImag  5132 Applic  Running  2917    1.66  1.38    24367K
20:44:00 win64    *Totals*     0                     0  478.96   399     1877M
                  System I     1 OpSys   Running  824K  473.93   395     24576
                  System       4 OpSys   Running  1597    0.61  0.51    21762K

Network Mib

The network data provided by MS servers is standard, and allows for complete network management with no additional agents.

Transport Data: The transport layer data shows the high level TCP and UDP data.s have, how large they are, how full they are means that alerts can be set for disk "almost full" conditions to ensure applications do not fail for out of space conditions. Alerts can be set to check for file systems being mounted as well.

 Screen: ESATCP1  Velocity Software              ESAMON 4.301 04/18 09:02-10:06
 1 of 2  TCPIP Transport Layer Data              CLASS * NODE WIN*   2828 0314C
 
                   <----- TCP Connections ------> 
          Node/    Curr    <---Segments Transmitted--->
 Time     Group    Conn  Activ  Pass Fails Resets Input Outpt ReTrn InErr Rsts
 -------- -------- ----  ----- ----- ----- ------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----
 10:06:00 win64      24    0.0     0     0      0   0.7   0.6     0     0    0
 10:05:00 win64      24    0.0     0     0      0  10.4   5.7     0     0    0
 10:04:00 win64      22    0.2     0     0      0   6.2   5.3     0     0    0
 10:03:00 win64      22    0.2     0     0    0.0   8.2   7.5     0     0    0
 10:02:00 win64      25    0.3     0     0      0  33.9  23.3     0     0    0

And the UDP data:

 Screen: ESATCP1  Velocity Software              ESAMON 4.301 04/18 09:04-10:05
 2 of 2  TCPIP Transport Layer Data              CLASS * NODE W*     2828 0314C
 
                    <--UDP Datagrams per second-->
          Node/     Total  Total   <----Errors--->
 Time     Group     Input  Output  NoAppl    Other
 -------- --------  -----  ------  ------    -----
 10:05:00 win64       2.0     2.1     0.4      1.7
 10:04:00 win64       1.8     1.8     0.6      1.7
 10:03:00 win64       3.1     3.4     0.6      1.6
 10:02:00 win64       5.3     5.4     0.4      1.4

Internent Protocol Data: The IP layer data shows the high level IP traffic in and out.

 Screen: ESATCP2  Velocity Software              ESAMON 4.301 04/18 10:00-10:10
 1 of 2  TCPIP Internetwork Layer Data           CLASS * NODE WIN*   2828 0314C
 
                    
          Node/            
 Time     Group    Total  Fwrd Dlvrd   Hdr  Addr  Prot Other Reqst NoRte Other
 -------- -------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
 10:09:00 win64    22.02     0 26.98     0  0.13     0  1.92 17.03     0     0
 10:08:00 win64    22.10     0 30.08     0  0.22     0  2.01 19.58     0     0
 10:07:00 win64     3.64     0  3.39     0  0.12     0  1.65  2.01     0     0
 10:06:00 win64     4.73     0  4.30     0  0.22     0  1.59  2.94     0     0
 10:05:00 win64     3.65     0  3.13     0  0.22     0  1.22  2.31     0     0
 10:04:00 win64    13.44     0 14.10     0  0.13     0  2.11  7.84     0     0
 10:03:00 win64     6.54     0  9.68     0  0.17     0  2.32  7.14     0     0
 10:02:00 win64     8.64     0 13.05     0  0.20     0  2.21 10.96     0     0
 10:01:00 win64    32.25     0 40.65     0  0.13     0  1.77 28.71     0     0

Interface Data: The hardware layer is more interesting in that traffice by interface is shown.

Screen: ESATCP4  Velocity Software              ESAMON 4.301 04/18 10:13-10:14
1 of 2  TCPIP Hardware Layer / Interfaces       CLASS * NODE WIN64  2828 0314C7
 
                             <-Average-> <-Subnet packets / Sec->
         Node/              <-Per second-> Packet Size <-Unicast-> 
Time     Group    Interface   Input Output    In   Out Input Outpt Input Output
-------- -------- ---------  ------ ------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------
10:14:00 win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Intel(R)     2312   2534   153   476  4.79  5.28 10.30   0.05
         win64    Intel(R)     2311   2534   153   476  4.79  5.28 10.30   0.05
         win64    VirtualBo       0   4.06     .   243     0     0     0   0.02
         win64    VirtualBo       0   4.06     .   243     0     0     0   0.02
         win64    VirtualBo       0   4.06     .   243     0     0     0   0.02
         win64    WAN Minip       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    WAN Minip       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    WAN Minip       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Intel(R)     2311   2533   153   476  4.79  5.28 10.30   0.05
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Intel(R)     2311   2533   153   476  4.79  5.28 10.30   0.05
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    VirtualBo       0   4.06     .   243     0     0     0   0.02
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    Microsoft       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    WAN Minip       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0
         win64    USB Wirel       0      0     .     .     0     0     0      0

Microsoft Review

MS data using the snmp data source is not as good as the linux data source. It does provide the ability to know processor utilization, file systme utilization and provides some level of configuration knowledge. This is likely sufficient for most MS environments.

Using the standard snmp interface means that there are no extra agents or software that needs to be installed (and tested). Please send questions or comments to Barton....

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