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Viewing the Status of a Virtual Element
You can view the status of your VMware vCenter servers, Hyper-V host servers, ESX servers, and VMs using Quick Snapshots. The Quick Snapshot summarizes both the recent and current performance of key hardware and process information for a virtual component that exists in Uptime Infrastructure Monitor as an Element, and can help administrators identify potential issues.
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If there is not 24 hours worth of data available, Uptime Infrastructure Monitor uses data from as far back as possible to generate charts. |
- Hyper-V Host Server
- VMware vCenter server
- ESX server or cluster
- virtual machine
- virtual machine using WMI or the Uptime Infrastructure Monitor agent to collect metrics
The Quick Snapshot is typically used as a preliminary step toward root cause analysis. When you first acknowledge an issue by clicking an Element name on either Global Scan, or the My Alerts section of My Portal, you are shown the Quick Snapshot for that Element. From here, you can work with the information provided in the charts and tables and begin further investigation:
- clicking the expand arrow at the top-right of a chart enlarges it
- in the enlarged chart, click-dragging a start and end point along the timeline expands that specific range
- when viewing an enlarged chart, you print or export it by clicking the context menu icon at the top-right, then making the appropriate choice
- at any zoom range, hovering the mouse pointer along the timeline displays the value for that precise interval
- when more than one metric is displayed, clicking metrics in the legend toggles them on and off, allowing you to focus on a specific metric
Virtual Server Quick Snapshot Contents
The following information is displayed in a vCenter server Quick Snapshot:
Datacenter Summary | ||
datacenters that are monitored are listed in alphabetical order, along with resource information for the datacenter as a whole | ||
CPU Capacity Trend |
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Memory Capacity Trend |
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Total Active CPU | the total CPU cycles, in GHz, that are available, whether they are currently used | |
Total Active Memory | the total available memory, in GB, that is available, whether it is currently in use | |
Running VMs and Hosts Count |
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Active Outages |
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Top Clusters / Top ESX Servers | ||
the top five clusters and ESX servers are respectively listed in order of current CPU usage | ||
CPU Trend 24h | the CPU usage trend of the cluster or ESX server over the last 24 hours, expressed as a percentage of total available CPU cycles clicking opens a pop-up displaying a CPU Workload graph showing actual CPU usage over the last 24 hours | |
Current % | the current percentage of total available CPU cycles consumed by the cluster or ESX server | |
the top five clusters and ESX servers are respectively listed in order of memory used | ||
Memory Trend 24h | the memory usage trend of the cluster or ESX server over the last 24 hours, expressed as a percentage of total available memory clicking opens a pop-up displaying a Memory Workload graph showing actual memory usage over the last 24 hours | |
Current GB | the current percentage of total available memory currently used by the cluster or ESX server | |
Top Resource Pools | ||
the top five resource pools are listed in order of current CPU usage | ||
CPU Trend 24h | the CPU usage trend of the resource pool over the last 24 hours, expressed in raw GHz clicking opens a pop-up displaying a CPU Workload graph showing actual CPU usage over the last 24 hours | |
Current GHz | the amount of CPU cycles, in raw GHz, currently consumed by the resource pool | |
the top five resource pools are listed in order of memory used | ||
Memory Trend 24h | the memory usage trend of the resource pool over the last 24 hours, expressed in raw GBs clicking opens a pop-up displaying a Memory Workload graph showing actual memory usage over the last 24 hours | |
Current GB | the amount of total memory, in raw GB, currently used by the resource pool |
ESX Server and Cluster Quick Snapshot Contents
The following information is displayed in a Hyper-V host or ESX server or cluster Quick Snapshot:
CPU Usage | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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VM state | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Memory Usage | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Swap Usage vs. Swap Rate | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Disk I/O Rate | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Network I/O Rate | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Top VMs by CPU |
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Top VMs by Memory |
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Top VMs by Disk I/O |
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Top VMs by Network I/O |
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Virtual Machine Quick Snapshot Contents
The following information is displayed in a guest virtual machine Quick Snapshot:
CPU Usage | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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% Wait and % Ready Time (VMware only) | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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CPU Wait Time Per Dispatch (Hyper-V only) | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Memory Usage | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Swap Usage vs. Swap Rate | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Disk I/O Rate | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Network I/O Rate | the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:
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Top 10 Processes | note that this process list is only available if the VM Element’s metrics are reported via WMI or the Uptime Infrastructure Monitor Agent
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Viewing a Quick Snapshot for a Virtual Component
To display the Quick Snapshot page for any virtual component, do the following:
- On the Global Scan dashboard or Infrastructure panel, click the name of the Element whose Quick Snapshot you would like to view.
- Click the gear icon beside the Element.
- In the Element’s Configure pop-menu, click Graph Performance.
Note that when you are viewing an Element’s profile, you can always access its Quick Snapshot by clicking the Graphing tab, and then clicking Quick Snapshot in the tree panel.
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Virtual Machine Management Graphs
Uptime Infrastructure Monitor uses the following graphs to track and manage VMs:
Instance Motion
The Instance Motion tool enables you to move instances from one server to another without any downtime or loss of data. For example, you might move an instance to newer and faster hardware, or to temporarily relocate the instance while performing a hardware upgrade.
The Instance Motion graph enables you to keep track of a moving virtual instance. For a given instance, the graph charts which systems it is running on over a given time range.
This graph can be generated when you are viewing a VMware vCenter server, Hyper-V host server, ESX server, or a VM; the topological level at which you begin to configure the graph determines which instances are available to graph.
Generating an Instance Motion Graph
To generate an Instance Motion graph, do the following:
- Go to the Element’s Quick Snapshot page.
For example, in the Infrastructure panel, find the Element whose VM instance motion you want to graph, click its corresponding gear icon, and then click Graph Performance. - In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Instance Motion.
- Select and apply the start and end dates and times for which the graph charts data. For more information about these fields, see Understanding Dates and Times.
- From the drop-down menu, select a VM.
- Click Generate Graph.
Power Consumption
To assist virtualization initiatives that are meant to save power costs, or to gauge the efficiency of existing virtual datacenters, power usage by watts is available as a graphing metric.
The Power Consumption graph can tell you how much power your hosts are consuming by datacenter, cluster, or individual server. Additionally, you can graph the power usage of individual VMs.
You can graph power usage levels at the VMware vCenter level in order to assess current load distribution, or verify VMware’s automated distributive resource balancing is functioning.
Graphing Power Consumption for a VMware vCenter Server
To generate a power consumption graph for a vCenter server, do the following:
- Go to the Element’s Quick Snapshot page.
For example, in the Infrastructure panel, find the Element whose power consumption you want to graph, click its corresponding gear icon, and then click Graph Performance. - In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Power Consumption.
- Select and apply the start and end dates and times for which the graph charts data. For more information about these fields, see Understanding Dates and Times.
- Select the logical group whose power consumption you want to graph.
- Select whether to graph the highest resource consumers, or specific components. If you select Specific, an Element selection dialog appears, requiring you to build a list.
- Click Generate Graph.
A pop-up window appears, displaying the power consumption graph you have configured.
Graphing Power Consumption for a Hyper-V Host or ESX Server
To generate a power consumption graph for an ESX server, do the following:
- Go to the Element’s Quick Snapshot page.
For example, in the Infrastructure panel, find the Element whose power consumption you want to graph, click its corresponding gear icon, and then click Graph Performance. - In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Power Consumption.
- Select and apply the start and end dates and times for which the graph charts data. For more information about these fields, see Understanding Dates and Times.
- Click Generate Graph.
A pop-up window appears, displaying the power consumption of the ESX server over the specified time period.
Power States
Power States graphs allow you to graph VM activity on a host server, or ESX activity on a VMware vCenter server.
The power state graphs help you manage both available computing resources within your VMware vSphere clusters and datacenters, as well as power consumption in your physical datacenters.
Virtual Element Power States
The following states are displayed in a Power States graph:
vCenter Server Metrics | ||
VMs Powered On | the virtual machine is powered on | |
ESX Powered On | the host is powered on | |
ESX Powered Off | the host was powered off by an administrator through the VMware vSphere Client | |
ESX Unknown | as is the case in the VMware vSphere Client, a host that is in an unknown state is assumed to be powered off by an administrator | |
ESX In Maintenance | the host was put in maintenance mode by an administrator | |
ESX In Standby | the host was put in standby mode either explicitly by an administrator, or automatically by vSphere Distributed Power Management (DPM) | |
Hyper-V Host and ESX Server Metrics | ||
VMs Powered On | the virtual machine is powered on | |
VMs Powered Off | the virtual machine is powered off | |
VMs Suspended | the virtual machine is not running, but a snapshot of its running applications and processes is retained. |
Graphing Power States for a vCenter Server
To generate a Power States graph, do the following:
- Go to the Element’s Quick Snapshot page.
For example, in the Infrastructure panel, find the Element whose power states you want to graph, click its corresponding gear icon, and then click Graph Performance. - In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Power States.
- Select and apply the start and end dates and times for which the graph charts data. For more information about these fields, see Understanding Dates and Times.
- Click one of the Quick Graphs options to display a pre-configured graph in a pop-up window, or skip this step to manually configure a graph.
- In the first step, select whether to graph power states by datacenter or cluster.
- In the next step, select whether to graph the highest resource consumers, or specific VMware vSphere components. If you select Specific, an Element selection dialog appears, requiring you to build a list.
- Select the power states you want to include in the graph.
- Click Generate Graph.
A pop-up window appears, displaying the CPU Wait and Ready Time graph you have configured.
Graphing VM Power States for a Hyper-V Host or ESX Server
To generate a power status graph for a Hyper-V host or ESX server VMs, do the following:
- Go to the Element’s Quick Snapshot page.
For example, in the Infrastructure panel, find the Element whose power states you want to graph, click its corresponding gear icon, and then click Graph Performance. - In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Power States.
- Select and apply the start and end dates and times for which the graph charts data. For more information about these fields, see Understanding Dates and Times.
- Select the power states you want to include in the graph.
- Click Generate Graph.
A pop-up window appears, displaying the power states graph you have configured.