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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.

Info

If there is not 24 hours worth of data available, Uptime Infrastructure Monitor uses data from as far back as possible to generate charts.

The specific contents of the Quick Snapshot depend on the component currently in focus:
  • 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

  • the CPU usage trend of the datacenter over the last 24 hours
  • maximum and minimum total CPU usage per hour
  • clicking opens a pop-up displaying the CPU Workload graph for the datacenter showing CPU usage in MHz

Memory Capacity Trend

  • the memory usage trend of the datacenter over the last 24 hours
  • maximum and minimum total CPU usage per hour
  • clicking opens a pop-up display the Memory Workload graph for the datacenter, showing the memory consumed metric

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

  • the current total number of VMs and ESX hosts running within the datacenter
  • clicking opens a custom graph in a pop-up window, displaying the number of VMs and ESX hosts running during the time period

Active Outages

  • the current number of Uptime Infrastructure Monitor service monitors that are attached to any Element within the datacenter that are presently in a WARN or CRIT state
  • clicking displays the Service Status page for the datacenter

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

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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:

  • total CPU capacity, in GHz, which acts as the top line of the graph
  • the amount of CPU, in GHz, used by VMs
  • the amount of CPU, in GHz, reserved for VMs

VM state

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • total number of VMs powered on
  • total number of suspended VMs
  • total number of VMs powered off

Memory Usage

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • total memory capacity, in GB, which acts as the top line of the graph
  • the amount of memory, in GB, used by VMs
  • the amount of memory, in GB, reserved for VMs

Swap Usage vs. Swap Rate

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • total swap memory used by VMs, in MB or GB, whichever is more appropriate
  • the rate, in MBps, at which VMs are swapping memory from disk
  • the rate, in MBps, at which VMs are swapping memory to disk

Disk I/O Rate

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • the rate, in MBps, at which VMs are reading data from disk
  • the rate, in MBps, at which VMs are writing data to disk

Network I/O Rate

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • the rate, in MBps, at which VMs are receiving data from the network
  • the rate, in MBps, at which VMs are transmitting data over the network

Top VMs by CPU

  • top five VMs running on the ESX host, ordered by CPU usage, in MHz
  • the Details link is a shortcut to a top-10 workload graph showing the 24-hour trend

Top VMs by Memory

  • top five VMs running on the ESX host, ordered by memory usage, in MB
  • the Details link is a shortcut to a top-10 workload graph, showing the 24-hour trend

Top VMs by Disk I/O

  • top five VMs running on the ESX host, ordered by disk usage, in KBps
  • the Details link is a shortcut to a top-10 workload graph, showing the 24-hour trend

Top VMs by Network I/O

  • top five VMs running on the ESX host, ordered by network I/O throughput, in KBps
  • the Details link is a shortcut to a top-10 workload graph, showing the 24-hour trend

 

Virtual Machine Quick Snapshot Contents

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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:

  • CPU usage in MHz
  • if allocated to the VM, the amount of reserved CPU cycles, in MHz
  • if allocated to the VM, the amount of entitled CPU cycles, in MHz

% 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:

  • wait time: amount of time during the interval, as a percentage, that the VM had scheduled CPU time, but gave nothing to process
  • ready time: amount of time during the interval, as a percentage, that the VM was ready to process, but was not scheduled CPU time by the host
Info

It is possible to be presented with values that exceed 100%. The underlying data used in these graphs are migrated via vSync/Sync; VMware and Hyper-V conventions include percent-based metrics that can be greater than 100%. For example, refer to the VMware Technical Note, Performance Counters and the MSDN article, Measuring Performance on Hyper-V.

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:

  • average time (in nanoseconds) spent waiting for a Hyper-V virtual processor to be dispatched onto a logical processor

Memory Usage

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • memory usage in MB or GB, whichever is more appropriate
  • if allocated to the VM, the amount of reserved memory, in MB
  • if allocated to the VM, the amount of entitled memory, in MB

Swap Usage vs. Swap Rate

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • total swap memory, in KB, used during the interval
  • the rate, in KBps, at which the VM is swapping memory from disk
  • the rate, in KBps, at which the VM is swapping memory to disk

Disk I/O Rate

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • the rate, in KBps, at which the VM is reading data from disk
  • the rate, in KBps, at which the VM is writing data to disk

Network I/O Rate

the following is shown for the last 24 hours, where the mouse-over segments are in 10-minute intervals:

  • the rate, in KBps, at which the VM is receiving data from the network
  • the rate, in KBps, at which the VM is transmitting data over the network

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

  • top 10 processes on the VM, ranked by CPU usage
  • the Details link is a shortcut to the Detailed Process Information table for the VM Element

 

Viewing a Quick Snapshot for a Virtual Component

To display the Quick Snapshot page for any virtual component, do the following:

  1. On the Global Scan dashboard or Infrastructure panel, click the name of the Element whose Quick Snapshot you would like to view.
  2. Click the gear icon beside the Element.
  3. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Instance Motion.
  3. 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.
  4. From the drop-down menu, select a VM.
  5. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Power Consumption.
  3. 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.
  4. Select the logical group whose power consumption you want to graph.
  5. 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.
  6. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Power Consumption.
  3. 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.
  4. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Power States.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. In the first step, select whether to graph power states by datacenter or cluster.
  6. 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.
  7. Select the power states you want to include in the graph.
  8. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. In the Metrics section of the Tree panel, click Power States.
  3. 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.
  4. Select the power states you want to include in the graph.
  5. Click Generate Graph.
    A pop-up window appears, displaying the power states graph you have configured.

 

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