eG Monitoring
 

The VC Tab Page - VM Dashboard

The VC tab page helps to promptly detect issues with vCenter and swiftly diagnose the root-cause of these issues. This tab page lists one/all vCenter servers in the environment (depending upon the node chosen from the tree), and reports the number of ESX servers managed, the resource usage, and the overall health of each vCenter server.

Every tab page, by default, displays the details of the top 10 VMs/virtual hosts only. This is indicated by the default value 10 chosen from the Limit to list at the right, top corner of each tab page. To view more (or less) number of records in the tab pages, you will have to select a different value from the Limit to list. Similarly, by default, a chosen component type in the Defaulttype section will be displayed, to view a different component in the tab page, select a different component name in the Component dropdown list.

This section discusses how the contents of this tab page change with the node chosen from the tree.

  1. If the global Zones node is chosen from the tree, then the VC tab page will display the names of all vCenter servers included in all configured zones, and will report a default set of metrics per vCenter server, revealing the availability and resource usage of each server. Resource-intensive/unavailable vCenter servers in the target environment can thus be instantly identified.

  2. The default measure list that accompanies every vCenter listed in the VC tab page can be modified. For this purpose, follow the steps given below:

    • Click on the icon at the right, top corner of the tab page. Configuration Settings page will appear.
    • Select VMs/Hosts from the Add/Delete measures in section in Configuration Settings page.
    • Select Add from Add/Delete to add a new measure to the VC tab page.
    • Then, set VMware vCenter as the Component type. Select the Test that reports the measure to be added, and then pick the Measure. Provide a Display Name for the new measure, and finally, click the Update button.
    • To remove a measure that pre-exists in the VC tab page, select Delete from Add/Delete, select the Component type, pick the Test, choose the Measure, and click the Update button.

  3. In the event of a slowdown in the performance of a vCenter server, you can click on the name of that server in the VC tab page; this will lead you straight to the layer model of the vCenter server, which reveals the exact layer where the problem has originated. Click on the problem layer to view the problem test, and click on the problem test to view the measures.

  4. The VC tab page also embeds a time-of-day graph, which, by default, reveals the variations in the number of VMs in each resource pool configured within each cluster on vCenter, during the last 1 hour. Accordingly, ClusterResourcePools is chosen by default from the Test list, the default Measure is VMs in pool, and the default Timeline is 1 hour. You can select a different Test and Measure combination for the graph. To define a different Timeline for the graph, click on the icon in the graph section. The Settings window will then pop out, allowing you to change the date and time. Using this graph, you can efficiently analyze performance trends and proactively detect performance issues.

  5. A legend is provided at the end of every graph clearly indicating which VC is represented using which color in the graph. This is accompanied by the Avg, Max, and Min values that the chosen Measure has recorded for every Vc during the chosen Timeline. To view the legends above the graph, Check the Show Legends button in the Graph section.

  6. You can hide the Graph or Performance Metrics of Virtual Centers section by clicking on the icon.

  7. You can then click on icon to restore the Graph section. Similarly, you can hide the tree-structure by clicking on button next to the tree. This ensures that the right panel expands and fills the vacuum created by the tree.

  8. To restore the tree, click on button.

  9. To view the zones configured with one/more virtual component-types, expand the global Zones node in the tree. The individual zones will appear as sub-nodes of the global Zones node. Selecting a particular zone will reveal the performance details related to each vCenter server within that zone in the VC tab page.

  10. Alternatively, you can select the VMware vCenter sub-node under a zone node to see how all the vCenter servers in a zone are performing.

  11. If you want to check whether a particular vCenter server within a zone is available or not, and if available, how well its using the resources available to it, select the node representing a vCenter server under the VMware vCenter node in the tree structure.