Performance Summary of Virtual Components that are part of a zone/of a type

If the global Zones node is chosen from the tree, the Summary tab page in the right panel will, by default, provide a quick overview of the composition and performance of Host/VMs/Desktops spread across all the managed zones in the environment. By default, the page displays the information about the component chosen from the Component list in the right, top corner of the Summary tab page. To view the performance summary of a different virtualization platform, select a different option from the Component drop-down list.

If a particular virtual server-type (eg., VMware vSphere ESX, Citrix XenServer, etc.) under a zone is chosen from the tree-structure, then the contents of the Summary tab page will change.

Infrastructure Overview

• The Infrastructure Overview section that briefly discusses the key ingredients of the virtual infrastructure - i.e., the number of managed physical servers in the target virtual environment, the total number of VMs on the physical servers, the number of VMs that are currently powered on, and the number of alarms currently open on the infrastructure elements. For more details about the target environment, simply move your mouse pointer over every value displayed in the Infrastructure Overview section. For instance, to know the names of physical servers that are being managed in the environment, simply move the mouse pointer over the value corresponding to Physical Servers in the Infrastructure Overview section. The Summary tab page will then change to display a pop-up that lists the names of the physical servers managed in the environment. This way, you can view the names of virtual machines executing on the physical servers, the names of powered on VMs, and also the list of current alarms pertaining to the environment. Besides helping you identify VMs that are powered-off currently, the Infrastructure Overview also enables you determine the number and nature of the unresolved problems in the environment.
• Now that you know the names of the physical servers, you might want to analyze the current resource usage of each of these servers to ascertain whether they are experiencing any resource shortages or not. For that, click on the Physical Servers label in the Infrastructure Overview section. This leads you straight to the Hosts tab page of the global Zones node, which displays the physical servers, their current state, and also the resource usage metrics pertaining to each server.
• Similarly, you can click on the Total VMs label in the Infrastructure Overview section to switch to the VMs tab page of the Zones node, focus on the performance of the individual VMs, and identify the VM that could be consuming resources excessively.
• While clicking on the Powered On VMs label in the Infrastructure Overview section takes you to the VMs tab page and allows you to analyze the resource usage of powered-on VMs alone, clicking on the Current Alarms label leads you straight to the Current Events tab page, where you can view the complete list of problems the target virtualized environment is currently experiencing.

Current Alarms

If you want to focus on each problem closely, then, you can use the Current Alarms section adjacent to the Infrastructure Overview section in the Summary tab page. Use the arrow buttons (< and >) above an alarm to navigate to the next alarm. Move your mouse pointer over an alarm to know which test has reported the problem.

Alarms for Hypervisor

• The Alarms for Hypervisorssection below the Infrastructure Overview section enables you to determine how problem-prone the physical servers in your environment are, by revealing the number of critical, major, and minor issues that are currently unresolved for each physical server. By moving your mouse pointer over an alarm priority corresponding to a physical server, you can view the details of current alarms of that priority .
• By clicking on a physical server in the Alarms for Hypervisors section, you can zoom into the layer model of that server; this will indicate all the layers that have been affected by problems. From the color-coding of the layers, you can easily infer from which layer the problem originated. Click on that layer to view the problem tests, and then, click on a problem test to view the measures that have reported anomalies.

Alarms for VMs/Desktops

• The Alarms for VMs/Desktops section enables you to determine how problem-prone the virtual machines in your environment are, by revealing the number of critical, major, and minor issues that currently remain unresolved for each virtual machine. By moving your mouse pointer over an alarm priority corresponding to a virtual machine, you can view the details of current alarms of that priority.
• To know the exact layer where the problem occurred and the test that reported the problem, click on any virtual machine in the Alarms for VMs/Desktops section.

In large virtualized environments comprising of a multitude of virtual hosts that are configured with tens of VMs, it is often difficult for administrators to instantly and accurately locate resource-intensive physical servers and/or virtual machines. Similarly, identifying the physical servers with too many VMs is also a herculean task. In order to ease the pain of the administrators, the Summary tab page provides two sections - one each for physical servers and VMs - which can be configured to list the top physical servers and VMs (respectively) in the environment, in terms of resource consumption. Also, by default, both sections will reveal the top consumers of physical CPU resources, starting with the leading consumer. Accordingly, the Physical CPU utilization measure is the default selection in both the Top Servers by and the Top VMs by lists. To view the top consumers of another resource, select a different measure from these lists.

• In the Top Servers by list, a set of measures are available for selection by default. If need be, you can override this default setting, so that new measures can be added to the list and one/more existing measures can be removed from the list. To do this, follow the steps given below:
• Click on the button at the right, top corner of the Summary tab page.
• The Configuration Settings window appears. To add a new measure, select the Add option from the Add/Delete measure section. Now to add measure to the Top Servers by list in the Summary tab page, first select the Summary option from the Add/Delete measures in section.
• Select the Top Servers option from the Measures to section.
• Then, pick the Component to which the new measure pertains.
• Select the Test that reports the measure of interest.
• Select the Measure to be added, and provide a Display Name for the measure.
• To add the measure, click the Update button. Doing so ensures that the Display Name specified appears as an option in the Top Servers by list in the Summary tab page.
• Similarly, you can remove a measure from the Top Servers by list. For this purpose, set the Add/Delete flag to Delete, select the Component to which the measure to be deleted pertains, select the Test reporting the measure, select the Measure to be deleted, and finally, click the Update button.
• In the Top VMs by list, a set of measures are available for selection by default. If need be, you can override this default setting, so that new measures can be added to the list and one/more existing measures can be removed from the list. To do this, follow the steps given below:

  • Click on the button at the right, top corner of the Summary tab page.
  • Configuration Settings page then appears. To add a new measure to the Top VMs by list in the Summary tab page, first select the Summary option from the Add/Delete measures.
  • Select the Top VMs option from the Measures to section.
  • Then, pick the Component to which the new measure pertains.
  • Select the Test that reports the measure of interest.
  • Select the Measure to be added, and provide a Display Name for the measure.
  • To add the measure, click the Update button. Doing so ensures that the Display Name specified in Configuration Settings page appears as an option in the Top VMs by list in the Summary tab page.
  • Similarly, you can remove a measure from the Top VMs by list. For this purpose, set the Add/Delete flag to Delete, select the Component to which the measure to be deleted pertains, select the Test reporting the measure, select the Measure to be deleted, and finally, click the Update button.

Also, by default, both lists will display the top-5 resource consumers only. This default setting can be overridden by following the steps given below:

• Click on the button at the right, top corner of the Summary tab page.
• Configuration Settings page then appears. By default, the value 5 is displayed in the Top N Components/VMs in Summary tab page text box, indicating that the Summary tab page displays the top-5 resource consumers, by default.
• Override this default setting by specifying a different number in the Top N Components/VMs in Summary tab page text box.
• Then, click the Update button in Configuration Settings page.

Top Servers By

• Against every physical server displayed in the Top Servers by section, the percentage of the chosen resource currently utilized by each physical server will be displayed, followed by a miniature graph tracking the usage of that resource over a period of time. If you click on a physical server in this section - say, the server that is the leading consumer of CPU Usage - the layer model of that server will appear. From the layer model, you can navigate to the test and the measure reporting the physical CPU usage of the server, perform further analysis, and accurately identify which processor supported by the server has contributed to the excessive resource usage.
• If you click on the miniature graph that corresponds to a physical server. By default, the expanded graph tracks the variations in the measure selected from the Top Servers by list, during the last 1 hour. With the help of this graph, you can effortlessly observe how the physical server has been using the chosen resource over the last 1 hour by default. You can change this default period by choosing a different Timeline for the graph. This analysis will enable you to effectively study usage trends, and accurately detect the exact time at which the physical server began experiencing spikes in resource usage.

Top VMs By

• Against every virtual machine displayed in the Top VMs by section, the percentage of the chosen resource currently utilized by each VM will be displayed, followed by a miniature graph tracking the usage of that resource over a period of time. If you click on a VM in this section - say, the VM that is the leading consumer of CPU Usage - the layer model of a CPU-intensive VM will appear revealing the layer model of the server on which the VM is executing. By default, the test that reports the physical CPU usage of the VM in question will be selected in the layer model, and all the measures reported by that test for the chosen VM will also be displayed. Using these metrics, you can effectively assess the overall resource usage of that VM.
• If you click on the miniature graph that corresponds to a VM in the Top VMs by section, the graph will expand. By default, the expanded graph tracks the variations in the measure selected from the Top VMs by list, during the last 1 hour. With the help of this graph, you can effortlessly observe how the VM has been using the chosen resource over the last 1 hour by default. You can change this default period by choosing a different Timeline for the graph. This analysis will enable you to effectively study usage trends, and accurately detect the exact time at which the VM began exhibiting unhealthy resource usage trends.