Measures reported by CtxSDXXenIfaceTest
Like CPU cores, memory and storage, the NetScaler SDX Appliances also provide NIC interfaces and SSL crypto hardware that can be shared across NetScaler VPX instances that are provisioned on the appliance.
If an NIC on the SDX appliance goes down or is handling more traffic than the rest, the performance of the instances using that network interface is sure to be impacted. Such an anomaly can also threaten the availability of the SDX appliance as a whole. To avert such an outcome, it is good practice for administrators to keep an eye on the up/down state of each NIC and observe the data/packet traffic flowing into and out of the NIC. This way, administrators will be able to instantly detect the unavailability or overloading of an NIC and initiate corrective measures. This is what the CtxSDXXenIfaceTest test seeks to achieve!
This test auto-discovers the NICs on a target SDX appliance, reports the state of each NIC, and also reveals how much traffic is handled by every NIC. In the process, the test quickly pinpoints unavailable NICs and the ones handling heavy traffic.
Outputs of the test : One set of results for each interface supported by the target NetScaler SDX.
| Measurement |
Description |
Measurement Unit |
Interpretation |
| Iface_state |
Indicates the current state of this interface. |
|
The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values have been listed in the table below:
| Numeric Value |
Measure Value |
| 100 |
Up |
| 0 |
Down |
If the value of this measure is Up, it means that the interface is receiving traffic normally. If the value of this measure is Down, it indicates a a network issue because of which the interface is unable to send or receive traffic.
Note:
By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned Measure Values to indicate the current state of an interface. However, in the graph of this measure, the Measure Values will be represented using their corresponding numeric equivalents only.
|
| Vfs_assigned |
Indicates the number of virtual functions assigned to this interface. |
Number |
You can assign up to seven virtual functions on a 1G interface and up to 40 virtual functions on a 10G interface. |
| Vfs_total |
Indicates the total number of virtual functions available on this interface. |
Number |
The NetScaler SDX appliance also provides SSL crypto hardware that can be shared across NetScaler VPX instances that are provisioned on the appliance. Crypto capacity is typically represented and allocated in units of SSL cores and chips. Crypto virtual interfaces - also known as Virtual Functions - represent the basic access of the SSL hardware. When the SSL hardware operates in cryptographic blocks, they can be used to form virtual functions. |
| Received_packets |
Indicates the rate at which this interface receives packets. |
Packets/Sec |
These are good indicators of the level of network activity on an interface.
You can compare the value of each of these measures across interfaces to identify the busiest / overloaded interface. |
| Transmit_packets |
Indicates the rate at which this interface transmitted packets. |
Packets/Sec |
| Received_bytes |
Indicates the rate at which this interface receives data. |
MB/Sec |
| Transmit_bytes |
Indicates the rate at which this interface transmitted data. |
MB/Sec |
| Received_errors |
Indicates the rate at which errors occurred during data reception on this interface. |
Errors/Sec |
Ideally, the value of these measures should be 0. |
| Transmit_errors |
Indicates the rate at which errors occurred during data transmission by this interface. |
Errors/Sec |
|