eG Monitoring
 

Measures reported by WinSystemTest

This test reports additional metrics pertaining to Microsoft Windows systems. The measures made by this test are as follows:

Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation
Processes_count The number of processes running on the system Number  
Threads_count The number of threads in the system Number  
Registry_quota_in_use The percentage of registry quota currently in use by the system Percent If this measure begins to reach 100%, we need to increase the total registry size set in Control Panel/System's Virtual Memory tab.
Context_switches_rate This value is the combined rate at which all processors on the computer are switched from one thread to another. Switches/Sec Context switches occur when a running thread voluntarily relinquishes the processor, is preempted by a higher priority ready thread, or switches between user-mode and privileged (kernel) mode to use an Executive or subsystem service. If the context switch rate is unusually high, it implies that there is excessive contention for CPU resources.
System_calls_rate This value is the combined rate of calls to operating system service routines by all processes running on the computer. Calls/Sec Operating system calls are used to perform all of the basic scheduling and synchronization of activities on the computer, and provide access to non-graphic devices, memory management, and name space management. Excessively high number of system calls can impact the performance of a system. Watch for processes that are issuing a large number of system calls. Applications corresponding to these processes could be candidates for performance optimizations.
Pin_read_hits The percentage of pin read requests that hit the file system cache, i.e., did not require a disk read in order to provide access to the page in the file system cache Percent While pinned, a page's physical address in the file system cache will not be altered. The LAN Redirector uses this method for retrieving data from the cache, as does the LAN Server for small transfers. This is usually the method used by the disk file systems as well. The pin read hits should be close to 100% for high performance.
Pin_read_rate The frequency of reading data into the file system cache preparatory to writing the data back to disk Reads/Sec Pages read in this fashion are pinned in memory at the completion of the read. While pinned, a page's physical address in the file system cache will not be altered.
Interrupt_time Indicates the time spent by the processor for receiving and servicing the hardware interrupts during the last polling interval. Percent This is an indirect indicator of the activity of devices that generate interrupts such as system Clocks, the mouse device drivers, data communication lines, network interface cards and other peripheral devices.

In general, a very high value of this measure might indicate that a disk or network adapter needs upgrading or replacing.