eG Monitoring
 

Measures reported by ISCSIConnStatsTest

The iSCSI protocol is a licensed service on the storage system that enables you to transfer block data to hosts using the SCSI protocol over TCP/IP. The iSCSI protocol standard is defined by RFC 3720. In an iSCSI network, storage systems are targets that have storage target devices, which are referred to as LUNs (logical units). A host with an iSCSI host bus adapter (HBA), or running iSCSI initiator software, uses the iSCSI protocol to access LUNs on a storage system. The iSCSI protocol is implemented over the storage system's standard gigabit Ethernet interfaces using a software driver. The connection between the initiator and target uses a standard TCP/IP network. No special network configuration is needed to support iSCSI traffic. The network can be a dedicated TCP/IP network, or it can be your regular public network. The storage system listens for iSCSI connections on TCP port 3260.

This test monitors the iSCSI connections to the storage system, reports the load imposed by these connections on the storage device, and reveals the nature of these connections - i.e., the number of new connections, the number of connections used for data transfer, the number of connections used for discovery, and more.

The measures made by this test are as follows:

Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation
Initiators_logged Indicates the number of initiators that were currently logged in. Number This measure reports the number of hosts with the initiator software that are currently accessing the LUNs on the storage device. This measure is a good indicator of the current workload of the device.
Existing_connection Indicates the number of connections that were already established. Number This measure is a good indicator of the current workload of the device.
New_connection Indicates the number of connections that are not yet part of a session. Number  
Normal_session Indicates the number of iSCSI sessions that are currently used for data transfer in this storage system. Number A high value is desired for this measure.
Discovery_session Indicates the number of iSCSI sessions that are used to obtain information about iSCSI targets. Number