eG Help

When a user complains of a virtual/physical desktop slowdown, administrators will have to instantly figure out if that VM/physical machine is experiencing a resource crunch, and if so, which process/application on the desktop is contributing to it. One of the common reasons for CPU/memory contentions and handle leaks on a virtual/physical desktop is web browsing! If a user to a virtual/physical desktop browses resource-intensive web sites, it is bound to result in over-usage of the resources allocated to that VM, which in turn degrades the performance of not just that VM/physical machine but even the other VMs/physical machines on that host. While the VmgSystemTest test can lead administrators to the exact browser application that is consuming the CPU/memory resources of the VM/physical machine excessively, it does not provide visibility into the precise websites that were been browsed when the resource contention occurred. This is where the VmgBrowsActTest test helps.

For each web browser that is being accessed by a user per virtual/physical desktop, this test reports how every browser uses the allocated CPU, memory, and disk resources and reveals the number and URLs of the web sites that are being accessed using each browser. This way, the test not only points administrators to resource-hungry browsers, but also indicates which web sites were being accessed using that browser.

This test will report metrics only if the virtual/physical server being monitored uses the .Net framework v3.0 (or above).

Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Browser_count	Indicates the number of instances of this browser currently running on this virtual/physical desktop.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know how much resources were utilized by each instance of a browser, so that the resource-hungry instance can be isolated.
Website_count	Indicates the number of websites that were accessed using this browser on this virtual/physical desktop during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know which web sites are being accessed using a browser.
Avg_cpu_util	Indicates the percentage CPU usage of this browser on this virtual/physical desktop.	Percent	Compare the value of this measure across browsers to know which browser consumed the maximum CPU on a desktop. If the value of this measure is close to 100% on that desktop, it indicates excessive CPU usage by the browser. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Website_count measure to know which web sites are being accessed using that browser, which caused CPU usage to soar.
Mem_used	Indicates the percent usage of memory by this browser on this virtual/physical desktop.	Percent	Compare the value of this measure across browsers to know which browser consumed the maximum memory on a desktop. If the value of this measure is close to 100% on that desktop, it indicates excessive memory usage by the browser. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Website_count measure to know which web sites are being accessed using that browser, which caused CPU usage to soar.
Handle_count	Indicates the number of handles opened by this browser on this virtual/physical desktop.	Number	Compare the value of this measure across browsers to know which browser opened the maximum number of handles on a desktop. If the value of this measure consistently increases on that desktop, it indicates that the corresponding browser is leaking memory. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Website_count measure to know which web sites are being accessed using that browser, which caused the memory leak.
Disk_read	Indicates the rate at which this browser read from the disks supported by this virtual/physical desktop.	KB/Sec	A high value for these measures indicates that the browser is generating high disk I/O. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Website_count measure of this browser to know which web sites on the browser are responsible for the high disk I/O.
Disk_write	Indicates the rate at which this browser read from the disks of this virtual/physical desktop.	KB/Sec
Disk_iops	Indicates the rate of read and write operations performed by this browser on the disks of this virtual/physical desktop.	Operations/Sec	A high value for this measure indicates that the browser is generating high disk I/O. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Website_count measure of this browser to know which web sites on the browser are responsible for the high disk I/O.
Page_fault	Indicates the rate at which page faults by the threads executing in this browser are occurring on this virtual/physical desktop.	Faults/Sec	Ideally, the value of this measure should be low. A high value for a browser is a cause for concern. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Website_count measure of this browser to know which web sites on the browser are responsible for page faults.