Configuration of DiskActivityTest

The DiskActivityTest reports statistics pertaining to the input/output utilization of each of the disk partitions of a system. The default parameters associated with this test are as follows:

• The TEST PERIOD list box helps the user to decide how often this test needs to be executed.

• In the HOST text box, the host name of the server for which the test is to be configured has to be specified.

• Setting the USEEXE flag to true, ensures that the disk activity metrics are collected by executing a binary instead of dynamically linking to the Performance instrumentation library. By default, this is set to false.

• The DISKS parameter lets you to choose the type of disks for which you want to monitor the disk activity. By default, Physical will be selected from the DISKS list box indicating that this test will monitor the activities of the physical disks in the target host. However, you can override this setting as per your requirement. If you want to monitor the activities of the logical disks on the target host, choose Logical from this list box. You can also obtain disk activity metrics for both logical and physical disks by selecting All from the DISKS list box.

• The TRACE flag is applicable only for the Windows platforms. By default, this flag is set to No, indicating that the test does not generate in-depth details such as details on read/write activities on each file stored in the disk, by default, so as to conserve storage space. However, if you want the test to generate and store details of read/write activities performed on each and every file in the disk, set the TRACE flag to Yes. Additionally, to collect deep insights of disk activities, you will need to configure the following parameters once the TRACE flag is set to Yes.

  Note that the following parameters are applicable only for the Windows platforms.

  • The DISK BUSY PERCENT parameter is applicable only when the TRACE flag is set to Yes. In the DISK BUSY PERCENT text box, specify the percentage of time beyond which the test should reveal the detailed diagnosis for the Disk_busy measure. By default, this parameter is set to 20. However, you can override this value as per your requirement.

  • The READ SIZE IN KB parameter is applicable only when the TRACE flag is set to Yes and the Disk_busy measure violates the value specified against the DISK BUSY PERCENT parameter. By default, the value of this parameter is set to 10 KB. This indicates that the detailed diagnosis of this test will include the details of only those files from which data of size greater than or equal to 10 KB has been read. This setting will help you to conserve space on the database and also to identify the files on which maximum read operations were performed. However, you can override the default value of this parameter as per your requirement.

  • The WRITE SIZE IN KB parameter is applicable only when the TRACE flag is set to Yes and the Disk_busy measure violates the value specified against the DISK BUSY PERCENT parameter. By default, the value of this parameter is set to 10 KB. This indicates that the detailed diagnosis of this test will include the details of only those files on which data of size greater than or equal to 10 KB has been written. This setting will help you to conserve space on the database and also to identify the files on which more number of write operations were performed. However, you can override the default value of this parameter as per your requirement.

  • The DISK RESPONSE TIME SECS parameter is applicable only when the TRACE flag is set to Yes and the Disk_busy measure violates the value specified against the DISK BUSY PERCENT parameter. By default, the value of this parameter is set to 1 second. This indicates that the detailed diagnosis of this test will include the details of only those files that took longer than 1 second to read/write data of size specified against the READ SIZE IN KB and WRITE SIZE IN KB parameters. This setting will help you to conserve space on the database and also to identify the files that took longer time to respond to read/write requests. However, you can override the default value of this parameter as per your requirement.

  • The EVENT CAPTURE INTERVAL IN SECS parameter is applicable only when the TRACE flag is set to Yes and the Disk_busy measure violates the value specified against the DISK BUSY PERCENT parameter. By default, the value of this parameter is set to 10 seconds. This setting ensures that the test will only capture the details of the disk events performed during the last 10 seconds of the specified measurement period. In addition, the detailed diagnosis of this test will include the details of the files involved in the disk events captured during the interval specified against this parameter only if the size of the data read from/written to the files is greater than or equal to the values specified against the READ SIZE IN KB and WRITE SIZE IN KB parameters or the response time of the read/write operations is greater than or equal to the values specified against the DISK RESPONSE TIME SECS parameter. However, you can override the default value of this parameter as per your requirement.

• The USE SUDO parameter is of significance to Linux and Solaris platforms only. By default, the USE SUDO parameter is set to No. This indicates that, by default, this test will report the detailed diagnosis for the Disk_busy measure of each disk partition being monitored by executing the /usr/bin/iotop command or /usr/sbin/iotop command. However, in some highly secure environments, the eG agent install user may not have the permissions to execute this command directly. In such cases, do the following:

  • Edit the sudoers file on the target host and append an entry of the following format to it:

    <eG_agent_install_user> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:<Command_with_path>

    For instance, if the eG agent install user is eguser, then the entries in the sudoers file should be:

    eguser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/iotop

    eguser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/iotop

  • Finally, save the file.

  • Then, when configuring the test using the eG admin interface, set the USE SUDO parameter to Yes. This will enable the eG agent to execute the sudo /usr/bin/iotop command or sudo /usr/sbin/iotop and retrieve the detailed diagnosis of the Disk_busy measure.

• The IOTOP LOCATION parameter is of significance to Linux and Solaris platforms only. By default, the IOTOP LOCATION parameter is set to none. This indicates that the eG agent would automatically discover the default location of the iotop package i.e. /usr/bin or /usr/sbin, for executing the sudo command when the USE SUDO flag is set to Yes. However, if the iotop package is installed in a different location in your environment, then specify that location in the IOTOP LOCATION text box.

• The HIGH SECURITY parameter is applicable only for the Linux platforms that are being monitored in the agentless manner. In highly secure environments, eG Enterprise could not perform agentless monitoring on a Linux host using SSH. To enable monitoring of the Linux hosts in such environments, set the HIGH SECURITY flag to Yes. It indicates that eG Enteprise will connect to the target Linux host in a more secure way and collect performance metrics. By default, this flag is set to No.

• To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, eG embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test, by default, for a particular server, choose the On option against DETAILED DIAGNOSIS. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

  The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability.

  • Both the bad and normal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

• If multiple components of the same component type are awaiting configuration, then an APPLY TO OTHER COMPONENTS check box will appear in this page. Clicking on this check box will allow you to apply the configuration to all/selected components of that type.

• Once the necessary values have been provided, clicking on the UPDATE button will register the changes made.

When changing the configuration for specific servers, a “*” beside the text box corresponding to the parameter signifies that these values have to be manually configured by the user. The parameter values that require to be configured will typically be prefixed with a “$” or contain a series of “*”. A value of “none” in the parameter value indicates that the corresponding parameter value can be changed if required.