eG Monitoring
 

Measures reported by VTBlastTest

The BLAST Session protocol allows files on a remote computer to be manipulated - i.e., to be deleted, renamed, or printed on the remote. Owing to the improved remote file management capabilities that Blast offers, VMware now supports the Blast protocol too for user communication with virtual desktops and applications on VMware View RDS hosts. Because of this, there is a need to know which users have connected to VMware View RDS hosts via Blast and how the experience of each user is. This is why, the VTBlastTest test auto-discovers the users who are connected to VMware View RDS hosts via the Blast protocol, and measures the bandwidth usage, frames processing ability, I/O performance, throughput, and time taken to establish each user's session. In the process, bandwidth-hungry, latent sessions can be accurately isolated.

The measures made by this test are as follows:

Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation
No_of_sessions Represents the current number of sessions for a particular user Number A value of 0 indicates that the user is not currently connected to the VMware View RDS server. You can use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know which applications are currently run by a user and the resource usage of each application. Resource-hungry applications can thus be identified.
Cpu_util The CPU utilization for a session is the percentage of time that all of the threads/processes of a user session used the processor to execute instructions. If a user is connected via multiple sessions, the value reported is the sum of all CPU utilizations across all the sessions.  Percent This value indicates the percentage of CPU resources that are used by applications run by this user. Excessive CPU usage by a user can impact performance for other users. Check the detailed diagnosis to view the offending processes/applications.
Mem_util This value represents the ratio of the resident set size of the memory utilized by the user to the physical memory of the host system, expressed as a percentage. If a user is connected via multiple sessions, the value reported is the sum of all memory utilizations across all the sessions. Percent This value indicates the percentage of memory resources that are used up by a specific user. By comparing this value across users, an administrator can identify the Blast sessions that are engaged in memory-intensive processing on the VMware View RDS server. Check the detailed diagnosis to view the offending processes/applications.
Input_bandwidth Indicates the average bandwidth used for client to server communications for all the sessions of a user. KB/Sec  
Input_errors The average number of input errors of all types for all the sessions of a user. Example: Lost ACK's, badly formed packets, etc.  Errors/Sec  
Output_bandwidth Indicates the average bandwidth used for server to client communications for all the sessions of a user KB/Sec  
Output_errors The average number of output errors of all types for all the sessions of a user. Example: Lost ACK's, badly formed packets, etc. Errors/Sec  
IO_reads Indicates the rate of I/O reads done by all processes being run by a user. KBps These metrics measure the collective I/O activity (which includes file, network and device I/O's) generated by all the processes being executed by a user. When viewed along with the system I/O metrics reported by the DiskActivityTest test, these measures help you determine the network I/O. Comparison across users helps identify the user who is running the most I/O-intensive processes. Check the detailed diagnosis for the offending processes/applications.  
IO_writes Indicates the rate of I/O writes done by all processes being run by a user. KBps
Page_faults Indicates the rate of page faults seen by all processes being run by a user. Faults/Sec Page Faults occur in the threads executing in a process.  A page fault occurs when a thread refers to a virtual memory page that is not in its working set in main memory.  If the page is on the standby list and hence already in main memory, or if the page is in use by another process with whom the page is shared, then the page fault will not cause the page to be fetched from disk. Excessive page faults could result in decreased performance. Compare values across users to figure out which user is causing most page faults.
Virtual_memory Indicates the total virtual memory being used by all processes being run by a user. MB Comparison across users reveals the user who is being a drain on the virtual memory space.
Handles Indicates the total number of handles being currently held by all processes of a user. Number A consistent increase in the handle count over a period of time is indicative of malfunctioning of programs. Compare this value across users to see which user is using a lot of handles. Check detailed diagnosis for further information. 
Cpu_util_time Indicates the percentage of time, across all processors, this user hogged the CPU. Percent The CPU usage for user's processes measure averages out the total CPU usage of a user on the basis of the number of processors. For instance, if your VMware View RDS server is using an 8-core processor and the total CPU usage of a user across all his/her sessions amounts to 80%, then the value of the CPU usage for user's processes measure for that user will be 10 % (80/8 processors = 10). This accurately denotes the extent of CPU usage in an environment where load is uniformly balanced across multiple processors. However, in environments where load is not well-balanced, the CPU usage for user's processes measure may not be an accurate indicator of CPU usage per user. For instance, if a single processor is used nearly 80% of the time by a user, and other 7 processors in the 8-core processor environment are idle, the CPU usage for user's processes measure will still report CPU usage as 10%. This may cause administrators to miss out on the fact that the user is actually hogging a particular processor! In such environments therefore, its best to use the CPU time used by user's sessions measure! By reporting the total CPU usage of a user across all his/her sessions and across all the processors the target VMware View RDS server supports, this measure serves as the true indicator of the level of CPU usage by a user in dynamic environments. For instance, in the example above, the CPU time used by user’s sessions of the user will be 80% (and not 10%, as in the case of the  CPU usage for user's processes measure). A high value or a consistent increase in the value of this measure is hence serious and demands immediate attention. In such situations, use the detailed diagnosis of the CPU usage for user’s processes measure to know what CPU-intensive activities are being performed by the user.  
Bandhwidth Indicates the bandwidth usage of all sessions of this user Kbps Compare the value of this measure across users to know which user is consuming the maximum bandwidth.
Frames Indicates the rate at which frames are processed during this user's sessions. Frames/Sec FPS is how fast your graphics card can output individual frames each second. It is the most time-tested and ideal measure of performance of a GPU. Higher the value of this measure, healthier is the GPU.
Round_trip Indicates the round trip latency between this user and the server. Seconds A high value is indicative of a connection bottleneck.
Throughput Indicates the network throughput of this user's sessions. Kbps A poor network throughput could cause latencies in network communication.