CONTENTS Title Page Copyright Page Preface 1 Overview 1.1 POLYCENTER Performance Solution Products 1.2 The Performance Advisor 1.3 Performance Advisor Features 1.3.1 Knowledge Base and Rules Compiler 1.3.2 Analysis and Reporting Facility 1.3.2.1 Generating Daily Reports Automatically 1.3.3 Real Time Displays of Performance Data 1.3.4 Graphing Facility 1.3.5 Callable Interface for Data Extraction 1.3.6 Data EXPORT Facility 1.4 DECwindows Interface 1.5 What to Expect from the Performance Advisor 2 Analyzing Performance 2.1 Analysis Reports 2.1.1 Interpreting the Analysis Report 2.2 Brief Analysis Reports 2.2.1 Interpreting the Brief Analysis Report 3 Evaluating Performance in Detail 3.1 Performance Evaluation Report 3.1.1 Interpreting the Process Statistics 3.1.1.1 Interpreting Process Statistics by Image Name and User Name 3.1.1.2 Interpreting Process Statistics by Workload 3.1.1.3 Viewing Process Statistics with a Generalized Set of Metrics 3.1.1.4 Viewing Process Statistics with an Emphasis on CPU Metrics 3.1.1.5 Viewing Process Statistics with an Emphasis on IO Metrics 3.1.1.6 Viewing Process Statistics with an Emphasis on Memory Metrics 3.1.2 Interpreting Pool Statistics 3.1.3 Interpreting CPU Mode Statistics 3.1.4 Interpreting SCS Statistics 3.1.5 Interpreting Clusterwide Lock Statistics 3.1.6 Interpreting Clusterwide CI, NI, and Adapter Statistics 3.1.7 Interpreting Clusterwide Disk Statistics 3.1.8 Interpreting Clusterwide Tape Statistics 3.1.9 Interpreting Clusterwide Hot File Statistics 3.1.10 Interpreting Clusterwide Summary Statistics 3.2 Histograms 3.2.1 Image Residence Histogram 3.3 Tabular Report Sections 3.3.1 System Configuration Data 3.3.2 Summary Statistics Sections 3.3.2.1 Avg Process-Memory Counts 3.3.2.2 Memory Utilization 3.3.2.3 Avg Mem/CPU Queues 3.3.2.4 Swapper Counts 3.3.2.5 CPU Statistics 3.3.2.6 Lost CPU 3.3.2.7 CPU and I/O Overlap 3.3.2.8 Paging Rates 3.3.2.9 I/O Rates 3.3.2.10 File I/O Rates 3.3.2.11 AVE Open Files 3.3.2.12 File Cache Attempt Rate 3.3.2.13 File Cache Effectiveness 3.3.2.14 Lock Rates 3.3.2.15 Lock Counts 3.3.3 System Communication Service Rates 3.3.4 Disk and Server Statistics Section 3.3.5 Process Metrics Data 3.3.5.1 Standard Process Metrics 3.3.5.2 Extended Process Metrics 3.3.6 Cluster Summary Statistics (with By Node Breakout) 3.3.6.1 Memory By Cluster Format 3.3.6.2 By Node Format 3.3.6.3 By Cluster or By Node Summary Statistics 3.3.7 Cluster Disk and Server Statistics (with By Node Breakout) 3.3.7.1 Disk By Cluster Format 3.3.7.2 Disk By Node Format 3.3.7.3 By Cluster and By Node Disk Statistics 3.3.7.4 Server By Cluster Format 3.3.7.5 Server By Node Format 3.3.7.6 By Cluster and By Node Server Statistics 4 Generating Graphs 4.1 Generating Predefined Graphs 4.1.1 Generating Graphs from the DCL Level 4.1.2 Generating Graphs in Command Mode 4.2 Generating Multiple Graphs 4.3 Components of Graphs 4.4 Composite Graphs 4.5 Stacked Graphs 4.6 Creating Typical Time Period Graphs 4.7 Scheduling 4.8 Using Binary Graph Data 4.9 Components of Pie Charts 4.10 Pie Chart Presentation of CPU Utilization 4.11 Formatting Graphs and Pie Charts 4.11.1 Refreshing a ReGIS Graph with New Characteristics 4.11.2 Output Formats 4.12 Data Resolution with X_POINTS 4.13 Generating Custom Graphs 4.13.1 Graphing System Metrics 4.13.2 Graphing Process Metrics by User 4.14 Graphing Hot File Activity 5 Customizing the Knowledge Base 5.1 How to Investigate Rule Firing 5.2 Components of Rules 5.2.1 Rules File Constructs 5.2.2 Rule Construct Elements 5.2.2.1 Rule ID Element 5.2.2.2 Domain Element 5.2.2.3 Rule Condition Element 5.2.2.4 Occurrence Element 5.2.2.5 Evidence Element 5.2.2.6 Conclusion Text Element 5.2.2.7 Brief Conclusion Text Element 5.3 Data Cell Types and Use 5.3.1 Boolean Data Cell 5.3.2 Numeric Data Cell 5.3.3 String Data Cell 5.3.4 Time Data Cell 5.3.5 Scan Routine Data Cell 5.3.6 Tally Data Cell 5.3.7 Index Specifier Data Cell 5.4 How to Implement Changes 5.4.1 Disabling an Existing Rule 5.4.2 Modifying an Existing Rule 5.4.3 Adding a New Rule 5.4.4 Changing a Threshold Value 5.4.5 Changing a Rule Literal Value 5.5 Building an Auxiliary Knowledge Base 5.6 Using an Auxiliary Knowledge Base for Reporting and Archiving 6 Callable Interface for Data Extraction 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Performance Advisor Procedures PSPA$OPEN_CONTEXT PSPA$READ_CONTEXT PSPA$CLOSE_CONTEXT 6.3 PSPA Libraries 6.3.1 Compiling and Linking with the PSPA MACRO Library 6.4 Sample VAX MACRO Program 6.5 PSPA Record Field Definitions 7 Performance Advisor Commands ADVISE PERFORMANCE ADVISE PERFORMANCE COMPILE ADVISE PERFORMANCE DISPLAY ADVISE PERFORMANCE EXPORT ADVISE PERFORMANCE GRAPH ADVISE PERFORMANCE PIE_CHART ADVISE PERFORMANCE REPORT ADVISE PERFORMANCE SHOW VERSION 8 Using Command Mode Commands ADVISE PERFORMANCE SELECT LOAD GRAPH PIE_CHART REPORT SAVE SPAWN EXIT @(Execute Procedure) 9 Using the DECwindows Motif Interface 9.1 Starting the Performance Solution DECwindows Motif Interface 9.1.1 Using the Main Window 9.1.2 Main Window Status Information 9.2 Controlling the DECwindows Interface 9.2.1 Saving Reports 9.2.2 Monitoring Work in Progress 9.2.3 Reading the Parameter File 9.2.4 Writing the Parameter File 9.2.5 Loading Binary Graph Data 9.2.6 Saving Binary Graph Data 9.2.7 Quitting the Session 9.3 Selecting Data for Analysis 9.3.1 Selecting Today's Data 9.3.2 Selecting Specific Data 9.3.2.1 Data to Be Analyzed 9.3.2.2 Period to Be Analyzed 9.3.2.3 Processing Options 9.3.3 Selecting Last Hour 9.3.4 Using Custom Default Settings 9.4 Displaying Analyzed Data 9.4.1 Brief Analysis Report 9.4.2 Full Analysis Report 9.4.3 Performance Evaluation Report 9.4.4 Process Statistics 9.4.5 Tabular Report Sections 9.4.5.1 Tabular Interval Report Sections 9.4.6 Graphs 9.4.6.1 Saving the Graph 9.4.6.2 Editing the Graph Format 9.4.6.3 Displaying Predefined Graphs 9.4.6.4 Displaying Top System Use Graphs 9.4.6.5 Displaying Custom Graphs 9.5 Customizing 9.5.1 Customizing Data Collection 9.5.1.1 Modifying or Creating a Collection Definition 9.5.1.2 Changing Collection Definition Parameters 9.5.2 Customizing PSDC$DATABASE Definition 9.5.3 Customizing Parameters 9.5.3.1 Starting Parameter Editing 9.5.4 Workload Definitions 9.5.4.1 Creating a Workload Definition 9.5.4.2 Deleting a Workload Definition 9.5.4.3 Modifying Workload Definitions 9.5.5 Workload Family Definitions 9.5.5.1 Creating a Workload Family 9.5.5.2 Deleting a Workload Family 9.5.5.3 Modifying a Workload Family 9.5.6 History File Descriptors 9.5.6.1 Creating a History File Descriptor 9.5.6.2 Deleting a History File Descriptor 9.5.6.3 Modifying a History File Descriptor 9.5.7 Parameter Settings 9.6 Viewing the Main Window 9.7 Getting Help 9.7.1 Exiting from Help 10 Using the DECwindows Motif RealTime Display 10.1 Starting the RealTime Display 10.2 Controlling the RealTime Display 10.3 Navigating Within the Default Panels 10.4 Using the Panel Commands Menu 10.5 Default Panel Descriptions 10.5.1 CPU Utilization Panel Descriptions 10.5.2 CPU Queue Panel Descriptions 10.5.3 Hard Fault Rate Panel Descriptions 10.5.4 Disk Rate Panel Descriptions 10.6 Reviewing Data 10.7 Setting Thresholds and Ranges 10.8 Changing Colors and Patterns 11 Customizing the DECwindows Motif RealTime Display 11.1 Accessing the Panel Manager 11.2 Specifying Actions on Panels 11.3 Terminating the Session 11.4 Editing the Panel Instruments 11.4.1 Enabling Build Mode 11.4.2 Modifying Instruments 11.4.2.1 Setting Ranges and Thresholds 11.4.2.2 Setting Patterns and Colors 11.4.2.3 Modifying Parts 11.4.2.4 Creating Instruments 11.4.2.5 Copying Instruments 11.4.2.6 Deleting Instruments 11.4.2.7 Assigning Metrics 11.4.2.8 Assigning Launch Panels 11.4.2.9 Launching Panels 11.5 Setting Panel Options 11.5.1 Setting Panel Status 11.5.2 Specifying Panel Background 11.5.3 Specifying Panel Title 11.5.4 Specifying Panel Node and Metric Instance Data 11.5.5 Remove Panel Menu 11.5.6 Saving the Panel 11.5.7 Closing the Panel 12 Using the Character-Cell RealTime Display 12.1 Overview of the Character-Cell Display Functions 12.1.1 Prerequisites 12.2 Starting the Character-Cell Displays 12.3 Controlling Displays 12.4 Displaying Multinode Statistics 12.5 Displaying Single-Node Statistics 12.5.1 Displaying CPU Utilization 12.5.2 Displaying Top Processes Statistics 12.5.3 Displaying Top Device Statistics 12.6 Displaying Process Information 12.7 Displaying Disk Information 12.8 Displaying Rules Information 12.9 Displaying RESOURCE Information 12.9.1 RESOURCE Keypad 12.9.2 Balancing Cluster System Utilization Using the Resource Display 12.9.3 Lower (Common) Resource Display 12.9.4 Memory Display 12.9.5 Disk Display 12.9.6 CPU Display 12.10 The INVESTIGATE Command 12.10.1 INVESTIGATE Command Options 12.10.2 INVESTIGATE Keypad 12.11 Evaluating Performance Using the Investigate Displays 12.11.1 Investigating a Memory Limitation 12.11.2 Investigating an I/O Limitation 12.11.3 Investigating a CPU Limitation 12.11.4 Isolating the Cause of a Memory Limitation 12.11.5 Isolating the Cause of an I/O Limitation 12.11.6 Isolating the Cause of a CPU Limitation 12.12 Exiting the Character-Cell Displays A Performance Advisor Messages and Recovery Procedures B Performance Advisor Logical Names C Performance Solution Data Cells D Sample Callable Interface Programs E Estimating Virtual Memory Needs E.1 How the Performance Advisor Uses Virtual Memory E.2 For Graphs E.3 For Reports E.4 For AXP Systems F Output Format for ASCII-CSV Data F.1 Record Header F.2 Version Data Record F.3 Memory Statistics Data Record F.4 CPU Statistics Data Record F.5 Secondary Cpu Statistics Data Record F.6 Page Statistics Data Record F.7 I/O Statistics Data Record F.8 XQP Statistics Data Record F.9 System Communication Services Data Record F.10 Lock Statistics Data Record F.11 Device Statistics Data Record F.12 Disk Statistics Data Record F.13 Server Statistics Data Record F.14 Process Metric Statistics Data Record Glossary