
VAX Software Performance Monitor, Version 3.4			SPD 27.56.09

DESCRIPTION

VAX Software Performance Monitor (VAX SPM) is a software performance 
management facility for VAX and VAXcluster systems. VAX SPM can collect, 
archive, display, analyze, report and graph performance information useful 
in system tuning, trend analysis and workload forecasting. This information 
includes resource utilization and load balance data for single node, 
multi-CPU, and VAXcluster systems. VAX SPM software is designed for use by 
system managers and system programmers.

VAX SPM Collector Facility provides:

oo   A flexible facility for collecting and archiving performance data. Data 
    may be collected using a variety of user-specified qualifiers and 
    parameters.  The user can start and stop data collection for all nodes 
    in a VAXcluster or from remote nodes in a distributed system from a 
    single terminal, and archive all the performance data into a single 
    history file.  Note that a VAX SPM or VAX SPM Collector License is 
    required for each node where data is collected.  If data is collected 
    utilizing the VAX SPM Collector Facility, a Full Function VAX SPM 
    License is required for analysis, reporting or display. 

Full VAX SPM Facility provides:

The Collector facility and diagnostic tools that include:

oo   A knowledge based interactive ANALYZER which detects and analyzes 
    performance bottlenecks from data collected by the VAX SPM collector. 
    The Analyzer's knowledge is gathered from VMS performance analysts and 
    is organized into decision trees.

oo   VIDEO DISPLAYS which dynamically show a variety of performance 
    statistics using bar charts, Kiviat plots and numerical data.  These 
    can display data for a single node or summary information for all nodes 
    or accessible disks (up to eight concurrently) in a VAXcluster system. 
    The latter is particularly useful for balancing the workload across 
    several nodes or disks. Single node data may be displayed for the 
    currently running system or played back from a log file; VAXcluster 
    system data must be from the currently running system or history files.

oo   A REPORT and GRAPH component containing a level of detail necessary 
    to quantify system resource utilization (CPU, memory and I/O) and 
    identify system performance bottlenecks. Proper analysis of these may 
    reveal under utilized resources that can be traded against a 
    bottleneck. Graphs and reports of data collected over long periods of 
    time show long-term trends in resource utilization. These are helpful 
    in planning future hardware acquisitions.

oo   A CHARGE component that generates a report of charges based upon system 
    and resource utilization with user specified resource pricing.

oo   A SYSTEM PC component that delineates CPU usage. 

oo   A DISK ANALYSIS component that describes disk volume utilization and 
    identifies files contributing to disk fragmentation.

oo   A HOT FILES component that provides detailed file level statistics 
    necessary for disk load balancing. 

oo   An EVENT TRACE component that is suitable for collecting "custom" 
    performance data and testing the performance of system software.

Features

System Tuning

VAX SPM collects, analyzes and reports performance data pertinent to 
analyzing and tuning a VAX system. This includes: system configuration 
data, system parameters, resource utilization statistics for CPU, I/O and 
memory (including swapping, paging and modified page writing), devices, 
scheduling, locking, file system, lock manager, SCS data and process 
statistics. The user can specify start and stop time, sample interval and 
the node(s) for which to collect data, in addition to specific data items.  
Reports present the data in both tabular and graphic format (plotted 
against time).

The Analyzer provides the ability to select a range of VAX SPM collected 
data for input to the Analyzer, and the ability to step through the 
analysis displaying the results of each test and conclusion. The Analyzer 
provides the ability to both display and change the performance thresholds 
that were used to reach its conclusions. The user can further alter the 
decisions of the Analyzer to explore different possibilities based upon 
experience with the system workload. 

The Analyzer also provides the ability to request more information on how 
and from what VAX SPM data it reached its conclusion, and includes 
references to the VAX SPM reports. The Analyzer produces a report 
containing either a suggestion for improvement or simply a report that 
indicates no problem was found during the selected analysis period. This 
report also contains changes and decision modifications the user applied.

The VAX SPM video displays are designed to help the user investigate 
performance problems on single processors and VAXcluster systems.  There 
are single node displays for system overview, memory, CPU, I/O and load 
balance. Once a video display begins, subcommands may be issued to control 
the display and its characteristics including: select displayed processes - 
top 12 by node, direct I/O, buffered I/O, page fault, or working set size; 
change scaling factor; and viewing time.  For each node (up to eight 
concurrently), VAXcluster system displays show: hard and soft page faults, 
system and task CPU time, memory and CPU utilization, and I/O rate.

For each accessible disk (up to eight concurrently), the display shows the 
I/O rate and disk's response time.  Multi-color displays are produced if an 
appropriate color terminal or monitor is used. The displays can be printed 
(monochrome) on an appropriate external graphics capable printer (e.g., 
LA75).

The System PC component shows where CPU time is spent on a single node. The 
program counter and processor status longword are sampled and recorded in a 
log file.  Reports delineate CPU usage by system/process address space, 
access mode, IPL, system module, device driver and user process.

The Event Trace component is suitable for collecting performance data 
beyond the standard VAX SPM data.  The user defines trace points within the 
VMS Executive and writes a data collector using subroutines supplied by the 
component.  This component also provides buffer and record management 
routines and is particularly suited to testing the performance of system 
software (e.g., a user written system service or device driver).

Disk Analysis 

This component provides detailed usage information for ODS-2 disk volumes: 
volume attributes, the amount of allocated and free space as well as an 
indication of how fragmented it is, and a list of files with extension 
headers.

Hot Files

This component provides a real time video display of detailed file 
statistics showing which files are being accessed the most. The video 
display also includes the percent of I/Os that were read for these files. 
This component is particularly suited to the location of the files which 
may be moved to alleviate a disk bottleneck.

Charge 

The Charge component reads multiple VMS accounting files and a disk usage 
file to generate a single report of the system's resource utilization. It 
shows the amounts and monetary values of the resources consumed by each 
user on the system.  The report shows quantity of resources consumed, unit 
prices charged for each resource and the total price charged for that 
resource.  The report prices and comment information are specified by the 
user.

Planning for Continued System Growth

VAX SPM collects and reports information useful to a data operations 
manager in planning for additional hardware.  Data can be archived in a 
history file which takes less disk space than the original log file(s).  
The data can be kept for a long period of time (e.g., months or years) and 
retrieved and printed in reports showing long term trends of resource 
utilizations and system behavior.  Information similar to that used for 
system tuning is kept for long term trend analysis, although typically with 
a longer sample interval.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

VAX, MicroVAX or VAXstation configuration as specified in the System 
Support Addendum (SSA 27.56.09-x).

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

VMS Operating System

Refer to the System Support Addendum (SSA 27.56.09-x) for availability and 
required versions of prerequisite/optional software.  

ORDERING INFORMATION 

Full VAX SPM Facility

Software Licenses: QL-850A*-**
Software Media: QA-850A*-**
Software Documentation: QA-850AA-GZ
Software Product Services: QT-850A*-** 

VAX SPM Collector

Software Licenses: QL-VUPA*-**
Software Media: QA-VUPA*-**
Software Documentation: QA-VUPAA-GZ
Software Product Services: QT-VUPA*-**

*   Denotes variant fields. For additional information on available 
    licenses, services and media, refer to the appropriate price book.

SOFTWARE LICENSING

This software is furnished under the licensing provisions of Digital 
Equipment Corporation's Standard Terms and Conditions.  For more 
information about Digital's licensing terms and policies, contact your 
local Digital office.


LICENSE MANAGEMENT FACILITY SUPPORT

This layered product supports the VMS License Management Facility.

License units for this product are allocated on a CPU-capacity basis. 

For more information on the License Management Facility, refer to the VMS 
Operating System Software Product Description (SPD 25.01.xx) or the License 
Management Facility manual of the VMS Operating System documentation set.

For more information about Digital's licensing terms and policies, contact 
your local Digital office.

SOFTWARE PRODUCT SERVICES

A variety of service options are available from Digital. For more   
information, contact your local Digital office.

SOFTWARE WARRANTY

Warranty for this software product is provided by Digital with the purchase 
of a license for the product as defined in the Software Warranty Addendum 
of this SPD.

(R)  The DIGITAL Logo is a registered trademark of Digital Equipment 
     Corporation.
(TM) MicroVAX, PRO, VAX, VAX SPM, VAXstation, VAXserver, VMS, and VT are 
     trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.

