Oracle ZFS CPU Utilization Test

A CPU may be a core on a socket or a hardware thread. For example, a system may have four sockets of quad-core CPUs, meaning there are 16 CPUs available to the appliance. The utilization shown by this statistic is the average across all CPUs.

The appliance CPUs can reach 100% utilization, which may or may not be a problem. For some performance tests the appliance is deliberately driven to 100% CPU utilization to measure it at peak performance.

CPU utilization represents the time spent processing CPU instructions in user and kernel code, that are not part of the idle thread. Instruction time includes stall cycles on the memory bus, so high utilization can be caused by the I/O movement of data.

This test monitors and reports the maximum utilization of CPU and checks for bottlenecks. This helps the administrators identify the tasks/ applications that are consuming too much of CPU resources and take necessary steps to minimize such tasks.

Target of the test : Oracle ZFS Storage System

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Oracle ZFS Storage System being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The IP address of the target system that is being monitored.
Port	The port number through which Oracle ZFS Storage System communicates. The default port is 215.
User, Password and Confirm Password	By default, this test uses the REST API commands to pull out the required metrics. To execute the REST API commands, the eG agent requires the permission of a local administrator user who has been assigned with Basic role and a custom role with Analytics authorization and read permission. Specify the credentials of such a user in the USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes and confirm the Password by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box. To create a new user with the required permissions, refer Creating a new user on Oracle ZFS Storage System.
Timeout	Specify the time duration for which this test should wait for a response from the storage system in the TIMEOUT text box. By default, this is 60 seconds.
Num DD Messages	By default, the NUM DD MESSAGES parameter is set to 10. This means that, by default, the detailed diagnosis of this test will report the details of the top-10 records of the measures that are obtained upon execution of this test. To view the details of more records as part of detailed metrics, you will have to increase the value of this parameter. Likewise, to view the details of less than 10 records, reduce the value of this parameter.
DD Frequency	Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD frequency.
Detailed Diagnosis	To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise 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 for a particular server, choose the On option. 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 normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
CPU utilization	Indicates the current CPU utilization while eG agent collects measures from the storage device.	Percent
Average CPU utilization	Indicates the average CPU utilization during the last measurement period.	Percent	A value close to 100% is a cause of concern, as it could indicate excessive usage of the storage device. If this condition is left unchecked, it can cause the overall performance of the device to significantly deteriorate and badly impact user-experience with the appliance.
Maximum CPU utilization	Indicates the maximum CPU utilization during the last measurement period.	Percent	Compare the value of this measure across users to know which user is using the maximum CPU and is probably causing a CPU contention on the system.
Maximum CPU utilization by CPU ID	Indicates the maximum CPU utilization by CPU ID.	Percent	The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the CPU IDs which had utilized the CPU to the maximum and when it had happened.
Maximum CPU utilization by application	Indicates the maximum CPU utilization by Application.	Percent	The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the applications which had utilized the CPU to the maximum and when it had happened.
Maximum CPU utilization by mode	Indicates the maximum CPU utilization by Mode (User mode, Kernel mode)	Percent	The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the mode (User mode, Kernel mode) which had utilized the CPU to the maximum and when it had happened.
Maximum CPU utilization by PID	Indicates the maximum CPU utilization by Process ID.	Percent	The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the PIDs which had utilized the CPU to the maximum and when it had happened.
Maximum CPU utilization by user	Indicates the maximum CPU utilization by User.	Percent	The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the users which had utilized the CPU to the maximum and when it had happened.