Virtualization - Datacenters Report

A vCenter server typically manages individual ESX servers, clusters, resource pools, and VMs as Datacenters. A datacenter is the primary container of inventory objects such as hosts and virtual machines. From the datacenter, you can add and organize inventory objects.

The Datacenters report provides an overview of the performance of a chosen datacenter over time, besides allowing users the flexibility to focus on the overall performance of the clusters, physical servers, VMs, and datastores contained in a datacenter. From the report, administrators can understand the composition of the selected datacenter, and also analyze the overall availability and resource-effectiveness of the elements (physical servers/VMs/clusters/datastores) included in the datacenter.

To generate the report, do the following:

Select Datacenters option from the Virtualizationnode of the REPORTS BY FUNCTION tree.

Figure 1 : Selecting the criteria for the Datacenters report
When Figure 1 appears, first, indicate the Report Type. For a graphical representation of cluster performance, select the Graph option; for tabulated performance results, select the Data option. By default, the Graph option is chosen.
If the Report Type is Graph, you would have to select an option from the View by list to indicate the graph type to be used for plotting performance data - select the Timeline option, so that the values reported by the chosen Measure are plotted in time-of-day line graphs; select the Distribution option, so that the report represents performance data in distribution pie charts and bar graphs. The default selection is Timeline.
Next, specify which vCenter component the report is meant for - currently, reports can be generated for VMware vCenter only. Therefore, this option is chosen by default in the Report for list.
From the vCenter Server list, select the vCenter server for which the report is to be generated.
All the datacenters managed by the chosen vCenter Server will be then available for selection in the Datacenters list. Select the datacenter for which the report is to be generated.
Next, from the Report by list, select the datacenter element for which the report is to be generated. If the report is to focus on the performance of the datastores within the datacenter, select the Datastores option. If the report should reveal how well the ESX servers included in the datacenter are performing, then, select the Physical Servers option. To ensure that the report indicates the service levels achieved by the VMs executing on the ESX servers within the datacenter, select the Virtual Machines option. For cluster-related performance information, select the Virtual Clusters option.
Then, pick the Measure for which the report is to be generated. Note that the options in the Measure list will change according to the Report by selection.
Then, specify the Timeline for the graph. You can either provide a fixed time line such as 1 hour, 2 days, etc., or select the Any option from the list to provide a From and To date/time for report generation.

Note:

For every user registered with the eG Enterprise system, the administrator can indicate the maximum timeline for which that user can generate a report. Once the maximum timeline is set for a user, then, whenever that user logs into eG Reporter and attempts to generate a report, the Timeline list box in the report page will display options according to the maximum timeline setting of that user. For instance, if a user can generate a report for a maximum period of 3 days only, then 3 days will be the highest option displayed in the Timeline list - i.e., 3 days will be the last option in the fixed Timeline list. Similarly, if the user chooses the Any option from the Timeline list and proceeds to provide a start date and end date for report generation using the From and To specifications, eG Enterprise will first check if the user's Timeline specification conforms to his/her maximum timeline setting. If not, report generation will fail. For instance, for a user who is allowed to generate reports spanning over a maximum period of 3 days only, the difference between the From and To dates should never be over 3 days. If it is, then, upon clicking the Run Report button a message box will appear, prompting the user to change the From and To specification.
In addition to the settings discussed above, this report comes with a set of default specifications. These settings are hidden by default. If you do not want to disturb these default settings, then you can proceed to generate the report by clicking the Run Report button soon after you pick a Measure. However, if you want to view and then alter these settings (if required), click on the button. The default settings will then appear in the MORE OPTIONS drop down window (see Figure 2). The steps below discuss each of these settings and how they can be customized.

Figure 2 : The default settings for generating the Datacenters report
The speed with which a report is generated depends primarily on the report Timeline. While a Timeline that varies between a couple of days to a week enables the eG Enterprise system to quickly retrieve the required data, timelines that span multiple weeks/months could slow-down the data retrieval and report generation process to a considerable extent, owing to the volume of data involved. In order to ensure quick and easy access to reports, eG Enterprise provides you the option of enabling data retrieval from the Trend information in the database, instead of the Detailed test information that is used by default for report generation. The Detailed test information based comprises of multiple measurement records for a test - one or more each for every test execution. Whereas, the Trend information includes only hourly, daily, and monthly summary computations for a test performed on a continuous basis. For instance, during a period of 1 hour, a test that runs every 5 minutes inserts atleast 12 records into the Detailed test information base. On the other hand, the Trend information base would consist of only 1 record for the same 1 hour period. Fewer the number of records, query execution becomes much quicker, and data retrieval faster. To use the trend data for report generation, you will have to select the Trend option from the Show Data field in Figure 2. By default, the Detailed option is selected in Figure 2 indicating that the report data is retrieved from the detailed test information in the database. If need be, you can also ensure that all reports always use the Detailed test tables alone by hiding the Show Data field from the reporter interface. To achieve this, do the following:
- Login to the eG administrative interface as 'admin'.
- Select the Manager option from the Settings tile that appears when the button against the Admin tab is clicked.
- From the GENERAL SETTINGS page that then appears, if you set the Compute average/sum of metrics while trending flag to No, then the Show Data field will not appear in the reporter interface; this denies users access to the Trend option, and thus ensures that reports are always generated using the Detailed tables.
  - A Trend report will not include the data for the current day since trend data is only computed at the end of the day.
  - If the Trend option is chosen, the time period of the report should be greater than 1 day.
  - The usage of Detailed test tables for generating reports, especially those that span weeks, increases the stress on the eG database, thus resulting in undue delays in report generation. In order to ensure that the database is not choked by such voluminous data requests, you can configure eG Enterprise to automatically "force" the use of the Trend option if the Timeline of a report exceeds a pre-configured duration. To specify this time boundary, do the following:
    - Edit the eg_report.ini file in the <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\manager\config directory.
    - In the [MISC] section of the file, you will find a DetailedTime parameter.
    - Specify the duration (in days) beyond which Detailed reports cannot be generated, against the DetailedTime parameter, and save the eg_report.ini file.
    - For instance, to make sure that Detailed reports are disallowed for a Timeline of over 2 weeks, set the DetailedTime parameter to 14 and save the file.
    - Say, subsequently, you attempt to generate a Detailed report for a FixedTimeline of 3 weeks (which is greater than the 14-day limit set in our example). The instant you select the 3 weeks option from the Fixed list box, the Detailed option gets automatically disabled, and the Trend option gets enabled. Similarly, if you specify an AnyTimeline that runs over 14 days, then, upon clicking the Run Report button to generate the report, a message box appears (see Figure 8) informing you that only the Trend option is permitted.
    - To proceed with the Trend report generation, click the ok button in the message box. To terminate Trend report generation, click the Cancel button.
If the timeline specified for the report needs to exclude the data collected during the Weekends, then set Exclude weekends to Yes. If not, select No.

Note:

By default, the weekend constitutes Saturday and Sunday. To override this default setting, do the following:
- Edit the eg_report.ini file in the <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\manager\config directory.
- In the [virtual_center] section of the file, the exclude_weekend parameter is set to Saturday, Sunday by default. You can modify this by setting the exclude_weekend parameter to a comma-separated list of other days of the week - say Friday, Saturday.
- Save the file after making the required changes.
Next, indicate the report Time period.
You can further filter the result set of your report picking one of the following options from the Filter by list:
- Top-N - Select this option and pick a top-n or a last-n option from the drop-down list adjacent to it to ensure that the resulting graph only plots the values of the specified number of top / last players in the chosen performance arena.
- Range - Pick this option and provide a value range in the From and To text boxes that appear alongside.
- Greaterthan - Pick this option and provide a value in the text box that appears alongside to view the details of only those resource pools which have registered a value greater than the value specified in that box for the chosen Measure.
- Lessthan - Pick this option and provide a value in the text box that appears alongside to view the details of only those resource pools which have registered a value lesser than the value specified in that box for the chosen Measure.
In large environments, reports generated using months of data can take a long time to complete. Administrators now have the option of generating reports on-line or in the background. When a report is scheduled for background generation, administrators can proceed with their other monitoring, diagnosis, and reporting tasks, while the eG manager is processing the report. This saves the administrator valuable time. To schedule background processing of a report, you can either select the Background Save - PDF option or the Background Save - CSV option from the Report Generation list. In this case, a Report Name text box will appear, where you would have to provide the name with which the report is to be saved in the background. To process reports in the foreground, select the Foreground Generation - HTML option from this list.

Note:
- The Report Generation list will appear only if the EnableBackgroundReport flag in the [BACKGROUND_PROCESS] section of the eg_report.ini file (in the [EG_INSTALL_DIR]\manager\config directory) is set to Yes.
- The default selection in the Report Generation list will change according to the Timeline specified for the report. If the Timeline set is greater than or equal to the number of days specified against the MinDurationForReport parameter in the [BACKGROUND_PROCESS] section of the eg_report.ini file, then the default selection in the Report Generation list will be Background Save - PDF. On the other hand, if the Timeline set for the report is lesser than the value of the MinDurationForReport parameter, then the default selection in the Report Generation list will be Foreground. This is because, the MinDurationForReport setting governs when reports are to be processed in the background. By default, this parameter is set to 2 weeks - this indicates that by default, reports with a timeline of 2 weeks and above will be processed in the background.
If the Report Type is Graph, then, you can ensure that the resulting graphical report is not crowded with the performance data pertaining to too many datacenter elements (depending upon the option chosen from the Report by list) in the cluster. You can therefore restrict the number of elements to be represented in the graph by selecting an option from the Filter by list. If the Top-N option is chosen, then you can select an option from the adjacent list to indicate the number of top components in the chosen performance arena (i.e., Measure) for which performance data needs to be plotted in the Graph report. If the Range option is chosen, then you would have to indicate a value range using the From and To text boxes; the report will include only those elements in the cluster for which the chosen Measure reports values in the specified range. If the Greater than option is chosen from the Filter by list, then, in the adjacent text box, you will have to specify a valid number; in this case, the report will include only those elements for which the chosen Measure has reported a value greater than the specified number. Similarly, if the Less than option is chosen from the Filter by list, then, in the adjacent text box, you will have to specify a valid number; in this case, the report will include only those elements for which the chosen Measure has reported a value lesser than the specified number.

Note:

The Filter by list will include only the Top-N option if View by is set to Distribution. However, for a Timeline report (i.e., if View by is set to Timeline), the Filter by list provides the Top-N, Range, Greater than and Less than options.
Finally, click the Run Report button.
If the Report Type is Graph, the View by selection is Timeline, the Report by selection is Virtual Clusters, and the Report Generation mode is Foreground Generation - html, then clicking the Run Report button will reveal Figure 3, using which you can compare the performance of the chosen Measure across the clusters configured within the chosen datacenter during the specified Timeline; the time-of-day variations in the resource usage by the clusters can thus be analyzed, the times when usage peaked can be detected, and resource-intensive clusters can be accurately identified.

Figure 3 : A Timeline graph of a Datacenters report focusing on cluster performance
If the Report Type is Graph, the View by selection is Timeline, the Report by selection is Physical servers, and the Report Generation mode is Foreground Generation - html, then clicking the Run Report button will reveal Figure 4, using which you can compare the performance of the chosen Measure across the ESX servers included in the datacenter; the time-of-day variations in the resource usage by the ESX servers can thus be analyzed, sudden spikes in usage and the time of occurrence can be isolated, and resource-intensive servers can be accurately identified.

Figure 4 : A Timeline graph of a Datacenters report focusing on Physical Server performance
If the Report Type is Graph, the View by selection is Timeline, the Report by selection is Virtual Machines, and the Report Generation mode is Foreground Generation - html, then clicking the Run Report button will reveal Figure 5, using which you can compare the performance of the chosen Measure across the virtual machines executing on all ESX servers included in the datacenter; the time-of-day variations in the resource usage by the VMs can be analyzed, sudden spikes in usage and the time of occurrence can be isolated, and resource-intensive VMs can be accurately identified.

Figure 5 : A Timeline graph of a Datacenters report focusing on the performance of VMs
If the Report Type is Graph, the View by selection is Timeline, the Report by selection is Datastores, and the Report Generation mode is Foreground Generation - html, then clicking the Run Report button will reveal Figure 6, using which you can compare the performance of the chosen Measure across all datastores in the datacenter; the time-of-day variations in the availability/space usage by the datastores can be analyzed, sudden spikes in usage and the time of occurrence can be isolated, and datastores that are running out of space can be accurately identified.

Figure 6 : A Timeline graph of a Datacenters report focusing on the performance of datastores
On the other hand, if the Report Type is Graph, the View by selection is Distribution, the Report by selection is Virtual Clusters, and the Report Generation mode is Foreground Generation - html, then clicking the Run Report button will reveal Figure 7. Figure 7 reveals a distribution pie chart that depicts the number of clusters in the datacenter that are in different distribution ranges. The distribution ranges are obtained by applying the first of the configured functions on the chosen Measure. For instance, assume that Physical Cpu available to cluster is the chosen Measure. Say that you have configured to display the Avg and Max of this measure in a Data report. Typically, both these configured values will appear only in the Data report. In the case of a Graph report however, the first of the two functions - i.e., Avg of Physical Cpu available to cluster - alone is calculated for every cluster in the chosen datacenter. The resulting pie chart enables administrators to deduce, at a glance, the number of clusters where the chosen performance metric has fared well and/or badly. Clicking on a particular slice in the pie chart lists the clusters that fall within the value range represented by that slice (see Figure 8). Against every cluster, the actual values for each of the configured functions (both Avg and Max, in our example) will be displayed. A vCenter-level Summary of the chosen Measure will also be available.

Note:

By default, the chart type for distribution is a pie chart. However, you can have a bar graph depict the same data instead of a pie chart, by following the steps given below:
- Edit the eg_report.ini file in the <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\manager\config directory.
- Change the value of the chartTypeForDist parameter in the [virtual_center] section of this file from the default Pie, to Bar.
- Save the eg_report.ini file.
By default, the number of value ranges that need to be configured for the distribution chart is 10. To override this default setting, do the following:
- Edit the eg_report.ini file in the <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\manager\config directory.
- Specify a number of your choice against the nofRangeForDist parameter in the [virtual_center] section of this file. By default, this parameter will hold the value 10.
- Save the eg_report.ini file.
  
  Figure 7 : A distribution graph in the Datacenters report focusing on cluster performance
  
  Figure 8 : The clusters that fall within the usage range clicked on
Below the pie chart, you will find a bar chart that indicates the clusters that have topped/failed in a selected performance realm (i.e., the Measure) during the specified Timeline. For example, for the Physical CPU available to cluster measure, this bar chart reveals the clusters to which maximum physical CPU is available for use. Like the pie chart, the values for the bar chart are also calculated by applying the first of the configured functions on the chosen Measure.

Note:

You can configure the colors to be used in the distribution chart and the Top <N> Components bar chart in the zone report, by editing the eg_report.ini file in the <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\manager\config directory. The [VIRTUAL_cluster] section of the file defines the 20 default colors of the distribution and bar charts:

[VIRTUAL_CLUSTER]

ChartColor=#8399b0,#ffd95a,#a4ac91,#98d980,#d5b996,#f48848,#8b8cc2,#eb4052,#c4b3d0,

#b18651,#ebb7ce,#028768,#f5c372,#887c65,#e4c536,#b5582c,#f94989,#770d72,#97a067,

#89aeb7

distColor=#115fa6,#f25454,#60bd68,#b276b2,#81bef7,#a61120,#ffd13e,#770d72,#887c65,

#a4ac91

You override the default color settings of the distribution chart by modifying the color-codes specifying against distColor. For changing the colors used by the Top <N> Components chart, alter the codes listed against the ChartColor parameter.

Note:

The number of components to be displayed in the Top <N> Components bar chart is configurable. To specify the number, select Top-N from the Filter by list in Figure 2, and pick an option from the adjacent drop-down list.
Similarly, if the Report Type is Graph, the View by selection is Distribution, the Report by selection is Physical Servers, and the Report Generation mode is Foreground Generation - html, then, clicking the Run Report button will reveal . reveals a distribution pie chart that depicts the number of ESX servers in the datacenter that are in different distribution ranges. The distribution ranges are obtained by applying the first of the configured functions on the chosen Measure. For instance, assume that Physical CPU utilization is the chosen Measure. Say that you have configured to display the Avg and Max of this measure in a Data report. Typically, both these configured values will appear only in the Data report. In the case of a Graph report however, the first of the two functions - i.e., Avg of Physical CPU utilization - alone is calculated for every ESX server in the chosen Datacenter. The resulting pie chart enables administrators to deduce, at a glance, the number of ESX servers where the chosen performance metric has fared well and/or badly. Clicking on a particular slice in the pie chart lists the ESX servers that fall within the value range represented by that slice (see Figure 10). Against every ESX server, the actual values for each of the configured functions (both Avg and Max, in our example) will be displayed. A vCenter-level Summary of the chosen Measure will also be available.

Figure 9 : A distribution graph in the Datacenters report focusing on physical server performance

Figure 10 : The physical servers that fall within the usage range clicked on
Adjacent to the pie chart, you will find a bar chart that indicates the ESX servers that have topped/failed in a selected performance realm (i.e., the Measure) during the specified Timeline. For example, for the Physical CPU utilization measure, this bar chart reveals the ESX servers in the datacenter that have the maximum free memory. Like the pie chart, the values for the bar chart are also calculated by applying the first of the configured functions on the chosen Measure.
Likewise, if the Report Type is Graph, the View by selection is Distribution, the Report by selection is Virtual Machines, and the Report Generation mode is Foreground Generation - html, then clicking the Run Report button will reveal Figure 11. Figure 11 reveals a distribution pie chart that depicts the number of VMs in the cluster that are in different distribution ranges. The distribution ranges are obtained by applying the first of the configured functions on the chosen Measure. For instance, assume that Physical CPU utilization is the chosen Measure. Say that you have configured to display the Avg and Max of this measure in a Data report. Typically, both these configured values will appear only in the Data report. In the case of a Graph report however, the first of the two functions - i.e., Avg of Physical CPU utilization - alone is calculated for every VM in the chosen Cluster. The resulting pie chart enables administrators to deduce, at a glance, the number of VMs where the chosen performance metric has fared well and/or badly. Clicking on a particular slice in the pie chart lists the VMs that fall within the value range represented by that slice (see Figure 12). Against every VM name, the actual values for each of the configured functions (both Avg and Max, in our example) will be displayed. A vCenter-level Summary of the chosen Measure will also be available.

Figure 11 : A distribution graph in the Datacenters report focusing on virtual machine performance

Figure 12 : The virtual machines that fall within the usage range clicked on
Adjacent to the pie chart, you will find a bar chart that indicates the VMs that have topped/failed in a selected performance realm (i.e., the Measure) during the specified Timeline. For example, for the Physical CPU utilization measure, this bar chart reveals the VMs in the datacenter that have consumed the physical CPU excessively. Like the pie chart, the values for the bar chart are also calculated by applying the first of the configured functions on the chosen Measure.
If Data is chosen as the Report Type, then, the View by list will no longer appear. Instead, just proceed to select the vCenter Server for which the report is to be generated and the Datacenter to which the report should pertain. Finally, provide a Time period and Timeline for the report, set the Report Generation mode to Foreground Generation - html, and click the Run Report button.

Figure 13 : The Datacenters Report of type Data
For a particular datacenter, Figure 13 provides a Datacenter Report section that displays a default set of metrics revealing the general composition of the datacenter. Below this section, a Cluster Details section exists, that helps analyze user-configured metrics related to the resource usage of individual clusters in the datacenter. Under this section is the Datastore Details section, using which the availability and space usage of each datastore in the datacenter can be analyzed. In addition to providing an overview of datacenter health, these sections also help identify the resource-intensive clusters and datastores in the datacenter, which might be adversely impacting the performance of the datacenter as a whole.
On the other hand, if the Background Save - PDF option is chosen from the Report Generation list, then clicking on the Run Report button will not generate the report and display it in this page for your benefit. Instead, a message indicating that the report is being processed in the background will appear. This will be accompanied by a link that will lead you to the page that lists all the reports that are being processed in the background, and their current status. If background report generation fails for a report, you can regenerate that report using this page, or can even delete that report if need be. On the other hand, if background processing successfully completes for your report, then, you can view a PDF of the report by clicking on the icon in that page.

As stated earlier, the Datacenter Details section of the Data report displays a default set of metrics; this default setting cannot be modified - i.e., additional metrics cannot be added or existing metrics cannot be removed from this section. However, the metrics displayed in the Cluster Details and Datastore Details section are configurable.

To add new metrics to the Cluster Details section, do the following:
1. Edit the eg_report.ini file in the <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\manager\config directory.
2. In the [virtual_center] section of the file, you will find entries of the following format for every measure that appears by default in the Cluster Details section:
  
  Virtual_center:Virtual_cluster:VCClusterTest:
  
  <InternalMeasureName>#<DisplayName>=<Comma-separated list of functions>
  
  To add a new measure, append an entry of the above format to the same section. For instance, if the Physical CPU available to cluster measure is to be added to the Cluster Details section, then, your specification should be:
  
  Virtual_center:Virtual_cluster:VCClusterTest:Tot_phy_cpu_available#Physical CPU=Avg,Max
3. Similarly, multiple measures can be added. To know the internal names of tests and measures, follow the steps discussed in Page First, determine the Internal name of the test and measure to be configured. For that, do the following: of this document.
4. Finally, save the file.
To add new metrics to the Datastore Details section, do the following:
1. Edit the eg_report.ini file in the <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\manager\config directory.
2. In the [virtual_center] section of the file, you will find entries of the following format for every measure that appears by default in the Datastore Details section:
  
  Virtual_center:Data_store:VCDatastoreTest:<InternalMeasureName>#<DisplayName>=<Comma-separated list of functions>
  
  To add a new measure, append an entry of the above format to the same section. For instance, if the Percent usage measure is to be added to the Datastore Details section, then, your specification should be:
  
  Virtual_center:Data_store:VCDatastoreTest:Percent_usage#Percent spcac usage=Avg,Max
3. Similarly, multiple measures can be added. To know the internal names of tests and measures, follow the steps discussed in Page First, determine the Internal name of the test and measure to be configured. For that, do the following: of this document.
4. Finally, save the file.