AppStream Input Delay Test

One of the most difficult problems to diagnose by administrators on the AWS AppStream Multi-session Host is the poor performance of the applications installed. Traditionally, diagnosis was done by collecting CPU, memory, disk I/O and a few other metrics. The data collected from traditional metrics were not sufficient to figure out the root cause of poor performance of the applications on the target host since the variations measured by the metrics were large. Let's say, the user input (e.g. keyboard clicks and mouse clicks) sits in the input queue on the target host for longer duration until the input is picked up for processing by an application’s message queue. In such a case, the User Input Delay starts increasing because the target host is under load, it means the slowness has been introduced on the target host (and is not due to the network). This could be a sign that user experience is degrading to the point where administrators might want to add more hosts or increase the size of target host. Therefore, it is necessary for administrators to measure the user input flows or rather user input delays while the applications are being accessed. This can be easily measured using the AppStream Input Delay test!

This test captures such user input delays on the target host and reports the same to the administrators. With the help of this test, administrators can determine the maximum and average time taken by the applications to respond to the user input at the target host, and thus figure out if there is any time delay in responses from applications. In addition, these metrics help administrators to differentiate host-side issues from network issues.

Target of the test : An AWS AppStream Multi-session Host

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the AWS AppStream Multi-session Host that is being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test

Parameters	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
Port	The port at which the target host listens.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Maximum input delay	Indicates the maximum amount of time lag detected between the user's input through any input device (e.g., mouse, keyboard) and the time at which the application executing on the target host responds to the input.	Seconds	Ideally, the values of these measures should be 0 or very low.
Average input delay	Indicates the average amount of time lag detected between the user's input through any input device (e.g., mouse, keyboard) and the time at which the application executing on the target host detected the input.	Seconds