Page File - OS Test

When the load imposed by applications and services running on a server nears the amount of installed RAM, additional storage is necessary. The page file serves as the temporary store on disk for memory that cannot be accommodated in the physical RAM. Since it is frequently accessed for storing and retrieving data that is needed for virtual memory access by application, the location and sizing of the page files can have a critical impact on server's performance. Ideally, the server operating system and the page file should be available on different drives for optimal performance. Splitting the page file across different drives can improve performance further.

A rule of thumb in sizing the page file is to set the maximum size of the page file to 1.5 times the available RAM. While this works well for systems with smaller physical memory, for other systems, the optimal page file size has to be determined based on experience using the system and studying the typical workload.

This test tracks the usage of each of the page files on a physical desktop.

Target of the test : An Amazon Cloud Desktop Group

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : one set of results for each page file on each desktop

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The nick name of the Amazon Cloud Desktop Group component for which this test is to be configured.

Port

Refers to the port at which the specified host listens to. By default, this is NULL.

Inside View Using

To obtain the 'inside view' of performance of the desktops - i.e., to measure the internal performance of the cloud-based virtual desktops - this test uses a light-weight eG VM Agent software deployed on each of the desktops. Accordingly, this parameter is by default set to eG VM Agent.

Report Powered OS

If this flag is set to Yes (which is the default setting), then the 'inside view' tests will report measures for even those desktops that do not have any users logged in currently. Such desktops will be identified by their name and not by the username_on_desktopname. On the other hand, if this flag is set to No, then this test will not report measures for those desktops to which no users are logged in currently.  

Report By User

This flag is set to Yes by default. The value of this flag cannot be changed. This implies that the cloud-based virtual desktops in environments will always be identified using the login name of the user. In other words, in cloud environments, this test will, by default, report measures for every username_on_desktopname.

IsCloudVMs

Since this test runs for a 'Amazon Cloud Desktop Group' component, this flag is set to Yes, by default.

Report Total

Set this flag to Yes if you want the test to report total page file usage - i.e., the aggregate usage across multiple page files. In this case therefore, a Total descriptor will newly appear for this test in the eG monitoring console.

Report Total Only

If both the Report Total and Report Total Only flags are set to Yes, then the test will report only the aggregate usage across multiple page files - in other words, the test will report values for the Total descriptor only. Likewise, if the Report Total flag is set to No, and the Report Total Only flag is set to Yes, then again, the test will report current usage for the Total descriptor only. However, if both the Report Total and Report Total Only flags are set to No, then the test will report individual usages only. Also, if the Report Total flag is set to Yes and the Report Total Only flag is set to No, then both the individual and Total usages will be reported.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Current usage

Indicates the current usage of a page file.

Percent

This metric should be less than 90%. If the page file does not have additional space, additional users/processes cannot be supported and system performance will suffer. To improve performance, consider resizing the page file. Microsoft Windows allows a minimum and maximum size of the page file to be specified. If the system has sufficient disk space, consider setting the page file to start out at the maximum size (by using the same value for the minimum and maximum sizes), so that system resources are not spent growing the page file size when there is a virtual memory shortage.