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Browser Activity – VM Test
When a user complains of a virtual desktop slowdown, administrators will have to instantly figure out if that VM is experiencing a resource crunch, and if so, which process/application on the desktop is contributing to it. One of the common reasons for CPU/memory contentions and handle leaks on a virtual desktop is web browsing! If a user to a virtual desktop browses resource-intensive web sites, it is bound to result in over-usage of the resources allocated to that VM, which in turn degrades the performance of not just that VM but even the other VMs on that host. While the System Details – VM test can lead administrators to the exact browser application that is consuming the CPU/memory resources of the VM excessively, it does not provide visibility into the precise websites that were been browsed when the resource contention occurred. This is where the Browser Activity – VM test helps.
For each web browser that is being accessed by a user per virtual desktop, this test reports how every browser uses the allocated CPU, memory, and disk resources and reveals the number and URLs of the web sites that are being accessed using each browser. This way, the test not only points administrators to resource-hungry browsers, but also indicates which web sites were being accessed using that browser.
Note:
Target of the test : A Citrix XenServer
Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for each browser used by every powered-on Windows guest/each user logged into a Windows guest on the Citrix XenServer monitored
Configurable parameters for the test
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Measurements made by the test
Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation |
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Running browser instances: |
Indicates the number of instances of this browser currently running on this virtual desktop. |
Number |
Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know how much resources were utilized by each instance of a browser, so that the resource-hungry instance can be isolated. |
Recent web sites: |
Indicates the number of websites that were accessed using this browser on this virtual desktop during the last measurement period. |
Number |
Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know which web sites are being accessed using a browser. |
CPU utilization: |
Indicates the percentage CPU usage of this browser on this virtual desktop. |
Percent |
Compare the value of this measure across browsers to know which browser consumed the maximum CPU on a desktop. If the value of this measure is close to 100% on that desktop, it indicates excessive CPU usage by the browser. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Recent web sites measure to know which web sites are being accessed using that browser, which caused CPU usage to soar. |
Memory used: |
Indicates the percent usage of memory by this browser on this virtual desktop. |
Percent |
Compare the value of this measure across browsers to know which browser consumed the maximum memory on a desktop. If the value of this measure is close to 100% on that desktop, it indicates excessive memory usage by the browser. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Recent web sites measure to know which web sites are being accessed using that browser, which caused CPU usage to soar. |
Handles used: |
Indicates the number of handles opened by this browser on this virtual desktop. |
Number |
Compare the value of this measure across browsers to know which browser opened the maximum number of handles on a desktop. If the value of this measure consistently increases on that desktop, it indicates that the corresponding browser is leaking memory. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Recent web sites measure to know which web sites are being accessed using that browser, which caused the memory leak. |
Disk reads: |
Indicates the rate at which this browser read from the disks supported by this virtual desktop. |
KB/Sec |
A high value for these measures indicates that the browser is generating high disk I/O. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Recent web sites measure of this browser to know which web sites on the browser are responsible for the high disk I/O. |
Disk writes: |
Indicates the rate at which this browser read from the disks of this virtual desktop. |
KB/Sec |
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Disk IOPS: |
Indicates the rate of read and write operations performed by this browser on the disks of this virtual desktop. |
Operations/Sec |
A high value for this measure indicates that the browser is generating high disk I/O. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Recent web sites measure of this browser to know which web sites on the browser are responsible for the high disk I/O. |
Page faults: |
Indicates the rate at which page faults by the threads executing in this browser are occurring on this virtual desktop. |
Faults/Sec |
Ideally, the value of this measure should be low. A high value for a browser is a cause for concern. You may then want to use the detailed diagnosis of the Recent web sites measure of this browser to know which web sites on the browser are responsible for page faults. |
The detailed diagnosis of the Running browser instances measure reveals the process ID of each browser instance that is currently running on the virtual desktop and the resource usage of each instance. This way, you can easily and accurately identify the instance that is consuming resources excessively.
Figure 1 : The detailed diagnosis of the Running browser instances measure
The detailed diagnosis of the Recent web sites measure reveals the names and URLs of the web sites that are being accessed using a browser.
Figure 2 : The detailed diagnosis of the Recent web sites measure