CIFS Test
The Unified Storage Device (USD) exports data as files through two primary protocols, NFS and CIFS, which correspond to the UNIX and Windows processes.
Key features that CIFS offers are:
- File Access with integrity: CIFS supports the usual set of file operations; open, close, read, write and seek. CIFS also supports file and record lock and unlocking. CIFS allows multiple clients to access and update the same file while preventing conflicts by providing file sharing and file locking.
- Optimization for Slow Links: The CIFS protocol has been tuned to run well over slow-speed dial-up lines. The effect is improved performance for users who access the Internet using a modem.
- Security: CIFS servers support both anonymous transfers and secure, authenticated access to named files. File and directory security policies are easy to administer.
- Performance and Scalability: CIFS servers are highly integrated with the operating system, and are tuned for maximum system performance. CIFS supports all Microsoft platforms after Windows 95. It also supports other popular operation systems such as Unix, VMS, Macintosh, IBM LAN server etc.
- Unicode File Names: File names can be in any character set, not just character sets designed for English or Western European languages. Global File Names: Users do not have to mount remote file systems, but can refer to them directly with globally significant names, instead of ones that have only local significance.
By continuously tracking the status of the CIFS service and monitoring the read/write operations performed through the CIFS protocol, the cifs test promptly detects and reports the non-availability of the service and provides you with a heads-up on probable latencies in the processing of I/O requests.
Target of the test : A NetApp Unified Storage
Agent deploying the test : An external/remote agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for each RAID group on the NetApp storage system being monitored.
| Parameters | Description |
|---|---|
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Test Period |
How often should the test be executed. |
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Host |
The host for which the test is to be configured. |
|
Port |
Specify the port at which the specified host listens in the Port text box. By default, this is NULL. |
|
User |
Here, specify the name of the user who possesses the following privileges: login-http-admin,api-aggr-check-spare-low,api-aggr-list-info,api-aggr-mediascrub-list-info,api-aggr-scrub-list-info,api-cifs-status,api-clone-list-status,api-disk-list-info,api-fcp-adapter-list-info,api-fcp-adapter-stats-list-info,api-fcp-service-status,api-file-get-file-info,api-file-read-file,api-iscsi-connection-list-info,api-iscsi-initiator-list-info,api-iscsi-service-status,api-iscsi-session-list-info,api-iscsi-stats-list-info,api-lun-config-check-alua-conflicts-info,api-lun-config-check-cfmode-info,api-lun-config-check-info,api-lun-config-check-single-image-info,api-lun-list-info,api-nfs-status,api-perf-object-get-instances-iter*,api-perf-object-instance-list-info,api-quota-report-iter*,api-snapshot-list-info,api-vfiler-list-info,api-volume-list-info-iter*. If such a user does not pre-exist, then, you can create a special user for this purpose using the steps detailed in Creating a New User with the Privileges Required for Monitoring the NetApp Unified Storage. |
|
Password |
Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned User. |
|
Confirm Password |
Confirm the Password by retyping it here. |
|
Authentication Mechanism |
In order to collect metrics from the NetApp Unified Storage system, the eG agent connects to the ONTAP management APIs over HTTP or HTTPS. By default, this connection is authenticated using the LOGIN_PASSWORD authentication mechanism. This is why, LOGIN_PASSWORD is displayed as the default authentication mechanism. |
|
Use SSL |
Set the Use SSL flag to Yes, if SSL (Secured Socket Layer) is to be used to connect to the NetApp Unified Storage System, and No if it is not. |
|
API Port |
By default, in most environments, NetApp Unified Storage system listens on port 80 (if not SSL-enabled) or on port 443 (if SSL-enabled) only. This implies that while monitoring the NetApp Unified Storage system, the eG agent, by default, connects to port 80 or 443, depending upon the SSL-enabled status of the NetApp Unified Storage system - i.e., if the NetApp Unified Storage system is not SSL-enabled (i.e., if the Use SSL flag above is set to No), then the eG agent connects to the NetApp Unified Storage system using port 80 by default, and if the NetApp Unified Storage system is SSL-enabled (i.e., if the Use SSL flag is set to Yes), then the agent-NetApp Unified Storage system communication occurs via port 443 by default. Accordingly, the API Port parameter is set to default by default. In some environments however, the default ports 80 or 443 might not apply. In such a case, against the API Port parameter, you can specify the exact port at which the NetApp Unified Storage system in your environment listens, so that the eG agent communicates with that port for collecting metrics from the NetApp Unified Storage system. |
|
vFilerName |
A vFiler is a virtual storage system you create using MultiStore, which enables you to partition the storage and network resources of a single storage system so that it appears as multiple storage systems on the network. If the NetApp Unified Storage system is partitioned to accommodate a set of vFilers, specify the name of the vFiler that you wish to monitor in the vFilerName text box. In some environments, the NetApp Unified Storage system may not be partitioned at all. In such a case, the NetApp Unified Storage system is monitored as a single vFiler and hence the default value of none is displayed in this text box. |
|
Timeout |
Specify the duration (in seconds) beyond which the test will timeout if no response is received from the device. The default is 120 seconds. |
| Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Service status |
Indicates the current status of the CIFS service. |
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The values reported by this measure and their numeric equivalents are available in the table below:
Note: This measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above while indicating the current status of the CIFS service. However, in the graph of this measure, the status is indicated using only the Numeric Values listed in the above table. |
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Operations |
Indicates the rate at which operations were performed by users through CIFS protocol to access this NetApp Unified Storage system. |
Ops/Sec |
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Latency |
Indicates the average time taken for performing the operations through the CIFS protocol. |
Millisecs |
A low value is desired for this measure. |
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Read operations |
Indicates the rate at which the read operations are performed across all LUNs of this storage system through the CIFS protocol. |
Ops/Sec |
Very high values for these measures are indicative of the existence of road-blocks to rapid reading/writing by the storage device. By observing the variations in these measures over time, you can understand whether the latencies are sporadic or consistent. Consistent delays in reading/writing could indicate that there are persistent bottlenecks (if any) in the storage device to speedy I/O processing. |
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Read latency |
Indicates the average time taken to perform read operations across all LUNs through the CIFS protocol. |
Millisecs |
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Write operations |
Indicates the rate at which the write operations were performed across all LUNs of this storage system through the CIFS protocol. |
Ops/Sec |
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Write latency |
Indicates the average time taken to perform write operations across all LUNs through the protocol. |
Millisecs |
