NetApp NFS I/O Test

NFS (Network File System) is a protocol used by Unix system to access data on the storage system.

This test auto-discovers the versions of NFS used on the storage system, and reports the following for each NFS version:

  • The status of the NFS server;
  • Whether all NFS messages have been drained from the NFS queue and the server has been disabled;
  • The rate of read-write requests processed by the NFS server and latencies in I/O processing (if any)

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 version of NFA on the NetApp storage system 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

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.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Is the NFS server running?

Indicates whether the NFS server is currently running in this storage system.

 

The values reported by this measure and their numeric equivalents are available in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
No 0
Yes 1

Note:

This measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate current state of the NFS server. However, in the graph of this measure, the same is indicated using only the Numeric Values listed in the above table.

Have all messages been drained?

Indicates whether all the NFS messages have been cleared off from the NFS queue and the NFS server has been disabled.

 

The values reported by this measure and their numeric equivalents are available in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
No 0
Yes 1

Note:

This measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether the NFS messages have been cleared off and the NFS server is disabled. However, in the graph of this measure, the same is indicated using only the Numeric Values listed in the above table.

Operations

Indicates the total number of NFS operations per second for this NFS version.

Ops/Sec

 

Average operations latency

Indicates the average time taken for any NFS operation that has happened for this NFS version.

Milliseconds

Ideally, the value of this measure should be low. A higher value is an indication of too many NFS messages waiting in the NFS queue thus leading to a processing bottleneck.

Read operations

Indicates the rate at which the NFS read operations were performed for this NFS version.

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.

 

Read latency

Indicates the average time taken for the NFS read operation for this NFS version.

Milliseconds

Write operations

Indicates the rate at which the NFS write operations were performed for this NFS version.

Ops/Sec

Write latency

Indicates the average time taken for the NFS write operation for this NFS version.

Milliseconds