Pure Hosts Test

Hosts are virtual or physical computers (typically application or database servers) that are connected with the FlashArray network through their Fibre Channel or iSCSI port. The FlashArray recognizes and communicates with the hosts by Fibre Channel worldwide names (WWNs) or iSCSI qualified names (IQNs) associated with the ports. The I/O requests and data stored on the FlashArray volume are communicated to the hosts through the ports.

Using this test, administrators can monitor each host connected with the FlashArray and can pin point the hosts that are handling more I/O requests than the rest. This way, irregularities in the distribution of I/O load across hosts can be detected at ease. In addition, the test also proactively alerts administrators to probable slowdowns in I/O processing by a specific host, thereby enabling administrators to initiate pre-emptive actions.

Target of the test : Pure Storage FlashArray

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each host connected to the target FlashArray being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured.

Port

The port at which the device listens. By default, this will be NULL.

API Token

The eG agent collects the required metrics from the Pure Storage Flash Array by executing API commands using Pure Storage REST API on the FlashArray and pulls out critical metrics. In order to collect metrics, the eG agent should be provided with a valid API token. To know how to determine the API token, refer to Pre-requisites for Monitoring the Pure Storage FlashArray. Specify the determined API token in the API Token text box.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Read bandwidth

Indicates the amount of data utilized for performing read operations on this host per second.

MB/Sec

A consistent decrease in the value of these measures for the hosts indicates an I/O processing bottleneck.

Write bandwidth

Indicates the amount of data utilized for performing write operations on this host per second.

MB/Sec

Average bandwidth

Indicates the average amount of data utilized for performing I/O operations on this host per second.

MB/Sec

Compare the value of this measure across the hosts to know the host that uses more bandwidth to process the I/O requests.

Read IOPS

Indicates the number of read operations performed on this host per second.

IOPS

Ideally, the value of this measure should be very low. A high value or a steady increase in this value could indicate an I/O processing bottleneck on the array.

Write IOPS

Indicates the number of write operations performed on this host per second.

IOPS

Average IOPS

Indicates the average number of I/O operations performed on this host per second.

IOPS

This measure is a good indicator of I/O load on every host connected to the FlashArray.

Read latency

Indicates the time taken to process the read operations during the last measurement period.

Milliseconds

Very high values for these measures are indicative of the existence of road-blocks to rapid reading/writing on the hosts.

Write latency

Indicates the time taken to process the write operations during the last measurement period.

Milliseconds

Average latency

Indicates the average time taken to process the I/O operations during the last measurement period.

Milliseconds

Ideally, the value of this measure should be very low. A high value or a steady increase in this value could indicate an I/O processing bottleneck on the host.