OS Details Test

This reports additional system-related metrics pertaining to the target system.

Target of the test : Any host

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every host monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

Process limit

The Process limit determines what type of processes are to be included in the detailed diagnosis of the Processes count measure of this test. By default, 5 is the Process limit. This implies that the detailed diagnosis of the Processes count measure will by default list only those processes for which more than 5 instances are currently running on the target host. Processes with less than 5 currently active instances will not be displayed in the detailed diagnosis. This limit can be changed.

Exclude process

If you want to exclude one/more processes from the detailed diagnosis of the Processes count measure, then specify a comma-separated list of processes to be excluded in the Exclude process text box. By default, the svchost process is excluded from the detailed diagnosis of this test.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Processes count:

Indicates the number of processes running on the system.

Number

 

Threads count:

Indicates the number of threads in the system.

Number

This measure will be available only for Windows hosts.

Registry quota in use:

Indicates the percentage of registry quota currently in use by the system.

Percent

If this measure begins to reach 100%, we need to increase the total registry size set in Control Panel/System's Virtual Memory tab.

This measure will be available only for Windows hosts.

Context switches:

This value is the combined rate at which all processors on the computer are switched from one thread to another.

Switches/Sec

Context switches occur when a running thread voluntarily relinquishes the processor, is preempted by a higher priority ready thread, or switches between user-mode and privileged (kernel) mode to use an Executive or subsystem service. If the context switch rate is unusually high, it implies that there is excessive contention for CPU resources.

System calls rate:

This value is the combined rate of calls to operating system service routines by all processes running on the computer.

Calls/Sec

Operating system calls are used to perform all of the basic scheduling and synchronization of activities on the computer, and provide access to non-graphic devices, memory management, and name space management. Excessively high number of system calls can impact the performance of a system. Watch for processes that are issuing a large number of system calls. Applications corresponding to these processes could be candidates for performance optimizations.

This measure will be available only for Windows hosts.

Pin read hits:

Indicates The percentage of pin read requests that hit the file system cache, i.e., did not require a disk read in order to provide access to the page in the file system cache.

Percent

While pinned, a page's physical address in the file system cache will not be altered. The LAN Redirector uses this method for retrieving data from the cache, as does the LAN Server for small transfers. This is usually the method used by the disk file systems as well. The pin read hits should be close to 100% for high performance.

This measure will be available only for Windows hosts.

Pin read rate:

Indicates the frequency of reading data into the file system cache preparatory to writing the data back to disk.

Reads/Sec

Pages read in this fashion are pinned in memory at the completion of the read. While pinned, a page's physical address in the file system cache will not be altered.

This measure will be available only for Windows hosts.

Interrupt time:

Indicates the percentage of time spent by the processor for receiving and servicing the hardware interrupts during the last polling interval.

Percent

This is an indirect indicator of the activity of devices that generate interrupts such as system Clocks, the mouse device drivers, data communication lines, network interface cards and other peripheral devices.

In general, a very high value of this measure might indicate that a disk or network adapter needs upgrading or replacing.

This measure will be available only for Windows hosts.