The Operating System Layer

Like the Linux model, the Operating System layer of the AIX model too is mapped to a System Details test that tracks the CPU and memory utilization, and a Disk Space test that monitors the disk utilization. Also, similar to the Linux model, the Operating System layer of the AIX model too measures CPU usage, memory usage, IO waits, swap usage, and uptime of the host. All these tests have been discussed elaborately in The Operating System Layer section.

Figure 1 : Tests that map to the Operating System layer of an AIX server

The difference however lies in the System Details test and the Disk Activity test of the AIX model. While you will find subtle differences in the parameters of the System Details test of Linux and AIX hosts, the metrics reported by this test will slightly vary for the Linux and AIX models. The Tunable Parameters Test reports how well the AIX system is utilizing the virtual memory.