Servers in Grid Test

The grid unites servers running vdiManager, allowing load balancing and ensuring high availability of virtual machines on the servers. Servers are organized into a grid, and all the servers in a grid are functionally identical, so if one dies any of the others act in its place. For each server in the monitored grid, this test reports the current status of that server, the server configuration, the status of the virtual desktops on the server, and the disk space utilization on the server, so that:

  • Inactive servers in the grid can be quickly identified;
  • Servers experiencing a space crunch can be isolated;
  • The number of desktops in various states of usage/activity can be ascertained

Target of the test : A VDI-in-a-Box Manager

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each server in the target grid.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test period

This indicates how often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which this test is to be configured.

Port

The port at which the specified host listens to.

VDI in a Box Host

The IP address of the vdimanager that is being monitored.

VDI in a Box Username, VDI in a Box Password, and Confirm Password

The test needs to log on to the VDI-in-a-Box appliance to pull out the metrics of interest. For this purpose, you need to configure the test with the credentials of a user with login rights to the appliance. By default, the appliance supports a root user named root (with the default password root) and a Read-only user named kvm (with the default password kaviza123). If you prefer not to expose the credentials of the root user, then you can configure the VDI in a Box Username and VDI in a Box Password parameters with the credentials of the user kvm. Confirm the password of this user by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

Note:

The default password of user kvm is kaviza123. If this is changed, then make sure you configure the VDI in a box password parameter with the new password.

SSH Port

Specify the SSH port number of the vdimanager. By default, this is 22.
Measurements made by the tesr
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Server status

Indicates the current status of this server.

 

Number

If the server is an active server in the grid, this measure will report the value Activated. If the server is an inactive server in the grid, this measure will report the value Deactivated.

The values that this measure can take and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:  

Measure Value Numeric Value
Activated 1
Deactivated 0
Quiescing 2
Deactivating 3
Shutting Down 4
Shutdown 5
Missing 6
Broken 7

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned Measure Values while indicating the current status of a server. However, in the graph of this measure, the status will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents only.

Desktops in use

Indicates the number of desktops on this server that are currently in use.

Number

 

Desktops preserved for subsequent use

Indicates the number of desktops on this server that have been preserved for subsequent use.

Number

This refers to the number of desktops that are ‘On Hold’.

Desktops pre-started for instant login

Indicates the number of desktops on this server that are already prestarted for instant login.

Number

Pre-started desktops are in a powered-on state and at the logon prompt, ready for use. Pre-starting desktops eliminates the need for users to wait for virtual desktops to start.

Desktops being pre-started for instant login

Indicates the number of desktops on this server that are being pre-started for instant login.

Number

Server type

Indicates the type of this server.

 

The values that this measure can take and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
VMware 1
XenServer 2
Hyper-V 3

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned Measure Values while indicating the server type. However, in the graph of this measure, the type will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents only.

If you have added a server of a different type, say XenServer, to a grid of servers of type VMware, then this measure will reveal this inconsistency. 

Total RAM size

Indicates the total RAM size of this server.

MB

 

CPU cores

Indicates the number of CPU cores of this server.

Number

 

Total CPU

Indicates the total CPU cycles available across all CPU cores in the server.

GHz

 

Total capacity

Indicates the total capacity of the logical storage device attached to this server.

GB

 

Free space

Indicates the amount of unused space in the logical storage device of this server.

GB

A high value is desired for this measure.

Used space

Indicates the amount of space that is currently in use on the logical storage device of this server.

GB

A very high value is a cause for concern, as it indicates that the server is running short of storage space. Without sufficient space, critical read/write operations cannot be performed by the server. You may then have to clear some space in the logical storage devices or allocate more space to these devices to avert the problem.  

Space utilization

Indicates the percentage of space in the logical storage device of this server that is currently in use.