Use the Performance Meter to monitor activity and performance on a workstation. Several performance parameters such as CPU utilization, disk activity, network packets, and the like, can be displayed graphically in this customizable window.
You can monitor performance of local or remote hosts, set up color-coded activity thresholds to warn you of exceptional performance, and log the samples to a file.
Performance Meter enables you to identify errant behavior on your system. After identifying the errant behavior, you can use Process Manager (see Chapter 17, Using Process Manager) to identify and kill the errant processes.
Click the Performance Meter control on the Font Panel.
Performance Meter opens and displays the default charts (CPU and disk activity).
The first time you load CDE, the Performance Meter control on the Front Panel is inactive. Once you click it to run Performance Meter, the control will remain active for all future sessions.
To make Performance Meter's Front Panel icon inactive, use Process Manager to kill the sdtperfmeter process.
You can monitor performance on your workstation (local) or on another workstation (remote). The View menu lists several performance parameters that you can display for the host you are monitoring.
The parameters you choose to monitor may depend on:
The type of applications you run
Your network
Your level of understanding of UNIX processes and system loading
Users unfamiliar with system parameters will typically choose to display CPU and disk usage. The typical setup for a more aware user is to display the CPU usage, disk usage, system load, and packets. Here are some hints and tips for choosing what to monitor:
If you are worried about network traffic congestion, display the number of network packets per second and monitor this performance while you are running network-intensive activities such as Internet browsing or remote operations.
If Performance Meter indicates high CPU usage, use Process Manager to identify and kill errant or CPU-intensive processes.
If you log out while running a CPU intensive application, and log back in, Performance Meter's CPU display may show you that there is a lot of CPU activity. On recognizing this, you can use Process Manager to kill any errant processes.
For further information, see Managing System Performance in System Administration Guide, Volume II.
Choose Setup from the Options menu.
Performance Meter displays the Setup dialog box.
Select the Remote radio button to indicate that you are about to type the name of a remote host.
Type the system name (for example, jupiter
) or the IP address (for example, 129.156.220.133
) of the remote host.
To find a host, use Address Manager with Hosts selected on the Find menu.
Click Apply to make your changes take effect.
Performance Meter accesses the remote host and displays its performance. The system name on the title bar of the Performance Meter main window changes to the name of the remote host.
Open the View menu to display the list of available parameters.
Each parameter has a checkbox to indicate whether it is currently selected for display.
Select or deselect the relevant menu item to display or remove any of the parameters.
You can display any combination of parameters.
You can arrange the Performance Meter window in different ways, depending on the number of parameters you have chosen to display, the space available on your desktop, and whether you want to display historical values.
Choose Hide/Show Menubar from the Options menu.
Performance Meter hides the menu bar.
You can re-display the menu bar at any time by clicking once on the display area of the Performance Meter main window.
Choose Hide/Show Strip Chart from the Options menu.
Performance Meter hides the line/area charts for all displayed parameters if they were displayed, or displays the line/area charts if they were hidden.
For each parameter you choose to display, Performance Meter displays:
An activity bar to show the instantaneous level for each parameter
(Optional) A line chart or an area chart to show the performance for each parameter over time
By default, Performance Meter displays the performance charts horizontally (side-by-side). Depending on the number of parameters you monitor and the available space on your desktop, you may want to display them vertically.
Choose Setup from the Options menu.
Performance Meter displays the Setup dialog box.
Select Vertical or Horizontal to specify the type of chart required.
(Optional) Select the Show Limit Line checkbox if you want your charts to indicate the threshold value using a line.
Click Apply when you are satisfied with the changes you have made.
Performance Meter displays the performance information in the specified orientation.
The optional chart displayed for each parameter can be one of the following types:
A line chart (the default), which represents activity using a continuous line
An area chart, which is the same as a line chart but with the area between the line and the horizontal axis filled
Choose Setup from the Options menu.
Performance Meter displays the Setup dialog box.
Select the Solid choice button for area charts or the Line choice button for line charts.
(Optional) Select the Show Limit Line checkbox if you want your charts to indicate the threshold value using a line.
Click Apply when you are satisfied with the changes you have made.
Performance Meter displays the information using the specified charts.
Performance Meter uses colors and thresholds to help you differentiate between activity that you consider normal and activity that you consider exceptional. If a parameter exceeds a threshold value, the exceptional value is displayed using a different color. By default, values less than the default thresholds are displayed in blue and values exceeding the default thresholds are displayed in red.
The Setup dialog box enables you to change the colors and threshold values.
Be consistent in your use of colors: if red means "warning" for one parameter, then it should mean the same for the other.
If you do not know an appropriate threshold value for a parameter, consider using the same color for both "above" and "below" so that you are only monitoring activity.
Choose Setup from the Options menu.
Performance Meter displays the Setup dialog box. For each parameter, color selectors enable you to choose the colors for values above and values below the current threshold.
Press mouse button 1 on any of the color selectors and choose a new color.
Click Apply when you are satisfied with the changes you have made.
Performance Meter applies the new colors to the display.
Choose Setup from the Options menu.
Performance Meter displays the Setup dialog box which contains a Threshold box for each parameter.
Type a new threshold value for the relevant parameter and click Apply.
Values below the new threshold value are now displayed using the color selected for below, and values above this threshold value are now displayed in the color selected for above.
Parameter | Default Threshold Value |
---|---|
CPU | 50% |
Load | 2 per second |
Disk | 20 per second |
Page | 8 per second |
Context | 32 per second |
Swap | 2 per second |
Interrupts | 50 per second |
Packets | 16 per second |
Collisions | 2 per second |
Errors | 2 per second |
By default, Performance Meter samples the activity on the workstation every 2 seconds, and creates a log file containing details of the initial sample only. You can change this sample interval and choose to continually add the sample information to a log file.
Choose Setup from the Options menu.
Performance Meter displays the Setup dialog box.
Select the Log Samples In checkbox.
Type the name of your log file in the Log Samples In text box.
Use a descriptive name such as the default samples
, or if you are monitoring multiple hosts from your workstation: samples_
hostname.
The default location is your home folder, such as /home/fredj/samples
.
Click Apply to make your changes take effect.
Performance Meter creates the specified log file (a text file) if it doesn't exist. Performance Meter continues to append sample details for each sample until you exit Performance Meter. The next time you run Performance Meter, the Log Samples In checkbox will be unselected.
Choose Setup from the Options menu.
Performance Meter displays the Setup dialog box.
Specify a new sample interval in the Sample Every selector.
The number you specify must be a whole number between 1 and 9 (inclusive). If you are viewing performance on-screen, a low interval such as 3 seconds may be appropriate; if you are logging samples to a log file, a higher interval is useful for restricting the size of your log file.
Click Apply to make your changes take effect.
Performance Meter samples at the specified rate for this and all future sessions, until you change the value in the Sample Every selector again.