hIOmon Software and Services

Screenshots

hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger Display

 

The hIOmon "Disk I/O Ranger Display" presents the hIOmon "Performance Threshold Range Metrics" within a user-configurable "Bar Chart" graphic format.

The Performance Threshold Range Metrics are a set of automatically-summarized I/O operation performance metrics that are specifically focused upon the ranges of I/O operations per second (IOPS), megabytes-per-second (MB/s) data transfer rates, response times (RT), I/O operation queue depths/lengths (QD), and data transfer sizes/lengths (DTS) actually observed by the hIOmon I/O Monitor software component for individual devices, files, and processes.

The IOPS, MB/s, QD, and RT metrics are automatically included within the summarized I/O operation performance information that can be collected by the hIOmon I/O Monitor, which is included within the hIOmon "Workload I/O Profiler (WIOP)" and the hIOmon "Workload I/O Profiler for Files (WIOPF)" software packages.  The DTS summarized metrics can be optionally collected.

Also note that these hIOmon metrics can be automatically-aggregated by the hIOmon I/O Monitor at the time when the individual I/O operations are observed in realtime.

 
Performance Threshold Range Metrics for a Physical Device

The screenshot below illustrates the display of the combined read and write I/O operation IOPS, MBs, QD (Queue Depth), and Response Time (RT) Range metrics for a physical device (DR0).  Metrics collected for a physical device are captured by the hIOmon I/O Monitor software component at the "physical disk" level within the operating system I/O software stack.

Please note that the Performance Threshold Range Metrics reflect the actual I/O operation activity observed by the hIOmon I/O Monitor.  For instance, the "IOPS 1 - 99" Range Count metric for read and write I/O operations combined reflects the number of one-second intervals during which the hIOmon I/O Monitor actually observed a combined total number of monitored read and write I/O operations that was one or more, but less than 100 read and write I/O operations combined.

Similarly, the "MBS 10 < 20" Range Count metric for read and write I/O operations combined reflects the number of one-second intervals during which the hIOmon I/O Monitor actually observed a combined total amount of data transferred by read and write I/O operations that was 10 000 000 bytes (i.e., 10 megabytes) or more, but less than 20 000 000 bytes (i.e., 20 megabytes).

Physical Drive DIOR Display

 

The hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger Display provides a comprehensive yet concise display of the collected I/O operation metrics.  It incorporates both proportional colored-coded bars for quick visual analysis along with supporting numerical values, including "running total" percentages.

 

Data Transfer Size (DTS) Summary Metrics

As shown by the screenshot below, the hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger can also optionally display the DTS summary I/O operation performance metrics.  These DTS metrics include a count reflecting the total number of times that the hIOmon I/O Monitor observed an I/O operation whose data transfer size/length was that of the corresponding size/length for the monitored device or file.

The collection of the DTS summary I/O operation performance metrics can be explicitly enabled within the hIOmon software for the particular file or device of interest.  As with the collection of the other Performance Threshold Range Metrics, the collection of the DTS summary metrics can be performed in realtime by the hIOmon I/O Monitor.

 
Physical Drive DIOR DTS Display

 

Data transfer sizes such as 4K, 8K, and 64K are often mentioned within benchmarking test results/reviews, vendor performance claims, and within various "rules of thumb".

The hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger Display provides a simple, quick, and easy way to see which particular data transfer sizes are actually being used by your particular applications – and actually being seen by your devices.

Please note that the Range Counts are provided upon an “overall” basis (i.e., since the start of the Observation Period).  The time duration of the Observation Period is shown near the top of the display under the name of the file, device, or process for which the metrics pertain.  For each Range Count, a proportional bar is shown that includes the value for the respective Range Count that has been accumulated by the hIOmon I/O Monitor during the Observation Period.  Range Counts whose value is zero are not displayed.

These overall values for each individual Range Count reflect the respective metrics for the file, device, or process collected by the hIOmon I/O Monitor since it first began monitoring the file, device, or process at the start of the Observation Period.

 
Disk I/O Ranger Display Options

The "Settings" button at the bottom of the hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger Display can be used to show a "Settings Configuration" display panel/window that allows you to limit, for example, the display to show only combined "Read and Write" I/O operation range metrics.  It can also be used to limit the display to a selected Range Count type (e.g., only IOPS Range Counts).

A screenshot of the "Settings" window for the hIOmon Workload I/O Profiler (WIOP) is shown below.  The hIOmon WIOP features automated hIOmon software configuration that is based upon the particular physical disk(s) specified by the user.  By default, the operating system physical disk associated wtih the system drive logical disk (typically the C: drive) is configured by the WIOP for I/O operation monitoring.  The "Reconfigure" button shown in the WIOP "Settings" window can be used to explicitly specify other or additional physical disks to be monitored.

The WIOP also configures the hIOmon software at installation to automatically export a comprehensive set of summary I/O operation performance metrics (including the hIOmon Performance Threshold Range Metrics) to "hIOmon Manager Export Files", which can subsequently be used as an input source of metrics for historical display by the hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger Display.

 

hIOmon WIOP Settings Display

A screenshot of the "Settings" window for the hIOmon Workload I/O Profiler for Files (WIOPF) version is shown below.  The "Settings" configuration options provided by this WIOPF include a means of manually specifying the particular devices and files that are to be monitored by hIOmon.  It also provides export options to write a selected set of the hIOmon Performance Threshold Range Metrics to a Comma-Separated-Values (CSV) formatted export file as part of the periodic refresh of the displayed metrics.

 

hIOmon WIOPF Service Settings Display

Comprehensive detailed information about the various configuration operations provided by the hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger can be found within the Disk I/O Ranger help information in Documentation.

 

The various configuration options provided by the "Settings" panel enable you to dynamically control what gets displayed and what gets monitored in accordance with your own particular needs and interests.

Moreover, you can start with a minimal amount of details displayed and then include additional metrics to the display as needed.

 

Performance Threshold Range Metrics for LOGICAL Devices

The hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger can collect the summarized Performance Threshold Range Metrics upon an individual, specific logical device basis (e.g., "C:") as shown in the screenshot below.  This screenshot also illustrates some of the other additional I/O operations metrics (such as the I/O operation counts, amount of data transferred, and DXTI value per Range Count) that can optionally be included within the display.

The summarized metrics collected upon a logical device basis reflect the combined totals for all of the monitored files that reside upon the associated logical device (i.e., only those files upon the device that were specified to be monitored by the hIOmon I/O Monitor).

hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger Display for a Logical Disk

 

Not every application I/O operation results in a device I/O operation.  Consequently when evaluating and referencing I/O operation performance metrics, it is important to note at what level within the I/O software stack were these I/O metrics captured/collected.

The hIOmon software enables you to easily collect I/O operation metrics concurrently at two distinct levels within the operating system I/O software stack: Logical Disk (i.e., file level) and physical disk.  Note that the WIOPF automatically configures the hIOmon software to monitor I/O operations at both levels.

 

Performance Threshold Range Metrics for PROCESSES

hIOmon can also collect the summarized Performance Threshold Range Metrics upon an individual, specific process basis, as shown by the screenshot below.

The summarized metrics reflect the totals for the individual process whose I/O operations were directed to the physical disks being monitored.

 

When configured to collect summary metrics for procesess, hIOmon collects summary I/O operation performance metrics for each individual process instance (i.e., for each separate execution of an application/process).

The "Coalesce" option for historical displays using hIOmon Manager Export Files enables you to additionally aggregate the "per-process-instance" summary metrics upon an overall application/process basis.  That is, the overall total summary metrics for a particular application reflect the combined total of all process instances observed for that application.

As a result, you can view the respective "I/O Profile" for each of the individual runs of the same application as well as for the application overall (i.e., all runs combined).

 

hIOmon I/O Trender Display

A "Trender Display" button appears to the right of the "Settings" button upon the Main Display window of the hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger when the hIOmon "I/O Trender Display" feature is present.  This feature is available in both the WIOP and WIOPF.

The hIOmon "I/O Trender Display" can be used to optionally present - within a graphical format - metrics that have been retrieved by the hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger.  The hIOmon "I/O Trender Display" runs in conjunction with the hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger Display, which transfers to the I/O Trender Display various metrics that it has retrieved.  These metrics are then shown by the I/O Trender Display in accordance with the various configuration options that are provided by the I/O Trender Display.

The "I/O Trender Display" graphs/charts are shown within the bottom frame of the hIOmon Disk I/O Ranger "Main Display".

Comprehensive detailed information about the hIOmon I/O Trender Display can be found within the I/O Trender help information available in Documentation.  Screenshots of the hIOmon I/O Trender Display can be seen here.