This file describes the graphical interface for the Resource
Analyzer. The following topics are included:
The Resource Analyzer is the graphical user interface for monitoring the
performance of application servers, servlets, and other resources in WebSphere
Application Server Advanced Edition. The Analyzer can be used for a
range of monitoring tasks--from viewing real-time performance data, to
gauging the load on servers over time, to evaluating the efficiency of
resource allocations. The Analyzer provides the following
features:
- A centralized hierarchical view of available resources to be monitored
- Tables and charts for viewing a resource's data, in real-time and
during specified time intervals
- Summary tables for viewing individual and aggregate data
- A logging facility for recording and replaying statistical data from a log
file
- Controls for adjusting the level of performance data collected (via the
administrative console) as well as the particular resources and counters to
include in a view
- Note:
- Not all performance data is displayed. The WebSphere Advanced
Administrative Console provides a dialog box for specifying which data is to
be collected for which resources. If data is not being collected for a
particular resource, the data point is not registered and therefore cannot be
displayed in the Resource Analyzer. See Setting levels for data collection.
The Resource Analyzer main window consists of two panes: the Resource
Selection pane and the Data Monitoring pane. The Resource Selection
pane on the left provides a view of resources for which performance data can
be displayed. The Data Monitoring pane on the right displays
statistical and load data for the resources that are highlighted (selected) in
the Resource Selection pane.
- The Resource Selection pane. This is a hierarchical
(tree) view of resources and types of performance data available for those
resources. This pane is used to select which resources to monitor and
to start and stop data retrieval for those resources.
- The Data Monitoring pane. This pane contains tables and
charts for viewing performance data in a variety of formats and from a variety
of perspectives. When a single resource is selected in the Resource
Selection pane, the Data Monitoring pane displays a choice of several table
views and a chart view. If multiple resources are selected, the Data
Monitoring pane displays a single data sheet for viewing summary information
for the selected resources.
You can adjust the width of the Resource Selection and Data Monitoring
panes by dragging the split bar left or right. You can rearrange the
order of the table columns in the Data Monitoring pane by dragging the column
heading left or right. You can also adjust the width of the columns by
dragging the edge of the column left or right.
The Resource Selection pane displays resources and associated performance
categories in an indented tree outline. Clicking the plus (+) and minus
(-) symbols expands and collapses the tree to reveal performance categories
for the various resource instances. The resource tree can also be
navigated by using the up and down arrow keys to cycle through the branches
and leaves and the left and right arrow keys to expand and collapse the tree
of resources. Resource instances can be expanded to reveal their
contained instances if applicable. For example, when a container
instance is expanded, the enterprise bean instances in the container are
revealed. The Data Monitoring pane automatically displays the
appropriate table or chart view for any objects highlighted in the Resource
Selection pane.
The first level of the hierarchy includes all nodes (machines) in the
administrative domain, followed by all application servers on the node.
Beneath each application server, all performance categories are listed.
If the performance category named enterprise beans is expanded, all container
instances in the server are revealed. All enterprise bean instances
within that container appear below that in the hierarchy. Clicking an
individual bean or container instance causes its corresponding counters to be
displayed in the Data Monitoring pane. For enterprise beans, the
counters displayed depend on whether the bean is an entity bean or a session
bean. For containers, the counters are aggregate counters for all
enterprise beans in the container.
The Data Monitoring pane displays performance data for the currently
selected resource. The following views are available:
- Time Series. This tab displays performance data at each
refresh interval. (The refresh rate determines how often the
administrative server is polled for data.) If the refresh rate is 5
seconds, this tab displays a value every 5 seconds. It contains a table
with a column for each counter and a row representing each data point.
Each time new data is retrieved from the administrative server, a new row is
added to the table. By default, the number of rows is 40.
- Snapshot. This tab provides a view of performance over
time, allowing you to detect trends by comparing behavior during a single
interval to behavior during a longer interval. The Snapshot view
displays a table with a row for each counter and columns representing each of
four time intervals--for example, the last minute, the last 4 minutes,
the last 10 minutes, and the last 20 minutes. The time intervals can be
adjusted and so can the display mode. The display mode determines the
values represented--current value, change in value, or rate of
change.
- Details. This tab provides information about the
performance counters being viewed. It contains the counter's name,
a description of the counter, and its current value.
- Descendants. This tab displays data for subgroups of the
selected group, if any. It contains tables for each family belonging to
the group. For example, for servlet engine groups, this tab displays a
table for each Web application family (listing all servlets in the
application), a table for all Web applications, and a table for HTTP
sessions. For container groups, this tab displays a table for the
stateless session bean family and for the entity bean family (if both types of
enterprise beans are present).
- Chart. This tab displays a graph with time as the x axis
and the performance value as the y axis. One or more performance
counters can be simultaneously graphed on a single chart. The chart
plots data from n data points, where n is the current
table size (number of rows), and thus number of data points displayed in the
Time Series and Snapshot tables. An accompanying table below the chart
shows the minimum, maximum, and average value of the values currently being
graphed.
When multiple resources are selected for monitoring, the Data Monitoring
pane consists of a single Data Sheet. The Data Sheet displays the
family tables for the selected resources. For example, if three servlet
instances are selected, the Data Sheet displays a table of counter values for
all the servlets, with totals. For most data, the total is a total of
all the cells in the column. For statistical data, such as the average
response time of a servlet, both the current and the average value is
displayed. In that case, the value displayed in the Totals column is
the weighted average of all the cells in the column.
Resource Analyzer provides aggregate data. If aggregate data is
available for a group, it is displayed in the Data Monitoring pane. For
example, for each enterprise bean home interface, counters track the number of
beans of that home that are active. Each container has an aggregate
value that is the sum of all the enterprise beans in that container.
The application server has an aggregate value that is the sum of all
enterprise beans in all containers.
The menu bar contains the following menu options:
- File menu. Used to switch to current mode (from logging
mode), to open an existing log file, and to exit from the Resource
Analyzer. The File menu contains the following items:
- Current System. Resumes the display of real-time data in
tables and charts. This menu option is used to stop viewing data from a
log file and return to viewing real-time data.
- Open Log File. Displays a dialog box for specifying the
name and location of an existing log file to be replayed.
- Exit. Exits from the Resource Analyzer.
- Actions menu. Used to start and stop the reporting of
data, and to clear and refresh data. The Actions menu
contains the following items:
- Run. Starts retrieving performance data for the group
(or groups) selected in the Resource Selection pane.
- Stop. Stops retrieving performance data for the group
(or groups) selected in the Resource Selection pane.
- Clear Values. Clears the values currently displayed in
tables and charts. For example, after stopping a counter, you can use
the Clear Values operation to remove the remaining data from a table.
- Reset to Zero. Resets the "clock" used for reporting
aggregate data for counters of the selected performance group. Instead
of reporting data from the time the server was started, reporting begins from
the time of the reset action. Not all counters can be reset. If
you use Reset to Zero for a group containing nonresettable
counters, the reset action has no effect. You can select multiple
performance groups and reset them simultaneously.
- Stop All. Stops data retrieval for all groups for which
data is being reported.
- Refresh. Queries the administrative server for any newly
started resources since data retrieval began or for additional counters to
report.
- Get Values. Obtains the current values for all counters
that belong to the selected resource. The values are displayed
independently of the refresh rate. Data reporting does not need to be
enabled for the resource.
- Rewind. Rewinds the log file to the beginning.
- Logging menu. Used to start and stop recording data in a
log file. The Logging menu contains the following
items:
- Start. Starts writing performance data to a log
file.
- Stop. Stops writing performance data to a log file and
saves the log file. If you start a new log file, specifying the same
file name, the file is overwritten.
- Options menu. Used to change settings. The
Options menu contains the following items:
- Display Mode. Specifies how counter values are
displayed. Use this to choose whether to display real-time values,
changes in values, or rates of change. The display mode meanings differ
slightly depending on where you are viewing data. See detailed
descriptions of the display mode in Viewing Time Series data and Viewing Snapshot data. The choices follow:
- Current. Displays the current (real-time) values.
- Change. Displays the change in the current value from a previous
value.
- Rate of Change. Displays the ratio change/(T1
- T2), where change is the change in the current
value from a previous value, T1 is the time when the current value
was retrieved, and T2 is the time when the previous value was
retrieved.
- Snapshot Interval. Specifies the time intervals for
which data is reported (displayed). For example, data can be reported
for the last 30 seconds, the last 60 seconds, the last 150 seconds, and the
last 300 seconds. The time interval for which the data is reported is a
multiple of the polling interval (the refresh rate). That is, if data
is refreshed every minute, and the snapshot interval is short, data is
reported for the last minute, the last 2 minutes, the last 5 minutes, and the
last 10 minutes. The following snapshot intervals are available:
- Short: 1x, 2x, 5x, and 10x refresh rate
- Medium: 1x, 4x, 10x, and 20x refresh rate
- Long: 1x, 5x, 20x, and 30x refresh rate
- Log Speed. Specifies how fast to replay a log
file. Choosing 1x plays the log at the same speed at which the data was
written to the log. Choosing 5x plays the log 5 times the rate at which
it was written. The available speeds are 1x, 5x, 20x, and 60x.
- Set Refresh Rate. Displays a pop-up field for specifying
how often the administrative server is polled for data, in seconds. The
default is 10 seconds.
- Set Table Size. Displays a pop-up field for entering the
number of rows (and therefore the number of data points) to be displayed in
the Time Series and Snapshot Interval tables. The default value is 40
rows.
- Help menu. Used to access help. The
Help menu contains the following items:
- Help Topics. Displays the table of contents for online
help.
- Send Your Feedback. Allows you to mail comments or
suggestions on Resource Analyzer.
- About Resource Analyzer. Displays the product name,
version number, and copyright information.
In the Resource Selection pane, status icons indicate the availability of
nodes and application servers in the domain. The icon colors are
identical to those used in the administrative console:
- Green--The resource is running and available.
- Red--The resource is stopped.
The following icon colors indicate whether performance data is being
reported for a resource:
- Blue--Data is being reported for this resource.
- Red--No data is being reported for this resource.
Toolbar icons provide shortcuts to frequently used commands. The
toolbar includes the following icons:
- Refresh icon: Updates data and structures for the
selected resources. That is, polls the administrative server to
retrieve new information about additional counters to display or new servers
recently added to the domain.
- Run icon. Runs (begins reporting) data for a
resource. In logging mode, plays a log file.
- Stop icon. Stops retrieving performance data for the
group (or groups) selected in the Resource Selection pane.
- Stop All icon. Stops retrieving data for all groups for
which data is being reported.
- Clear Values icon. Clears the values currently displayed
in all tables and charts.
- Reset to Zero icon. Resets counters.
- Get Values icon. Obtains the current values for all
counters that belong to the selected resource. The values are displayed
independently of the refresh rate. The resource does not need to be
running in order to get the values of the counters.
- Rewind icon. Rewinds a log file to the beginning of the
file.
- Help. Accesses online help.