WebSphere Application Server - Express, Version 6.0.x     Operating Systems: AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Windows

Using the Tivoli Performance Viewer

Use this page to view and refresh performance data for the selected server, change user and log settings, view summary reports, and information on specific performance modules.

To view this administrative console page, click Monitoring and Tuning > Performance Viewer > Current Activity > server.

Click the server name to view the current activity for that server.

View Module(s)

Select one or more servers from the list and press Start monitoring to start the Tivoli Performance Monitor for the selected servers.

Select a resource from the Resource Selection panel, located on the left side, provides a hierarchical (tree) view of resources and the types of performance data available for those resources. Use this panel to select which resources to monitor and to start and stop data retrieval for those resources.

Click the View Chart tab in the Data Monitoring panel.

The Data Monitoring panel, located on the right side, enables the selection of multiple counters and displays the resulting performance data for the currently selected resource. It contains two panels: the Viewing Counter panel above and the Counter Selection panel below. If necessary, you can set the scaling factors by typing directly in the scale field.

Refresh

The refresh operation is a local, not global, operation that applies only to selected resources. The refresh operation is recursive; all subordinate or children resources refresh when a selected resource refreshes. To refresh data:

Click one or more resources in the Resource Selection panel.

Click File > Refresh. Alternatively, click the Refresh icon or right-click the resource and select Refresh.

Clicking refresh with server selected under the viewer icon causes TPV to query the server for new PMI and product configuration information. Clicking refresh with server selected under the advisor icon causes TPV to refresh the advice provided, but will not refresh PMI or product configuration information.

Advisor

Use the Performance Advisor to examine various data while your application is running. The Performance Advisor provides advice to help tune systems for optimal performance and gives recommendations on inefficient settings by using collected PMI data.

The first table represents the number of requests per second and the response time in milliseconds for the Web container.

The pie graph displays the CPU activity as percentage busy and idle.

The third table displays average thread activity for the different resources, for example, Default, Object Request Broker, and Web container. Activity is expressed as the number of threads or connections busy and idle.

User settings

Change the values as needed for the following user settings:

Refresh Rate Specifies how frequently TPV collects performance data for a server from the Performance Monitoring Infrastructure (PMI) service provided by that server. The default is 45 seconds. To collect performance data for the server more frequently, set the refresh rate to a smaller number. To collect performance data less frequently, set the refresh rate to a larger number. The allowed range is 5 to 500 seconds.
Buffer Size Specifies the amount of data to be stored for a server. Data displayed in TPV is stored in a short in-memory buffer. After the buffer is full, each time a new entry is retrieved the oldest entry is discarded. The default buffer size is 40. Allowed values are 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100. The larger the buffer size, the more memory is consumed. Thus, specify a buffer size that allows you capture enough monitoring data for analysis without wasting memory storing unneeded data.
View Data As Specifies how counter values are displayed. Viewing options include the following:
Raw Value
Displays the absolute value. If the counter represents load data, for example, the average number of connections in a database pool, then TPV displays the current value followed by the average. For example, 18 (avg:5).
Change in Value
Displays the change in the current value from the previous value.
Rate of Change
Displays the ratio change/(T1 - T2), where change is the change in the current value from the previous value, T1 is the time when the current value was retrieved, and T2 is the time when the previous value was retrieved.
Log settings

The log settings control what happens when Start Logging is clicked in, for example, a summary report on the performance of a servlet, enterprise bean (EJB), EJB method, connection pool or thread pool.

Change the value as needed for the following settings:

Duration Specifies the length of time, in minutes, that logging continues, unless Stop Logging is clicked first. TPV is not intended as a full-time logging solution.
Maximum File Size Specifies the maximum size, in megabytes, of a single file. Note that TPV automatically zips log files to save space and this parameter controls the pre-zipped file size and not the post-zipped, which is smaller.
Maximum Number of Historical Files Specifies the number of files TPV writes before stopping. If TPV reaches the maximum file size before the logging duration ends, it continues logging in another file, up to the maximum.
File Name Specifies the name of the log file. The server name and the time at which the log is started is appended to the log name to help users identify a log file.
Log Output Format Specifies whether TPV writes log files as XML or in a binary format. Binary format is recommended as it provides a smaller log file when uncompressed.
View summary reports

Summary reports are available for each application server.

Before viewing reports, make sure data counters are enabled and monitoring levels are set properly.

The standard monitoring level enables all reports except the report on Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) methods. To enable an EJB methods report, specify Use synchronized update in the General properties section of the PMI services panel.

Tivoli Performance Viewer provides the following summary reports for each application server:
Servlets
Servlets show the total number of requests, average response time, and multiplication of total requests by average response time for all the servlets in a table. Servlets provide a sorting feature to help you find which servlet is the slowest or fastest and which servlet is called most frequently.
EJBs
Enterprise Java beans (EJBs) show the total number of method calls, average response time, and multiplication of total method calls by average response time for all the enterprise beans in a table. EJBs provide a sorting feature to help you find which EJB is the slowest or fastest and which EJB is called most frequently.
EJB Methods
EJB Methods show the total number of method calls, average response time, and multiplication of total method calls by average response time for the individual EJB methods in a table. EJB Methods provide a sorting feature to help you find which EJB method is the slowest or fastest and which EJB method is called most frequently.
Connection pool
Connection Pool shows a chart of pool size and pool in use for each data source.
Thread pool
Thread Pool shows charts of pool size, active threads, average response time, and throughput in the thread pool.
Performance module

View performance modules that provide graphics and charts of various performance data on system resources such as CPU utilization, on WebSphere pools and queues such as database connection pools, and on customer application data such as servlet response time. In addition to providing a viewer for performance data, TPV enables you to view data for other products or customer applications that have implemented custom PMI.

Tivoli Performance Viewer displays interactive graphics using the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format or non-interactive graphics using the JPG format. The SVG format is recommended because it provides a better user experience and is more processor and memory efficient for the application server.




Reference topic    

Terms of Use | Feedback

Last updated: Jun 8, 2005 12:45:23 PM EDT
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v6r0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.websphere.express.doc/info/exp/ae/uprf_tpvserverview.html

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2004, 2005. All Rights Reserved.
This information center is powered by Eclipse technology. (http://www.eclipse.org)