Tivoli Performance Viewer features
Tivoli Performance Viewer is a Java client which retrieves the Performance Monitoring Infrastructure (PMI) data from an appserver and displays it in a variety of formats.
You can do the following tasks with the Tivoli Performance Viewer:
- View data in real time
- Record current data in a log, and replay the log later
- View data in chart form, allowing visual comparison of multiple counters.
Each counter can be scaled independently to enable meaningful graphs.
- View data in tabular form
- Compare data for single resources to aggregate data across a node
To minimize the performance impact, Tivoli Performance Viewer polls the server with the PMI data at an interval set by the user. All data manipulations are done in the Tivoli Performance Viewer client, which can be run on a separate machine, further reducing the impact.
The Tivoli Performance Viewer graphical user interface includes the following:
- Resource selection panel
- Data monitoring panel
- Menu bar
- Toolbar icons
- Node icons
- Status bar
Layout of the console
The performance viewer main window consists of two panels: the Resource Selection panel and the Data Monitoring panel. The Resource Selection panel, located on the left, provides a view of resources for which performance data can be displayed. The Data Monitoring panel, located on the right, displays numeric and statistical data for the resources that are highlighted (selected) in the Resource Selection panel.
You can adjust the width of the Resource Selection and Data Monitoring panels by dragging the split bar left or right. You can rearrange the order of the table columns in the Data Monitoring panel 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.
Resource selection panel
The Resource Selection panel 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.
The Resource Selection panel displays resources and associated resource categories in an indented tree outline. Clicking the plus (+) and minus (-) symbols expands and collapses the tree to reveal the 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 by using the left and right arrow keys to expand and collapse the tree of resources. Resource instances can be expanded to reveal the instances they contain, if applicable. For example, when a EJB JAR instance is expanded, the enterprise bean instances in the EJB JAR are revealed. The Data Monitoring panel automatically displays the appropriate selection of counters for any objects highlighted in the Resource Selection panel.
The first level of the hierarchy includes all nodes (machines) in the administrative domain, followed by all appservers on the node. Below each appserver, all resource categories are listed. If the enterprise beans category is expanded, all EJB JAR instances in the server are displayed. Next, all enterprise bean instances appear below the EJB JAR in the hierarchy. Then, a methods resource is associated with each bean. Clicking an individual bean or EJB JAR instance causes its corresponding counters to be displayed in the Data Monitoring panel. For enterprise beans, the counters displayed depend on whether the bean is an entity bean or a session bean. For EJB JARs, the counters are aggregate counters for all enterprise beans in the EJB JARs. See the information center article Performance data organization for more information.
Data monitoring panel
The Data Monitoring panel 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.
Counter selection panel
The Counter Selection panel shows the counters available for the resource performance category selection.
Two factors determine the list of available counters in the Counter Selection panel:
- Only counters associated with the resource that is selected in the Resource
Selection panel are displayed.
- Only counters having impact cost ratings within or below the instrumentation or monitoring level that is set for that resource in the administrative domain are displayed.
The first three counters shown for each resource performance category are selected by default. All counters can be selected or deselected, and the resulting output, shown in the top panel, automatically reflects the selection.
The columns in the Counter Selection panel provide the following information for each counter:
- Name. The names of the counters that are available for selection
with this resource.
- Description. A brief description of the function of each counter.
- Value. The value for the counter, displayed according to the display
mode in effect. Values are actual values (not scaled values used for the chart,
if applicable).
- Select. A check box that indicates whether a counter is to be reflected
in the chart. To hide data, clear the check box. The column representing that
counter is then removed from the View Data window, and the graphic display
for that counter is removed from the View Chart window.
- Scale. A value indicating whether data has been scaled (amplified
or diminished) from its actual value to fit on the chart. This value is reflected
only in the View Chart window.
The value for the Scale column can be set manually by editing the value of the Scale field. See Scaling the chart display manually for information on manually setting the scale.
Viewing Counter panel
When a counter on the list in the Counter Selection panel is selected, the statistics gathered from that counter are displayed in the Viewing Counter panel at the top of the Data Monitoring panel.
The View Data window shows the counter's output in table format; the View Chart window displays a graph with time represented on the x-axis and the performance value represented on 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).
Display of multiple resources and aggregate data
When a single resource is selected in the Resource Selection panel, the Data Monitoring panel displays a choice of a table view or a chart view. If multiple resources are selected, the Data Monitoring panel displays a single data sheet for viewing summary information for the selected resources. The data sheet displays the tables for all objects of similar type 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. By default, the display buffer size is set to 40 rows, corresponding to the values of the last 40 data points retrieved.
The performance viewer provides aggregate data at the module level. If aggregate data is available for a group, it is displayed in the Data Monitoring panel. For example, for each enterprise bean home interface, counters track the number of active enterprise beans of that home. Each EJB JAR has an aggregate value that is the sum of all the enterprise beans in that EJB JAR. The enterprise beans resource category (module) within the appserver has an aggregate value that is the sum of all enterprise beans in all EJB JARs.
Menu bar
The menu bar contains the following options:
- File menu. Used to change to current mode (from logging mode),
to open an existing log file, and to exit from the performance viewer. The File menu
contains the following items:
- Refresh. Queries the administrative server for any newly started
resources since data retrieval began or for additional counters to report.
This operation is also recursive over all components subordinate to the selected
resources. Tivoli Performance Viewer refreshes data every 10 seconds. When
changing the refresh rate, use an integer greater than or equal to
1.
- Current Activity. 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.
- Log. Displays a dialog box for specifying the name and location
of an existing log file to be replayed.
- Exit. Closes the performance viewer. If you made changes to the instrumentation levels of any resources during the session, a dialog box opens to ask whether you want to save the changed settings before closing the tool.
- Refresh. Queries the administrative server for any newly started
resources since data retrieval began or for additional counters to report.
This operation is also recursive over all components subordinate to the selected
resources. Tivoli Performance Viewer refreshes data every 10 seconds. When
changing the refresh rate, use an integer greater than or equal to
1.
- Logging menu. Provides On and Off options that are
used to start and stop recording data in a log file. If you start a new log
file and specify the same file name, the file is overwritten.
- Setting menu. Used to start and stop the reporting of data, and
to clear and refresh data. The Setting menu contains the following
items:
- Clear Buffer. Deletes the values currently displayed in tables
and charts. For example, after stopping a counter, you can use this operation
to remove the remaining data from a table.
- Reset to Zero. Resets cumulative counters of the selected performance
group back to zero.
- View Data As. Specifies how counter values are displayed. You can
choose whether to display absolute values, changes in values, or rates of
change. How data is displayed differs slightly depending on where you are
viewing data. The choices follow:
- Raw Value. Displays the absolute value. If the counter represents
load data, such as the average number of connections in a database pool, then
the Tivoli Performance Viewer 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.
- Raw Value. Displays the absolute value. If the counter represents
load data, such as the average number of connections in a database pool, then
the Tivoli Performance Viewer displays the current value followed by the average.
For example, 18 (avg:5).
- Log Replay. Includes Rewind Stop Play Fast Forward .
Note that right-clicking a resource in the Resource Selection panel displays a menu that provides the following options: Refresh, Clear Buffer, and Reset to Zero.
- Clear Buffer. Deletes the values currently displayed in tables
and charts. For example, after stopping a counter, you can use this operation
to remove the remaining data from a table.
- Help menu. Provides information for users.
Toolbar icons
Toolbar icons provide shortcuts to frequently used commands. The toolbar includes the following icons:
- Refresh. Updates data and structures for the selected resources.
That is, it polls the administrative server to retrieve new information about
additional counters to display or new servers recently added to the domain.
- Clear Buffer. Deletes the values currently displayed in all tables
and charts.
- Reset to Zero. Resets the counters.
Node icons
In the Resource Selection panel, the color of the node icon indicates the current state and availability of the application server in the domain.
- Green--The resource is running and available.
- Red--The resource is stopped.
Status bar
The status bar across the bottom of the performance viewer window dynamically displays the current state of the reporting values. The following state information is reported in the status bar:
- The current setting for the refresh rate
- The buffer size in use in the current Viewing Counter panel
- The display mode in use in the current Viewing Counter panel
- The current state of the logging setting
Storing data to a log file
Changing the refresh rate of data retrieval
Changing the display buffer size
Viewing and modifying performance chart data
Scaling the performance data chart display
Viewing summary reports
Performance data organization