VMware ESX Support in up.time 4

VMware ESX server software enables a single host to run multiple virtual servers and their applications as individual instances. up.time can monitor both the server on which VMware ESX is running, and the instances that are running on that server. up.time 4 supports versions 2.5.x and 3x, and 3i* of VMware ESX.

Using up.time, you can not only monitor ESX servers and their instances, but you can also determine the optimal SAN deployment for you environment. Keeping track of the performance of a virtual server farm is easy using up.time's monitors, graphs, and reports. Or, use a report to zero in on physical servers that are good candidates for virtualization on a VMware server

Consolidation

Many organizations have a number of production servers that are not being used to their full capacity - servers that are running one or two applications which are not using the hardware to its potential. Instead of wasting resources, you can consolidate these applications in a virtual environment using VMware. Consolidation enables you to run applications on distinct servers, but without using as much hardware.

up.time's Server Virtualization report can help you to pinpoint physical servers that can be combined on a single virtual server. The report highlights servers that do not fully use their CPU, memory, or disk resources. The report factors in CPU, memory, network, and disk I/O over a period of time and calculates an appropriate mix of workloads. Instead of wasting time with guesswork, you can efficiently virtualize servers in your network using actual data.

Support for Virtual Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure 3 is a software suite that manages multiple, physical VMware ESX v3 servers. With VI3 you can manage and monitor virtual servers, as well as allocate resources among virtual machines. up.time works in conjunction with VI3 to gather workload data from multiple ESX servers and their instances through a single entry point.

VMware ESX and VMware Monitoring

Workload Monitoring

The ESX v3 Workload monitor gathers a set of metrics from each of the instances running on an ESX v3 server. The monitor the compares the highest values returned by the instances to the thresholds that you set. If the values collected from the instances exceed your thresholds, up.time issues an alert.

Performance Reporting and Graphing

Once up.time has collected metrics from an ESX system, what do you do with all of that information? Use up.time's reports and graphs to visualize the performance of both the ESX server and the instances that are running on that server.

Using the VMware Workload report, you can pinpoint which VMware instances are using the most system resources, or whether or not you are using a particular VMware ESX server to its optimal capacity. If you are managing your servers with VI3, then the VI3 Workload Profile report will chart the workload of both the server on which VI3 is running and the ESX v3 instances that VI3 manages.

VMware workload

If you regularly use the VMware VMotion utility, which enables you to move ESX instances from one server to another without any downtime or loss of data, then up.time's Instance Motion graph is an essential tool. The Instance Motion graph tracks where a VMware instance relocated with the VMware VMotion tool has been running on over a given time period.

VMotion graph

Licensing

In order to use up.time's VMware capabilities, you will need an additional license. Licensing for up.time's VMware monitoring features is flexible and is not based on the number of instances that you are monitoring. Instead, you can monitor an unlimited number of VMware instances.

VMware Performance Metrics

In addition to system performance metrics from the ESX platform, up.time also collects metrics for each instance running on an ESX server. These metrics show the consumption of the following physical resource by each ESX instance:

ESX v2

ESX v3
  • Workload - CPU

    The percentage of maximum available CPU time that is being used by a VMware instance. This ensures that all of the CPU usage figures add up to the overall CPU usage of the server.

  • Workload - Memory

    The amount of physical memory, in kilobytes, that is being used by a VMware instance.

  • Workload - Network I/O

    The amount of the server's disk I/O capacity, in kilobytes per second, that is being used by a VMware instance.

  • Workload - Disk I/O

    The amount of the server's network I/O capacity, in kilobits per second, that is being used by a VMware instance.
  • CPU

    The percentage of CPU time that is being used by a VMware instance. This is a percentage of the available maximum amount of CPU time.

  • Memory

    The amount of physical memory, in kilobytes, that is being used by a VMware instance.

  • Network I/O

    The amount of the network I/O capacity, in kilobits per second, that is being used by a VMware instance.

  • Disk I/O

    The amount of the disk I/O capacity, in kilobytes per second, that is being used by a VMware instance.

  • % Ready

    The amount of time that one or more instances running on an ESX v3 server is ready to run, but cannot run because it cannot access the processor on the ESX v3 server.

  • % Used

    The percentage of CPU time that an instance running on an ESX v3 server is using.