This guide explains how to configure the Performance Co-Pilot™ (PCP) software to monitor Sybase SQL Server™ database performance. The software described here is packaged as the Performance Co-Pilot for Sybase10 product. You need to have both Performance Co-Pilot (version 1.1 or later) and Sybase SQL Server (version 10.0.2) installed on your system to take advantage of this software.
To use this product, you must be familiar with the operation and administrative procedures for the Performance Co-Pilot base product and Sybase SQL Server . For some of the more technical discussion in this document, you may need to obtain and read the following reference material:
Performance Co-Pilot User's and Administrator's Guide, shipped on-line as part of the Performance Co-Pilot base product and viewable under IRIS InSight.™
Sybase SQL Server (version 10.0.2) SQL Server Administrator's Guide, available from Sybase, Inc.
The Performance Co-Pilot for Sybase10 product consists of extensions to both the collection and monitoring facilities of the PCP. The collection of performance metrics is extended as follows:
Performance metrics from Sybase SQL Server system tables are integrated into the PCP framework with a new Performance Metrics Domain Agent (PMDA).
Source code for a PMDA to measure response times for a Sybase client application is shipped as part of the product. This agent software can be customized to collect site-specific performance measures for a “typical” Sybase application.
The monitoring functionality of Performance Co-Pilot is extended to include:
A Sybase performance visualizer, sybvis(1), which provides a three-dimensional view of various resources consumed by Sybase database servers. The visualizer also provides a template for customized site-specific visualizations of database performance using the Performance Co-Pilot pmview(1) construction kit.
Note: The sybvis tool is NOT included in the BETA version of this product. Example configurations for the Performance Co-Pilot strip chart tool pmchart(1) are provided for Sybase performance metrics.
Performance Co-Pilot logger pmlogger(1) configuration files designed to log the performance metrics required by the visualization tools are included.
This section presents an overview of the Performance Co-Pilot architecture for collecting and monitoring performance data. Read this section if you intend to collect and/or monitor Sybase SQL Server performance, but are not thoroughly familiar with the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) and the Performance Metrics Collection Subsystem (PMCS), as presented in the Performance Co-Pilot User's and Administrator's Guide.
On any given system, the Performance Co-Pilot is installed in one or both of the following configurations:
| Collector Configuration |
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| Monitor Configuration |
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Similarly, both of the Performance Metrics Domain Agents (PMDAs) shipped as part of the product may be installed in either a Collector or a Monitor configuration. The Collector configuration allows for the collection (as well as monitoring, given a current Monitor license) of performance data. A Monitor configuration enables monitoring of performance of remote systems only.
The Performance Metrics Collection Daemon (PMCD) is responsible for gathering performance data relating to the system on which it runs. It manages a collection of Performance Metrics Domain Agents (PMDAs, or simply agents), each of which is responsible for gathering data within its assigned domain. For example a program named pmdasyb10 collects performance metrics from the Sybase SQL Server domain.
If you intend to monitor multiple Sybase SQL Servers, be aware that each performance domain is represented by a unique integer domain number. Consequently, you need to plan the allocation of unique and consistent domain numbers for these servers. This issue is addressed separately for the two agents, shipped as part of the product, in the sections titled “The Sybase10 Agent” and “The Sybase Response-Time Agent.”
Refer to the Performance Co-Pilot User's and Administrator's Guide and the reference page for pmcd(1) for more detailed information on PMNS, PMCD, agents, and domains.
Figure 1-1 shows a typical use of the Performance Co-Pilot to monitor a Sybase SQL Server running on a remote system. The server system often has no graphics capability, so a workstation is used to monitor its performance. Notice that each system has its own unique copy of the name space.
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Figure 1-2 shows a more complicated arrangement. Note once again that each system has its own distinct copy of the name space. The name space on any system needs to contain entries only for the Sybase SQL Servers that it may monitor. For example the monitoring system's name space contains entries for all of the servers. The Collector systems usually contain name space entries only for their own database servers[1] .
Both of the PMDAs that are part of the product are supplied with two shell scripts:
| Install | Installs the agent for a given Sybase SQL Server in either Collector or Monitor configuration. | |
| Remove | Undoes the configuration for a given server. |
For a Collector configuration, the Install script performs the following chores:
Adds the new metric names into the name space in the directory /usr/pcp/pmns on the current host.
Creates an ndbm(3B) database of help text for the new metrics.
Installs the PMDA executable into the directory /usr/pcp/lib.
Installs the relevant pmchart(1) and pmlogger(1) configuration files into the directories /usr/pcp/config/pmchart and /usr/pcp/pmlogger, respectively.
Updates the PMCD configuration file /etc/pmcd.conf.
Notifies PMCD of the new configuration.
For a Monitor configuration, only the following subset of the above actions is performed:
Adds the new metric names into the name space in the directory /usr/pcp/pmns on the current host.
Installs any relevant pmchart(1) and pmlogger(1) configuration files into the directories /usr/pcp/config/pmchart and /usr/pcp/pmlogger, respectively.
This is an initial version of the Performance Metrics Domain Agent (PMDA) for collecting performance data from a Sybase SQL Server. This PMDA integrates performance metrics obtained using the Sybase SQL Server system tables into the Performance Co-Pilot framework. From here on, this agent is called the sybase10 PMDA.
The sybase10 PMDA exports Sybase SQL Server performance metrics in five distinct subtrees of the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS). These are as follows;
Monitor - the metrics below sybase.server.monitor in the PMNS are extracted from corresponding SQL Server global variables of the same or similar names. These metrics basically correspond to the values returned by the sp_monitor system stored procedure. The pmchart view named Sybase.Monitor creates three charts showing the SQL Server CPU utilization, disk read and write operations and network packets sent and received.
Processes - the metrics below sybase.server.processes in the PMNS are extracted from the SQL Server sysprocesses system table. These metrics represent the individual resource usage of each SQL Server process. The metrics below sybase.server.processes.status in the PMNS represent an instantaneous count of the number of processes in each of the twelve possible states (runnable, running, stopped, recv-sleep, and so on). These metrics are included in the pmchart view named Sybase.Processes, which displays a stacked bar showing the number of processes in each state, with the total height of the stacked bar representing the total number of processes.
Logins - the metrics below sybase.server.logins in the PMNS are extracted from the SQL Server syslogins system table. These metrics represent the resource usage of individual SQL Server client logins.
Devices - the metrics below sybase.server.devices in the PMNS are extracted from the SQL Server sysdevices system table. These metrics represent the size, used and free space for each configured SQL Server physical device.
Segments - the metrics below sybase.server.segments in the PMNS are extracted and derived from the SQL Server syssegments system table. These metrics represent the size, used space and free space for each configured SQL Server logical device.
In outline, the installation procedure for the sybase10 PMDA proceeds as follows:
Software Installation – Use the software installation tool inst(1M) to copy the software from the distribution media. The software is placed in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10.
Collector Configuration – Use the shell script Install in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10 to configure and initiate execution of the agent on the hosts where metrics are to be collected.
Monitor Configuration – Use the shell script Install in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10 to configure the name space for the agent on the hosts where metrics are to be monitored only.
The agent configuration may subsequently be undone using the shell script Remove. This script can be found in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10.
| Note: This PMDA has been tested on the following releases of the Sybase SQL Server product. While the agent may remain partially functional for other releases of Sybase, metric values may be missing or incorrectly reported. Therefore, make sure that this agent is installed to monitor this release only: |
Sybase SQL Server 10.0.2 for IRIX 5.3.
A valid installation of the Performance Co-Pilot product, version 1.1 (PCP 1.1) or later, is a prerequisite. Further, a Collector configuration of PCP 1.1 is required for a Collector configuration of this PMDA.
Before you attempt to configure the PMDA for a particular SQL server, you need to establish the server name. Further, if you intend to monitor multiple Sybase SQL Servers you need to plan the allocation of performance metrics domain numbers for these servers. The following sections cover these issues.
The Install script requires that you supply the server name of the SQL Server instance to which the PMDA connects to obtain performance data. If you do not know what name you should use, contact the database administrator at your site.
By default, the server name is used to construct the performance metric names for the metrics supported by this PMDA. For example, a site with the servers production and development includes the performance metric names:
sybase.production.monitor.disk_read sybase.development.monitor.disk_read |
denoting the number of disk reads by the production and development servers, respectively.
The install script allows the PMNS name to be different to the server name. This is not the default and is only useful in situations where the same SQL Server name is used on several hosts and it is desirable to monitor these SQL Servers simultaneously.
When you install the sybase10 PMDA in a Collector configuration (for example, at the host where performance data is being collected), you need to supply the administrator's user name and password so the agent can connect to the server and retrieve performance metrics. If you do not know the correct user name or password to use, contact the database administrator at your site. The password will be stored in the file /usr/pcp/config/sybase/password.servername.
In this file, servername is the name of the SQL Server to be monitored. This file is created (or updated) by the installation script and is made read-only for the root user. Notice that if the SQL Server administrator's password is ever changed, then this file will need to be edited - the syntax is obvious from the comments near the top of the file, though it may be easier to simply reinstall the sybase10 PMDA, supplying the new password when prompted.
In order to distinguish metrics from multiple SQL Servers, each server needs to be assigned a unique performance metrics domain number. For a detailed discussion of domain numbers, refer to the Performance Co-Pilot User's and Administrator's Guide.
The range of domain numbers 40-47 (inclusive) is reserved for the metrics from Sybase SQL Servers. For example, a site with servers called production and development would normally assign the numbers 40 and 41 for the two servers. For an existing configuration, you can find the domain number by using the pminfo(1) command, such as:
% pminfo -m sybase.production.monitor.disk_read sybase.production.monitor.disk_read PMID: 40.0.7 % pminfo -m sybase.development.monitor.disk_read sybase.development.monitor.disk_read PMID: 41.0.7 |
On a collection host, the domain numbers currently in use also appear in the Performance Metrics Collection Daemon (PMCD) configuration file /etc/pmcd.conf.
Use the shell script Install in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10 to configure and initiate execution of the agent on the hosts where metrics are to be collected. The script performs the following functions:
Adds the new metric names into the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) in the directory /usr/pcp/pmns.
Creates an ndbm(3B) database of help text for the new metrics in the directory /usr/pcp/pmns.
Installs the executable /usr/pcp/lib/pmdasyb10.
Installs the relevant pmchart(1) and pmlogger(1) configuration files into the directories /usr/pcp/config/pmchart and /usr/pcp/pmlogger, respectively.
Updates the Performance Metrics Collection Daemon (PMCD) configuration file /etc/pmcd.conf.
Notifies PMCD of the new configuration.
Before running Install, you need to have on hand the SQL Server server name, performance metrics domain number for that server and the SQL Server administrator's user name and password.
Here is a listing of a Collector configuration run for the server production.
% su # cd /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10 # ./Install Sybase server name? [SYBASE] production Do you want to use “sybase.production” to name sybase metrics? [y] y Performance metrics domain number? [40] Sybase admin user name? [sa] The Sybase admin password is required so the PCP agent can connect to the SQL server and query the system tables. The password will be stored in a file that is readable only by root. What is the Sybase admin password? [““] Created directory /usr/pcp/config/sybase Created password file /usr/pcp/config/sybase/password.production Updating the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) ... Updating help files ... Installing executables ... Updating the PMCD control file ... Waiting for PMCD to terminate... Performance Co-Pilot PMCD started (logfile is /var/tmp/pmcd.log) Check sybase.production metrics have appeared ... Ok The log file for this agent is /var/tmp/sybase-production.log Install done. |
Alternately, you may supply all the information required by the Install script as command line arguments:
Install options |
Where the options available are:
[-C] - collector configuration [-d number] - PCP domain number [-U username] - Sybase Administrator User Name [-P password] - Sybase Administrator Password [-M] - monitor configuration [-N] - namespace only (same as -M) [-n namespace] - non-standard PCP namespace [-S server] - Sybase server name [-s name] - use sybase.name in pmns [-R rootdir] - non-standard root directory |
The configuration task on hosts (typically workstations) used to monitor the performance of Sybase SQL Servers running on remote systems is also accomplished using the Install script in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10. In this case the script performs the following functions:
Adds the new metric names into the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) in the directory /usr/pcp/pmns.
Installs the relevant pmchart(1) and pmlogger(1) configuration files into the directories /usr/pcp/config/pmchart and /usr/pcp/pmlogger, respectively.
Before running Install, you will need to have on hand the SQL Server name and performance metrics domain number for that server. A monitor-only configuration does not require the SQL Server administrator's user name or password because the client tools connect to a remote PMCD rather than directly to a remote SQL Server.
Here is a listing of a Monitor configuration run for the server production that has the default domain number 40 (notice the use of the -N command line argument)
% su # cd /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10 # ./Install -N Usually the Sybase server name is used as the second level of the name space to name Sybase metrics. E.g. sybase.MYSERVER.monitor.cpu_idle. What name should be used as the second level of the namespace? production The Performance metrics domain number you choose in the next step should be the same as domain number of the PCP Sybase agent on the remote host you will be monitoring. Performance metrics domain number? [40] Updating the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) ... Check sybase. metrics have appeared ... Ok Install done. |
Alternately, you may supply all the information required by the Install script as command line arguments. The available options are the same as described above in the section on configuring the Collector.
When the sybase10 PMDA is configured by running the install script, the script checks that the PMDA has been installed correctly but does not check that a connection can actually be established with SQL Server. This only occurs when Sybase metric values are fetched for the first time.
The pminfo command may be run at any time to check the availability of Sybase performance metrics from either the local or a remote host.
Here is an example for the server production from the remote host moomba:
% pminfo -f -h moomba sybase.production.monitor |
To remove the performance metrics for a particular server, use the Remove script in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10. This applies to both Collector and Monitor configurations.
Here is a listing of a remove run for the server production:
% cd /usr/pcp/pmdas/syb10
% ./Remove
The following Sybase namespace/agents are installed: production
Which PCP Sybase namespace/agent do you want to remove? [production]
Culling the Performance Metrics Name Space ...
Removed pmchart views for Sybase.production
Updating the PMCD control file (/etc/pmcd.conf) ...
Notifying PMCD ...
killall -HUP pmdasyb10; killall -HUP pmcd
Removing help files ...
- /usr/pcp/help/sybase.production.dir
- /usr/pcp/help/sybase.production.pag
Removing PMDA binary ...
- /usr/pcp/lib/pmdasyb10
Check that sybase.production metrics have gone away ... OK
|
Alternately, you may supply the information required by the Remove script as command line arguments, such as:
Remove -s server |
Where server specifies a Sybase SQL Server name.
This section presents useful hints and problem workarounds available at the time of writing. You should also check the product release notes for important information.
In order to minimize overhead, the sybase10 PMDA does not connect to the SQL Server on start-up. It is only when the first request for either metric values or an instance domain is received that the connection is established. Connection to the server can take a number of seconds to set up, during which time the error message
Try again. Information not currently available
is returned. You can force a connection attempt by requesting a metric value, using the pminfo(1) command. For example, use the command:
pminfo -f sybase.server.monitor.disk_read
If there is a problem in the operation of the PMDA, check the PMDA log file: /var/tmp/sybase-SERVER.log. The name of the server replaces SERVER in the given filename.
The sybase10 PMDA always appends messages to its log file whenever an SQL Server connection is established or closed. If a fetch fails for some reason, the sybase10 PMDA will automatically close its connection and attempt to reconnect. For example, if the SQL Server is shutdown and then restarted the sybase10 PMDA will automatically attempt to reconnect the next time metric values are requested. To avoid overloading an SQL Server with connection requests, the sybase10 PMDA will not attempt to reconnect more than once every five seconds.
This Performance Metrics Domain Agent (PMDA) illustrates how to measure application-level response time for a Sybase application, and incorporate that response time into the Performance Metrics Collection Systems (PMCS) of the Performance Co-Pilot (PCP). From here on, this is called the sybping PMDA or agent.
The two metrics provided by the sybping agent are:
| sybping.SERVER.response_time |
This metric is the most recently observed response time for the probe transaction. | |
| sybping.SERVER.time_stamp |
|
The default probe transaction simply selects a constant from the Sybase SQL Server into a host variable and checks the result. For example:
EXEC select 1234 into :ret; |
The default probe transaction simply measures the round-trip time to the SQL Server, as would be experienced by simple end-user applications. This transaction can be customized to suit a particular environment, such as to scan an application specific table. The instructions for doing this can be found below.
In outline, the installation procedure for the sybping PMDA proceeds as follows:
Software Installation – Use the software installation tool inst(1M) to copy the software from the distribution media. The software is placed in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping.
Collector Configuration – Use the shell script Install in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping to configure and initiate execution of the agent on the hosts where metrics are to be collected.
Monitor Configuration – Use the shell script Install in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping to configure the name space for the agent on the hosts where metrics are to be monitored only.
The agent configuration may subsequently be undone using the Remove shell script.
| Note: This PMDA has been tested on only the following releases of the Sybase SQL Server product. A valid installation of the Performance Co-Pilot product, version 1.1 (PCP 1.1) or later, is a prerequisite. Further, a Collector configuration of PCP 1.1 is required for a Collector configuration of this PMDA. This release is supported: |
SYBASE 10.0.2 for IRIX 5.3.
Before you attempt to configure the PMDA for a particular SQL Server, you need to establish the SQL Server name, and for a Collector configuration, the Sybase administrator's user name and password. Further, if you intend to monitor multiple Sybase SQL Servers you need to plan the allocation of performance metrics domain numbers for these servers. The following sections cover these issues.
The Install script requires that you supply the server name of the SQL Server instance to which the PMDA connects to the probe transaction. If you do not know what name you should use, contact the database administrator at your site.
The server name is also used to construct the performance metric names for the metrics supported by this PMDA. For example, a site with the servers production and development has the performance metric names
sybping.production.response_time sybping.development.response_time |
denoting the response-times to the probe transaction by the production and development servers, respectively.
When you install the sybping PMDA in a Collector configuration (such as at the host where performance data is being collected), you need to supply the SQL Server administrator's user-name and password. This allows the sybping agent to connect to the SQL Server instance, and measure the response time of a simple probe. If you do not know what name or password to use, contact the database administrator at your site.
In order to collect ping metrics from multiple SQL Servers, a separate instance of the PMDA is launched for each server. Each PMDA needs to be assigned a unique performance metrics domain number in order to distinguish ping metrics for that particular PMDA from all other metrics being collected and monitored. For a detailed discussion of domain numbers, refer to the Performance Co-Pilot User's and Administrator's Guide.
If you intend to collect and monitor just one server, the default domain number (252) is adequate. For any additional domain numbers, it is recommended that you choose unused numbers starting from 128 and higher. For example, a site with the servers production and development could assign the numbers 252 and 128 for the two servers. For an existing configuration, you can find the domain number by using the pminfo(1) command:
% pminfo -m sybping.production.time_stamp sybping.production.time_stamp PMID: 252.0.0 % pminfo -m sybping.development.time_stamp sybping.development.time_stamp PMID: 128.0.0 |
On a collection host, the domain numbers currently in use also appear in the performance metrics collection daemon (PMCD) configuration file /etc/pmcd.conf.
Use the shell script Install in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping to configure and initiate execution of the agent on the hosts where metrics are to be collected. The script performs the following functions:
Adds the new metric names into the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) in the directory /usr/pcp/pmns.
Creates an ndbm(3B) database of help text for the new metrics.
Installs the executable /usr/pcp/lib/pmdasybping.
Updates the Performance Metrics Collection Daemon (PMCD) configuration file /etc/pmcd.conf.
Notifies PMCD of the new configuration.
Before running Install you need to have on hand the SQL Server name, performance metrics domain number for ping metrics from that server, and the SQL Server administrator's user name and password.
Here is a listing of a Collector configuration run for the server production.
% su # cd /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping # ./Install Sybase server name to ping? [SYBASE] production Do you want to use “sybping.production” to name sybase ping metrics? [y] Performance metrics domain number? [250] Sybase admin user name? [sa] The Sybase admin password is required so the PCP agent can connect to the SQL server and execute a probe query. The password will be stored in a file that is readable only by root. What is the Sybase admin password? [““] Created password file /usr/pcp/config/sybase/password.production Sleep time (in seconds) between pings? [60] Updating the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) ... Updating help files ... Installing executables ... Updating the PMCD control file ... Performance Co-Pilot PMCD started (logfile is /var/tmp/pmcd.log) Check sybping.production metrics have appeared ... Ok The log file for this agent is /var/tmp/sybping-production.log Install done. |
Alternately, you may supply all the information required by the Install script as command line arguments:
Install options |
Where the options available are:
[-d number] - PCP domain number [-U username] - Sybase Administrator User Name [-P password] - Sybase Administrator Password [-M] - monitor configuration [-N] - namespace only (same as -M) [-n namespace] - non-standard PCP namespace [-S server] - Sybase server name [-s name] - use sybping.name in pmns [-t delta] - sleep delta seconds between pings [-R rootdir] - non-standard root directory |
The configuration task on hosts (typically workstations) used to monitor the performance of Sybase SQL Servers on remote hosts is also accomplished using the Install script in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping. In this case the script adds the new metric names into the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) in the directory /usr/pcp/pmns.
Before running Install you need to have on hand the SQL Server name and the performance metrics domain number for ping metrics from that server.
Here is a listing of a Monitor configuration run for the server production, which has the default domain number 251:
% su # cd /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping # ./Install -N Usually the Sybase server name is used as the second level of the name space to name Sybase Ping metrics. E.g. sybping.MYSERVER.response_time. What name should be used as the second level of the namespace? production The Performance metrics domain number you choose in the next step should be the same as domain number of the PCP Sybping agent on the remote host you will be monitoring. Performance metrics domain number? [251] Updating the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) ... Check sybping.production metrics have appeared ... Ok Install done. |
Alternately, you may supply all the information required by the Install script as command line arguments:
Install options |
Where the options available are:
[-C] - collector configuration [-d number] - PCP domain number [-U username] - Sybase Administrator User Name [-P password] - Sybase Administrator Password [-M] - monitor configuration [-N] - namespace only (same as -M) [-n namespace] - non-standard PCP namespace [-S server] - Sybase server name [-s name] - use sybping.name in pmns [-t delta] - sleep delta seconds between pings [-R rootdir] - non-standard root directory |
The pminfo command may be run at any time to check the availability of Sybase ping performance metrics from either the local or a remote host.
Here is an example run for the server production on the remote host myhost:
% pminfo -f -h myhost sybping.production |
To remove the ping performance metrics for a particular server, use the Remove script in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping. This applies to both Collector and Monitor configurations.
Here is a listing of a Remove run for the server production:
% cd /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping % ./Remove The following Sybase Ping namespace/agents are installed: production Which PCP Sybase Ping namespace/agent do you want to remove? [production] Culling the Performance Metrics Name Space ... Removed pmchart view for Sybase.Ping.production Check that sybping.production metrics have gone away ... OK |
Alternately, you may supply the information required by the Remove script as command line arguments:
Remove -s server |
Where server specifies an SQL Server name.
This section presents useful hints and problem workarounds available at the time of writing. You should also check the product release notes for important information.
If there is a problem in the operation of the PMDA, check the PMDA log file: /var/tmp/sybping-SERVER.log (where SERVER is replaced by the name of the SQL Server name) for error messages.
You may wish to customize this PMDA for your site. The source files (written in C and ESQL/C) are located in the directory /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping. The file /usr/pcp/pmdas/sybping/ping.cp contains the SQL probe query. The ESQL statement (near line 110) can be changed to suit the local requirements. The Makefile expects the environment variable $SYBASE to be set to the path of the Sybase 10.0.2 distribution containing Sybase libraries and header files. This is often /usr/sybase. After recompiling the sybping PMDA, the new pmdasybping executable binary needs to be copied into /usr/pcp/lib and PMCD restarted (or simply use the Remove script to first remove an existing configuration, and then use the Install script to reinstall).
| Note: sybvis is not included in the BETA version of this product. |
The SQL Server visualizer (sybvis(1)) displays a three-dimensional bar chart of various SQL Server performance metrics and some summary Irix performance metrics. The display is periodically updated with new values retrieved from a target host or performance metrics archive.
The height of each CPU bar is proportional to the system central processor utilization in each of the modes idle (with no I/O pending), wait (idle, but waiting for I/O), intr (interrupt processing), sys (in the IRIX kernel), and user.
The sybvis visualizer uses the performance metrics visualizer pmview(1), so many of the options and all of the user interface follow the description in the pmview(1) reference page. The pmview(1) tool in turn displays the scene within an IRIS Inventor™ examiner viewer. For generic control of the viewer, see the reference page for ivview(1). You must have IRIS Inventor installed on your monitoring system to successfully use the Performance Co-Pilot.
To see more information about the bars, enter Inventor's Selection Mode (press <Escape>, or click the arrow button from the icon panel in the upper right-hand corner of the window). Use the left mouse button to move the cursor over a bar of interest, and the corresponding performance metric's host name, metric name, instance, value, and units appear in the text box above the scene. Click the left mouse button on a bar, and it is highlighted with a wire frame outline; the text box locks on that bar, showing changes in time for the value of the corresponding performance metric, independent of the cursor position. Unlock the text box by moving the cursor into the base plane of the scene and clicking the left mouse button; the contents of the text box revert to tracking the bar under the cursor.
A video recorder (VCR) button icon next to the text box displays the current state of the viewer. Clicking on the button brings up the VCR Controls panel. Refer to pmview(1) for details of the supported VCR Controls.
The sybvis command line synopsis looks like this:
sybvis options |
The options supported by sybvis are:
| -a archive | Use an archive log of performance metrics, rather than a live feed from pmcd(1) on some host. Archive is the base name of an archive, previously created by pmlogger(1). | |
| -h host | Fetch performance metrics from pmcd(1) on host, rather than from the default local host. | |
| -n name space | Load an alternative Performance Metrics Name Space from the file name space. | |
| -s server | Monitor the specified Sybase SQL Server. | |
| -S numsec | Skip the first numsec seconds of data from the archive log, and start the display from that point in time. -S requires -a and an archive to be specified. | |
| -t delta | The refresh or update interval is set to delta seconds. The default is 1 second. | |
| -Z timezone | Use the specified time zone. |
The standard X11 options and the -v and -z flags are also supported by sybvis; they are described in the reference page for pmview(1).
[1] Although the server systems don't seem to be monitoring themselves, administration of the Performance Co-Pilot requires that a system's name space contain a name space entry for each Sybase SQL Server it makes available through PMCD.