1.1 Purpose of performance monitoring using PFM - RM for Virtual Machine

Server performance has improved in recent years to the point that it is often not possible for a single system to make full use of the resources of a single server. As a way to resolve this problem, more attention is being given to virtual environments because they can utilize system resources more effectively. Virtual environments also offer the following benefits:

OSs and devices can be shared and centrally managed.
Since fewer servers are used, power and air conditioning costs can be reduced.
Multiple old servers can be replaced with a virtual machine on a single new server.

Reducing power and air conditioning costs by reducing the number of servers can also lead to a greener IT environment.

The following figure shows a typical structure of a virtual environment in which multiple virtual machines are configured on a single physical server.

Figure 1‒1: Typical structure of a virtual environment

Each virtual machine runs on virtualized physical resources. A virtual environment reaches the highest possible efficiency level when its physical resources are utilized fully, and when there is no resource insufficiency. If physical resources are excessively consumed or are hardly being utilized, a virtual environment is not being used effectively. Therefore, it is important to decide what amount of physical resources should be allocated to each virtual machine.

PFM - RM for Virtual Machine is a program that monitors the performance of a virtual environment, and collects and manages performance data.

PFM - RM for Virtual Machine enables you to monitor the resource consumption status in various types of virtual environments. PFM - RM for Virtual Machine can monitor the following types of virtual environments:

VMware ESX Server
Hyper-V
KVM

Resource monitoring is an important aspect of effective utilization of a virtual environment. Using PFM - RM for Virtual Machine, you can determine the degree to which a virtual environment is configured effectively by monitoring the consumption of resources in the virtual environment. PFM - RM for Virtual Machine can monitor the following resources in a virtual environment:

CPU
Memory
Disks
Network

The following figure shows an example of using PFM - RM for Virtual Machine to monitor a VMware system.

Figure 1‒2: Monitoring a virtual environment with PFM - RM for Virtual Machine (monitoring a VMware system)

In this example, PFM - RM for Virtual Machine has detected a resource shortage in Virtual machine 1 on Physical server 1. In this case, the following corrective measures are possible:

Increase the amount of Physical server 1 resources allocated to Virtual machine 1.
Add resources to Physical server 1.
Move Virtual machine 1 from Physical server 1 to Physical server 2, which has available resources.

The following figure shows an example of using PFM - RM for Virtual Machine to monitor a Hyper-V system.

Figure 1‒3: Monitoring a virtual environment with PFM - RM for Virtual Machine (monitoring a Hyper-V system)

In this example, PFM - RM for Virtual Machine has detected a resource shortage in Virtual machine 1 on Physical server 1. In this case, the following corrective measures are possible:

Increase the amount of Physical server 1 resources allocated to Virtual machine 1.
Add resources to Physical server 1.
Move Virtual machine 1 from Physical server 1 to Physical server 2, which has available resources.

The following figure shows an example of using PFM - RM for Virtual Machine to monitor a KVM system.

Figure 1‒4: Monitoring a virtual environment with PFM - RM for Virtual Machine (monitoring a KVM system)

In this example, PFM - RM for Virtual Machine has detected a resource shortage in Virtual machine 1 on Physical server 1. In this case, the following corrective measures are possible:

Increase the amount of Physical server 1 resources allocated to Virtual machine 1.
Add resources to Physical server 1.
Move Virtual machine 1 from Physical server 1 to Physical server 2, which has available resources.

By using PFM - RM for Virtual Machine to monitor a virtual environment, you can take appropriate corrective actions, making it possible to maintain an ideal virtual environment in which resource shortages and excesses do not occur.

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