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Knowing Your Work Load  



One of the most important assets that a system manager brings to any performance evaluation is an understanding of the normal work load and behavior of the system. Each system manager must assume the responsibility for understanding the system's work load sufficiently to be able to recognize normal and abnormal behavior; to predict the effects of changes in applications, operations, or usage; and to recognize typical throughput rates. The system manager should be able to answer such questions as the following ones:

If you are new to the OpenVMS operating system or to system management, you should observe system operation using the following tools:

OpenVMS Performance Management provides detailed procedures for using the Monitor utility and, to a lesser extent, other operating system tools to observe and evaluate system performance. Also, the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual provides reference information about using the Monitor utility.

Over time you will learn about metrics such as the typical page fault rate for your system, the typical CPU usage, the normal memory usage, and typical modes of operation. You will begin to see how certain activities affect system performance and how the number of users or the time of day affects some of the values.

As you continue to monitor your system, you will come to know what range of values is acceptable, and you will be better prepared to use these same tools, together with your knowledge, to detect unusual conditions. Routine evaluation of the system is critical for effective performance management. The best way to avoid problems is to anticipate them; you should not wait for problems to develop before you learn how the system performs.


NoteYou can learn more about your system's operation if you use the Monitor and Accounting utilities on a regular basis to capture and analyze certain key data items. By observing and collecting this data, you will also be able to see usage trends and predict when your system may reach its capacity.

You should also understand that system resources are used by system management tools. Be careful, therefore, in selecting the items you want to measure and the frequency with which you collect the data. If you use the tools excessively, the consumption of system resources to collect, store, and analyze the data can distort your picture of the system's work load and capacity. The best approach is to have a plan for collecting and analyzing the data.
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