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  The File I/O Performance Monitor

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What makes hIOmon so useful?

For starters:  Perspective

When you think about storage I/O performance, what's the first (and maybe only) thing that comes to mind?  Most likely, it's the "speeds and feeds" of your disk drives -- that is, how fast can they perform I/O operations (IOPS rate), how fast can they transfer data (MB/s), etc.

But does a fast engine mean you have a fast car?

Not necessarily.  A "fast" engine (as based upon its maximum performance capabilities) can certainly provide the potential for a fast car.  But obviously there are a number of other factors that also need to be considered, including various technical details such as the transmission and gear ratios -- in other words, the "complete package".

Also of paramount importance is how the car is actually used.  A fast engine in bumper-to-bumper traffic doesn't help much!

Plus it's important to remember that performance usually demands a premium.  Simply stated, added performance in a product typically costs more, whether it be a "faster" engine or a "faster" disk drive.

Observing storage I/O performance from an application perspective

The hIOmon File I/O Performance Monitor software package enables you to both measure and monitor the performance of your disk storage I/O operations up at the application level and moreover upon an individual, specific file as well as device basis.  The I/O operation metrics collected by hIOmon essentially reflect exactly how the application itself experiences its interaction with the disk storage, as based upon the actual file and disk I/O operations that the application performs, giving you an "I/O profile" for the respective application.

With its "application focus", hIOmon lets you view storage I/O operation activity and performance from the application level regardless of the underlying storage (and associated I/O path) infrastructure.

In other words, hIOmon measures and monitors an application’s I/O activity regardless of the underlying file system type or file placement used, the storage I/O transport used (e.g., SCSI, iSCSI, Fibre Channel), the particular disk storage type/interface used (e.g., SATA, SAS, FC, SSD, RAID-level, etc.), storage volume configuration (or virtualization type) used, etc.  Even the impact of system memory used for the system file cache can be evaluated with hIOmon. 

So rather than having to rely solely upon a limited set of I/O operation metrics collected down at the disk device, hIOmon allows you to take a "top-down” approach to easily and quickly determine exactly how your own specific applications are actually using your disk storage!      

A Speedometer and Odometer for your Files!™

hIOmon provides a robust set of file (and device) I/O operation performance metrics so that you can discover how your particular, individual files are actually being accessed and used.

This comprehensive set of I/O operation performance metrics goes far beyond basic read and write I/O operation counts, response times, throughput, and data transfer sizes/amounts to uniquely include such metrics as queue lengths, idle times, system file cache metrics (e.g., "hits" and "misses"), optional associated "physical device" I/O operation metrics (including "split I/O" operation information related to fragmented files) along with random/sequential access detection, plus much more!

In addition, hIOmon provides file I/O operation performance metrics aggregated upon an individual process/application basis so that you can view overall I/O operation performance for a specific process/application.  hIOmon also enables you to not only easily tell which specific files (along with their respective file I/O operation performance metrics) are associated with a particular process/application, but also the particular processes/applications associated with a specific file.

It is especially important to note that hIOmon can capture its robust set of I/O operation metrics while you use your very own actual applications and files as you normally do -- and within your own particular computer system environment.  Moreover, hIOmon does not require any application, file, or file system modifications nor does it require operating system code changes!

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Summarized metrics -- quickly and efficiently

One key hIOmon feature is its unique ability to collect, display, and export I/O operation performance metrics upon a summarized basis, i.e., where the I/O operation performance metrics are aggregated by hIOmon at the time when the I/O operations are actually observed by hIOmon.  Furthermore, hIOmon is the only software tool currently available that collects summarized metrics such as random and sequential access I/O counts and data transfer amounts along with system file cache metrics (e.g., "hits" and "misses").   

So rather than having to labor over reams and reams of data representing metrics for each and every individual I/O operation (i.e., "I/O trace" data), hIOmon allows you to efficiently collect aggregated I/O operation metrics for only your particular files of interest.  These aggregated metrics can then be offloaded for display and/or export either periodically (user-specified), when the file is closed/inactive, or when a user-specified "Alert" threshold (e.g., a particular total write I/O operation count, a maximum read response time, total amount of write data transferred, etc.) is detected.

This optional hIOmon feature helps provide significantly reduced overhead both for your system and for you.  The aggregated metrics collected by hIOmon enable you to easily and quickly focus upon your specific items of interest and concern, without struggling over mountains of I/O trace data and/or having to use various tools to generate "summarized" metrics from such trace data.  But in the event that you do need to track down some particular I/O operation activity, hIOmon also provides an "I/O Trace Data" feature option as well.

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Name your interface

The hIOmon software package provides support for a  variety of user-interfaces, including a Java™-based GUI, a Command-Line-Interface (CLI), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) support (including Microsoft Internet Explorer display and sample VBScripts), and Windows Performance/System Monitor support.

Several Comma-Separated-Values (CSV) export file options are additionally provided, including MXG® Software support; you can also optionally specify the particular types of performance metrics that are to be included within the export files (so as to restrict the contents of the export files to only those particular metrics of interest to you).

The extensive hIOmon interface support enables you to specifically configure the hIOmon software to meet your particular needs.  In addition, several "hIOmon Add-Ons" are also included within the hIOmon software package; these "Add-Ons" can be used as a quick and easy means to collect and display several basic sets of file and device I/O operation performance metrics.

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Some use-case scenarios

hIOmon provides the flexibility and wide range of features required to tackle a variety of disk storage I/O-related issues and concerns.  As examples, are you thinking about such fundamental tasks as:

• Buying faster (but more expensive) disk drives and/or disk storage subsystems?

• Leveraging lower-cost (but lower-performance) SATA disk arrays and/or iSCSI?  Or SAS?

• Monitoring your higher-performance (but higher-cost) SANs to help ensure that the I/O performance requirements of your key files/applications are being satisfied?

• Determining the performance impact of placing/consolidating more (and perhaps some specific application) files all upon the same, higher-capacity disk device?  Or of adding additional system memory and/or faster processors?

• Finding those particular "hot" files requiring the highest I/O performance for placement upon SSD, RamDisk, and/or disk-caching software?

• Getting actual metrics upon a file-level as well as device basis to determine the performance impact associated with the various "storage virtualization" and/or network-attached file approaches?

• Capturing empirical metrics, which reflect actual file and/or device I/O activity from either the host and/or guest virtual machine perspective and moreover upon a quick and simple "summary" basis, that can help you determine whether storage I/O performance is a bottleneck within your virtual machine consolidation roll-out?

• Evaluating the actual performance impact of various paging and file-defragmentation approaches and policies?

If so, then hIOmon can help you collect the pertinent file, device, and application-based I/O performance metrics that you need to make a more-informed assessment/decision, a better business case, and a more confident roll-out plan!

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Where can I learn more about hIOmon?

For additional information about hIOmon, please see the following links:

• "Big Picture" information about hIOmon and the "5 Storage Performance Questions".

• Overall product information about hIOmon, including product description, solutions, uses, operating system support, availability and pricing.

• hIOmon documentation available for download (including datasheet, readMe document, overview presentation, licensing terms, user guide, and white paper), tutorials, and "best practices".

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