VMWare ESX / ESXi Servers Monitor

Introduction:

This section is common to all the editions of IT360, as per the below constraints;

Professional Edition
Enterprise Edition [Applicable to Probes only, and not applicable / relevant to the Central Server, since the configuration of the monitors happens only at the Probe level. However, you may see these discovered monitors from the Central Server]
MSP Edition [Applicable to Probes only, and not applicable / relevant to the Central Server, since the configuration of the monitors happens only at the Probe level. However, you may see these discovered monitors from the Central Server]

Supported Versions:

ESX Server 3.5 and 4; ESX Server 3i.

Monitored Parameters:

VMware ESX servers are monitored, based on the parameters or the attributes, listed below. These attributes provide information about the functioning of the monitors of VMware ESX server. You can also configure thresholds to the numerical attributes, monitored by the server, based on these details.

In the Servers tab, click on the drop down icon. The drop down list shows the list of Virtualisation-related systems. Click on the relevant ESX / ESXi Server, from the list.

You would see the following;

The Availability tab shows the Availability history of the ESX server, for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
The Performance tab shows the overall Health History. This tab also shows the health status and events for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
The List view displays all the VMware ESX/ESXi servers along with an overall idea of their availability and health status. The list view also enables you to perform Bulk admin configurations. Click on the individual servers listed to view detailed performance metrics.
The Top ESX/ESXi tab shows graphs for the top CPU consumers, top memory consumers, top disk I/O consumers and top network consumers of the ESX/ESXi server.
The Infrastructure View tab displays all the virtual machines, discovered under each ESX/ESXi server. This view provides an overall idea of the availability, health, CPU (%), Memory (%), Disk I/O and Network traffic, of all the virtual machines. Click on the individual virtual machines listed, to view the detailed VM metrics.

Click on the individual ESX / ESXi machine, to view the detailed performance metrics of that particular ESX/ESXi server. These metrics are categorized into the following 7 different tabs, for easy understanding;

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1. Overview Tab:

This tab provides a high-level overview of the ESX/ESXi server, which includes the CPU and Memory details, Resource utilization details, etc. A graphical representation of the Disk and Network Usage is also displayed. It also displays all the virtual machines, discovered under the ESX/ESXi server. This view provides an overall idea of the availability, health, CPU (%), Memory (%), Disk I/O and Network traffic, of all the virtual machines. Click on the individual virtual machines listed, to view the detailed VM metrics.

Parameter	Description
Monitor Information
Name	The name of VMware ESX/ESXi server monitor.
Type	Denotes the type, you are monitoring.
Health	Denotes the health (Clear, Warning, Critical) status of the ESX/ESXi server.
Last Polled at	Specifies the time, at which the last poll was performed.
Next Poll at	Specifies the time, at which the next poll is scheduled.
Availability	Shows the current status of the server - Available or Not available and also Today's Availability.
CPU & Memory Utilization
CPU Utilization	The combined CPU utilization across the system.(%).
CPU Usage	The total CPU usage across the system.(MHz).
Memory Utilization	Percentage of memory used across the system (%).
Disk & Network Usage
Disk Usage	Disk usage of ESX/ESXi server, in kbps (kilobytes per second).
Network Usage	Network usage of ESX/ESXi server, in kbps (kilobytes per second).
Virtual Machines
VM Name	Name of the virtual machine (VM) present in the host.
Availability	Denotes the availability of the VM - Available or Not available.
CPU Utilization	The CPU utilization of this VM, in percentage.
Memory Utilization	The memory utilization of this VM, in percentage.
Disk I/O Utilization	The disk input/output utilization of this VM, in kilobytes per second.
Network Utilization	The network usage of this VM, in kilobytes per second.
Health	The health status (Clear, Warning, Critical) of this VM.

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2. CPU Tab:

This tab provides metrics about the CPU Utilization details of the cores.

Parameter	Description
CPU Utilization	The cpu utilization of the CPU core over a period of time (in percentage).
Health	The overall health of the CPU core.

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3) Memory Tab:

This tab provides metrics about memory utilization of the ESX server.

Parameter	Description
Consumed Memory	The value of total memory, minus free memory, in mega bytes.
Active Memory	Amount of memory that is actively used.
Overhead Memory	Sum of overhead memory across all VMs.
Reserved Memory	Amount of memory currently utilized to satisfy minimum memory values set for all VMs.
Shared Memory	Amount of memory shared between virtual machines.
Granted Memory	Amount of physical memory granted.
Swapped Memory	Amount of memory that is swapped.
Heap Memory	Amount of memory allocated for heap.
VMKernel Memory	Amount of memory used by the VMKernel.

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4) Datastore Tab:

This tab displays metrics pertaining to the data stores of the server.

Parameter	Description
Datastore	Name of the datastore.
Type	Type of datastore (example: VMFS or VMware File System).
Capacity GB	The total space available in this datastore, in giga bytes.
Used GB	The used space of this datastore, in giga bytes.
Free GB	The free space of this datastore, in giga bytes.
Health	Overall health of the datastore.

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5) Network Tab:

This tab provides metrics about network utilization.

Parameter	Description
Name	Name of the network interface card (NIC) of the host.
Data Receive Rate	The rate, at which this NIC receives data (Kbps).
Data Transmit Rate	The rate, at which this NIC transfers data (Kbps).
Packets received	Number of network packets, received by this NIC.
Packets Transmitted	Number of network packets, transmitted by this NIC.
Health	Overall health of this NIC.

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6) Disk I/O Tab:

This tab shows detailed disk I/O(Input/Output) stats of the ESX/ESXi server.

Parameter	Description
LUN	Logical unit number, associated with the physical disk.
Disk Read Rate	Disk read rate of this LUN (Kbps).
Disk Write Rate	Disk write rates of this LUN (Kbps).
Disk Reads	Number of reads to this LUN.
Disk Writes	Number of writes to this LUN.
Health	Overall health of this LUN.

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7) Configuration Tab:

This tab provides info on the ESX/ESXi server's configuration details.

Parameter	Description
Host Name	The name of VMware ESX/ESXi server monitor.
Power	The power status of the server. The values include poweredOn, poweredOff and standBy.
Vendor Name	The name of the vendor, offering Virtualization (VMware).
Version	Version of ESX/ESXi server.
Hardware Vendor Name	Hardware vendor identification.
Hardware Model	System model identification.
CPU Model	Information about the overall CPU.
CPU Capacity MHz	The overall CPU capacity, in Mega Hertz.
CPU Cores	Number of CPU cores present in the server.
Number of VMs	Number of virtual machines discovered in the server.

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