IBM Informix Database Monitoring

IBM Informix - An Overview

IBM Informix is one of the industry's most widely used database servers with a comprehensive set of high availability options, high levels of performance, data replication capabilities, scalability and minimal administrative overhead for both simple and complex IT infrastructures. Applications Manager performs effective monitoring, which is very critical in Informix administration, to collect system and database performance stats, session details and to identify problems at an early stage for proactive troubleshooting and performance tuning.

Creating a new Informix monitor

Supported versions of Informix Server: Informix 10.x & above.

Prerequisite:Click here to know about the user previleges and other necessary prerequisites to monitor IBM Informix database.

To create an Informix Server Monitor

Click on New Monitor link.
Select Informix under Database Servers.
Specify the Display Name of the Informix monitor
Enter the HostName or IP Address of the host where Informix server is installed.
Enter the port number for eg., 1526.
Enter the Database Server name i.e the name of the Informix database server to which you want to connect.
You can enter your own credential details or select preconfigured credentials from Credentials Manager. If you wish to enter your own credentials, specify Informix username and password details for this monitor.
Set the Polling Interval.
If you are adding a new monitor from an Admin Server, select a Managed Server.
Choose the Monitor Group from the combo box with which you want to associate Informix Server Monitor (optional). You can choose multiple groups to associate your monitor.
Click Add Monitor(s). This discovers Informix server from the network and starts monitoring them.

Monitored Parameters

Go to the Monitors Category View by clicking the Monitors tab. Click on Informix under the Database Servers Table. Displayed is the Informix Database bulk configuration view distributed into three tabs:

Availability tab gives the Availability history for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
Performance tab gives the Health Status and events for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
List view enables you to perform bulk admin configurations.

Click on the monitor name to see all the server details listed under the following tabs:

Overview

Parameter	Description
Response time	The time taken to establish a JDBC connection with the Informix Server.
DB Space Details
DBSpace Name	The unique name of the Database Space.
DBSpace Number	The unique identifier number assigned to the Database Space.
DBSpace Owner	The owner of the Database Space.
Allocated (MB)	The total physical disk size allocated for the Database Space (in MB).
Free (MB)	The free physical disk size available for the Database Space (in MB).
Used %	The percentage of physical disk utilization by the Database Space (in %).
Disk Reads	The total number of disk read operations performed in the Database Space.
Disk Writes	The total number of disk write operations performed in the Database Space.
Total Chunks in DBSpace	The total number of chunks present in the Database Space.
DBSpace Flags	The status flags that define specific attributes or properties of the Database Space.

Database

Parameter	Description
Name	The name of the database.
DBSpace Name	The Database Space which stores data for this database.
Owner	The User ID of the creator of the database.
Created On	The time at which the Database was created.
Is Logging Is Buff Log Is ANSI Is NLS Is Case Insens	The current logging modes of a database (values can be either Enabled or Disabled): - Unbuffered logging - Buffered logging - ANSI mode database - NLS support - Indicates whether NCHAR and NVARCHAR columns are case-insensitive or not.

Sessions

Parameter	Description
Session Statistics
Session Id	A unique identifier number assigned to the session.
User Name	The User name of the Informix user account.
Host Name	The host from which the user is connecting to the Informix database
Login Time	The time at which the user connected to the database server.
I/O and Buffer Activity
Session ID	A unique identifier assigned to the session.
Read Operations	The total number of read operations performed during the session.
Write Operations	The total number of write operations performed during the session.
Re-Write Operations	The total number of re-write operations performed during the session.
Delete Operations	The total number of delete operations performed during the session.
Page Reads	The total number of database pages read during the session.
Page Writes	The total number of database pages written during the session.
Buffer Reads	The total number of buffer read operations performed during the session.
Buffer Writes	The total number of buffer write operations performed during the session.
Buffer Cache Hit Ratio (%)	Indicates the percentage of data page reads served from the memory instead of disk, displaying the overall cache efficiency (in %).
Lock Details
Session ID	A unique identifier assigned to the session.
Process ID	The unique identifier of the process associated with the session.
Row ID	The unique identifier of the specific row involved in the lock operation.
Database Name	The name of the database where the lock has been applied.
Table Name	The name of the table on which the lock has been placed.
Lock Type	The type of lock applied on the database object (e.g., shared, exclusive).
Lock Request	The type of lock requested by the session or process.
Locks Held	The total number of locks currently held by the session or process.
Locks Wait	The number of locks for which the session is currently waiting.
Dead Locks	The number of deadlock occurrences detected for the session.
Locks Timeout	The number of lock requests that have timed out due to unavailability of resources.

Transaction & Logs

Parameter	Description
Transaction Details
Session ID	A unique identifier assigned to the session.
Total Commits	The total number of commit operations executed during the session.
Total Rollbacks	The total number of rollback operations executed during the session.
Commit Ratio	The ratio of successful commit operations to total transactions (in %).
Long Running Transactions	The total number of transactions that have been running longer than the expected duration.
Total Log Records	The total number of log records generated during the session.
Used Logical Log Space (MB)	The amount of logical log space currently utilized (in MB).
Total Logical Log Space (MB)	The total available logical log space (in MB).
Logical Log Space Usage (%)	The percentage of logical log space utilized by the session (in %).
LOGICAL VS PHYSICAL LOGS FLUSHED
Physical Logs Flushed	The total number of flushed physical logs.
Logical Logs Flushed	The total number of flushed logical logs.
PAGE WRITES TO LOGICAL VS PHYSICAL LOSS
Page Writes to Physical Log Buffer	The number of pages written to the physical log buffer during transactions.
Page Writes to Logical Log Buffer	The number of pages written to the logical log buffer to record transaction details.
Log Details
Log Number	The unique sequence number assigned to the log file.
Log ID	The unique identifier of the specific log entry or file.
Chunk Number	The identifier of the chunk where the log data is stored.
Total Log Pages	The total number of pages available in the log file.
Used Log Pages	The number of log pages currently used for recording transactions.
Utilized Log Pages (%)	The percentage of log pages utilized within the log file (in %).
Offset	The starting point or position of the log within the chunk.
Logs Fill Time	The time taken to fill the log file with transaction data.

Storage & Memory

Parameter	Description
Chunk Details
Chunk Path	The file system path where the chunk is located.
Chunk Number	The unique identifier assigned to the chunk within the database space.
DBSpace Name	The name of the Database Space (DBSpace) to which the chunk belongs.
Chunk Size (MB)	The total size of the chunk (in MB).
Free Chunk Size (MB)	The amount of free space available in the chunk (in MB).
Chunk Utilization (%)	The percentage of space utilized within the chunk (in %).
Page Size (KB)	The size of each page within the chunk (in KB).
Free Pages	The total number of free pages available in the chunk.
Free Pages (%)	The percentage of pages available as free space within the chunk (in %).
Chunk Flags	The flags indicating specific properties or status details of the chunk.
Chunk Status	The current operational status of the chunk.
DEAD LOCK
Dead Locks	The total number of Dead Locks that occurred during the poll interval.
BUFFER & MEMORY I/O
Buffer Waits	The total number of Buffer Waits that occurred during the poll interval.
Buffer Reads	The total number of Buffer Reads that occurred during the poll interval.
Buffer Writes	The total number of Buffer Writes that occurred during the poll interval.
BUFFER & MEMORY I/O
Buffer Waits	The total number of Buffer Waits that occurred during the poll interval.
Buffer Reads	The total number of Buffer Reads that occurred during the poll interval.
Buffer Writes	The total number of Buffer Writes that occurred during the poll interval.
DISK I/O
Disk Reads	The total number of Disk Reads that occurred during the poll interval.
Disk Writes	The total number of Disk Writes that occurred during the poll interval.
PAGE I/O
Page Reads	The total number of Page Reads that occurred during the poll interval.
Page Writes	The total number of Page Writes that occurred during the poll interval.
SCAN & SORT
Sequential Scans	The total number of Sequential Scans that occurred during the poll interval.
Total Sorts	The total number of sorts that occurred during the poll interval.

CPU & Processing

Parameter	Description
CPU Details
Virtual Processor ID	The unique identifier assigned to the virtual processor.
Virtual Processor Type	The type or category of the virtual processor (e.g., CPU, AIO, or network).
User CPU Time (sec)	The total amount of CPU time spent executing user-level processes (in seconds).
System CPU Time (sec)	The total amount of CPU time spent executing system-level operations (in seconds).
Scan and Sorting Activity
Session ID	A unique identifier assigned to the session.
Sequential Scans	The total number of sequential scan operations performed during the session.
Total Sorts	The total number of sort operations executed during the session.
Disk Sorts	The total number of sort operations that required disk usage.
Disk Sort Ratio	The ratio of disk-based sorts to total sorts (in %).
Max Disk Space (KB)	The maximum disk space utilized for sort operations (in KB).

IPC

Parameter	Description
Interprocess Communication Facility
Segment Address	The memory address where the segment is located.
Class	The category or type of the memory segment (e.g., data, index, temp).
User ID	The unique identifier of the user owning the segment.
Process ID	The unique identifier of the process associated with the segment.
OS ID	The operating system identifier linked to the process using the segment.
Total Size (MB)	The total size of the memory segment (in MB).
Used Blocks	The number of memory blocks currently in use within the segment.
Free Blocks	The number of memory blocks available for use within the segment.
Used Blocks (%)	The percentage of memory blocks utilized within the segment (in %).

Replication

Parameter	Description
HDA Details
Name	The name of the High-Availability server.
Type	The replication type configured for the server (SDS, RSS, HDR).
State	The current operational status of the replication server. Possible values: inactive, active, active
Time Interval (sec)	The time interval at which the server performs replication checks (in seconds).
Timeout (sec)	The maximum wait time before the operation is considered failed (in seconds).
Automative Failover	Indicates whether automatic failover is enabled for the server.
Auto Index Rebuild	Specifies whether index auto-rebuild is enabled for the server.
Directory	The directory path where the lost-found data for the replication server is stored.

Backup & Restore

Parameter	Description
Backup / Restore Information
Action ID	The unique identifier assigned to each backup or restore action.
Action Type	The type of action performed. Possible values: Backup, Restore, Verify
Object ID	The identifier of the database object on which the action was executed.
Action Status	The current status of the action. Possible values: Success, Failed, In Progress
Action Start Time	The timestamp indicating when the action began.
Action End Time	The timestamp indicating when the action completed.

Configuration

Parameter	Description
CONFIGURATION DETAILS
Shared Memory Server Number	The identifier number assigned to the shared memory server instance.
Message Log File Path	The file system path where the database server’s message log is stored.
Log Files	The list or count of log files used by the Informix server.
Logical Log Size	The total size allocated for logical logs (in MB).
Physical Log Size	The total size allocated for physical logs (in MB).
Tape Device Path	The path to the tape device used for database backups.
Log Tape Device Path	The path to the tape device used specifically for storing log backups.
Bar Activity Log Path	The path where the Backup and Restore (BAR) activity log is stored.
Root Path	The file system path of the root chunk of the database server.
Root Size	The total size of the root chunk (in MB).
Temporary DBSpace Name	The name of the temporary DBSpace used for temporary tables and sorting operations.
Total Shared Memory Size	The total amount of shared memory allocated to the Informix server (in MB).
Auto Recovery Setting	Indicates whether automatic recovery is enabled for the server.
HDR Log Shipping Interval	The interval at which log data is shipped to the HDR secondary server (in seconds).
HDR/SDR Timeout	The timeout duration for HDR or SDR connections (in seconds).
Diagnostic Log Path	The file system path where the diagnostic log files are stored.