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hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display
 Gadget Add-On

Product Info

As an ancillary Add-On to the "hIOmon Solid State Disk (SSD) I/O Performance Analysis Add-On", the "hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display" gadget/HTA provides a simple and quick way to display a selected subset of the SSD TRIM-related metrics that can be captured by the hIOmon File I/O Performance Monitor. It can be run either as a Microsoft Windows Gadget (upon those systems that support the Windows Sidebar) and/or as a Windows HTML Application (HTA).

Features

Architecture

Screen Shots

Documentation

Download

The "hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display" gadget/HTA is included within the standard hIOmon software package for installation upon Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. It can be found within the “AddOns\Gadgets\” folder where the hIOmon software was installed.

While it can be used to display in real-time a subset of the SSD TRIM-related metrics collected by the hIOmon I/O Monitor, the "hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display" gadget/HTA cannot be used to configure the hIOmon software so as to collect such metrics. Rather, a hIOmon client (e.g., the hIOmon Presentation Client, the hIOmon WMI Browser, etc.) must be used to properly configure the hIOmon software in order to collect the metrics for display.

Please note that the hIOmon “Solid State Disk (SSD) I/O Performance Analysis Add-On” can also be used to quickly and easily configure the hIOmon software for collecting the SSD TRIM-related metrics displayed by the hIOmon “SSD TRIM Metrics Display” gadget/HTA.

The following sections provide basic information about the hIOmon “SSD TRIM Metrics Display” gadget/HTA (including brief information about installation, types of metrics that can be displayed, and configuration setting options).  Please see the “help” file that is included with the gadget/HTA for additional details. 

NOTE:

The SSD TRIM-related I/O operation performance metrics displayed by the "hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display" gadget are empirical metrics that reflect the actual TRIM I/O operations performed during the normal, everyday use of your very own applications and associated files!  And no file, application, or operating system changes are required!  

Please see the "hIOmon Add-On User Guide" document for additional information.

Using the hIOmon SSD TRIM Display Metrics Gadget
  Requirements
The hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display Gadget requires:

  1. That the hIOmon File I/O Performance Monitor software be properly installed and active (i.e., that the hIOmon Manager and hIOmon I/O Monitor components are currently running; note that these components are normally configured upon the installation of the hIOmon software to automatically be started when the computer system is started).

  2. That both the "Summarized Data" and "Raw Device Extended Feature" options are licensed.  Note that the trial version of the hIOmon File I/O Performance Monitor software includes full-support for both of these licensing options.

  3. That the hIOmon software be properly configured so as to collect the SSD TRIM-related I/O operation metrics; please see the "Configuration Requirements" section of the gadget "help" information for specific details.
  Where to find the gadget installation file

The "hIOmonSSDTrimMetrics.gadget" file can be found in the "AddOns\Gadgets\” folder where the hIOmon software was installed.
  How to install the gadget

The "hIOmonSSDTrimMetrics.gadget" is provided as a code-signed CAB file in a standard gadget package that can be directly added to the Windows Sidebar Gadget Gallery by double-clicking on this file (or by manually adding it to the Gadget Gallery).  The various files used by the hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display gadget will automatically be unzipped from this gadget file as part of the Windows Sidebar Gadget installation process (and will subsequently be placed into a gadget system folder).

Please note that the "hIOmonSSDTrimMetrics.hta" file (i.e., the HTA version of the gadget) is also included amongst the CAB zipped files within the "hIOmonSSDTrimMetrics.gadget" file.  To use the HTA version of this gadget, simply double-click upon the "hIOmonSSDTimMetrics.hta" file.

Also please note that the first time after installation, the "hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display" gadget/HTA will by default automatically select physical device 0 (i.e., "\Device\Harddisk0\DR0") as the physical device for which metrics are to be displayed if this physical device is currently being monitored by the hIOmon software.

Main Display

As shown within the screen shot below, the Main Display (upper right corner) of the "hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display" gadget/HTA includes the display of three basic SSD TRIM-related metrics:

  • Commands, which reflect the total number of successful Control I/O operations observed by the hIOmon I/O Monitor that specified a "Device Control" operation with a "Manage Data Set Attributes (MDSA)" request for a "Trim" action.

  • Ranges, which reflect the total combined number of "Data Set Ranges (DSR)" specified by the TRIM commands.  That is, it is the combined total for all of the TRIM commands, whose total is shown by the "Commands" metrics noted above.  Each TRIM command specifies a particular set of blocks (i.e., sectors upon a SSD) by means of a DSR.  A DSR identifies the starting offset (i.e., essentially the starting block address for a particular set of blocks) along with the overall combined length of the blocks. In addition, please note that a single TRIM command can specify one or more DSRs.

  • Space, which reflects the total combined length in bytes of the DSRs.  Please note that this is the combined total for all of the DSRs as indicated by the "Ranges" metric mentioned above.  This metric basically represents the total number of bytes that have been requested to be “trimmed” for the respective physical volume/device.

 
As shown below, the total number of bytes read ("Read Xfer") from the physical volume (or device) and the total number of bytes written ("Write Xfer") to the physical volume (or device) are also displayed within the "larger size" display (i.e., when the gadget option to re-size the display to set to the "larger size").  Please note that these metrics are only available if the active Filter Selection has been configured to request that the hIOmon I/O Monitor additionally collect metrics for Read I/O operations and Write I/O operations respectively.
 

 

Please note that all of the metrics described above reflect the total, cumulative values that have been automatically accumulated by the hIOmon I/O Monitor since the hIOmon Filter Selection was last loaded/activated. You can view the elapsed time duration since the Filter Selection was activated by clicking on the gadget "Options" (or the "Settings" button in the lower right-hand corner of the Main Display in the HTA).

Settings/Options Display

As shown within the screen shot above, the Settings/Options Display of the "hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display" gadget/HTA includes the following displayed information and configuration options:

  • Metrics collection period, which reflects the overall elapsed time duration during which the displayed metrics were collected by the hIOmon I/O Monitor.  Please note that the start of this time period is when the hIOmon "Filter Selection" was last loaded/activated.  This value is retrieved from the hIOmon I/O Monitor at the same time when the metrics themselves are retrieved from the hIOmon I/O Monitor as part of the periodic refresh of the metrics shown within the Main Display.

  • Device Names, which is a drop-down list box that displays the full names of the physical volumes and physical devices that are currently being monitored by the hIOmon software.  To display the metrics for a particular volume/device, simply select the specific volume/device of interest and then click on the "OK" button.  Please note that the selection will immediately take effect upon clicking the "OK" button. 

    The physical volume/device for which metrics are currently being displayed in the Main Display is highlighted with a green background within the drop-down list box.  Also please note that alongside each physical volume/device name are the drive letters of the particular Logical Disks that are associated with the respective physical volume/device.

    Lastly please note that the specified physical volume (or physical device) represents a physical volume (or physical device) at the respective level within the Windows operating system. The "physical device", for instance, is akin to the Windows Performance Monitor "PhysicalDisk" performance object (with "\Device\Harddisk0\DR0", as an example, representing physical device 0.

  • Seconds between refreshes, which is an input text field that enables you to specify the time interval between refreshes/updates of the metrics displayed within the Main Display.  This time interval is specified in terms of seconds and must be a number greater than zero.

  • Error Information. In the event of an error, the bottom portion of the "Settings" display windows will provide detailed information about the error encountered by the hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display gadget/HTA.  This error information will be displayed in red and will be cleared when the "Settings" display window is closed. Please see the "help" file included with the "hIOmon SSD TRIM Metrics Display" gadget/HTA for additional details.

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