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  The File I/O Performance Monitor

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  hIOmon FAQs - WMI Sample Index

A major feature of the hIOmon File I/O Performance Monitor is its support for Microsoft® Windows® Management Instrumentation (WMI).  WMI is a key Microsoft initiative to advance systems management within the Windows operating system environment.  The hIOmon WMI Support enables you to not only control the overall operation of hIOmon, but to also access the rich set of real-time summarized file and device I/O operation performance metrics uniquely collected by hIOmon.  The hIOmon WMI Support allows you to quickly and easily incorporate hIOmon into your standard, familiar, overall management/monitoring schemes.  Moreover, you can now easily correlate specific file and device I/O operation performance metrics with the vast array of other performance and management information available through WMI and in conjunction with performance and management applications that leverage WMI and the Common Information Model (CIM) standard. 

By enabling broad, industry-standard access, the hIOmon WMI Support lets you focus on the productivity of your computer systems in a new way (i.e., storage I/O performance at the application level upon an individual file basis) that was previously unavailable.

Please refer to the "hIOmon User Guide" (HMG-1093) for more information about the hIOmon WMI Support; this document is available in PDF format within the hIOmon Documentation directory where you installed the hIOmon software. 

Getting Started with the hIOmon WMI Support

A "Quick Start" guide is provided to help show how you can use the hIOmon WMI Browser to quickly begin using hIOmon simply through the hIOmon WMI Support.

General Considerations

Depending upon the number and type of files and devices selected to be monitored (along with the actual amount of associated file and device I/O activity), the quantity of I/O trace information collected by the hIOmon I/O Monitor can vary and sometimes become quite large.  As a first step, we recommend that you consider the use of the hIOmon filters and summary capabilities to begin your observations of file and device I/O operation performance from the overall perspective (i.e., a “top-down” approach); the Alert options, along with the ability to display the summarized I/O operation performance information in a sorted order based upon a selected performance metric, can be especially helpful in this regard.  Then, based upon the I/O operation performance information results provided by hIOmon, drill-down as necessary to the particular files and devices of interest.  (The more advanced features of hIOmon, such as the support for "replay" mode and the ability to configure hIOmon I/O Monitor memory usage, do allow you to completely capture, if necessary, the entire I/O trace information for highly accessed files and devices). 

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VBScript demonstration samples have also been provided by hyperI/O LLC.  These VBScript samples also help illustrate how you can access hIOmon by means of the WMI support for scripting; they can be run in either interactive mode or in non-interactive mode (e.g., from the DOS command line).

Each of the sample scripts is commented; you can use Notepad or a similar viewer/editor to open the sample scripts and view the comments that are included within the scripts.  Please note once again that these are simple demonstration sample scripts and include minimal error handling or reporting.  See the hIOmon ReadMe document for the location of the VBScript demonstration samples.

These demonstration scripts enable you to:

1. Perform an "Automated Monitoring Configuration Setup" (i.e., quickly create a simple Filter Selection, which will automatically be loaded/activated, along with one or more hIOmon Manager Export Files to which the I/O operation metrics collected by hIOmon will be exported in real-time and within a CSV (or INASPT) file format):

   • hIOmonAMCSSR.vbs (automated monitoring configuration setup script). 

2. Access the real-time summarized I/O operation performance metrics:

   • hIOmonTopTenFiles.vbs (displays/exports a list of the top ten files based upon your selected sort order).

   • hIOmonFilePerfStats.vbs  (displays the current summarized I/O performance metrics for the file you select).

   • hIOmonTopTenProcesses.vbs (displays/exports a list of the top ten processes based upon your selected sort order).

   • hIOmonProcessPerfStats.vbs  (displays the current summarized I/O performance metrics for the process you select).

   • hIOmonGetSaveMetrics.vbs  (retrieves and exports to the specified CSV file the real-time summarized I/O operation metrics that you select for devices, files, and/or processes).

   • hIOmonManagerDumpMetrics.vbs  (retrieves and writes/saves to the active File I/O Log file and hIOmon Manager Export File(s) the currently accumulated, periodic summarized I/O operation metrics for devices, files, and/or processes).

   • hIOmonBenchmarkExport.bat  (Windows DOS command batch file used for benchmarking; retrieves and exports to the specified CSV file the real-time summarized I/O operation metrics that you select for devices, files, and/or processes).

3. Query hIOmon Manager and hIOmon I/O Monitor Status:

   • hIOmonManagerStatus.vbs  (displays current hIOmon Manager status).

   • hIOmonIOmonitorStatus.vbs (displays current hIOmon I/O Monitor status).

4. Usage statistics: 

• hIOmonManagerUsageStats.vbs (displays current hIOmon Manager usage statistics).

• hIOmonMonitorCurrentUsageStats.vbs (displays current hIOmon I/O Monitor usage statistics).

• hIOmonGenSystemReport.vbs (generates a system report with details about the hIOmon software along with information about the computer system upon which the hIOmon software was run).

5. Modify hIOmon Manager and hIOmon I/O Monitor operation:

   • hIOmonManagerSetOptions.vbs (enable/disable hIOmon Manager AutoStart and other options).

   • hIOmonIOmonitorSetOperation.vbs (enable/disable hIOmon I/O Monitor file and device I/O operation monitoring (does not stop hIOmon I/O Monitor running), enable/disable preparation of I/O operation performance information records for hIOmon clients such as the hIOmon Presentation Client, enable/disable high precision time duration recording, set maximum number of files and processes allowed to be concurrently monitored by the hIOmon I/O Monitor, enable/disable the start of the hIOmon I/O Monitor as part of the operating system boot startup process, enable/disable the hIOmon I/O Monitor from attaching to specified physical devices as part of the hIOmon I/O Monitor startup as part of the operating system boot startup process, and adding (or removing) a specified device from the list of physical devices to be attached when the hIOmon I/O Monitor is started as part of the operating system boot startup process).

6. hIOmon I/O Monitor Filter Selections:

   • hIOmonSetFilters.vbs (supports a variety of operations on Filter Selections such as enable/disable a Filter Selection as the default, activate a Filter Selection, remove a Filter from a Filter Selection, and add a new Filter to a Filter Selection).

7. hIOmon Manager File I/O Log Files:

   • hIOmonSetFileIOlogFile.vbs (supports a variety of operations on File I/O Log files such start/stop hIOmon Manager saving I/O operation performance information to a  specified File I/O, create and start a new File I/O Log file, change the maximum allowed size of a File I/O Log file, and enable/disable a File I/O Log file as the default).

8. hIOmon Manager Export Files:

   • hIOmonSetMgrExportFile.vbs (supports a variety of operations upon hIOmon Manager Export Files such start/stop hIOmon Manager saving the selected I/O operation performance information to a specified hIOmon Manager Export File, create and start a new hIOmon Manager Export File, reset or delete a particular hIOmon Manager Export File, and enable/disable a hIOmon Manager Export File as a default).
     

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The “hIOmon Add-Ons” are auxiliary software utilities that are targeted towards specific tasks and that leverage the extensive functionality of the hIOmon File I/O Performance Monitor software.  The hIOmon Add-Ons make use of the variety of interfaces provided by hIOmon.  The hIOmon WMI support, for instance, is used to configure and manage the operation of the hIOmon software.  For example, the hIOmon "Automated Monitoring Configuration Setup" VBScript is used to configure the hIOmon software in accordance with the particular hIOmon Add-On selected to be used.  The hIOmon Add-Ons also include hIOmon Excel template/macros, which are used with the Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet program to easily and quickly generate charts and graphs that display the pertinent set of file and device I/O operation performance metrics uniquely collected by hIOmon.

Additional information about several of the hIOmon Add-Ons is provided below.  Please refer to the "hIOmon Add-On User Guide" (HMG-1004) for more information about the hIOmon Add-Ons; this document is available in PDF format within the hIOmon Documentation directory where you installed the hIOmon software.

Also see the hIOmon tutorials for "step-by-step" screen shot demonstrations that illustrate how to use the hIOmon "Fragmented File I/O Operation Metrics Analysis Add-On".   

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