Network performance monitoring Performance Monitor Usage Guide
Purpose of document This document provides an overview of the features available in the network performance monitoring system, hosted within the KPSN for Schools Broadband customers, and advise on obtaining access and using the features. Intended Audience This document is intended for use by school network administrators, ICT coordinators and head teachers who wish to obtain bandwidth utilisation, and availability statistics of their KPSN connection. Features of the Network Performance Monitor The network performance monitor provides the following information to users; this information has been separated into sections dependant on the device being monitored. Routers/Switches CPU Load Memory Usage Response Time Buffer Failures (Cisco devices only) % Availability Statistics Traffic and % Utilisation of each interface Servers CPU Load Memory Usage Response Time Availability statistics Size and Space used on disk volumes Status of monitored applications Traffic & percent utilisation of each interface Network Performance Monitor Operation The network performance monitor is a modular based system. Polling engines monitor the performance of network devices and collect statistics via SNMP and ICMP. An array of polling engines are located at the KPSN Maidstone core. Statistics are collected by the polling engines, the data retrieved is written to the SQL database. Internet Janet KCN Perimeter Firewalls Network Performance Monitor Webserver KCN DMZ KCN Polling KCN Monitoring Engines SQL Servers KCN Core Kent Community Network KCN Schools and Establishments
Interval of polling The status and performance of the node is retrieved via a polling process. Polling takes place at different intervals dependant on the type of object being monitored, and the data being collected, either an object status, or an object statistic. The intervals are listed below Poll Interval for nodes (check response time and status of each node) 60 seconds Poll interval for interfaces (check the status of each interface) 120 seconds Poll Interval for volumes (check status of each volume) 300 seconds Rediscover resources (rediscover each node, interface and volume, and report changes) 360 minutes Statistics collection interval for nodes (collect statistics from each node): 10 minutes Statistics collection interval for interfaces (collect statistics from each interface) 10 minutes Statistics collection interval for volumes (collect statistics from each volume) 15 minutes Poll Applications (check status of applications running on all servers) 5 minutes Accessing NPM Network performance monitor is accessible from both inside and outside the KPSN; http://status.schools.kpsn.net Users will be presented with the following login prompt. Users should login using the credentials provided. Users requiring credentials, should contact the Schools Broadband Service Desk, either by telephone (01622 206040) or email ()
Verification of the identity of the user will be requested by the Service Desk, please ensure it will be possible to provide this information on request. NPM home page Once logged in, the home page provides a brief overview of the status of the device. Located in the top left hand corner is a summary of events that have occurred on the device both today, and over the last 7 days. Below the recent events, is the current CPU load and memory utilisation of the device, please refer to section 7 for details of the update interval. Below the CPU load and Memory utilization, is the node details, this provides several node specific details, such as IP address location, model name etc.
Located on the top right hand side of the home page, is the current traffic and percentage utilization of each interface on the device, this provides an at a glance view of the current activity. Below the traffic and percentage utilization of each interface, is the status of monitored applications, please note this is only available if a server is being monitored. This provides details such as if the application is running, the load the application is placing on the CPU and the memory being used by the application. Below the monitored applications, is the network latency and packet loss. This graph provides the response time of the device (green bar graph) and any packet loss that has occurred (red line)
Customising Charts Any graph/gauge or label on the home page of network performance monitor is a hyperlink. Users may click on a graph or gauge and customise it. Customisations available are: Chart titles Time period for chart Sample interval Chart size Font size Display data table below chart Data may also be exported to excel for further analysis.
From the homepage, users may also select an interface name, and view data associated with that interface. Once a user has clicked an interface name, two charts will be displayed, Min/Max/Average bits per second today (per hour), and Total Bytes transferred today (per hour) These charts may be customised in the same fashion as detailed earlier by clicking on the chart.
Changing passwords A password change facility is available, by selecting Reset password from the toolbar. Once this option has been selected, users are required to enter the old password, and confirm the new password twice. The change can be submitted by clicking the change password button Logging out of Network Performance Monitor Network performance monitor sessions, when idle, will time out after 10 minutes of inactivity. It is strongly recommended that users log out of sessions after use, this may be achieved by clicking log out on the menu bar Once logged out, users are returned to the login page, it is then safe to close the browser.