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Monitoring the NetWare Server

Monitoring the server allows you to do the following:

NetWare Remote Manager is a tool for debugging and monitoring the server from a Web browser at your workstation. You can also access a Java version of this tool from the server GUI. For more information, see "Accessing NetWare Remote Manager," "Managing Servers Remotely," and "Troubleshooting Server Problems" in the NetWare Remote Manager Administration Guide.

MONITOR is the key tool for performance monitoring at the server level from the server console. It runs in the NetWare kernel so that it can make calls directly to the operating system. Most statistics are updated every second.


Accessing MONITOR


What to Monitor and Why

A monitoring utility can be overwhelming in the volume of information and statistics it provides. To simplify your access to key parameters, MONITOR's General Information includes most of them on one screen, including performance indicators that pertain to memory utilization and disk I/O.

For an explanation of the interaction of three types of configurable parameters that control dynamically allocated services, see Monitoring Allocated Services. The guidelines allow you to be proactive in maintaining the level of service your users require.

The Other Information and Statistics to Monitor section includes error logs, available free disk space, and user accounts. To be prepared for power supply interruptions, test your UPS (uninterruptable power system) periodically.

Becoming familiar with your server's day-to-day performance and its characteristic response to its unique load will help you to better interpret the information and statistics that the monitoring utilities provide.


MONITOR's General Information

Most of the important performance indicators that can be used to track, diagnose, and resolve server problems appear in the General Information screen in MONITOR. The following window is displayed when you load MONITOR.


General Information Screen in MONITOR

The following information describes the onscreen performance indicators.


Monitoring Allocated Services

There are limits to resources in every computing environment. NetWare allocates resources according to need and availability. When a request is received, the operating system doesn't immediately allocate new resources. It waits a specified amount of time to see if existing resources become available to service the demand.

Dynamically allocated services are controlled by the interaction of three types of settable parameters. If you understand how they work together, you can interpret the statistics that you monitor and know how to configure the system's response to demand.

Consider, for example, the allocation of directory cache buffers. If the minimum number of directory cache buffers is set to 20, the system allocates another buffer resource as soon as a request is made---until 20 cache buffers have been allocated.

When 20 directory cache buffers are allocated, the system waits 2.2 seconds (default) when a request comes in, and then allocates another buffer if the request is still active.

However, if the minimum number of directory cache buffers is set to 40, the system allocates 40 directory cache buffers before it starts slowing the growth by waiting 2.2 seconds after each request.


Other Information and Statistics to Monitor

Common maintenance tasks also include the following:



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