Users Guide

● CPU Utilization — Data from RMCs for each CPU core is aggregated to provide cumulative utilization of all the cores in
the system. This utilization is based on time spent in active and inactive states. A sample of RMC is taken every six seconds.
● Memory Utilization — RMCs measure memory traffic occurring at each memory channel or memory controller instance.
Data from these RMCs is aggregated to measure the cumulative memory traffic across all the memory channels on the
system. This is a measure of memory bandwidth consumption and not amount of memory utilization. iDRAC aggregates it for
one minute, so it may or may not match the memory utilization that other OS tools, such as top in Linux, show. Memory
bandwidth utilization that the iDRAC shows is an indication of whether workload is memory intensive or not.
● I/O Utilization — There is one RMC per root port in the PCI Express Root Complex to measure PCI Express traffic
emanating from or directed to that root port and the lower segment. Data from these RMCs is aggregated for measuring PCI
express traffic for all PCI Express segments emanating from the package. This is measure of I/O bandwidth utilization for
the system.
● System Level CUPS Index — The CUPS index is calculated by aggregating CPU, Memory, and I/O index considering a
predefined load factor of each system resource. The load factor depends on the nature of the workload on the system.
CUPS Index represents the measurement of the compute headroom available on the server. If the system has a large CUPS
Index, then there is limited headroom to place more workload on that system. As the resource consumption decreases, the
system’s CUPS index decreases. A low CUPS index indicates that there is a large compute headroom and the server can
receive new workloads and the server is in a lower power state to reduce power consumption. Workload monitoring can then
be applied throughout the data center to provide a high-level and holistic view of the data center’s workload, providing a
dynamic data center solution.
NOTE: The CPU, memory, and I/O utilization indexes are aggregated over one minute. Therefore, if there are any
instantaneous spikes in these indexes, they may be suppressed. They are indication of workload patterns not the amount of
resource utilization.
The IPMI, SEL, and SNMP traps are generated if the thresholds of the utilization indexes are reached and the sensor events are
enabled. The sensor event flags are disabled by default. It can be enabled using the standard IPMI interface.
The required privileges are:
● Login privilege is required to monitor performance data.
● Configure privilege is required for setting warning thresholds and reset historical peaks.
● Login privilege and Enterprise license are required to read historical statics data.
Monitoring performance index of CPU, memory, and input output
modules using web interface
To monitor the performance index of CPU, memory, and I/O modules, in the iDRAC web interface, go to System >
Performance.
● System Performance section — Displays the current reading and the warning reading for CPU, Memory and I/O utilization
index, and system level CUPS index in a graphical view.
● System Performance Historical Data section:
○ Provides the statistics for CPU, memory, IO utilization, and the system level CUPS index. If the host system is powered
off, then the graph displays the power off line below 0 percent.
○ You can reset the peak utilization for a particular sensor. Click Reset Historical Peak. You must have Configure
privilege to reset the peak value.
● Performance Metrics section:
○ Displays status and present reading
○ Displays or specifies the warning threshold utilization limit. You must have server configure privilege to set the threshold
values.
For information about the displayed properties, see the iDRAC Online Help.
Monitoring performance index for of CPU, memory, and input
output modules using RACADM
Use the SystemPerfStatistics sub command to monitor performance index for CPU, memory, and I/O modules. For more
information, see the iDRAC RACADM CLI Guide available at https://www.dell.com/idracmanuals.
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Viewing iDRAC and managed system information