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Steve Lieman, Performance Architect, TrendsThatMatter
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T4 began its life seven years ago during a large-scale
benchmark just before the release of the AlphaServer GS160 system. Tom Cafarella (OpenVMS Engineering) and I
were assisting an important customer compare the GS160 performance to that of
the largest AS8400 system available.
The benchmark was especially complex because of its use of
captured log data from a live production environment to drive the load. Each test showed highly variable behavior
during its brief, 30-minute run - a far cry from steady-state industry-standard
benchmarks, which prove much easier to analyze.
We were using the OpenVMS Monitor utility (MONITOR) to watch
OpenVMS performance while the customer was using their own software logging
program to measure and report on application response time and throughput.
The customer wanted to test many different variations of CPU
count, memory size, disk configuration, tuning parameters, and so on. However, the results we were getting were
hard to understand and even harder to explain.
We were finding that it took 1 to 2 days to investigate and analyze even
a single head-to-head comparison between the GS160 and the AS8400 systems. The customer hoped to test at least a dozen
different options per day in order to complete the work in the allotted
time. Needless to say, Tom and I were
under a lot of pressure.
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The T4 approach
was born into this cauldron of activity.
Tom Cafarella wrote a DCL script that started with a Monitor.DAT file and ended up producing a
comma-separated value (CSV) text file. The text file contained what Tom and I
considered the 30 most important OpenVMS performance factors. These included
CPU idle, kernel mode time, interrupt mode time, mpsynch time, buffered I/O, paging
I/O, and direct I/O. Tom's code
replaced a manual process we had been using that took us hours or even days to
finish and that was not nearly as complete.
We could now get a timeline view of how all 30 of these important
factors varied during the complex course of the benchmark. And we could now complete this first level
analysis within a few minutes after the end of the test. This development changed everything.
The CSV file that we created later became known as T4-style
format. The file contained a table that
had a few header rows, including one where each performance factor was listed
by name, followed by a set of rows, with exactly one row for each sample time
period. Each column of the table
represented a single performance factor.
Because it was in CSV format, and because all the data for a single
factor was contained in a single column, we could open this file with
Microsoft® Excel software and then, with about six mouse clicks, plot the trend
lines for that factor.
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Within a very short time after its first use, the OpenVMS
Engineering organization began to apply T4 to real-life production performance
problems. Just like the original
benchmark, T4 was perfect in these situations because production systems rarely
show steady-state behavior. To deal with
the ongoing variability of each important factor, it is essential to first grab
a time-series view of how that factor changes over time, and then to be able to
examine it visually. The T4 approach
evolved rapidly in response to a spike in performance issues related to the
introduction of the GS160 system.
The extraction of MONITOR data was rewritten by Ian Megarity
(OpenVMS Engineering) as compiled code, and many new performance factors were
included, such as detailed data about each CPU and about each disk.
New collectors that generated output in the T4-style CSV
format were then added that captured important performance factors not
available with MONITOR. These included a
TCP/IP collector called TPCMON (developed by Matt Muggeridge) and a dedicated
lock manager collector (developed by Ian Megarity). The collectors were bundled into a new DCL
script (that we called T4) so that MONITOR and all the associated collectors
started and stopped at the same time, and all used the same sampling rate.
Another new tool called Append Record (APRC) was created by
Ian Megarity to consolidate the CSV files generated by the different collectors
into a single, larger CSV file (known as the *COMP.CSV file) containing all the
factors from different collectors.
Saving more time with TLViz.
Another magic piece of puzzle was completed when Ian Megarity created a
new timeline visualization tool called TLViz (TimeLine VIsualiZer). TLViz made it incredibly easy to visualize
the trend data of each individual factor.
And TLViz made it just as easy to view any interesting combination of
factors. Our experience with this tool proved that we could analyze data at
least 5 times, and often 10 times, faster than when we read the same CSV file
into Microsoft Excel. Kevin Jenkins
(from OpenVMS Engineering) suggested the idea of opening before and after CSV files and having TLViz overlay the data. Ian Megarity implemented version 1 of that
idea literally overnight, changing forever and for better the way OpenVMS
performance engineers carried out their analysis and comparison of complex production
systems.
Because of its visual nature, TLViz also proved to be
amazingly good for doing collaborative work with a group of analysts, as well
as being a most effective tool for demonstrating the results of analysis to
both technical and non-technical audiences.
If you care about performance but you have not yet tried TLViz, I
guarantee that you are in for a treat when you first experience its features
and its built-in time-saving capability.
To give you a flavor of TLViz and its powerful Before and
After feature, Figure 1 shows a visual
example from the more than two dozen charts contained in the simplified version of the original T4 article in the OpenVMS
Technical Journal. While these kinds of
graphs in a static format are useful, we have found that direct use of TLViz
can be even more powerful. We have also
discovered that interactive use of TLViz to present results turns out to be
much more effective than creating static reports.
Figure 1 - Type and extent of changes as reported by TLViz
Automating repetitive work with CSVPNG. Building on the
T4 and TLViz foundation, Pat Moran (HP Support, Ireland) invented yet another
new tool, called CSVPNG. Among other things, this tool can automatically
convert T4-style CSV files to PNG
graphics format. This has proved to be
the perfect complement to TLViz in that it allows the analyst or system manager
to program repetitive performance-analysis steps using a DCL script that
includes one or more CSVPNG command-line commands. Because CSVPNG runs on OpenVMS Alpha and HP
Integrity servers, you can add your customized CSVPNG string to the tail end of
each T4 collection session. This is
exactly the kind of job that fits well with the skill set of trained OpenVMS
system managers.
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As the years rolled by, the T4 approach continued to evolve,
often at a rapid pace. More and more OpenVMS customers pressed it into service
on their most important and largest-scale systems. It proved helpful right out of the box and
even more so when small custom enhancements were added. The following sections briefly highlight some
of the successes and improvements that have been added.
T4 collector improvements. The first T4 involved manually running MONITOR
and then manually running the T4 DCL extractor code to produce a CSV file that
could then be read into Microsoft Excel.
Very early on, Ian Megarity combined these two steps and added an
automatic way to run the T4 collector once and instruct it to turn on what
might be called History Mode. In this mode, the collector continued measuring
and creating T4-style CSV files, once per day, 365 days a year. With History Mode turned on, we were assured
that we would always have the baseline data we needed for comparison whenever
anything changed or whenever a new problem arose.
The T4 DCL script continued to add new collectors and to
integrate them as part of a standard T4 collection. These now include a network adapter collector
for each network adapter, a basic XFC collector, and a Fibre Channel Monitor
collector named FCMON. FCMON provides
detailed response time and kilobytes per second KB/s rates for each disk from
the OpenVMS server point of view.
Optional collectors for spinlock data and for TDC data are
also now available with the prerelease version of T4 version 4.2.
TLViz improvements. Thanks
to the continued efforts of Ian Megarity, TLViz experienced a steady progress
of new features that made it easier to use and that allowed the analyst to dig
deeper and deeper in reasonably short periods of time. Some of the most useful features added
include moving averages, calculation of the ratio of two factors, scatter plots
and correlations between a pair of factors, area charts and 100% area charts,
and bar charts for cases with relatively few data points.
TLViz added some very powerful capabilities for quickly navigating CSV data
sets that contain a large number of different performance factors. This meant we were able to apply its time-saving
visualization to more and more complex situations, including cases where there
were literally thousands of separate factors to consider.
Recently, Pat McConnell (OpenVMS Engineering) has added some
terrific new features in version 2.0-1.
There are now more "radio" buttons on the bottom left of the screen that
simplify and speed up some common and important operations that arise
frequently during analysis situations.
CSVPNG improvements. In the
capable hands of Pat Moran, CSVPNG has continued to evolve, improve, and add
new functional capability. CSVPNG now
includes more than 30 separate command-line directives that work individually
or together to manipulate, automate, visualize, and report on T4-style CSV files. CSVPNG is particularly powerful now for
trimming down a huge data file by selecting exactly the performance factors you
are most concerned with and further selecting the precise time periods that
interest you. CSVPNG contains multiple
options for combining T4-style CSV files in different and useful ways. These include assembling a week or month of
data into a single file and combining data from multiple nodes in a
cluster.
CSVPNG can also input and apply its magic to an increasing
number of files of slightly different formats, including tab-separated files
from the Linux COLLECT-L utility, and outputs from the Microsoft Windows®
PerfMon utility.
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A growing number of T4-compatible collectors and extractors
continue to appear. Recently, we have seen
the introduction of the VEVAMON collector that runs on OpenVMS and collects
detailed storage performance factors from EVA5000 and EVA8000 systems. We also have heard that a new approach for
extracting HP's XP storage data and transforming it into T4-style format is
also in the works.
Other T4-style collectors have been built for Rdb, Oracle®,
additional OpenVMS memory factors, the Collect utility for Tru64 UNIX®, and
NFS.
With its latest releases for the EVA, HP Storage now includes
instructions for how to convert EvaPerf data into T4-style, TLViz-compatible
format.
These developments are part of a wave of growing appreciation for the idea that the
T4 approach is not just for
OpenVMS. The conclusion: When data is organized in T4-style files, time-saving,
enhanced productivity, improved depth-of-analysis benefits, strengthened
collaboration, and greater ease of reporting are immediately available.
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The T4 approach has proved that it works and that it saves
huge amounts of time for the analyst.
It has proved that it benefits OpenVMS performance work. It has also proved that any trend data can be
assembled into a T4-style format and thereby tap into T4's time-saving
benefits.
A solid foundation is now in place. A substantial percentage of mission-critical
OpenVMS systems now in production operation have been collecting T4 data and
building performance histories that go back one or more years.
New collectors, when they became available, have proved to be
easily integrated into the picture because the basic T4 approach is inherently
extendable. This is a huge area of
opportunity because we have found that while "out of the box" benefits are
good, the benefits of local customization are even better.
Even after 7 years of T4 development and the existence of
more than 20 collectors, some vital metrics still are not regularly collected
in a form that allows them to be viewed easily as trend data or integrated with
existing performance data. For example,
there is no easy way today to observe CPU chip-level behavior such as Data
Cache Miss Rates as they change over time.
We are certain that once such a chip-level trend data collector becomes
available, it will open the door to
identifying opportunities for radical performance improvements. For more information about this topic, see
Extending the T4 Approach to
New Territory.
In addition, the users of TLViz and CSVPNG continue to come
up with good ideas for how to make these two important tools even more useful
and powerful and even better at saving our precious time.
For those who want to extend the life of their current
AlphaServer systems, the T4 approach can provide you with the data and analysis
tools that help you push your systems as far as they are capable of going.
For those moving toward using the new powerful, Dual-Core
Intel® Itanium® 2-based Integrity server systems, the T4 tool set can help you
get ready for that transition, make sure that you know how much spare capacity
you have and how fast you are using it, assist you in sizing your new system,
and validate that the new system delivers the performance level you
expected.
For those who are thinking of consolidating many current
OpenVMS systems into a new, larger system and of taking advantage of the
growing virtualization capabilities, your T4-based performance history on your
existing systems will prove to be essential input data. When dealing with consolidation, CSVPNG's
ability to combine data from separate CSV files will surely prove to be an
invaluable time saver that can help you achieve the best possible results.
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The following links show you where to find the most important
T4-related information and where you can turn for help and advice along the way. If you are interested in The T4 Universe, these resources
will help you both get started and keep up with the latest developments.
If you have T4 issues or questions: please send email to and to T4@TrendsThatMatter.com.
Want an advance copy of T4 V4.2 with the option for Spinlock
Tracing and TDC collection? Send your
request to
Struggling with a particularly complex performance situation
where the T4 data just doesn't add up and you are looking for a quick second
opinion? You can send email to T4
Mini-Evaluation.
Would you like to know more about the TLViz Formatter that
you can use with EVAPerf data? You can
find details in the HP StorageWorks Command View EVA user guide.
Looking for the current version of the T4 collector for
OpenVMS and other T4 approach tools? You can download these from the HP T4 Home Page.
Also see the HP T4 FAQ.
The latest T4 & Friends news can be found by checking on
the TrendsThatMatter blog.
You will find some useful downloads of new versions of
T4-style tools at the TrendsThatMatter download page.
New to T4? The TimeLine Collaboration
article from the OpenVMS Technical Journal, Volume 3 is a good source of detailed information about the T4
approach to performance and about all the many people who have played a role in
its development.
A streamlined version of the TimeLine Collaboration article (Quick Intro to T4) is a great place
to start learning about T4. This work is
inherently visual and is most understandable when you look at the actual
performance trend data with tools like TLViz and CSVPNG. This quick introductory version includes many
easy-to-understand examples.
Interested in using TLViz or CSVPNG to examine the rich range
of T4-style data available from the many different collectors? Please send mail to: T4-style data samples.
Rather learn more about T4 by audio? You can check out the full set of T4 segments
from the VMS Podcast Network (VPN) at:
T4 Audio Segments.
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