Interpreting graphs

The following sections describe the different types of performance graphs that are available across all platforms. The custom designed graphs include map, bar, hierarchy, top 10, and top five formats.

Map graphs

A map graph consists of a series of boxes representing components such as regions, CPUs, transmission groups, or subsystems that show information two ways:

• Each box contains a component name. If there's no activity for the component during the time selected, its appearance is dimmed. If the selected component has activity, there is a miniature bar graph and a numerical value.
• Color-coded arrows show the direction and rate of traffic between components. The legend on the far right describes the color codes that show a measurement per interval (that is, transactions per hour, get pages per minute, and so on). The arrowhead indicates whether the flow is one direction or both.

Bar graphs

A bar graph displays one or more measurements over time for a selected element, such as workload, subsystem, region, or device.

To see the values for a specific interval, double-click the interval to get the data in numeric format. To display all values in a table, select Edit > Show Table.

Hierarchy graphs: The basics

In contrast to bar and map graphs, hierarchy graphs are dense with information. While they appear complex at first, once you learn to use them, you will appreciate their flexibility. The design is surprisingly simple.

There are three key areas in a hierarchy graph:

• The left column shows the components in the database by row.
• The values across the bottom represent properties of the components.
• The columns represent the intervals when the components were measured.

You can view any of the properties or metrics that are displayed across the bottom of the graph, for any component shown in the graph's left column, for any listed interval.

Hierarchy graphs: A detailed view

A hierarchy graph displays metrics for selected components across intervals in a series of cells. Components include workloads, systems, suites, or subsystems.

Each row represents either a logical component, a physical component, or the total of all logical and physical components ( *Total{*}).

Each cell represents a metric for the component during that interval.

Understanding the hierarchy graph's legend and color scheme

The legend on the right corresponds to the component properties or performance metrics displayed along the bottom of the graph. Each graph contains up to 14 metrics. If there are more than 14 metrics associated with a hierarchy graph, the remaining metrics appear on an additional page.

The measurement currently displayed in the graph appears at the top of the legend on the right and is highlighted in the list of available metrics across the bottom. This is considered the ordering metric. To switch to another measurement, double-click the measurement at the bottom of the graph.

The cells are color-coded according to the legend at the far right of the graph. (If there is no data for an interval, the cell is grayed out.) The legend consists of up to 10 colored boxes, each labeled with a number representing the lowest value for that color. The highest value for that color is one less than the lowest value of the next colored box.

The numbers inside the colored boxes indicate the number of logical or physical component cells that fall within that range. The numbers include all cells for logical or physical components in th e fully expanded graph but don't include cells for intermediate summary rows or *Total* row.

Altering data details

You can dynamically alter the data details - date, interval, the nodes involved, disk, and so on. To open the Data Selection dialog box, double-click any of the following:

• The value at the top of the legend
• The metric across the bottom of the graph
• An individual component from the left side of the graph

Interpreting the component rows in a hierarchy graph

A plus sign preceding the row label means that you can double-click the label to expand the component tree, revealing an additional level of detail. To close the expanded layer of detail, double-click the label again.

The values in the top and intermediate rows are summaries or averages (depending on the metric) of the components that fall below them. Only the values at the lowest level are measured values. For easier interpretation, the Units field is fixed at the upper right portion of the Y-axis.

Adjusting colors in hierarchy graphs

Hierarchy graphs use a default of ten colors to represent the range of values that a metric can take. You can modify the boundaries of each range, and the color associated with each range, through the Hierarchy Color Options dialog box.

You can simplify the hierarchy graph by changing the default coloring scheme to red-yellow-green. By default, the highest value is red and the next highest value is yellow. The remaining values range from light to dark green, and finally, if additional values are needed, light to dark blue.

To adjust colors in a hierarchy graph:

1. Display a hierarchy graph, with or without MASF as shown in the following figure:
   
   
2. Select Edit > Graph Options to go to the Hierarchy Color Options dialog box.
   For this procedure, leave the red and yellow default settings in the color bar. Change all other colors to green. 
   
   
3. Put the cursor in the color bar over the green you want to represent the range of values that typically signifies acceptable performance levels. When the cursor hits the margin of a color, it becomes a bidirectional arrow. Drag the arrow in both directions until the color green you selected extends to the full range you want included.
4. Click OK. The legend in the right contains only red, yellow, and green. If you save this to a template, every time you open a hierarchy graph, you'll see the red,yellow, and green mapping.
   
   

Using the hierarchy summary line to alter the graph display

You can alter how hierarchy graphs are displayed through the hierarchy graph summary line. Using the Hierarchy Summary Line Click Options dialog box, you can set up two different hierarchy views and toggle between them. The view you see depends on whether you double-click or Alt-double-click a data cell. Once you set up the views, you can draw the graphs from any hierarchy by clicking on the summary line at the top of the hierarchy graph.

1. Select Options > Hierarchy Click to go to the Hierarchy Summary Line Click Options dialog box.
   
   

2. Specify how many drill down component levels to include in the ordered subset or bar chart produced when selecting a data cell in a hierarchy graph. Each column, DblClick and Alt-DblClick, contains the same five actions but links the actions to different keystroke combinations. The text in the Alt-DblClick column is description of the action taken in both the DblClick and Alt-DblClick columns.
   For example, you can select Same from the DblClick column and Top N from the Alt-DblClick column. When you display a hierarchy graph, if you double click an object, you get a view of all the objects at the same level. If you Alt-DblClick the same object, you get a view of the top n objects selected and, depending on the selections you make, the other data in the database.
   The options are described in the following table: 

   DblClick	Alt-DblClick	Definition
   Same	Use Selected Objects for Chart	To show objects at the same level (default option if you double-click a data cell).
   1-Deep	Chart Objects 1 level Deeper	To show objects one level down in the hierarchy.
   All	Chart all Lowest-Level Objects	To show the lowest level (no intermediate levels).
   Top N	Chart Top N Lowest-level Objects	To show the top n highest components from the lowest level (no intermediate levels). Select this field in either column to activate the N for TopN field. Warning Note If there are fewer components in the database than the top n number you specify, the actual number of components is displayed.
   Ordered	Draw Ordered Selected Hierarchy	To show the selected components in order from the highest value to the smallest measured value (this is the default option if you press Alt and double-click a data cell).

   N for Top N – Plus includes (net from) Selected Objects (s)

   • 3, 5, 10, 15, Plus —Activated when you choose Top n from either column.

     Displays the n number of items you want to appear on the chart. Plus provides information about the other objects in the database exclusive of the top n.

3. Click Advanced to open the Extended Hierarchy Click Options dialog box.
4. Make additional hierarchy graph display choices in the Extended Hierarchy Click Options dialog box based on the selections you made on the Hierarchy Summary Line Click Options dialog box:
   • N for TopN text box - enabled if you selected Top N on the Hierarchy Summary Line Click Options. Specify the n number of values you want to display - top 15, 25, and so on.
   • K-Deep text box - enabled if you selected TopN or ALL on the Hierarchy Summary Line Click Options dialog box. Specify to what level of nodes you want to graph.
   • OK - confirms your selections and closes the Extended Hierarchy Click Options dialog box as well as the Hierarchy Summary Line Click Options dialog box.
   • Cancel - invalidates the selections you made on the Extended Hierarchy Click Options dialog box and returns you to the Hierarchy Summary Line Click Options dialog box to modify your selections.

Using TopN

There are two ways to specify Top N. Select Top N from the DblClick or Alt- DblClick columns (select one or both) on the Hierarchy Summary Line Click Options dialog box and do one of the following:

• Select one of the default options ( 3, 5, 10, 15, Plus). Plus aggregates all non top n objects into a single entry on the graph. Once you set these options, you can draw the graphs from any hierarchy by clicking on a summary line.
• Click Advanced to open the Extended Hierarchy Click Options dialog box and enter the specific value you want graph.

When TopN is activated, clicking the Total summary line displays a chart of the top n objects for all the objects in the hierarchy database. Each of the top n objects has a legend in the chart.

If you select Plus in N for TopN , an additional value appears on the chart:

• *Other* represents the sum (exclusive of the top n) of all the other components in the database.
• (net) represents the total for th e remaining values in the data selected and the object name becomes the graph subtitle.
• objectname (net) represents the total of the other values in the data minus the top n object that was contained in the total.

The chart also adds a legend entry for the accumulation of the others or the average of all. If the value is not a sum, for example, response times are averaged, the legend lists the value as Average, Maximum, or Extreme.

If you click on a summary line other than Total, an individual object for instance, the chart displays the top n for the lowest level objects contained by that summary object. In this case the label is summary line ( other) for sum values or summary line for other options. You can use this option to generate charts of top n values for Microsoft Windows as distinct from other objects in your database.

When you select Chart Objects 1 level Deeper from the Alt-DblClick column, TopN in the DblClick column and Plus in the N for TopN row, charts drawn by Alt-DblClick from a hierarchy graph limit the one level deeper objects to the value you specified for n in TopN . 

Changing how metrics are displayed

To change the metrics displayed on the hierarchy graph, double -click the metric you want to view from the display of all metrics at the bottom of the graph.

The refreshed graph shows the newly selected metric at the top of the right hand column and the new values associated with the metric. The following example is the Workload Hierarchy graph selected from the MVS demo database shipped with the product. 

In the following figure, MIPS is the measurement displayed by default at the top of the column on the right and is highlighted in the list across the bottom. Double-click Resp to display all the measurements associated with response times by workload.

 
 To change the display from Response times across all intervals to all metrics across one interval (12 am), double-click the interval at the bottom of the graph. The time line across the bottom of the hierarchy graph changes to arrows identifying the metric associated with each column. For example, the first column on the left shows the MIPS value for each workload at 12 am; the second column shows transaction rates; and so on. The legend listing instances of metrics that fall in selected ranges becomes a sigma table, showing + and -3 standard deviations.
The following figure displays viewing one metric across all intervals and all metrics across one interval:

From this view you can also single click the subtitle to display a time line. From the time line, select the interval you want to see. You can return to a single metric view by double-clicking the metric you want.

To display values for individual metrics by interval, click a cell in the hierarchy. At the bottom of the hierarchy table, the value for each metric for that interval appears to the left of the metric. To the far left, there is a brief description of how the measurement is derived and the interval for which it is derived. In the following example, the description for ESA3 is Sum of 10 workloads and below that, it lists 3:00 am as the interval. If you click a single workload, the display lists the workload name and the interval.

The following figure displays the values for individual metrics by interval:

To display all instances of metrics in a selected range, double-click the range in the legend. Visualizer highlights the intervals that fall within the selected range in the same color as the color code in the right column. Other cells are dimmed.

To restore the original display, press and hold Shift, select the top and bottom colors in the sigma table, and double-click. You can also move the scrollbar.

Viewing hierarchy graph metrics in different formats

In addition to the broad view hierarchy graphs provide, you can also view selected components by metric across intervals. For example, node zzz represents the total of the eight workloads running on it . Double-click a cell in the zzz row, 8 am in the example, to display a hierarchy graph that is a subset of the original graph containing the metrics for the eight workloads running on zzz during the 8 am interval. 

To select a specific workload for a closer look, double-click the corresponding cell in the hierarchy graph. Visualizer displays a bar graph for the selected workload across intervals. For example, if you want to look at CPU per seconds for BATCH, double-click it in the hierarchy graph for the following display.

Combining components in a graph

You can combine different components from the same level on a hierarchy graph so that they are plotted together in a bar graph. You cannot combine lowest level
 components with summary level components.

1. Press and hold Ctrl as you select two or more components.
2. Continuing to hold Ctrl, double-click the left mouse button or single click the right button, as you select the last component.

The following figure shows Selected Workload Data for the MSExchange workload on nodes es01-hou and es02-hou:

Combining metrics in a graph

You can combine different components and different metrics from the same level (system level, workload level, and so on) in a hierarchy graph. You cannot combine lowest levels with summary levels.

1. Select a representative interval that contains metrics for the components you want to compare.
2. Double-click the column that represents the interval to view all metrics during that interval.
3. Press and hold Ctrl as you select the first two components.
4. Continuing to hold Ctrl, double-click the left mouse button or single click the right button, as you select the last component. Your display will be similar to the following figure:

If the metrics you select are all measured the same way ( x per sec or percentage), that's the label shown at the top of the graph on the left. If you select mixed values ( x per sec and percentage), Visualizer graphs each metric against the average value for that metric and labels the y axis/AVE. The selected metrics in this graph are mixed.

Interpreting hierarchy graphs drawn against summary databases

Hierarchy graphs drawn against peak or minimum summary tags are always calculated at the object level. While you can use the Rate Span/Total field on the Hierarchy Color Options dialog box to select object, interval, or total to use as the basis for calculating values against average summary tags, those options produce skewed results when applied to peak or minimum. Even if you select a value other than object, Visualizer resets the value to Object. The graph label identifies the value as a rate rather than a count.

Top 10 graphs

A top 10 graph displays the 10 values for a component (such as devices, workloads, or channels) in the system with the highest rates or utilization for the selected intervals. It can also highlight the 10 selected components with the highest or lowest peak utilization across all intervals.

Click a box representing a component to high light the data and display the ID for the selected component. All other components are unavailable. Double-click a box representing a component to draw a cascade of graphs for that workload. The graphs you can draw depend on the data source.

Top five graphs

A top five graph displays the five values for the selected system component (devices, workloads, channels) with the highest rates or utilizations for the selected intervals. It can also highlight the values in the system with the highest or lowest peak rates or utilization across the selected intervals.

Click a box representing a component to high light the data and display the ID for the selected component. All other components are unavailable.

Double-click a box representing a component to draw a cascade of graphs for that component. The graphs you can draw depend on the data source.

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