Performance statistics

Overview

Performance statistics provide categorized information about network throughput, and are obtained using SNMP. The information in a performance statistics record includes the following:

• collection timestamp

• collection record type

• source device and object identifiers

• Suspect indicator that indicates a problem with the collected statistics; for example, when an NE is unresponsive to SNMP requests

• statistics counters that contain the raw data

When the Suspect indicator in a record is set, the counters in the record contain the following values:

• periodic counters—zero

• non-periodic counters—the value of the same counter in the most recent non-suspect record

After a suspect record collection, the next non-suspect record may contain a large value that is seen as a dramatic increase. Such an increase skews the data value for the interval and may result in misinterpretation. To alleviate this, an operator can configure a System Preferences parameter to increase, rather than reset, the Periodic Time value after the collection of a suspect record. For example, for a 15-minute collection interval, if one record is suspect and the next is not, the periodic time of the second record is recorded as 30 minutes. In this way, the NFM-P presents the first non-suspect record collected after a collection failure using a more realistic average value. See the NSP System Administrator Guide for information about setting system preferences.

Table 10-2: Performance statistics record properties

Property	Description
Monitored Object	Unique identifier of the object from which the statistics are collected
Monitored Object Name	Name of the object from which the statistics are collected
Periodic Time	Number of milliseconds since previous statistics collection
Record Type	The type of record, based on the following collection types: Scheduled Full Performed according to a user-configurable schedule On-demand Performed immediately at the request of an NFM-P operator
Site ID	NE identifier
Site Name	NE name
Suspect	Indicates a statistics collection failure.
Time Captured	Unix Epoch time at which the statistics were collected and the NFM-P adds the log to the database
Time Logged	Time at which the NFM-P receives the SNMP get-response

Table 10-3: Performance statistics data types and examples

NE data type	NFM-P data type	Example
Counter32	long	32-bit counter such as Received Octets in the Interface Stats group
Gauge32
Unsigned32
TimeStamp
Counter64	UINT128	64-bit counter such as Received Broadcast Packets in the Interface Additional Stats group
Integer32	double	Radio output power, in tenths of dBm; NFM-P converts to dBm
Integer32	float	Port output power, in tenths of µW
Integer32	int	Small value, such as index, enumerator, or identifier
TruthValue	Boolean	State indicator
various	String	MAC address, object name