Options window: Graph tab

The Utilization Graph provides a graphical representation of the data in MobiLink Monitor.

This tab has the following components:

Utilization statistics list   Select and clear the properties listed to specify which properties appear in the utilization graph.

  • Show   Select this option to show the property in the utilization graph. Properties without a checkmark do not appear.

  • Property   Shows the available properties that you can choose to appear in the utilization graph. Only properties with a checkmark appear in the graph.

    The list of properties comes from the MobiLink server or the .mlm file, and is saved in .mlmonitorsettings. If you delete .mlmonitorsettings, the properties have placeholder values (19 through 24).

    The possible properties are:

    • TCP/IP work queue   This queue represents work done by the low-level network layer in the MobiLink server. This layer is responsible for both reading and writing packets from and to the network. The queue is full of read and write requests. It grows when it gets notified of incoming data to read off the network and/or when it is told by the Stream worker to write to the network.

      If this queue gets backed up, it is usually due to a backlog of either reads or writes—sometimes both, but usually one or the other. Reads can get backed up if the MobiLink server is using a lot of RAM and memory pages are being swapped in and out a lot. Consider getting more RAM in this case. Writes can get backed up if the network connection between the clients and server is slow. If this queue is the only queue that is backed up, look at the CPU usage. If CPU usage is high, there may be read/memory problems. If CPU usage is low, you may have slow writes. Consider using a faster network.

    • Stream work queue   This queue represents work done by the high-level network layer in the MobiLink server. This layer is responsible for higher-level network protocol work such as HTTP, encryption, and compression. This queue grows when a lot of reads come in from the TCP/IP layer and/or when a lot of write requests come in from the Command processor layer. If this queue is the only queue that is backed up, consider removing some network protocols, such as HTTP or compression. If this isn't possible, consider reducing the number of concurrent synchronizations allowed using the -sm option. See -sm option.

    • Heartbeat work queue   This queue represents the layer in the MobiLink server that is responsible for sending pulsed events within the server. This layer is responsible, for example, for triggering the one-per-second pulses of samples to the connected MobiLink Monitors.

      It is highly unlikely that this queue gets backed up so it is not visible by default.

    • Command processor work queue   This represents work done by the MobiLink server both to interpret internal MobiLink protocol commands and to apply these commands to the consolidated database. This queue grows when a lot of requests come in. Request types include synchronization requests, MobiLink Listener requests, MobiLink File Transfer utility (mlfiletransfer) requests, and so on. The queue also grows when the consolidated database is busy working on synchronizations, but more synchronization requests keep coming in.

      If this queue is the only queue that is backed up, look at the CPU usage. If CPU usage is high, the volume of requests may be too high. Consider reducing the number of concurrent synchronizations allowed, using the -sm option. If CPU usage is low, consider improving the performance of the consolidated database. See -sm option.

  • Color   For each property, click Color and select a color from the dropdown list that is used to represent the selected property in the utilization graph.

  • Scale   Double-click the Scale field and type a value to change the scale used for the graph.

    The vertical scale on the Utilization Graph always goes from 0 to 100. This represents zero to one hundred percent of the scale. Each value has its own scale. By default, all scales are 5, meaning that values are expected to be in a range of 0 to 20, scaled (by 5) to the range 0 to 100. If a value becomes greater than 20, the scale is automatically adjusted such that the largest value is at 100.

    To determine the maximum value in the display, divide the scale into 100. For example, if the TCP/IP work queue scale is 2.381, then the maximum value is ( 100 / 2.381 ) = 42. The actual maximum isn't usually important. What is important is that values towards the top of the graph are approaching the largest currently-known value for the given property—in other words, the peak load for that property as observed in the current monitoring session.

    When the graphs are consistently towards the top of the display and you notice that synchronization throughput is down, you may have a performance problem that needs investigation. Similarly, if one or more values creeps upward over time without diminishing, then there is likely a performance problem. Note that the graphs may often be towards the top of the display with MobiLink server performing well. This indicates that MobiLink server is busy and successfully processing the job.

Selection border   Select a color from the dropdown list for the border of the utilization graph. By default, the border is Black.

Grid lines   Select a color from the dropdown list for the grid lines. By default, the grid lines are Light Gray.

Graph background   Select a color from the dropdown list for the graph background. By default, the graph background is White.

Use antialiasing to smooth graph   Antialiasing is a technique used to make graphics look smoother. Selecting this option makes the graph look better, but it may be slower to draw.

See also