Streamlined performance metrics for IBM Storage Insights Pro in Q3 2022

The number of performance metrics was reduced for DS8000 and IBM Storage Virtualize storage systems in the Q3 2202 update of IBM Storage Insights Pro.

It's never too late for spring cleaning! IBM Storage Insights Pro includes over 100 performance metrics to help you identify bottlenecks that slow down the devices in your storage environment. With so many metrics to choose from, helping you find the right ones that meet your specific needs is important to us.

To help streamline your experience so you can get to the metrics that you want more quickly, all the performance metrics for DS8000 and IBM Storage Virtualize storage systems were reviewed and assessed. Based on an analysis and collaboration with storage experts, a number of metrics were identified for removal without impacting your ability to troubleshoot and measure performance.

For more information about the metrics that were removed, and the areas in IBM Storage Insights Pro that were updated, see the following sections.

Removed metrics: DS8000

FC Port metrics: Overall Port Response Time (ms/op)
Total Port FICON® Data Rate (MiB/s)
Overall Port Transfer Size (KiB/op)
Total Port PPRC Data Rate
Extreme I/O Concurrency Rate
Extreme I/O Concurrency Percentage
I/O Busy Rate
I/O Busy Percentage
I/O Overrun Rate
Overall Port PPRC Response Time
I/O Overrun Percentage
Port Send Utilization Percentage
Port Receive Utilization Percentage
Overall Port Utilization Percentage
Overall Port Bandwidth Percentage
Total Port FCP I/O Rate
Total Port FCP Data Rate
Total Port FICON I/O Rate
Volume metrics: Write-cache Delay I/O Rate
Read I/O Rate - overall
Write I/O Rate - overall
Total I/O Rate - normal
Total I/O Rate - sequential
Total I/O Rate - overall
Read Cache Hits - overall
Write Cache Hits - overall
Total Cache Hits - normal
Total HPF I/O Rate
Total Cache Hits - sequential
HPF I/O Percentage
Total Cache Hits - overall
Volume Utilization
Total Data Rate
Overall Transfer Size

Removed metrics: IBM Storage Virtualize

FC Port metrics: Total Port I/O Rate
Total Port to Host I/O Rate
Total Port to Disk I/O Rate
Host Connection metrics: Write-cache Delay Percentage
Write Cache Write-through Percentage - VCC
Write Cache Write-through Percentage - VC
Fast-Write Writes Data Rate - VCC
Fast-Write Writes Data Rate - VC
Disk to Cache Transfer Rate - VCC
Disk to Cache Transfer Rate - VC
Cache to Disk Transfer Rate - VCC
Cache to Disk Transfer Rate - VC
Write-cache Delay Percentage - VCC
Write-cache Delay Percentage - VC
Overall Transfer Size
Write Cache Flush-through Percentage - VCC
Write Cache Flush-through Percentage - VC (%)
Managed Disk metrics: Destage Target I/O
Destage In-flight I/O
Volume metrics: Write-cache Delay Percentage
Write Cache Flush-through I/O Rate - VCC
Write-cache Delay I/O Rate
Write Cache Flush-through I/O Rate - VC
Write Cache Write-through Percentage - VCC
Write Cache Write-through Percentage - VC
Write Cache Write-through I/O Rate - VCC
Write Cache Write-through I/O Rate - VC
Stage I/O Rate - VC
Stage I/O Rate - VCC
Total Cache Hits - VCC
Total Cache Hits - overall
Total I/O Rate - VC
Volume Utilization
Total Cache Hits - VC
Total I/O Rate - VCC
Disk to Cache Transfer Rate - VC
Cache to Disk Transfer Rate - VC
Port Congestion Index
Unaligned Write I/O Rate
Write Cache Overflow Percentage
Write Cache Flush-through Percentage - VCC
Write Cache Overflow I/O Rate
Write Cache Flush-through Percentage - VC

Impact of changes

The removal of performance metrics for DS8000 and IBM Storage Virtualize storage systems affects the following functions within IBM Storage Insights Pro:

You can't view metadata for the removed metrics on performance charts for resources.
You can't view or select the removed metrics for new alert policies and alert definitions for resources.
The removed metrics are no longer displayed in the Overview charts on the details page for a storage system.
Existing alert policies and definitions for resources that previously included the removed metrics will continue to include those metrics and trigger alerts for them. However, the performance charts on the triggered alert notifications for those metrics are not displayed. To not include the metrics in existing alert policies and definitions, you must manually remove them.
For applications and groups, the following changes are included:
- Existing alert definitions for application and groups that previously included the removed metrics will continue to include those metrics and trigger alerts for them. However, the performance charts on the triggered alert notification for those metrics are not displayed for DS8000 and IBM Storage Virtualize storage systems. To not include the metrics in existing alert definitions for application and groups, you must manually remove them.
- You can still select the removed volume metrics for applications and groups. However, for DS8000 and IBM Storage Virtualize storage systems in the application and groups, the performance chart and table will not show any metadata for those metrics.

Tip: These changes apply to IBM Storage Insights Pro only. The removed metrics were not previously available in the free version of IBM Storage Insights so no changes were required.

Updated GUI pages in IBM Storage Insights Pro

Page in GUI	Description of change
The Select Chart Metrics window that is displayed when you try to add metrics to performance charts.	The metrics that were removed can still be selected, but you can't view their metadata on performance charts for DS8000 and IBM Storage Virtualize storage systems.
The Select Performance Metrics window that is displayed when you try to add metrics to alert definitions.	The metrics that were removed so you can no longer select them when you add metrics to alert definitions for DS8000 and IBM Storage Virtualize storage systems.
Details page for a DS8000 storage system (Go to Resources > Block Storage Systems, double-click a DS8000 storage system, and click Overview)	The Most Active Volumes chart includes the following default metrics: Overall Response Time Read I/O Rate - overall Write I/O Rate - overall Read Data Rate Write Data Rate The following metrics were removed: Volume Utilization Total I/O Rate - overall Total Data Rate (MiB/s) Read Cache Hits - overall
Volumes information on the details page for a DS8000® storage system (Go to Resources > Block Storage Systems, double-click a DS8000 storage system, click Volumes, and click the Performance tab)	The performance chart includes the following default metrics: Read Data Rate Write Data Rate Overall Response Time The Total I/O Rate metric was removed.
FC Port information on the details page for a DS8000 storage system (Go to Resources > Block Storage Systems, double-click a DS8000 storage system, click FC Ports, and click the Performance tab)	The performance chart now includes the following default metrics: Port Send Bandwidth Percentage Port Receive Bandwidth Percentage The following metrics were removed: Total Port I/O Rate Overall Port Bandwidth Percentage
Details page for an IBM Storage Virtualize (Go to Resources > Block Storage Systems, double-click an IBM Storage Virtualize storage system, and click Overview)	The Most Active Volumes chart now includes the following default metrics: Total I/O Rate - overall Total Data Rate Read Cache Hits - overall Overall Response Time The Volume Utilization metric was removed.
Volumes information on the details page for an IBM Storage Virtualize storage system (Go to Resources > Block Storage Systems, double-click an IBM Storage Virtualize storage system, click Volumes, and click the Performance tab)	The performance chart includes the following default metrics: Read Data Rate Write Data Rate Overall Response Time The Total I/O Rate metric was removed.
FC Port information on the details page for an IBM Storage Virtualize storage system (Go to Resources > Block Storage Systems, double-click an IBM Storage Virtualize storage system, click FC Ports, and click the Performance tab)	The performance chart now includes the following default metrics: Port Send Bandwidth Percentage Port Receive Bandwidth Percentage The following metrics were removed: Total Port I/O Rate Overall Port Bandwidth Percentage