Statistics Management

This chapter includes the following sections:

Statistics Management

Cisco UCS Central enables you to generate standard and customized reports from the Statistics tab. You can generate reports on the following data in the registered Cisco UCS domains:

  • Cooling

  • Network

  • Power

  • Temperature

Important:

  • You must be logged in as an admin or as a user with statistics privilege to create, modify or delete a report. Other users can only run reports and view available data.

  • If the connection between Cisco UCS Central and registered Cisco UCS domains experiences high latency or limited connectivity, any statistics data at the specified interval is not recorded in the statistics database. When you generate the report, the chart or table would not display any information for that time frame.

When you generate a report, you can specify the option to view the report either in the format of a table or a chart. Using the display options, you can select top or bottom domains for a specific report type. You can also use overlay to overlay the data for a report type. The following are the two report options:

  • Standard Reports: Predefined reports on Peak Fan Speed, Receive Traffic(Rx), Transmit Traffic (Tx), Average Power, and Peak Temperature. You can run any of these predefined reports any time to view reports. You can also modify the predefined configurations, but cannot create any new standard report.

  • Custom Reports: Option to create customized reports from any of the available report options. Based on your requirements, you can create either create individual reports in the Ungrouped Reports or create Report Groups and then create reports under the groups or sub-groups. You can create, edit or delete the custom report groups at anytime.

Statistics Data Collection in Cisco UCS Central

Cisco UCS Central collects and aggregates statistics data on Network, Temperature, Cooling and Power from the registered Cisco UCS domains. During Cisco UCS Central installation, you must specify a default location to store the statistics data. You can store the statistics data in the internal PostgreSQL database called "ucscentral-stats-db" or in an external database such as Oracle 11g, MSSQL, or Postgre SQL. If you have chosen internal storage as the default location during installation, the statistics data is stored only for a maximum of two weeks. If you want to retain the collected data for more than two weeks, it is recommended that you set up an external database, see External Database for Statistics.

The collected data is aggregated based on daily, hourly, weekly and real time records and stored in tables. You can run SQL query in this database to retrieve data specific to each of the report components, see Retrieving Data from the External Database. Cisco UCS Central database is the default database to store the data.

You can set up statistics collection interval using Cisco UCS Central CLI, to collect information from the registered Cisco UCS domains at a specified interval. When a new Cisco UCS domain is registered in Cisco UCS Central, Cisco UCS Central subscribes the new domain to the statistics collection interval you have specified. If you reconfigure the collection interval, the data is updated in the registered domains. The registered Cisco UCS domains send statistics to Cisco UCS Central based on the specified collection interval.

Statistics collection interval can be one of the following:

  • 15 minutes (default)

  • 30 minutes

  • never—disables statistics collection

Important: You can specify the statistics collection interval only in the Cisco UCS Central CLI. You cannot set it from the Cisco UCS Central GUI. You can view the statistics reports only in the Cisco UCS Central GUI and not in the Cisco UCS Central CLI.

External Database for Statistics

You can set up an external database to retain the collected data for more than two weeks or to collect statistics data from more than 5 registered Cisco UCS domains.


Note

Setting up an external database requires the Cisco UCS Central CLI.

You can use the following databases as external databases for statistics collection from Cisco UCS Central:

  • Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.1.0 - 64-bit Production or higher

  • PostgreSQL Server 9.1.8 64-bit or higher

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (SP1) - 11.0.3000.0 (X64) or higher

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 10.50.1600.1 (X64) SP1 or higher

Make sure you have the following information to access and setup either of these databases as your external database:

  • Database server host name

  • Database name

  • Username

  • Password

  • Port number

  • Instance name - to configure Microsoft SQL Server using dynamic port


Note

You must open the firewall ports in the database server so that Cisco UCS Central can access the configured external database.

Setting up an External Database

You can set up the external database either during initial Cisco UCS Central set up or at anytime you have a requirement to set up an external database for statistics collection:

  • Setting up external database with initial setup: When you are doing the initial set up for Cisco UCS Central, you are prompted to enable statistics collection. If you choose Yes, you are prompted to enter information on the external database. If you choose No, the collection of statistics data from registered Cisco UCS domains is disabled.

  • Anytime: You can use the Cisco UCS Central CLI to connect to the external database and set up statistics collection for registered Cisco UCS domains. For more information, the Cisco UCS Central CLI Reference Manual.

The external database stores statistical data on network traffic, temperature, cooling and power from the registered Cisco UCS domains. You can run queries on the external database to retrieve statistics data on network, temperature, cooling and power.


Note

When you set up an external database to store the statistical data, you must determine the time interval to purge old records from the database. You are responsible for maintaining the external database.

Guidelines for Configuring an External Database

When you configure the database for statistics collection, make sure to restart the Cisco UCS Central services. You must restart the services in the following scenarios:

  • After upgrading to the latest version of Cisco UCS Central using the ISO image

    Earlier versions of Cisco UCS Central did not have the capability for statistics collection. After the upgrade process is complete, you can use the Cisco UCS Central CLI to set up an external database for statistics data collection.

  • You set up an external database for statistics collection after installing Cisco UCS Central. The external database can be either an Oracle database or a PostgreSQL database.

  • After switching from an Oracle database to a PostgreSQL database or switching from a PostgreSQL database to an Oracle database.

Backing up and Restoring Cisco UCS Central Statistics Database

The Cisco UCS Central database is not backed up during a full state backup. If you have set up an external database to store statistical data, then you must follow standard database backup and restore procedures. However, prior to restoring an external database, you must stop the Cisco UCS Central service. To stop this service, you must login to the Cisco UCS Central CLI, and run the pmon stop command in the local-mgmt command mode. After the database is restored, start the Cisco UCS Central service by running the pmon start command in the Cisco UCS Central CLI.

Troubleshooting Faults with the External Database

When Cisco UCS Central fails to connect to an external database, a fault is raised. You can view the fault details in the Cisco UCS Central CLI using the show fault command or in the Cisco UCS Central GUI, Fault panel.. When the problem is resolved ,Cisco UCS Central automatically retries to connect to the external database. If the connection is established, the fault is cleared from the Cisco UCS Central CLI.

Statistics Data in External Database

External database stores the collected statistics data in tables. You can purge old statistics data from the external database using a script. The following table describes the database table names and corresponding data stored in each table:

Table Name

Data Stored in the Table

adaptorHBAVnicStats

HBA Adaptor traffic data.

adaptorNICVnicStats

NIC Adaptor traffic data.

adaptorVnicStats

NIC/HBA Adaptor traffic data.

computeMbPowerStats

Blade Server power data.

computeMbTempStats

Blade Server temperature data.

computeRackUnitMbTempStats

Rack Server temperature data.

equipmentChassisStats

Chassis power data.

equipmentFanStats

Chassis fan speed data.

equipmentNetworkElementFanStats

FI fan speed data.

equipmentPsuStats

Chassis PSU data.

equipmentRackUnitFanStats

Rack server fan speed data.

equipmentRackUnitPsuStats

Rack server PSU data.

etherRxStats

Ethernet traffic receive data

etherTxStats

Ethernet traffic transmit data.

fcStats

FC traffic data.

processorEnvStats

CPU environment data.

Retrieving Data from the External Database

The database collects statistical data on network, temperature, cooling, and power. The data collected from the registered Cisco UCS domains is stored in the database and then aggregated in the following ways:

  • Real time records

  • Parent to child aggregation

The following table describes the database table and the nature of information stored in this table.

StatType Stat Table MO/TableName Property
Temperature Inlet Air Temp 1 computeMbTempStats fmTempSenIo
  Processor Temp 2 processorEnvStats Temperature
Power Blade DC Power 3 computeMbPowerStats consumedPower
  Chassis AC Power 4 equipmentChassisStats inputPower
Cooling FI Fan Speed 5 equipmentNetworkElementFanStats Speed
  Chassis Fan Speed 6 equipmentFanStats speed
FI Ethernet Traffic Transmit 7 etherTxStats TotalBytes
  Receive 8 etherRxStats TotalBytes
FI Fibre Channel Traffic Transmit/Receive 9 fcStats BytesTx,BytesRx
Server Ethernet Traffic Transmit/Receive 10 adaptorNICVnicStats BytesTx,BytesRx
Server FC traffic Transmit/Receive 11 adaptorHBAVnicStats BytesTx,BytesRx
Server Eth & FC Traffic Transmit/Receive 12 adaptorVnicStats BytesTx,BytesRx
NA Internal DN mapping table 13 affectedId2Dn NA

Tip

Statistics Database table names can be more than 30 Characters long. In Oracle database, due to a 30 character limitation, the table name may be truncated. Cisco UCS central handles this automatically.

Aggregation on real time records

The statistics collection policy determines the interval for the data from registered Cisco UCS domains. The data received from the registered Cisco UCS domains is stored in the database and aggregated as hourly, daily and weekly records. This aggregation based on real time records is defined by the statistics collection interval. Each of these record types have a specific ID or a unique identifier in the database. The following table lists the identifiers for each record type.

Record Type ID

Real Time

0

Hourly

1

Daily

2

Weekly

3

If the statistics collection policy is set to 15 minutes, then for every 4 real time records, 1 hourly record is created and stored in the database. The daily and weekly record aggregation is internally defined, and is not determined by the collection interval. Every 24 hours, one daily record is created and stored in the database. Similarly, for every 7 days, one weekly record is created and stored in the database.

Parent to child aggregation

This type of data aggregation is based on the Distinguished Name (DN). A DN is a unique ID for every object that is defined in the database. The total bytes of data is collected and stored in the database tables from the child element to the parent element. For example, in a sample network, a domain has two fabric interconnects. Each fabric interconnect has slots and each of these slots has different ports. The statistics data for these ports is aggregated all the way to the domain level.

Connecting to an External Oracle Database

Before You Begin

  • Set up an external Oracle database. The supported version is Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.1.0 - 64-bit Production or higher. Note down the database server hostname, the database name, the user name and the password to access the database. You must have privileges to create tables in the database and to add, modify and delete records in those tables.

  • You must open the firewall ports in the database server so that Cisco UCS Central can access the external database.

Procedure
     Command or ActionPurpose
    Step 1UCSC# connect stats-mgr  

    Enters the statistics manager mode.

     
    Step 2 UCSC (stats-mgr) # scope db-configuration  

    Enters database configuration mode.

     
    Step 3 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set type dbtype  

    Sets the database type, in this case Oracle.

     
    Step 4 UCSC (stats-mgr) db-configuration # set hostname hostname  

    Sets the hostname.

     
    Step 5 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set port port-number  

    Sets the port. The default Oracle port is 1521.

     
    Step 6 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set instance instance-name  

    Sets the instance to configure Microsoft SQL Server using dynamic port.

     
    Step 7 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set database dbname  

    Sets the database name.

     
    Step 8 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set user dbusername  

    Sets the database user name.

     
    Step 9 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set pwd <enter_key>  

    Sets the database password.

     
    Step 10 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # commit-buffer  

    Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

     

    The following example sets up Cisco UCS Central to use an external Oracle database on the default port and commits the transaction: 

    UCSC # connect stats-mgr
UCSC (stats-mgr) # scope db-configuration
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set type oracle 
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set hostname 10.10.10.10
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set port 1521 
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set database DB1 
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set user User1
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set pwd <enter_key>
Password:
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # commit-buffer
    What to Do Next

    You can change the statistics collection interval from the default 15 minutes to 30 minutes. This is optional.

    Connecting to an External PostgreSQL Database

    Before You Begin

    • Set up an external PostgreSQL database. The supported version is PostgreSQL (9.2.3) or higher. Note down the database server hostname, the database name, the user name and the password to access the database. You must have privileges to create tables in the database and to add, modify and delete records in those tables.

    • The name of the database should not include the postgres phrase.

    • You must open the firewall ports in the database server so that Cisco UCS Central can access the external database.

    Procedure
       Command or ActionPurpose
      Step 1UCSC# connect stats-mgr  

      Enters the statistics manager mode.

       
      Step 2 UCSC (stats-mgr) # scope db-configuration  

      Enters database configuration mode.

       
      Step 3 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set type dbtype 

      Sets the database type, in this case postgreSQL.

       
      Step 4 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set hostname hostname 

      Sets the hostname.

       
      Step 5 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set port port-number 

      Sets the port. The default port is 5432.

       
      Step 6 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set database dbname 

      Sets the database name.

       
      Step 7 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set user dbusername 

      Sets the database user name.

       
      Step 8 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set pwd <enter_key> 

      Sets the database password.

       
      Step 9 UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # commit-buffer  

      Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

       

      The following example sets up Cisco UCS Central to use an external postgreSQL database on the default port and commits the transaction: 

      UCSC # connect stats-mgr
UCSC (stats-mgr) # scope db-configuration
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set type postgres 
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set hostname 10.10.10.10
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set port 5432 
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set database DB1 
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set user User1
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # set pwd <enter_key>
Password
UCSC (stats-mgr) /db-configuration # commit-buffer
      What to Do Next

      You can change the statistics collection interval from the default 15 minutes to 30 minutes. This is optional.

      Standard Reports

      Standard Reports are pre-defined reports in Cisco UCS Central. You can use these standard reports to view top and bottom 10 transmitted (Tx) or received (Rx) data aggregated at the domain, chassis or server level. While you cannot create any additional standard reports in Cisco UCS Central, you can modify the parameters for these standard reports.

      Important:

      You must be logged in as an administrator user or as a user with statistics privilege to modify the parameters of the standard reports. Other users can only run the currently available reports, and cannot edit any of the report parameters.

      The following table describes a standard network report in Cisco UCS Central.

      Name Description
      Default View

      The view of the report. It can be one of the following:

      • Chart

      • Table

      By default, the Chart option is selected.

      Display

      The nature of the data to be included in the report. It can be one of the following:

      • Top Tx or Rx

      • Bottom Tx or Rx

      By default, the Top Tx or Rx option is selected.

      For

      The endpoints for the report. It can be one of the following:

      • FI Ethernet Ports
      • FI FC Ports
      • HBAs
      • NICs

      By default, Fi Ethernet Ports is selected.

      Duration

      The specified time period for which the report is run. It can be one of the following:

      • Customized date and time range
      • Last 3 hours
      • Last 6 hours
      • Last 12 hours
      • Last 24 hours
      • Last 48 hours

      By default, Last 12 hours is selected.

      Overlay

      To include overlay information in the report.

      Context

      The context for the report. It can be one of the following:

      • Domains
      • Chassis
      • Servers

      You can specify a context for the report, only when you have specified the endpoint as HBAs or NICs. By specifying a context, you can view server NIC or HBA traffic at the domain, chassis or server level. For the other endpoints, such as FI Ethernet Ports or FI FC Ports, you cannot change the default selection of Domains for the context.

      When you specify Domains as the context, the chart renders the report at the domain level, which can be further drilled down to the chassis level of a selected domain. From a specific chassis level, you can further drill down to a server.

      When you specify Chassis as the context, the data is rendered at the chassis level, which can be further drilled down to the server level.

      When you specify Servers as the context, the data is rendered at the server level, and you cannot drill down further.

      If you run a standard network report with the default selections, the generated report will show top and bottom transmitted (Tx) or received (Rx) data for Fi Ethernet Ports in Cisco UCS domains, for the last 12 hours, in a chart format.

      Related Topics

      Generating a Network Report

      Before You Begin

      You must be logged in as an administrative user or as a user with statistics privilege to modify the parameters of the standard reports. Other users can only run the currently available reports, and cannot edit any of the report parameters.

      Procedure
        Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.
        Step 2   In the navigation pane, expand Standard Reports.
        Step 3   Expand Network and click one of the following options to generate the type of network report that you want to generate.

        • Receive Traffic (Rx)

        • Transmit Traffic (Tx)

        Step 4   (Optional)In the work pane, click Configure if you want to modify the parameters for the report.
        Step 5   In the work pane, click Run/Refresh.

        The work pane displays the report. If you selected the chart type display, you can mouse over the chart to view total transmitted traffic (Tx) or total received traffic (Rx) bytes. If you selected NICs or HBAs as the endpoint and Domains or Chassis as the context for the report, then you can drill down by clicking on the bars of the report.

        Generating a Peak Fan Speed Report

        You can a generate peak fan speed report on the following end points, Chassis Fans, Fabric Interconnect Fans or Rack Unit Fans. You can overlay Average Fan Speed in the peak fan speed report. The Context is Domains.

        Before You Begin

        You must be logged in as an administrator user or as a user with statistics privilege to create a report, or modify the parameters of a report. Users, other than administrators, or users without the statistics privilege can only run the currently available reports.

        Procedure
          Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.
          Step 2   In the navigation pane, expand Standard Reports > Cooling and click Peak Fan Speed.
          Step 3   If you want to run the report with existing options, click Run Report To Load Data.
          Step 4   If you want to modify existing configuration, click Configure. In the Configure Peak Fan Speed dialog box, modify the options and click Save & Run.

          Generating a Peak Temperature Report

          You can a generate reports on the Server Inlet Temperature in the registered Cisco UCS Domains. You can choose to overlay Average Temperature in the peak temperature report.

          Before You Begin

          You must be logged in as an administrator user or as a user with statistics privilege to create a report, or modify the parameters of a report. Users, other than administrators, or users without the statistics privilege can only run the currently available reports.

          Procedure
            Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.
            Step 2   In the navigation pane, expand Standard Reports > Temperature and click Peak Temperature.
            Step 3   If you want to run the report with existing options, click Run Report To Load Data.
            Step 4   If you want to modify existing configuration, click Configure. In the Configure Peak Temperature dialog box, modify the options and click Save & Run.

            Generating an Average Power Report

            You can a generate average power report on the following end points,Chassis (Input Power - AC), Blade (Consumed Power - DC) or Rack (Input Power - AC). You can overlay Peak Power in the average power report. The Context is Domains.

            Before You Begin

            You must be logged in as an administrator user or as a user with statistics privilege to create a report, or modify the parameters of a report. Users, other than administrators, or users without the statistics privilege can only run the currently available reports.

            Procedure
              Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.
              Step 2   In the navigation pane, expand Standard Reports > Power and click Average Power.
              Step 3   If you want to run the report with existing options, click Run Report To Load Data.
              Step 4   If you want to modify existing configuration, click Configure. In the Configure Average Power dialog box, modify the options and click Save & Run.

              Custom Reports

              Custom reports are reports that you can create in Cisco UCS Central. To create these reports, you must be logged in as an administrator or as a user with stats-privilege. If you are not an administrator, or a user without the stats-privilege, you cannot access the Statistics tab in the UCS Central GUI. You can create, modify and delete a custom report in UCS Central.

              You an create custom reports based on your requirements either in Report Groups or in Ungrouped Reports. A report group functions as a container for grouping custom reports. Custom reports have the same report type options as the standard reports, such as Network, Cooling, Power and Temperature.

              Creating a Custom Report Group

              Custom report groups in Cisco UCS Central act like folders within which you can create custom reports. You can also create a report group within a report group.

              Before You Begin

              You must be logged in as an administrator user or as a user with statistics privileges.

              Procedure
                Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.
                Step 2   In the navigation pane, right-click Custom Reports and select Create Group.
                Step 3   (Optional)In the work pane, click Create Group.
                Step 4   In the Create Group dialog box, specify the Name and Description for the report group.
                Step 5   Click OK.

                The report group is displayed in the navigation pane under Custom Reports.

                What to Do Next

                You can create custom reports within this report group.

                Deleting a Report Group

                Important:

                When you delete a report group from the Cisco UCS Central GUI, all reports you created within this group are also deleted.

                Before You Begin

                • You must be logged in as an administrator user or as a user with statistics privileges to perform this task.

                • Evaluate the list of custom reports created within the report group.

                Procedure
                  Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.
                  Step 2   In the navigation pane, expand Custom Reports.

                  The list of report groups you created are displayed.

                  Step 3   Right-click on the report group you want to delete, and click Delete.

                  A dialog box appears prompting you to confirm the deletion of the report group.

                  Step 4   Click Yes.

                  The report group, along with the custom reports within it, is deleted from the Cisco UCS Central GUI.

                  Creating a Custom Report

                  You can create a customized report to view specific statistics data of the registered UCS domains. In Cisco UCS Central, you can create a custom report group and create a report within it.

                  Before You Begin

                  You must be logged in as an admin user or a user with stats-privilege to create a custom report.

                  Procedure
                    Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.
                    Step 2   In the navigation pane, expand Custom Reports.
                    Step 3   Right-click on Ungrouped Reports and select Create Report.

                    To create a report within a report group, right-click the desired report group in the navigation pane and select Create Report.

                    For information on creating a report group, see Creating a Custom Report Group.

                    Step 4   In the Create Report dialog box, specify the Name for the report.
                    Step 5   (Optional)Specify a description for the report.
                    Step 6   In the Properties area, specify the required information.

                    Based on the report type you select, the required data in the Properties area changes. Make sure to specify all required information for the type of report you want to generate.

                    Step 7   Click OK.

                    The report is listed under Custom Reports in the navigation pane and in the work area.

                    What to Do Next

                    You can run the report to view the data.

                    Running a Custom Report

                    Before You Begin

                    You must be logged in as an administrator user or as a user with statistics privilege to create a report, or modify the parameters of a report. Users, other than administrators, or users without the statistics privilege can only run the currently available reports.

                    Procedure
                      Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.
                      Step 2   In the navigation pane, expand Custom Reports.
                      Step 3   (Optional)If the report you want to run is in a report group, then expand the report group name.

                      If the report you want to run is not in a report group, then expand Ungrouped Reports.

                      Step 4   Select the name of the report, and click Run/Refresh in the work pane.
                      Step 5   (Optional)You can toggle between chart and table display by clicking the respective option on the report.

                      In the Table view of the report, you may see values such as 0 and -1. The 0 value indicates that the data displayed in the report is actual data collected from a registered UCS domain. The -1 value indicates that Cisco UCS Central did not receive statistical information from the UCS domain for the specified time period or for the specified endpoint. This occurs when the connection to the UCS domain was lost and statistical data for the domain was not collected till the connection was restored. In the Chart view, this is indicated by broken lines on the report.

                      Deleting a Custom Report

                      Before You Begin

                      You must be logged in as an administrator user or as a user with statistics privileges to perform this task.

                      Procedure
                        Step 1   On the menu bar, click Statistics.

                        Step 2   In the navigation pane, expand Custom Reports.

                        The list of report groups you created are displayed.

                        Step 3   Expand the report group which contains the report you need to delete.

                        If there are no report groups, then expand Ungrouped Reports.

                        Step 4   Right-click on the report name, and click Delete.

                        A dialog box appears prompting you to confirm the deletion of the report.

                        Step 5   Click Yes.

                        The report is deleted from the Cisco UCS Central GUI.