2. USAGE GUIDELINES › 2.1 Data Analysis

2.1 Data Analysis

The following identifies methods of analyzing the CA MICS
Hardware and SCP Analyzer's data:


Capacity

The Hardware and SCP Analyzer provides utilization and
workload information that is essential for determining
current and future capacity requirements.  System resources
such as central processors, channel paths, devices, central
storage, expanded storage, the I/O subsystem, and the paging
subsystem can be examined to be sure they are not approaching
site-determined capacity thresholds.


Performance

The Hardware and SCP Analyzer can be used to evaluate the
performance of system resources.  Transaction response times
(as defined by RMF) can be evaluated.  Device I/O times and
IOS queuing times can be analyzed to ensure they are not
causing response-time problems.  Central and expanded storage
use and paging subsystem performance can be evaluated to
ensure they are not detracting from system throughput.


Workload Characterization

A necessary task in any capacity evaluation effort is
workload characterization.  The Hardware and SCP Analyzer can
provide data to determine a system's primary workload
components and the amount of resources consumed by those
components.  It is possible to determine, on a
per-transaction basis, average CPU utilization, number of
I/Os, storage requirements, etc.


Trends

You can identify trends by comparing measurements taken in
the current month with similar measurements from the previous
month.  Some uses of trend analysis include analyzing CPU
utilization, I/O counts, workload, and, to some degree,
transaction response time (as defined by RMF).

Configuration

You can use the Hardware and SCP Analyzer to support
utilization studies to determine if the configuration is
adequate for the needs of the enterprise.  If the utilization
is inappropriate for the users' needs, appropriate budgetary
actions can be taken.

Such analysis, performed daily or weekly, will indicate
unused hardware on the system and provide the necessary
information for operations to properly distribute the work
over all the resources.  This will minimize the under- or
over-utilization of devices.


Problem Resolution

When system-related problems occur, it is not always easy to
determine where and how they originated and what is impacted.
The Hardware and SCP Analyzer can be used to assist in
determining when a problem first occurred, what workload
component was responsible, and the system components affected
by the problem.


Bottlenecks

The Hardware and SCP Analyzer can be a valuable tool in
analyzing bottlenecks to identify the causes that result in
poor usage of the data center's capacity.  The analysis can
be used to maximize system usage and balance the distribution
of the workload over the available resources.