An iometer measures a computer’s I/O system performance and helps detect I/O delays. It uses a client-server model to load the I/O system and log performance metrics. Factors affecting performance include data buses, hard drives, TIOPS, TMBPS, AIORT, MIORT, and CPU utilization.
An iometer, or input/output (I/O) meter, is an instrument that measures the performance of a computer’s I/O system, which includes data buses, drives, and the network interface. Via a graphical user interface, the iometer is also a troubleshooting tool that can help detect instances and possible causes of system I/O delays. Iometer’s benchmark information can help you build better I/O drivers.
The I/O performance of a computer can be compared to athletic performance. In the iometer, a program runs that loads the I/O system while making time and data volume measurements. In athletics, an obstacle course might be set up while a stopwatch is set to record the athlete’s progress through each stage. The iometer uses a client-server model to “load” the I/O system to monitor and log performance metrics.
Data buses are used exclusively by system devices or can be shared. For example, data bus latency, or the time it takes to reverse the direction of data, can be measured based on various types of bus operations, including sharing data buses with other devices. A large data and control bus, typical of high-performance servers, for example, requires in-depth analysis to optimize data bus latency.
Hard drives are also used extensively by the central processing unit (CPU) and other system devices. Many factors affect the performance of hard drives as local drives or as network drives. For example, when the contents of a drive are spread across relatively distant cylinders, the average access time increases dramatically.
Total I/O per second (TIOPS) suggests the ability of a computer system to respond to I/O requests. The iometer queues a reference I/O request rate, so the TIOPS of a computer system is a foundation for the system’s future I/O performance. Total Megabytes Per Second (TMBPS) is the number of bytes sent to or from I/O per second, and a higher figure means the computer system has a faster overall response rate. A lower average I/O response time (AIORT) in milliseconds or milliseconds is ideal because less time is spent waiting for the response from the I/O system.
Given a specific I/O load condition, there will be a maximum I/O response time (MIORT) in milliseconds. This may indicate the main weakness in the speed of the computer system. MIORT usually occurs during shared I/O operations.
CPU Utilization Percentage (CPUUT) or Total CPUUT indicates how much of the computer’s capacity is being used. If the CPUUT is always 100% for simple I/O activity, a major change may be required. This change may relate to the software or hardware configuration used in the computer system.
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