Counter Thresholds

Monitor > Edit > Monitor Sets

• Select a monitor set in a folder, then Counter Thresholds

The Counter Thresholds tab defines alert conditions for all performance objects/instances/counters associated with a monitor set. These are the same performance objects, instances and counters displayed when you run PerfMon.exe on a Windows machine.

Note: The Enable Matching option applies to counters, services and processes.

Performance Objects, Instances and Counters

When setting up counter thresholds in monitor sets, it's helpful to keep in mind exactly how both Windows and the VSA identify the components you can monitor:

• Performance Object - A logical collection of counters that is associated with a resource or service that can be monitored. For example: processors, memory, physical disks, servers each have their own sets of predefined counters.
• Performance Object Instance - A term used to distinguish between multiple performance objects of the same type on a computer. For example: multiple processors or multiple physical disks. The VSA lets you skip this field if there is only one instance of an object.
• Performance Counter - A data item that is associated with a performance object, and if necessary, the instance. Each selected counter presents a value corresponding to a particular aspect of the performance that is defined for the performance object and instance.

Select Page

When more rows of data are selected than can be displayed on a single page, click the and buttons to display the previous and next page. The drop-down list alphabetically lists the first record of each page of data.

Edit icon

Click the edit icon next to row to edit the row.

Delete Icon

Click the delete icon to delete this record.

Add / Edit

Click Add or the edit icon to use a wizard that leads you through the six steps required to add or edit a performance counter.

1. Select a Object, Counter and, if necessary, an Instance using their respective drop-down lists.
   • If only one instance of a performance object exists, the Instance field can usually be skipped.
   • The drop-down lists used to select performance objects, counters, and instances are based on the "master list" maintained using the Monitor Lists page. If an object/instance/counter does not display in its respective drop-down list, you can add it manually using Add Object, Add Counter, and Add Instance.
   • Whatever the range of counter instances specified by a monitor set, the Monitor Log page only displays instances that exist on a specific machine. Newly added counter instances—for example, adding a removable disk to a machine—will start being displayed on the Monitor Log page soon after they are discovered, if included in the range specified for monitoring by a monitor set.
   • When multiple instances exist, you can add an instance called _Total. The _Total instance means you want to monitor the combined value of all the other instances of a performance object as a single counter.
   • When multiple instances exist, you can add a counter instance called *ALL to the list of instances supported using the Monitor Lists > Counter Instance tab. Once added to the counter you want to work with, the *ALL value will display in the drop-down list of instances associated with that counter. The *ALL instance means you want to monitor all instances for the same performance object using individual counters.
2. Optionally change the default counter object Name and Description.
3. Select the log data collected. If the returned value is numeric, you can minimize unwanted log data by setting a collection operator just over or just under the collection threshold.
   • Collection Operator - For character string return values, the options are Changed, Equal or NotEqual. For numeric return values, the options are Equal, NotEqual, Over, or Under.
   • Collection Threshold - Set a fixed value that the returned value is compared to, using the selected Collection Operator, to determine what log data is collected.
   • Sample Interval - Defines how frequently the data is sent by the agent to the Kaseya Server.
4. Specify when an alert condition is encountered.
   • Alarm Operator - For character string return values, the options are Changed, Equal or NotEqual. For numeric return values, the options are Equal, NotEqual, Over or Under.
   • Alarm Threshold - Set a fixed value that the returned value is compared to, using the selected Alarm Operator, to determine when an alert condition is encountered.
   • Duration - Specify the time the returned values must continuously exceed the alarm threshold to generate the alert condition. Many alert conditions are only alarming if the level is sustained over a long period of time.
   • Ignore additional alarms for - Suppress additional alert conditions for this same issue for this time period. This reduces the confusion of many alert conditions for the same issue.
5. Warn when within X% of alarm threshold - Optionally display a warning alert condition when the returned value is within a specified percentage of the Alarm Threshold. The warning icon is a yellow traffic light icon .
6. Optionally activate a trending alarm. Trending alarms use historical data to predict when the next alert condition will occur.
   • Trending Activated? - If yes, a linear regression trendline is calculated based on the last 2500 data points logged.
   • Trending Window - The time period used to extend the calculated trendline into the future. If the predicted trendline exceeds the alarm threshold within the future time period specified, a trending alert condition is generated. Typically a trending window should be set to the amount of time you need to prepare for an alert condition, if it occurs. Example: a user may want 10 days notice before a hard drive reaches the alert condition, to accommodate ordering, shipping and installing a larger hard drive.
   • Ignore additional trending alarms for - Suppress additional trending alert conditions for this same issue for this time period.
   • Trending alarms display as an orange icon .

   Warning status alert conditions and trending status alert conditions don't create alarm entries in the alarm log, but they change the image of the alarm icon in various display windows. You can generate a trending alarm report using Reports > Monitor.

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