Managing any system requires knowledge and understanding of the key performance indicators (KPI) of the system. Operating a system under normal and adverse conditions provides the best experience to determine the correct and expected KPI values for a system in each environment. However, administrators that are new to a Dell EMC PowerScale cluster, or who are coming from a different but similar system, may lack this level of experience.

This paper provides a basis for understanding general KPI values for a PowerScale NAS storage system. You can use a KPI set as the basis for monitoring the cluster. This paper provides this KPI set along with an explanation of how each value impacts cluster performance. The values and methods provided in this paper may not apply to a specific environment. However, they can be used as general guidelines to begin a PowerScale performance-related discussion with your technical representative.

The metrics defined in this document are general and should serve as a guideline to determine when a cluster may experience performance-related issues or require remediation. Specific workflows and cluster configurations can impact how to interpret the values.

This document uses Dell EMC PowerScale OneFS v9.1.0.0, and InsightIQ v4.1.3.88a.