APM - Performance Monitoring Tools in InterSystems Products

Application Performance Monitoring

Tools in InterSystems technology

Back in August in preparation for Global Summit I published a brief explanation of Application Performance Management (APM). To follow up on that I have written and will be publishing over the coming weeks a series of articles on APM.

One major element of APM is the construction of a historic record of application activity, performance and resource usage. Crucially for APM the measurement starts with the application and what users are doing with the application.  By relating everything to business activity you can focus on improving the level of service provided to users and value to the line business that is ultimately paying for the application.

Ideally an application includes instrumentation that reports on activity in business terms, such as ‘display the operating theater floor plan’ or ‘register student for course’ and give the count, the response time and resources used for each on an hourly or daily basis. However many applications don’t have this capability and you have to make do with the closest approximation you can.

There are many tools (some expensive, some open source) available to monitor applications, ranging from java script injection for monitoring user experience to middleware and network probes for measuring application communication. The articles will focus on the tools that are available within InterSystems products. I will describe how I have used these tools to manage the performance of applications and improve customer experiences.

The tools described include:

• CSP Page Statistics
• SQL Query Statistics
• Ensemble Activity Monitor

Even if you do have good application instrumentation, additional system monitoring can provide valuable insights and help you and I will include an explanation of how to configure and use:

• Caché History Monitor

I will also expanded my earlier explanation of APM, the reasons for monitoring performance and the different audiences you are trying to help with the information you gather.