The Last Octet

With Update 4 for for VirtualCenter 2.5 VMware introduced a new plugin that gives a nice MRTG style graphs for host resources. The plugin adds a new tab to the host view in the VI client

Under the tab you'll find graphs for

• CPU%
• CPU MHz
• Memory %
• Disk KBps
• Network Mbps

Although this isn't a ground breaking feature, it does provide a nice "at glance" view that could be used to track down trends occurring on individual hosts. I do find it interesting that this was chosen to be added as plugin as opposed to something like a "preset" button, or drop down option to the existing performance tab.

The neatest option in the performance overview plugin is the "Virtual Machine" view. It gives a stacked graph overview of the aforementioned resources for each guest residing on the selected host.

It would be nice if there was a print or report export option associated with the overview plugin that could be used to capture the views presented. In the end, the new plugin is a nice add on that could be helpful in reviewing the performance of a particular host and the guests residing on it.