Efficient accumulation of performance statistics in a multi-port network

Abstract

Computer networks are provided with a resource efficient ability to generate link performance statistics. To calculate the average link utilization per I/O operation, a first counter accumulates the number of I/O operations processed by a link and a second counter accumulates the time required by the link to complete each I/O operation. The second value is then divided by the first value. The number of operations per second for a link may be computed by dividing the first number by a predetermined period of time and the average number of operations using the link may be computed by dividing the second number by the predetermined period of time. A third counter may be employed to accumulate the number of bytes transferred by a link during each I/O operation. Then, average size of an I/O operation may be computed by dividing the third number by the first number and the average bandwidth per link operation may be computed by dividing the third number by the predetermined period of time. Separate sets of counters are preferably associated with each of several link types associated with a single port, thereby allowing separate statistics to be generated for each link type. The generated statistics are useful for such activities as problem resolution, load balancing and capacity planning.

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