vSphere - Memory Reporting

[scotty_p]

We just upgraded to vSphere and I'm having problems with the performance graphs for memory. I check weekly usage statistics and in ESX 3.5 if I went to the Performance tab > Chart Options > Memory and created a custom time frame, I would get the percentage of how much memory (avg, max, min) for the week Our average was about 55%. Now when I try that I select the "Memory Usage" option from the right (which is the only one that gives a % output), it tells me our average is .046%. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong? The other options won't give me anything in a percentage form.

Thanks,

Scott

[kjb007]

Are you attempting this through vCenter, or directly to a vSphere host?

-KjB

[scotty_p]

I'm doing this through vCenter. I have found that if I select the "Memory Consumed" option (which is displayed in KB), then convert that to GB and divide it by the total memory of the cluster, I can get the percentage I'm looking for. This just seems like a bummer because it was displayed nicely as a percentage in virtual center 2.5. Is it still available this way or have they taken this option away?

Thanks,

Scott

[kjb007]

So, selecting the esx host, going to performance tab, clicking advanced button, click chart options, and selecting your counter, and selecting the Usage, average, gives you an incorrect value?

-KjB

[scotty_p]

Correct. Maybe I'm not understanding what it's supposed to be measuring, but I'm getting .046% average and .051% max.

[ealaqqad]

Hi Scotty,

I am not sure this is related, but I believe you should give it a shot. VMware has earlier reported a bug, which get vSphere to report the wrong memory usage in vCenter. The reason I am not sure if this is related to your issue in that case most people had a lot higher memory being reported in vCenter than their actual usage, where the number you seems to get is a lot lower than your actual usage. You might want to look at my post that document that bug & how to resolve it & try to correlate if its related to your problem.

Guest operating system’s memory usage might be overestimated on VMware ESX 4

I hope this help some one, if it does please reward points.

Enjoy,

Eiad Al-Aqqad

System X & Storage Technical Specialist

Founder of http://www.VirtualizationTeam.com