SOS

The Real-time Performance Data Utility

SOS is the character-based tool that will monitor and report system performance on-line and in real time. To start SOS, type sos from the command prompt.

Figure 4.1 shows the Global Summary screen, the initial data screen displayed in SOS.

Figure 4.1 SOS Global Summary screen

Data Screens

The SOS application generates a variety of useful data screens. Each screen is outlined in "SOS Screen Selection Menu", then described in detail in Chapters 9  through 33 .

Screen Conventions

The conventions used in SOS data screens are listed and described in the next table.

Table 4.1 SOS screen conventions

Convention	Description
/	A forward slash character (/) indicates a rate. For example, "Packet In /s" denotes "Packets In per second".
***	Three consecutive asterisk characters (***) indicates a data value that cannot be converted by SOS, because the value is less than or greater than the eligible range.
[nnn.n ]	When applicable and possible, cumulative averages are displayed in brackets ([ ]) next to the current interval values. For further information about cumulative averages, see "Displaying Cumulative Statistics".
b	A "b" indicates the corresponding value is measured in bytes.
k	A "kb" indicates the corresponding value is measured in kilobytes.
m	An "m" indicates the corresponding value is measured in megabytes.
g	A "g" indicates the corresponding value is measured in gigabytes.
ms	"ms" indicates the corresponding value is measured in milliseconds.
s	An "s" indicates the corresponding value is measured in seconds.
min	"min" indicates the corresponding value is measured in minutes.