Veeam VMware: vSphere Host Network Packet Loss Analysis

Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.VMHOST.Monitor.DroppedPackets (UnitMonitor)

Knowledge Base article:

Summary

This monitor tracks threshold breaches for the following metric:

droppedPackets - total number of dropped network packets for all physical NICs attached to this host.

This is a 'Top N' monitor - the top physical NICs for packet loss will be listed in the alert description.

Configuration

The monitor is enabled by default. You can override the following parameters:

Name	Default Value	Description
Threshold	1000	Specifies a threshold for the 'droppedPackets' metric. If the metric value exceeds the threshold, the monitor will start generating alerts.
Num Samples	1	Specifies a threshold for the number of consequent metric samples. If the threshold is breached, the monitor will change its state.
Instance Count	5	Defines the number of Top N child objects to display in the alert.

Note: If you have configured several overrides of the same type, select the Enforced check box for an override that should have priority over all other overrides.

Causes

Packet loss can be caused by a number of factors including signal degradation, channel congestion, corrupted packets, faulty networking hardware, or network driver issue.

Note that packet loss can also be caused by normal operations, such as firewall or routing rules.

Resolutions

TCP network protocol will re-transmit dropped packets, however high packet loss will result in a loss of overall throughput for the NIC.

First investigate firewall or other protocol routing rules that may be causing packet drop. If the packet loss is not expected, then investigate hardware or cable issues, high network traffic, or driver or firmware issue on the NIC or network switch.

Ops Mgr 2012 and 2016 customers can use the in-context dashboards, available in the Navigation section of the Tasks pane, to drill down into historical performance data and current alerts. These dashboards will show relevant metrics for this object and for contained objects, and further dashboards will become available by selecting within the dashboard. Drill-down from dashboard to dashboard to arrive at the detailed metrics that can assist in finding root-cause.

The Host Network Packet Loss Analysis dashboard will show history of droppedPackets on this Host, and also chart the droppedPackets per VM. Drill further into the VM Network Traffic Analysis dashboard to see UsageRate Total for the VM, and Tx/Rx per-VM virtual NIC.

Use the Alerts View to see all current open issues for this object. Use the Events View to review any error and warning events for this object. Open a Performance View to see the performance metrics for this object and all contained objects. Open a Diagram View to analyze the relationships of this object to other components.

External

See the Help Center for more information including reference lists of all Rules and Monitors and full set of User Guides for the Veeam MP for VMware.

See the VMware Online Documentation for more information on VMware vSphere, in particular:

Element properties:

Target

Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.VMHOST

Parent Monitor

System.Health.PerformanceState

Category

PerformanceHealth

Enabled

True

Alert Generate

True

Alert Severity

MatchMonitorHealth

Alert Priority

Normal

Alert Auto Resolve

True

Monitor Type

Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.TopNPerformance.DroppedNetworkPackets.MonitorType

Remotable

True

Accessibility

Public

Alert Message

Veeam VMware: vSphere Host Network Packet Loss Analysis

The vSphere Host {0} is reporting high network packet loss of {1} over all NICs. Network packet loss indicates a network bottleneck or a configuration issue.

Host network adapter {2} reported {3} dropped network packets
Packet loss breakdown is {4} receive and {5} transmit.
{6}

The Top {7} NICs for dropped packets on this host are –
NIC Name – dropped packets
{8}

RunAs

Default

Source Code:

<UnitMonitor ID="Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.VMHOST.Monitor.DroppedPackets" Accessibility="Public" Enabled="onEssentialMonitoring" Target="VeeamVEVMwareLib!Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.VMHOST" ParentMonitorID="SystemHealth!System.Health.PerformanceState" Remotable="true" Priority="Normal" TypeID="Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.TopNPerformance.DroppedNetworkPackets.MonitorType" ConfirmDelivery="true">

  <Category>PerformanceHealth</Category>

  <AlertSettings AlertMessage="Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.VMHOST.Monitor.DroppedPackets_AlertMessageResourceID">

    <AlertOnState>Warning</AlertOnState>

    <AutoResolve>true</AutoResolve>

    <AlertPriority>Normal</AlertPriority>

    <AlertSeverity>MatchMonitorHealth</AlertSeverity>

    <AlertParameters>

      <AlertParameter1>$Target/Property[Type="System!System.Entity"]/DisplayName$</AlertParameter1>

      <AlertParameter2>$Data/Context/DataItem/Property[@Name='TotalDroppedPackets']$</AlertParameter2>

      <AlertParameter3>$Data/Context/DataItem/Property[@Name='NicName']$</AlertParameter3>

      <AlertParameter4>$Data/Context/DataItem/Property[@Name='NicDroppedPackets']$</AlertParameter4>

      <AlertParameter5>$Data/Context/DataItem/Property[@Name='NicDroppedRx']$</AlertParameter5>

      <AlertParameter6>$Data/Context/DataItem/Property[@Name='NicDroppedTx']$</AlertParameter6>

      <AlertParameter7>$Data/Context/DataItem/Property[@Name='SwitchName']$</AlertParameter7>

      <AlertParameter8>$Data/Context/DataItem/Property[@Name='InstanceCount']$</AlertParameter8>

      <AlertParameter9>$Data/Context/DataItem/Property[@Name='Instances']$</AlertParameter9>

    </AlertParameters>

  </AlertSettings>

  <OperationalStates>

    <OperationalState ID="Yellow" MonitorTypeStateID="OverThreshold" HealthState="Warning"/>

    <OperationalState ID="Green" MonitorTypeStateID="UnderThreshold" HealthState="Success"/>

  </OperationalStates>

  <Configuration>

    <ObjectName>VMHost-net</ObjectName>

    <CounterName>droppedPacketsTotal</CounterName>

    <InstanceName>_Total</InstanceName>

    <Value>$Data/Property[@Name='droppedPacketsTotal']$</Value>

    <Threshold>1000</Threshold>

    <FilterExpression>

      <SimpleExpression>

        <ValueExpression>

          <XPathQuery Type="String">Property[@Name='entityId']</XPathQuery>

        </ValueExpression>

        <Operator>Equal</Operator>

        <ValueExpression>

          <Value Type="String">$Target/Property[Type="VeeamVEVMwareLib!Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.VMHOST"]/id$</Value>

        </ValueExpression>

      </SimpleExpression>

    </FilterExpression>

    <ClassName>HostStats</ClassName>

    <NumSamples>1</NumSamples>

    <Direction>greater</Direction>

    <InstanceCount>5</InstanceCount>

    <HostName>$Target/Property[Type="VeeamVEVMwareLib!Veeam.Virt.Extensions.VMware.VMHOST"]/id$</HostName>

  </Configuration>

</UnitMonitor>