Getting Started
This document describes the main features a user may wish to know to become
acquainted with this package. As guide serves the table which is displayed when
this package is used for the first time. More details can be found in the online
user documentation. When the URL of this package has
been opened in the browser a short period has to be waited until the data are
loaded into the browser. When the page has been loaded two frames are displayed:
- A top frame which contains general controls to
select the net performance data to be viewed by the user.
- A body frame which displays the selected net
performance data in table form. Also this frame contains controls, but these
controls are more directly related to the displayed data. At the first
opening an overview table is displayed which
gives an overview of all net performance data from the most recent
measurements.
In the next sections both frames are discussed.
1. Top frame
This frame contains a.o. the items and controls which are described below. To
guide the reader also their GUI representations are displayed here. The top
control frame is described with more detail in the
user guide.
2. Body frame
In this frame the net performance results are presented in table form to the
user. The following tables are available:
- 2.1. Overview table
- This table displays the last measured net performance results.
- 2.2. Throughput table
- This table displays the throughput data
a host as function of the time.
- 2.3. Ping table
- This table displays the round trip data
a host as function of the time.
- 2.4 Load table
- This table displays the load data from all hosts as function of the
time.
The most important features from these tables are discussed in the next sub
sections.
2.1. Overview table
This table gives an overview of the last measured results from the
This table is always displayed when the Web files of this package are opened for
the first time. Some features of this table are discussed below, in the order
from top to bottom. A more detailed description is given in the
user guide.
Hyperlinks
At the top of the table there are a.o. the following hyperlinks
available:
- Authorise here
- After clicking this link an alert window will be displayed in which you are
requested to allow the storage of the current table settings into your
cookies file. When the storage of cookies is allowed, the last selected
table type will be displayed after a reopening of the package Web
pages.
- Please note that the cookies information is only used locally at the browser
for the ease of the user: no stored information will be send back to the Web
server.
- The cookies are stored for the maximum period of a month. As long as there
are cookies from this package found in your cookies file, the authorisation
link will not be displayed anymore.
- observations
- A link to a document where some observations about the package are given,
including some remarks about the network load.
Ping type
Below the hyperlinks the ping type can be
selected with the sentence "Select ping value: ...". The
meaning of the hyperlinks is straightforward with the remark that the
"all" type stands for listings of the ping data in the format:
min/avg/max.
After the ping type links the overview tables
with the last measured
tables are displayed. The
caption of these tables contains the date and time of the measurements. They
contain a.o. the following features:
- In the load overview table the most recent load values are
displayed. The "Load" hyperlink leads to the
full load table, where the load values, as only
data type, are displayed as function of the time.
- In the ping overview table the latest ping values from the
selected type are displayed.
The hostname hyperlinks in the table headers refer to the
full ping table, where the results of the round
trip measurements
the corresponding host are displayed as function of the time.
- In the throughput overview table the most recent throughput values
are displayed in the same way as the ping values. The hostname hyperlinks
are referring here to the
full throughput table.
Download
At the bottom of this table there are the following hyperlinks which can be used
to view the displayed data offline at the local host:
- The data file link can be used to download the ZIP compressed data
file which contains the currently displayed data.
2.2. Throughput table
This table gives an overview of the throughput measurements
the host listed in the table caption. The throughput values are listed as
function of the time and date. The most recent data are displayed at the top of
the table.
The controls in the top frame can be used to handle this
table, or to select another table. Some features of the throughput table are
discussed below, in the order from the top to the bottom. A more detailed
description is given in the user guide.
- Linear or logarithmic color scaling. The background color
of the throughput table cells are given in pseudo colors. Going from low to
high throughput values, the color is obtained by interpolation in the
series: blue - cyan - green -
yellow - red. The log hyperlink can be used to
change the default linear color scaling to logarithmic. In that case a
linear will appear to toggle again the linear scaling.
- The host hyperlinks at the headers of the throughput columns can be
used to open the table with throughput results
the corresponding host.
- The hyperlinks in the "Time" column are referring to the
overview table, where all load, ping and
throughput results are presented for the corresponding date and time.
- The button entitled "Set" can be used to change the
# date and time rows which are currently being displayed.
2.3. Ping table
This table gives and overview of the round trip measurements
the host listed in the table caption as function of the date and time. The
functionality is about the same as from the
throughput table. A detailed description has been
given in the user guide.
The only exception with the throughput table is
that the ping type can be selected with a link at the top of the table. The
following types are available:
- min
- Display the minimum ping values.
- avg
- Display the average ping values.
- max
- Display the maximum ping values.
- all
- Display all ping values in the format:
min/avg/max.
- lost
- Display the percentages packages lost.
Load table
This table gives for all hosts the load values as function from the date and
time. A detailed description has been given in the
user guide. See also the
throughput table description in this document.
The only remaining hyperlinks in the load table are the hyperlinks in the
"Time" column which are here also referring to the
overview table, where all
results are presented for the corresponding date and time.