<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: WMI HDD Health Sensor

The WMI HDD Health sensor connects to the parent device via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and monitors the health of IDE disk drives on the target system, using Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.). This is built into most modern IDE hard disk drives.

It can show the following:

  • Read Error Rate
  • Spin-Up Time
  • Start/Stop Count
  • Reallocated Sectors Count
  • Seek Error Rate
  • Power-On Hours
  • Spin Retry Count
  • Calibration Retry Count
  • Power Cycle Count
  • Power-off Retract Count
  • Load Cycle Count
  • Temperature Celsius
  • Reallocation Event Count
  • Current Pending Sector Count
  • Uncorrectable Sector Count
  • UltraDMA CRC Error Count
  • Write Error Rate
  • Transfer Error Rate
  • Total LBAs Written
  • Total LBAs Read
     

Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the monitored device and the sensor setup. The channel names indicate the ID of the channel, followed by a colon, and the typical meaning of the channel.

Note: Some vendors define meanings other than the common one.

Every attribute of a disk assumes a value. PRTG shows these attributes as channels with their last, minimum, and maximum value. These channel values change over time and indicate the disk health—higher values correspond to a better health. The disk's attributes come with a threshold, defined by the manufacturer of the drive. If a channel value is lower than this threshold, the sensor is automatically set to a Warning status. This indicates that the Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) status of the HDD might break soon.

Note: For some attributes are no thresholds defined and thus cannot be judged for a status other than Up.
 

WMI HDD Health Sensor

WMI HDD Health Sensor

Click here to enlarge: http://media.paessler.com/prtg-screenshots/wmi_hdd_health.png

Remarks

  • Note: This sensor officially requires Windows Vista or later running on the target machine which  holds the hard disk drives you want to monitor. The sensor may not work reliably when the target machine runs on Windows 2003 or Windows XP. Due to a known bug in those systems, the sensor may not be able to detect available hard disk drives.
  • Requires credentials for Windows systems to be defined for the device you want to use the sensor on.
  • Note: Sensors using the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) protocol have high impact on the system performance! Try to stay below 200 WMI sensors per probe. Above this number, please consider using multiple Remote Probes for load balancing.
  • For a general introduction to the technology behind WMI, please see manual section Monitoring via WMI.

Add Sensor

The Add Sensor dialog appears when adding a new sensor on a device manually. It only shows the setting fields that are imperative for creating the sensor. Therefore, you will not see all setting fields in this dialog. You can change all settings in the sensor's Settings tab later.

Select the IDE disks you want to monitor. PRTG creates one sensor for each IDE device you choose in the Add Sensor dialog. The settings you make in this dialog are valid for all of the sensors that are created.

The following settings for this sensor differ in the 'Add Sensor' dialog in comparison to the sensor's settings page:

SMART Specific

IDE Devices

You see a list with the names of all items which are available to monitor. Select the desired items by adding check marks in front of the respective lines. PRTG creates one sensor for each selection. You can also select and deselect all items by using the check box in the table head. . The items shown in the list are specific to the parent device you create the sensor on.

Sensor Settings

On the details page of a sensor, click on the Settings tab to change its settings.

Note: Usually, a sensor connects to the IP Address or DNS Name of the parent device on which you created this sensor. See section Device Settings for details. For some sensor types, you can define the monitoring target explicitly in the sensor settings. Please see below for details about available settings.

Basic Sensor Settings

Sensor Name

Enter a meaningful name to identify the sensor. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, and in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets.

Tags

Enter one or more tags, separated by space or comma. You can use tags to group sensors and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case sensitive. We recommend using the default value. You can add additional tags to it, if you like. Other tags are automatically inherited from objects further up in the device tree. Those are not visible here.

Priority

Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines where the sensor is placed in sensor lists. Top priority is at the top of a list. You can choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority).

SMART Specific

Serial No.

Shows the serial number of the monitored disk. Once a sensor is created, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this, please add the sensor anew.

Size (GB)

Shows the size in Gigabyte of the monitored disk. Once a sensor is created, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this, please add the sensor anew.

Name

Shows the name of the monitored disk. Once a sensor is created, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this, please add the sensor anew.

Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. If the reply takes longer than this value defines, the sensor will cancel the request and show a corresponding error message. Please enter an integer value. The maximum value is 900 seconds (15 minutes).

Sensor Display

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, the last value of the primary channel will always be displayed underneath the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor. Note: You can set another primary channel later by clicking on the pin symbol of a channel in the sensor's overview tab.

Chart Type

Define how different channels will be shown for this sensor.

  • Show channels independently (default): Show an own graph for each channel.
  • Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This will generate an easy-to-read graph which visualizes the different components of your total traffic. Note: This option cannot be used in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the Sensor Channels Settings settings).

Stack Unit

This setting is only available if stacked graphs are selected above. Choose a unit from the list. All channels with this unit will be stacked on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking, if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.

Inherited Settings

By default, all following settings are inherited from objects higher in the hierarchy and should be changed there, if necessary. Often, best practice is to change them centrally in the Root group's settings. To change a setting for this object, disable inheritance by clicking on the check mark symbol in front of the respective setting name. You will then see the options described below.

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

Select a scanning interval (seconds, minutes, or hours) from the list. The scanning interval determines the time the sensor waits between two scans. You can change the available intervals in the system administration.

When a Sensor Reports an Error

Define the number of scanning intervals a sensor has to report an error until the sensor will be set to a Down status. The sensor can try reaching a device several times, depending on your setup you can specify here, to help avoid false alarms if the monitored device has only temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor will show a Warning status. Choose between:

  • Set sensor to "down" immediately: The sensor will show an error after the first failed request.
  • Set sensor to "warning" for 1 interval, then set to "down" (recommended): After the first failed request, the sensor will show a yellow warning status. If the following request also fails, the sensor will show an error.
  • Set sensor to "warning" for 2 intervals, then set to "down": Show an error status only after three failed requests in a row.
  • Set sensor to "warning" for 3 intervals, then set to "down": Show an error status only after four failed requests in a row.
  • Set sensor to "warning" for 4 intervals, then set to "down": Show an error status only after five failed requests in a row.
  • Set sensor to "warning" for 5 intervals, then set to "down": Show an error status only after six failed requests in a row.

Note: Sensors that monitor via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) always wait at least one scanning interval until they show an error. It is not possible to set a WMI sensor "down" immediately, so the first option will not apply to these sensor types (all other options can apply).

Note: If a sensor has defined error limits for channels, this sensor will always be set to a Down status immediately, so no "wait" option will apply.

Note: If a channel uses lookup values, the sensor will always be set to a Down status immediately, so no "wait" options will apply.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

Note: Inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows cannot be interrupted; the according settings from the parent objects will always be active. However, you can define additional settings here. They will be active in parallel to the parent objects' settings.

Schedule

Select a schedule from the list. Schedules can be used to monitor for a certain time span (days, hours) throughout the week. With the period list option it is also possible to pause monitoring for a specific time span. You can create new schedules and edit existing ones in the account settings.

Note: Schedules are generally inherited. New schedules will be added to existing ones, so all schedules are active.

Maintenance Window

Specify if you want to set-up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window this object and all child objects will not be monitored. They will enter a paused state then. Choose between:

  • Not set (monitor continuously): No maintenance window will be set.
  • Set up a one-time maintenance window: Pause monitoring within a maintenance window. You can define a time span for a monitoring pause below and change it even for a running maintenance window.

Note: To terminate a current maintenance window before the defined end date, you can change the time in Maintenance End At field to a date in the past.

Maintenance Begins At

This field is only visible if maintenance window is enabled above. Use the date time picker to enter the start date and time of the maintenance window.

Maintenance End At

This field is only visible if maintenance window is enabled above. Use the date time picker to enter the end date and time of the maintenance window.

Dependency Type

Define a dependency type. Dependencies can be used to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of another. You can choose between:

  • Use parent: Pause the current sensor if the device it is created on is in a Down status, or if it is paused by another dependency.
  • Select object: Pause the current sensor if the device it is created on is in an Down status, or if it is paused by another dependency. Additionally, pause the current sensor if a specific other object in the device tree is in a Down status, or if it is paused by another dependency. Select below.
  • Master object for parent: Make this sensor the master object for its parent device. The sensor will influence the behavior of the device it is created on: If the sensor is in a Down status, the device will be paused. For example, it is a good idea to make a Ping sensor the master object for its parent device to pause monitoring for all other sensors on the device in case the device cannot even be pinged. Additionally, the sensor will be paused if the parent group of its parent device is in a Down status, or if it is paused by another dependency.

Note: Testing your dependencies is easy! Simply choose Simulate Error Status from the context menu of an object that other objects depend on. A few seconds later all dependent objects should be paused. You can check all dependencies in your PRTG installation by selecting Devices | Dependencies from the main menu bar.

Dependency

This field is only visible if the select object option is enabled above. Click on the reading-glass symbol and use the object selector to choose an object on which the current sensor will be dependent on.

Delay (Seconds)

Define a time span. After the master object for this dependency comes back to an Up status, monitoring of the depending objects will be additionally delayed by the defined time span. This can help avoid false alarms, for example, after a server restart, by giving systems more time for all services to start up. Please enter an integer value in seconds. Note: This setting is not available if you choose this sensor to be the Master object for parent. In this case, please define delays in the parent Device Settings or the superior Group Settings.

Access Rights

User Group Access

Define which user group(s) will have access to the object you're editing. A table with user groups and right is shown; it contains all user groups from your setup. For each user group you can choose from the following access rights:

  • Inherited: Use the settings of the parent object.
  • None: Users in this group cannot see or edit the object. The object does not show up in lists and in the device tree. Exception: If a child object is visible to the user, the object is visible in the device tree, though not accessible.
  • Read: Users in this group can see the object and review its monitoring results.
  • Write: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, and edit the object's settings. They cannot edit access rights settings.
  • Full: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, edit the object's settings, and edit access rights settings.

You can create new user groups in the System Administration—User Groups settings. To automatically set all objects further down in the hierarchy to inherit this object's access rights, set a check mark for the Revert children's access rights to inherited option.

For more details about access rights, please see section User Access Rights.

More

My WMI sensors don't work. What can I do?

Edit Sensor Channels

To change display settings, spike filter, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, please see Sensor Channels Settings section.

Notifications

Click the Notifications tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, please see Sensor Notifications Settings section.

Others

For more general information about settings, please see Object Settings section.

Sensor Settings Overview

For information about sensor settings, please see the following sections:

Keywords: SMART