The CPU Usage statistics on the NFO Control Panel do not provide enough detail. One critical element is missing from it. Many source-engine based game servers emphasize an importance for single threaded performance. In many cases, the CPU usage of the 'main thread', which does the majority of the work, matters the most.
The Control Panel only shows the total CPU Usage of all the threads combined for the game-server. It doesn't show the usage of the thread with the highest load. This is a really big annoyance as this information is very important, to someone like myself as a server operator. I do not know how far a server can be pushed in-terms of slot counts or tick-rates without creating a performance bottleneck. This critical information (otherwise available with Linux 'top' command) is lost on Managed Configurations.
Garry's Mod in particular has multi-threaded comp jobs. These are heavily inflating my CPU Usage stats within a relatively inconsistent and unpredictable margin; thus, falsifying the total CPU usage when attempting to measure server performance. When it says 102% for instance, that really doesn't mean anything. Six percent (or higher) could very easily have been on the comp job threads.
Vague CPU Usage Stats
Re: Vague CPU Usage Stats
You should definitely consider switching to an unmanaged configuration, where you will have unlimited control over your OS and can see full details on all processes you run.
-
stickz
Re: Vague CPU Usage Stats
It doesn't make any sense to run an unmanaged configuration. I'd have to reinvent the wheel for a lot of important things. The control panel does make things easier and offer important features in some respects; but, has strong negatives. Within all reason, it should at-least tell myself if the server is lagging or not and how much capacity is left; however, it's not smart enough to do that. The control panel may have been sufficient back quite a few years ago for l4d2; but, times have changed tremendously.Edge100x wrote:You should definitely consider switching to an unmanaged configuration, where you will have unlimited control over your OS and can see full details on all processes you run.
-
stickz
Re: Vague CPU Usage Stats
My slots on Morbus NA for instance are stuck where they are currently. Stability is critical to maintain a 90th percentile under lower slot counts. Playing games of guess and check / lag or not, is not something i'm willing to even consider doing with a player-base this size. The required information is not provided by the control panel to see how far from the ceiling the main thread is aka the server performance.
Re: Vague CPU Usage Stats
I disagree with you about the "strong negatives" of our control panel, and our CPU usage graphs do not "falsify" any data.
Your suggestion here can be stated in one sentence:
"Add a second type of CPU usage graph that tracks the usage of each game server's 'main' thread."
It would have been much better to state it with a measure of politeness.
I will consider this further as time allows. As a feature, it is not something that others have been asking for, it would not make a difference for most customers (for most games, overall CPU usage is a useful measurement to look at, and other measurements -- specifically, the realized FPS -- are typically a better representation of CPU-related bottlenecks), and it would be complicated to do. These will cause it to be prioritized below most other tasks.
Your suggestion here can be stated in one sentence:
"Add a second type of CPU usage graph that tracks the usage of each game server's 'main' thread."
It would have been much better to state it with a measure of politeness.
I will consider this further as time allows. As a feature, it is not something that others have been asking for, it would not make a difference for most customers (for most games, overall CPU usage is a useful measurement to look at, and other measurements -- specifically, the realized FPS -- are typically a better representation of CPU-related bottlenecks), and it would be complicated to do. These will cause it to be prioritized below most other tasks.