This release includes several new enhancements to the Capture Scenario Wizard. Several changes to the user interface and the workflow are designed to help simplify the process of capturing a new Oracle or SQL Server workload. And a new feature—Capture Thresholds—introduces new functionality allowing you to set and monitor CPU and free space thresholds.
Specify Limits for CPU Usage and Free Space during Capture
-Benchmark Factory now allows you to specify CPU usage and free space thresholds to use during the capture process. Benchmark Factory monitors these performance and free space metrics on the host server and stops the capture process if levels exceed the threshold values you specified.
-Specify threshold values when you create a new capture. Use the new Capture Thresholds page of the Capture Scenario Wizard. This page also displays the current values for usage and free space. Use this information to help determine the best threshold values to specify.
-For an Oracle capture, you can specify a maximum threshold for CPU usage, a minimum threshold for free space on disk (trace file method), or a minimum threshold for free space in the SYSTEM tablespace (Oracle FGAC method).
-For a SQL Server capture, you can specify a maximum threshold for CPU usage and a minimum threshold for free space on disk.
- If a threshold level is exceeded during the capture process, Benchmark Factory automatically stops the capture.
Specifying Directory Settings
-Specifying the database server and capture directories is now simpler. Specify both directories on the same page of the Capture Scenario Wizard.
-For the Capture Directory, you can specify either a client-side directory or specify a shared directory. The shared directory is the same server-side (or network) directory you specified in the preceding field. However, you enter the path as the client computer sees it. Benchmark Factory automatically detects if the location you specified is a shared directory or not.
Specifying Capture and Export Scope
-The process of specifying the capture and export scope is simplified. In the first step, specify who and what to capture (capture scope). Then in the second step, specify whether or not to export objects and determine the export scope.
Capture Objects are Automatically Dropped
-Database objects created by Benchmark Factory for the capture process are now automatically dropped after the capture is finished. The Drop all Benchmark Factory capture created database objects... option is no longer required and has been removed from the Capture Scenario Wizard.
Scheduling and Starting the Capture
-After specifying capture options, you can start the capture immediately or schedule the capture for a later time. You no longer have the option to manually start the capture process.
Export/Capture Status
-The Capture Status window provides information about the status of the export and capture processes.
The Export Details window provides details about the export process.
-Open the Capture Details window to view details of the capture process, such as the number of sessions captured and the number of distinct users.
Additional Capture Statistics
-Additional statistics are now collected during the capture process, such as the number of sessions captured and the number of distinct users.
-These statistics are displayed in the Capture Status and Capture Details windows during capture. You can review statistics for a completed capture through the Captures tab. Right-click a capture in the Captures tab and select View Status.
Selecting a Capture to Replay
-To select a previously-captured workload to replay, on the Replay Workload page of the New Job Wizard do one of the following:
-Click the browse button and navigate to the directory where the capture files are located. Then select the project (.mse or .cpj) file for the capture you want to replay.
-Select from the drop-down list, which is populated with your previously-replayed captures.
Captures Tab
-You can now use the Captures tab in the Benchmark Factory console (main window) to manage your existing captures.
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Additional information relating to the new features in version 7.5 can be found in the Benchmark Factory for Databases 7.5 Release Notes or in the 'New in this release' of the Help (includes instructions and screenshots)