PRTG Manual: Windows Physical Disk I/O Sensor
The Windows Physical Disk I/O sensor monitors the input/output (I/O) parameters of a hard disk on a Windows system via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or Windows performance counters, as configured in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device.
The sensor can show the following:
- Disk latency
- Disk bandwidth
- Disk queue data
- Disk I/O operations
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the monitored device and the sensor setup.
Windows Physical Disk I/O Sensor
Dutch: Windows Fysieke Schijf I/O, French: E/S du disque physique de Windows, German: Windows Physikalischer Datenträger E/A, Japanese: Windows物理ディスクI/O, Portuguese: Windows E/S do Disco físico, Russian: Ввод-вывод физического диска Windows, Simplified Chinese: Windows 物理磁盘 I/O, Spanish: Operaciones de E/S de disco físico Windows
This sensor is in beta status. The operating methods and the available settings can change at any time. Do not expect that all functions work properly, or that this sensor works as expected at all. Be aware that this sensor can be removed from PRTG at any time.- Requires Windows credentials in the settings of the parent device.
- Requires Windows Server 2008 R2 or later on the probe system.
- Requires that the Remote Registry Windows service is running on the target computer.
- Requires WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) for target systems that run Windows Server 2016.
- Can use a hybrid approach with Windows performance counters and WMI as fallback to query data.
You cannot add this sensor to the Hosted Probe of a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.
Requirement: Windows Credentials
Requires Windows credentials in the settings of the parent device. Preferably, use Windows domain credentials.
If you use local credentials, make sure that the same Windows user accounts (with the same username and password) exist on both the system running the PRTG probe and the target computer. Otherwise, a connection via performance counters will not be possible. However, WMI connections may still work.
For this sensor to work with Windows performance counters, make sure that a Windows version 2008 or later is installed on the computer running the PRTG probe: This is either on the local system (on every node, if on a cluster probe), or on the system running a remote probe.
WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) must be installed on target systems that run Windows Server 2016. This allows 32-bit applications to be run on 64-bit systems. This is necessary because the probe service only runs with 32-bit support. Without it, WMI sensors will not work.
Requirement: Remote Registry Service
For this sensor to work with Windows performance counters, make sure that the Remote Registry Windows service is running on the target computer. If you fail to do so, a connection via performance counters will not be possible. However, WMI connections may still work.
To enable the service, log in to the respective computer and open the services manager (for example, via services.msc). In the list, find the respective service and set its Start Type to Automatic.
Hybrid Approach: Performance Counters and WMI
By default, this sensor uses WMI to request monitoring data. You can change the default behavior to a hybrid approach in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device's settings on which you create this sensor: if you choose this option, the sensor will first try to query data via Windows performance counters and use WMI as a fallback if performance counters are not available. When running in fallback mode, the sensor will try to connect via performance counters again after 24 hours.
Sensors using the WMI protocol have a high impact on the system performance. Try to stay below 200 WMI sensors per probe. Above this number, consider using multiple Remote Probes for load balancing.
For a general introduction to the technology behind WMI, see section Monitoring via WMI.
The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the setting fields that are required for creating the sensor. Therefore, you will not see all setting fields in this dialog. You can change (nearly) all settings in the sensor's Settings tab later.
Select the disks that you want to monitor. PRTG creates one sensor for each disk that you select in the Add Sensor dialog. The settings you select will be valid for all sensors that you create when you finish this dialog.
The following settings in the Add Sensor dialog differ in comparison to the sensor's Settings tab.
Windows Physical Disk Specific |
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Disks |
Select the disks that you want to add a sensor for. You see a list with the names of all items that you can monitor. Add check marks in front of the respective lines to select the desired items. You can also use the check box in the table header to select and deselect all items.
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On the details page of a sensor, click the Settings tab to change its settings.
Usually, a sensor connects to the IP Address or DNS Name of the parent device on which you created the sensor. See the Device Settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target in the sensor settings. See below for details on available settings.
Basic Sensor Settings |
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Sensor Name |
Enter a meaningful name to identify the sensor. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, as well as in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets. |
Parent Tags |
Shows Tags that this sensor inherits from its parent device, group, and probe. This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed here. |
Tags |
Enter one or more Tags, separated by spaces or commas. You can use tags to group sensors and use tag–filtered views later on. Tags are not case sensitive. We recommend that you use the default value. There are default tags that are automatically predefined in a sensor's settings when you add a sensor. See section Default Tags below. You can add additional tags to the sensor if you like. Other tags are automatically inherited from objects further up in the device tree. These are visible above as Parent Tags.
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Priority |
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines where the sensor is placed in sensor lists. A sensor with a top priority is at the top of a list. Choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority). |
wmiphysicaldisksensor
Windows Physical Disk Specific |
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Physical Disks |
Shows the disk this sensor monitors. Once you have created a sensor, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, please add the sensor anew. |
Debug Options |
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Sensor Result |
Define what PRTG will do with the sensor results. Choose between:
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The result of this sensor is only written to disk if you use WMI only (recommended) as Preferred Data Source, as defined in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device.
Sensor Display |
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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 is always displayed below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.
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Graph Type |
Define how different channels will be shown for this sensor.
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Stack Unit |
This field is only visible if you enable Stack channels on top of each other above. Select 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. |
By default, all of the following settings are inherited from objects that are 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. For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings. To change a setting for this object only, disable inheritance by clicking the button next to inherit from under the corresponding setting name. You will then see the options described below.
Scanning Interval |
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Click |
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Scanning Interval |
Select a scanning interval (seconds, minutes, or hours). The scanning interval determines the amount of time that the sensor waits between two scans. You can change the available intervals in the system administration on PRTG on premises installations. |
If a Sensor Query Fails |
Define the number of scanning intervals that the sensor has time to reach and check a device again in case a sensor query fails. Depending on the option that you select, the sensor can try to reach and check a device again several times before the sensor will show a Down status. This can avoid false alarms if the monitored device only has temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor will show a Warning status. Choose from:
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Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window |
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Schedule |
Select a schedule from the list. Schedules can be used to monitor for a certain time span (days or hours) every week.
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Maintenance Window |
Specify if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window, the current sensor and all child objects will not be monitored. They will be in a Paused status instead. Choose between:
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Maintenance Begins |
This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the start date and time of the maintenance window. |
Maintenance Ends |
This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the start date and time of the maintenance window. |
Dependency Type |
Define a dependency type. You can use dependencies to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of another object. You can choose from:
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Dependency |
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Click the Search button and use the object selector to select a sensor on which the current sensor will depend. |
Dependency Delay (Sec.) |
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Define a time span in seconds for dependency delay. After the master sensor for this dependency comes back to an Up status, monitoring of the dependent 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. Enter an integer value.
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Access Rights |
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Click |
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User Group Access |
Define the user groups that will have access to the selected object. A table with user groups and types of access rights is shown. It contains all user groups from your setup. For each user group, you can choose from the following access rights:
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.
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Channel Unit Configuration |
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Click |
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Channel Unit Types |
For each type of sensor channel, define the unit in which data is displayed. If defined on probe, group, or device level, these settings can be inherited to all sensors underneath. You can set units for the following channel types (if available):
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Knowledge Base: My Windows sensors do not work when using direct Performance Counter access. What can I do?
To change display settings, spike filtering, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, see section Sensor Channel Settings.
Click the Notification Triggers tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see section Sensor Notification Triggers Settings.
For more general information about settings, see section Object Settings.
For information about sensor settings, see the following sections:
