5.8.5

Super Metric Specifications
A super metric formula can consist of one or more metric specifications. You can specify a particular
resource and metric, such as CPU use for Database Server 2, or you can specify a metric and use This
Resource, which indicates the resource to which the super metric is assigned.
For example, if you select the transaction time metric and instruct vCenter Operations Manager to use this
resource, when the super metric is in a package assigned to Web Server 1, it uses the transaction time for
Web Server 1. If you assign the package to Web Server 2, it uses the transaction time for Web Server 2.
Assign any package that contains the super metric only to resources for which the metric is collected. You
can combine specific resource metrics and This Resource metrics in the same formula.
Super Metric Functions
vCenter Operations Manager includes functions that you can use in super metric formulas. The functions
are either looping functions or single functions.
Looping Functions
Looping functions work on more than one value.
Table 4‑3. Looping Functions
Function Description
avg Average of the collected values.
combine Combines all of the values of the metrics of the included
resources into a single metric timeline.
count Number of values collected.
max Maximum of the collected values.
min Minimum of the collected values.
sum Total of the collected values.
Looping Function Formats
All looping functions have four possible formats.
Table 4‑4. Looping Function Formats
Format Description
funct(res:met) Checks one level below the indicated resource and acts on the values of the metric
for all of the resource's children.
For example, avg(Tier1;CPUuse) returns the average of the CPUuse metric for all
of the children of the Tier1 resource.
funct(reskind:met) Checks down the resource tree and acts on the values of the metric for all of the
resources of the indicated resource kind that are below the resource to which the
super metric is assigned. The metric might be a specific metric or an attribute kind.
For example, sum(DomCont:BytesReadSec) totals the value of all instances of the
BytesReadSec attributes for all resources of DomCont kind below the resource to
which you assign the super metric.
Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
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