PRTG Manual: Windows Physical Disk I/O Sensor

Performance impact

This sensor has a high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 200 of this sensor on each probe.

Windows version

This sensor requires at least Windows Server 2008 R2 on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe).

WoW64 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 PRTG probe service only runs with 32-bit support. Without it, WMI sensors do not work.

Remote Registry Windows service

This sensor requires that the Remote Registry Windows service runs on the target system.

If this service does not run, a connection via performance counters is not possible. However, WMI connections might still work.

To enable the service, log in to the respective system and open the services manager (for example, via services.msc). In the list, find the respective service and set its Start Type to Automatic.

WoW64

This sensor requires WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) for target systems that run Windows Server 2016.

Credentials

This sensor requires credentials for Windows systems.

We recommend that you use Windows domain credentials. If you use local credentials, make sure that the same Windows user accounts (with the same user name and password) exist on both the probe system and the target system.

Otherwise, a connection via performance counters is not possible. However, WMI connections might still work.

IPv6

This sensor supports IPv6.

Hosted probe

You cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.

Disk

The physical disk that this sensor monitors.

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

• Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result.
• Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.

PRTG only stores the result of this sensor if you select WMI only (default) as Preferred Data Source in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device.

In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.

You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.

Graph Type

Define how this sensor shows different channels:

• Show channels independently (default): Show a 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 generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
  You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

Stack Unit

This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above.

Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit 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.

Avg. Bytes Per Read

The average number of bytes per read

Avg. Bytes Per Transfer

The average number of bytes per transfer

Avg. Bytes Per Write

The average number of bytes per write

Avg. Queue

The average number of items in the queue

Avg. Read Queue

The average number of items in the read queue

Avg. Read Time

The average read time

Avg. Transfer Time

The average transfer time

Avg. Write Queue

The average number of items in the write queue

Avg. Write Time

The average write time

Current Queue

The current number of items in the queue

Disk IOs

The number of disk I/O operations

Disk Read

The disk read speed

Disk Read IOs

The number of disk read I/O operations

Disk Read Time %

The disk read time (%)

This channel is the primary channel by default.

Disk Time %

The disk time (%)

Disk Transfer

The disk transfer speed

Disk Write

The disk write speed

Disk Write IOs

The number of disk write I/O operations

Disk Write Time %

The disk write time (%)

Downtime

In the channel table on the Overview tab, this channel never shows any values. PRTG uses this channel in graphs and reports to show the amount of time in which the sensor was in the Down status.

Idle Time %

The idle time (%)

Split IOs

The number of split I/O operations