500-420 Cisco AppDynamics Associate Performance Analyst(CAAPA) Questions and Answers

To streamline the monitoring process and enhance the relevance of collected data, AppDynamics allows Performance Analysts to exclude certain Java classes and methods from instrumentation. This is done through the "Configuration > Instrumentation > Call Graph Settings" menu, where irrelevant packages and classes can be specified for exclusion. This approach prevents the AppDynamics agent from tracking unnecessary or irrelevant methods, thus reducing overhead and focusing on the most critical aspects of application performance.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Call Graph Settings: This section details how to configure call graph settings, including the exclusion of specific classes and methods from instrumentation, to optimize performance monitoring.

URI Segments should be used in Transaction Detection rules when the application is web-oriented. Web-oriented applications often have meaningful information in the URIthat can identify different business transactions. URI Segments can help in defining patterns that match specific parts of the URI to distinguish different transactions.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Transaction Detection: https://docs.appdynamics.com/latest/en/application-monitoring/business-transactions

The Transaction Score tab within the Application Dashboard is designed to display performance trends across various metrics including Snapshots, Average Response Time, and Events. It gives a comprehensive view of the transaction performance, providing a score that reflects the health and reliability of transactions over time.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Application Dashboard:

To confirm if a memory leak is occurring, one should refer to the Tiers and Nodes section of the AppDynamics Controller UI, navigate to the Memory tab, and observe the Heap Utilization over time in relation to the Heap's Current Usage (MB) versus the Maximum (MB) allocated. Consistent growth in heap utilization or an upward trend that does not decrement even after garbage collection indicates a potential memory leak.References:AppDynamics documentation on Memory Leak Detection and Heap Analysis.

To identify if automatic remediation actions have been taken for a health rule violation in AppDynamics, a Performance Analyst should expand the "Description" field of the health rule violation event. This section will provide details on the actions executed as part of the automatic remediation process. These details help analysts understand the steps taken by the system to mitigate the issue without manual intervention.References:AppDynamics documentation on Health Rule Violations and Automated Actions.

In AppDynamics, metrics from different applications can indeed be cross-referenced on a single dashboard. This allows for a more holistic view of an organization's application ecosystem, facilitating the comparison and correlation of performance metrics across different applications within the same AppDynamics controller.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Custom Dashboards: Details how to create custom dashboards that can include metrics from multiple applications, enabling cross-referencing and comprehensive performance monitoring.

The "Application Health Report" is a built-in scheduled report in AppDynamics that includes vital metrics such as load, response time, and error graphs. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the application's health and performance, making it an essential tool for Performance Analysts to regularly review and share with stakeholders to ensure the application meets performance standards and user expectations.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Reporting: Covers the types of reports available within AppDynamics, including the Application Health Report, detailing its contents and how to schedule and customize it.
• AppDynamics documentation on Application Performance Management: Provides an overview of key performance indicators and metrics critical for assessing application health, many of which are included in the Application Health Report.

When Business Transaction Lock Down is enabled in AppDynamics, no new business transactions will be automatically discovered to avoid uncontrolled growth in the number of business transactions. To track a new service as a unique Business Transaction, one needs to create a Custom Match Rule that specifies the criteria for identifying the business transaction. In this case, the Custom Match Rule should be based on the Web Service Name and Operation Name which are the distinguishing characteristics of the new service. This allows for the precise identification and monitoring of the service within the AppDynamics platform.References:AppDynamics documentation on Business Transaction configuration and Custom Match Rules.

The primary concern for a Performance Analyst when considering the impact of automatic diagnostic sessions is the application itself. Intensive diagnostic sessions can be resource-heavy, potentially affecting the application's performance. Therefore, it is often necessary to limit the duration and frequency of these sessions to ensure they do not negatively impact the application’s end-user experience.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Diagnostic Sessions: https://docs.appdynamics.com/latest/en/troubleshoot/diagnostic-sessions

The Live Preview option in a Business Transaction Discovery Session in AppDynamics allows a user to verify the effectiveness of newly configured Transaction Discovery Rules. This feature provides real-time feedback on how these rules identify and categorize business transactions, enabling users to adjust and fine-tune the rules to ensure accurate and meaningful transaction monitoring.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Business Transaction Management: Includes information on Business Transaction Discovery Sessions and the use of Live Preview to validate Transaction Discovery Rules.

When a Performance Analyst is faced with issues related to transaction response times on a specific node, focusing on the "Transaction performance" data is most relevant. This is because transaction performance metrics provide direct insights into the business transactions' speed, response times, and execution times, which are critical for identifying and troubleshooting performance issues. By selecting "Transaction performance" when creating a health rule, the analyst can monitor specific metrics such as average response time, slow transaction count, and very slow transaction count, which are directly related to the performance of business transactions on the node in question.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Health Rules: This section explains how to create and configure health rules to monitor application performance metrics, including transaction performance.
• AppDynamics documentation on Business Transactions: Provides details on how AppDynamics identifies and monitors business transactions, which are key to understanding application performance.

In AppDynamics, you can create health rules to monitor various metrics and set up actions based on the thresholds defined for these metrics. For monitoring Java container thread counts, you can set a health rule based on Node Health - specifically on thread pools - to trigger when the thread count exceeds a specific value. The Notification Action can then be configured to send an email to the development team whenever this threshold is breached.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Health Rules: https://docs.appdynamics.com/21.6/en/infrastructure-visibility/health-rules

When a Performance Analyst observes a significant decrease in an application's workload (calls/min), reviewing the "Top Business Transactions by Load" in the Application Dashboard can provide valuable insights. This feature allows the analyst to quickly identify which business transactions have experienced the most significant changes in load, potentially pinpointing the root cause of the overall workload decrease. It offers a focused view of the application's performance, highlighting areas that may require further investigation or immediate action.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Application Dashboard: Describes the features and capabilities of the Application Dashboard, including how to view and analyze the top business transactions by load.
• AppDynamics documentation on Business Transactions: Details the importance of monitoring business transactions and how they can be used to understand application performance trends.

To plot Host CPU and GC (Garbage Collection) Time Spent in a single view, the "JMX tab under 'Tiers and Nodes'" and the "Metrics Browser" are the appropriate methods. TheJMX tab provides access to Java Management Extensions (JMX) metrics, including those related to GC time. The Metrics Browser allows for the customization and aggregation of various metrics, including Host CPU usage and GC metrics, enabling a combined view of these critical performance indicators.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Monitoring Tiers and Nodes: Discusses the JMX metrics available for Java applications, including garbage collection details.
• AppDynamics documentation on the Metrics Browser: Describes how to use the Metrics Browser to view and analyze a wide range of performance metrics.

AppDynamics allows for several reports to be scheduled for periodic generation and sent to email recipients. Among these, Application Health, Error Trends, and CustomDashboards are types of reports that can be automatically generated and delivered, providing regular insights into the application's performance and issues.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Reports: https://docs.appdynamics.com/latest/en/application-monitoring/reporting

To monitor end-to-end latency performance metrics, a Performance Analyst must first define the end-to-end latency transaction. This involves configuring the business transactions to include the necessary entry and exit points that capture the complete flow of the transaction, thereby enabling the measurement of the total latency.

References:

• AppDynamics documentation on Business Transactions: https://docs.appdynamics.com/latest/en/application-monitoring/business-transactions