This page describes how to monitor Windows hardware resources with the .NET Machine Agent. The AppDynamics .NET Agent includes an embedded .NET Machine Agent that runs as part of the AppDynamics.Agent.Coordinator service. The .NET Machine Agent regularly gathers system performance data metrics such as:
- CPU activity
- Memory usage
- Disk reads and writes
- Network traffic
- Percent free disk space and megabytes free
You can view Windows Hardware Resource metrics in the Metric Browser. When IIS is installed on the machine, the .NET Machine Agent also reports IIS, ASP.NET, and ASP.NET Application metrics. See Monitor IIS. The .NET Machine Agent also reports CLR metrics, which are based on performance counters. See Monitor CLRs.
For applications running on the Windows Azure platform, AppDynamics disables these hardware resource monitoring and machine agent features:
- CLR crash reporting
- Machine snapshots
- Performance counter metrics
Manage the .NET Machine Agent
You can manage the .NET Machine Agent in the Controller under Settings > AppDynamics Agents on the Machine Agents tab.
Machine Agent Tier
Immediately after you install and configure the .NET Agent, the .NET Machine Agent registers with the Controller and starts reporting performance data.
Frequently the machine agent metrics reach the Controller before the app agent has had time to instrument and register IIS applications, Windows services, or standalone applications. If there are no application tiers, then the machine agent registers as the Machine Agent tier.
Once the app agent begins reporting metrics for configured application tiers, the .NET Machine Agent reports to the application tiers and stops sending data to the Machine Agent tier. If you do not instrument any IIS applications, Windows services, or standalone applications on the server, the .NET Machine Agent always reports to the Machine Agent tier.
If you install the Machine Agent, a Java application, in a .NET environment, then you can add custom monitors and extensions such as the HTTP listener. See Configure the .NET Machine Agent.