The window and the Overview
Click BeamDisk in the menu bar to open its window. It has a sidebar on the left and, beside it, the Overview of all your disks, a server’s page or a disk’s page.
The window first opens at about 1,280 × 880 points, or smaller on a smaller screen, and remembers the size you give it. Its smallest size is 960 × 640.
The sidebar
Section titled “The sidebar”- Overview at the top, with the total throughput of all your disks.
- Each server, by the name you gave it or its address, with its disks under it and their throughput together, or what needs a look instead: 2 new, Checking…, 1 reconnecting, Can’t reach, Login refused or No disks. Click it for its page. Hover over it for its full address and port.
- Each disk with its state’s glyph and, while it’s in use, its throughput. A disk that isn’t in use shows its state instead (Empty, Not attached), in amber or red when it’s in trouble. Hover over a disk for its state, what it means, and since when.
- The footer: BeamDisk’s latest message, how long ago it was, and a clock button that lists the recent ones (Messages and notifications). Under it, This Mac shows this Mac’s initiator name, with a button that copies it.
Banners
Section titled “Banners”Two one-time setup steps show as banners above the page until they’re done:
- Turn on BeamDisk in System Settings, so it can connect your disks. Click Open System Settings and switch BeamDisk on.
- Allow BeamDisk to attach your disks. You only need to do this once. Click Allow… and confirm.
The toolbar
Section titled “The toolbar”The title reads Overview, with a summary under it, such as 6 disks on 2 servers · 5 connected. On the right:
- The time range for the charts: 5 min, 1 h, 24 h or 7 d.
- Connect All and Disconnect All. See Connect, eject and remove disks.
- Settings (⌘,) and Add Disk (⌘N).
Hover over a button for what it does.
What needs you
Section titled “What needs you”Disks in trouble come first, worst first, one row each: the disk’s name and what happened, since when (Since 9:12 PM · 25 min), and the one thing to do about it: Try Again, Remount, Take Over… or another. A disk that’s reconnecting shows a bar filling up over the hold time. If more than two disks need you, a line says how many more, and the table below has them all.
While BeamDisk isn’t connected to your disks, the page says Your disks aren’t connected. with a Connect button.
The totals
Section titled “The totals”Four tiles sum up every disk:
| Tile | Shows |
|---|---|
| Throughput | Reads and writes together, with each below it, over the last second. |
| IOPS | Reads and writes per second, with each below it. |
| Latency | How long reads and writes took over the last 5 seconds: p50 (half finish faster than this) in large, p99 (all but 1 in 100 do) below. |
| Disks | How many are connected (4 of 6 connected), with All connected or what’s wrong with the others, such as 1 reconnecting. |
The charts
Section titled “The charts”Throughput and IOPS share one time axis, reads in the lighter blue and writes in the darker one. Beside each chart, its legend shows the latest values; move the pointer over a chart and both legends follow it, with a tooltip on the throughput chart.
| Range | Each point is |
|---|---|
| 5 min | one second |
| 1 h | a 12-second average |
| 24 h | a 5-minute average |
| 7 d | a 30-minute average |
BeamDisk keeps this history for 7 days, on this Mac only.
The table
Section titled “The table”Every disk, grouped by server. A server’s row shows · CHAP if its disks log in with CHAP, and the sum of their reads, writes and IOPS; click its name for its page.
| Column | Shows |
|---|---|
| Disk | Its name and its target’s short name. |
| State | Its state, with a note when there’s one: the hold time so far while it’s reconnecting (24 of 60 s), when it next tries to connect (in 20 s), 4 KiB sectors for a disk opened read-only for that reason, and Format… for an empty disk. |
| Size | Its capacity, as Finder counts it. |
| Read MB/s, Write MB/s, IOPS | Live, while the disk is in use. |
| p99 ms | The 99th-percentile latency of the last 5 seconds. |
| Last 60 s | A line of its last minute of throughput. |
In a narrow window, the table drops Last 60 s, then p99 ms. Click a disk to open its page. Right-click it for Show Details and its state’s action.
With no disks yet, the Overview says No disks yet and offers Add Disk.