4620-1 ch18.f.qc 10/28/99 12:19 PM Page 569 Chapter 18 Performance Monitor In This Chapter ᮣ Performance Monitor capabilities ᮣ Performance Monitor basics ᮣ Six quick steps to using Performance Monitor ᮣ The five faces of Performance Monitor ᮣ How to collect data ᮣ In-depth analysis: memory bottlenecks, disk bottlenecks, network bottlenecks ᮣ Analysis: file and print servers, application server estled in the Administrative Tools program group you will find N Performance, which launches Performance Monitor. This unassuming tool embodies many of the powers of Windows 2000 Server. By the end of this chapter, I think that you will agree that Performance Monitor is a lot more powerful than you previously thought. Here is where the pedal meets the metal. Performance Monitor is a tool to be mastered so that you can optimize and continually improve the performance of your Windows 2000 Server network. Although Task Manager (discussed in Chapter 20) provides several measurements similar to those presented by Performance Monitor, it is the latter that enables us to track long-term trends and measurements such as those discussed in Chapter 17. Performance Monitor is referred to as Performance, System Performance Monitor, and System Monitor in some of the Windows 2000-related documentation and in peer-group discussions. That’s because in the early beta cycle of Windows NT Server 5.0 (which was renamed Windows 2000 Server), the tool known as System Monitor was really Performance Monitor. I’ll use the term Performance Monitor in this chapter. 4620-1 ch18.f.qc 10/28/99 12:20 PM Page 570 570 Part VI: Optimizing Windows 2000 Server I I The Power of Performance Monitor Some of the best deals about Windows 2000 Server are the no-cost utilities that are included, such as Performance Monitor. While Novell includes its own form of “performance monitor” (MONITOR.NLM) for free with NetWare, I think you will quickly agree that Windows 2000 Server’s Performance Monitor, with its many capabilities, is one of the best tools you never had to pay for (see Figure 18-1). Figure 18-1: Performance Monitor Here are some features of Performance Monitor: I Logs and saves historical performance data I Charts data in realtime I Monitors server-based applications on an individual basis (with its own counters) Using individual object and counters is a big deal when it comes to the effective rollout and management of Microsoft SQL Server. Microsoft offers several courses on Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 deployment, administration and development (see www.microsoft.com for more information). 4620-1 ch18.f.qc 10/28/99 12:20 PM Page 571 Chapter 18: Performance Monitor 571 I I I Provides several realtime and historical views of memory, server, disk, and network performance I Enables you to observe the effects of changes to your system I Alerts you to system-related problems immediately I Monitors multiple servers using one session of Performance Monitor I Runs several sessions of Performance Monitor (just try loading multiple instances of MONITOR.NLM on a NetWare server and see what happens) I Saves specific analysis configurations via workspaces I Exports data to other applications including Microsoft Excel and Microsoft SQL Server Comparing Performance Monitor to NetWare MONITOR.NLM Let’s contrast Windows 2000 Server Performance Monitor with the NetWare MONITOR.NLM application (see Figure 18-2). MONITOR.NLM provides a realtime, snapshot view of how your network and server are functioning. MONITOR.NLM lives for the moment, but as we know, moments are fleeting. Serious performance analysis demands we view our data both in current snapshots and from a historical perspective. Performance Monitor enables you to do both. As an old NetWare CNE, I can attest to the value of Windows 2000 Server Performance Monitor over NetWare MONITOR.NLM. I’ve recommended and selected Windows 2000 Server (and Windows NT Server previously) over NetWare in several cases on the basis of Performance Monitor alone. This is truly one of the best-kept secrets about Windows 2000 Server, one that I’m about to share with you in detail. Figure 18-2: Novell NetWare MONITOR.NLM 4620-1 ch18.f.qc 10/28/99 12:20 PM Page 572 572 Part VI: Optimizing Windows 2000 Server I I It is essential you employ Performance Monitor for at least a bare-bones analysis so that you can monitor the health of your patient (your server and network) over its life from cradle to grave. Rest assured that time spent learning and using Performance Monitor is akin to the time you spend performing system backups: time well spent! Many network professionals have embraced Performance Monitor and employed it to its full extent. Taking full advantage of Performance Monitor, with all of its bells and whistles, is mandatory for larger LANs and WANs. Needless to say, I’ve found Performance Monitor to be a welcome and wonderful addition to my consulting bag of tricks. This said, welcome to performance analysis via Performance Monitor. Performance Monitor is a strong tool for both developers and network engineers. But when you look at that long list of counters associated with numerous objects, please understand that most of the counters don’t apply to those of us on the networking side of the aisle. In fact, the mission of this chapter is to present the most important Performance Monitor counters that apply to managing your Windows 2000 Server network. Developers are advised to consult the Windows 2000-related Software Developer Kit (SDK) for more information about the appropriate use of Performance Monitor counters vis-à-vis application development. Performance Monitor basics Most of us know Performance Monitor as an X/Y coordinate graphing application that’s kinda fun. But Performance Monitor is much more than that. If all you ever wanted are pretty charts, you can achieve that small victory using a variety of Microsoft “front office” applications like Excel, PowerPoint, or even Word. For example, you could use Excel to chart the number of users on your network and possibly dupe your superiors into increasing your networking budget because your chart shows the number of users growing. That might work in the smallest of companies, but serious performance analysis requires serious use of Performance Monitor. But more on that in a moment. First, let’s discuss the basics. Performance Monitor is launched as an application from the Administrative Tools group via the Performance menu option. It runs as an MMC snap-in, so that also means you may launch Performance Monitor by simply launching an MMC and then adding the Performance snap-in. Technically speaking, launching the MMC-based Performance Monitor is accomplished with the following command line: %SystemRoot%\system32\perfmon.msc /s The “older” version of Performance Monitor can still be used in Windows 2000 Server (that is, the version that is not MMC-based). This older version can be launched from the command line by typing PERFMON at the command prompt. You will be greeted by a dialog box that tells you “Perfmon has been replaced by the Performance Monitor MMC. Click OK to start the 4620-1 ch18.f.qc 10/28/99 12:20 PM Page 573 Chapter 18: Performance Monitor 573 I I Performance Monitor MMC or Cancel to continue and use Perfmon.” If you click cancel, you will be presented with good old Performance Monitor (the non-MMC version) from the old Windows NT Server days. Performance Monitor works with performance objects, performance counters, and instances. An object is a major system area (such as Memory or Disk) or an application that reports to Performance Monitor (Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, or the like). A performance counter is a specific subset of a performance object. Performance objects typically have many performance counters. Performance counters are discrete items that can be measured. For example, the memory counter has over 32 counters ranging from % Committed Bytes in Use to Write Copies/sec. Counters have explanations, as shown at the bottom of the dialog box. Instances are the occurrence of multiple items. For example, if you have two processors, you will have two instances plus a TOTAL#0 instance that enables you to summarize the two instances (as seen in Figure 18-3). The syntax of performance objects, performance counters, and instances is object:counter:instance. Also, performance objects and performance counters are typically referred to as objects and counters (which is the language I will use in this chapter). Figure 18-3: Performance objects, performance counters, and instances Be sure to click the Explain button in the Add Counters dialog box when adding a counter to a chart. A text field will appear at the bottom of the dialog box that describes each counter in sufficient detail. The Microsoft developer, known only to God, who added this feature is a candidate for sainthood in my book! 4620-1 ch18.f.qc 10/28/99 12:20 PM Page 574 574 Part VI: Optimizing Windows 2000 Server I I Six quick steps to using Performance Monitor Although I assume you are already armed with the user manuals for Windows 2000 Server, I’ll quickly detail the process for using Performance Monitor. I highly recommend you study the Windows 2000 Server user manuals to better acquaint yourself with basic Performance Monitor feature sets, such as opening and saving files (stuff that I will not be addressing in this chapter). Step 1: Select a view Select the view in Performance Monitor that will work for you. If you are new to Performance Monitor, I’d recommend you start with the Chart view and work up to mastering and using the Log view.