Introduction to Performance Monitor Logs
Creating and interpreting logs is the key to monitoring your Windows 2003 servers and
network performance. The logs are the central blank in your strategy to
discover and remove bottlenecks from your system. This page concentrates on creating a log of your server's activity, however there are other tactics, for example, creating Alerts.
Our first mission is to collect data about your server's
memory, processor, disks and network. In addition to monitoring the
Windows Server operating system, we often need to collect SQL and Exchange
counters. The benefit of creating a log is that we can analyse hours of performance
at leisure. The alternative of constantly watching the System Monitor soon
wears off.
Another advantage of studying logs rather than viewing System Monitor is
that you can use logs to track trends. If necessary, you can go back
months to confirm a change in resource usage. Moreover, if you keep old logs then
you can see precisely when a problem originated.
Performance Log Topics
♦
Performance Monitor Logs
Whilst this page will show you how to create logs with Performance Monitor, it does assume that you are
familiar with Windows 2003's System Monitor interface. (See
here for a refresher)
The performance monitor log, holds all the counters of all the objects and that you wish to
track. The advantages of a log over the System Monitor is that the log
captures the data permanently in an actual file.
To create a log, open performance monitor, go down past System Monitor to
Performance Logs and Alerts, select Counter Logs. (See Diagram 1) When the dialog box appears, give the log a meaningful name, for example
the name of the server or object. The first
time you save a log you are prompted to create a folder,
accept Perflogs as the directory name. Next
you have a choice of button, either click on Add Objects or click on
Add Counters. Let us begin with Add Objects, because it is simpler
and you will not miss any instances. (See Diagram 2) An old trick is to use the control key as you pick multiple counters. Setting the time interval is tricky. The trade-off is event accuracy
versus log disk space. My advice is to leave the timing at the default 15 seconds - for now. When you are ready, click the Add button (down at the bottom of
Diagram 2.) If you make a mistake you can always go back, select the log
Properties and adjust the selections. I like the way that as soon as you have finished creating a log, the icon
color turns from red to green.
You probably guessed that a Right Click followed by Start or Stop, acts like a
tap turning the log collection on or off. With experience, you
can be more choosy and pick only Counters you really need. The
benefits of selectivity are, that you will quickly find the data in the log,
and that the log will consume less disk space. Leave the log for 5
minutes and then move on to the next section - viewing your log.
Diagram 1 (Above)
Diagram 2 (Above)
Guy Recommends: The Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) 9.5
Orion's performance monitor is designed for detecting network outages.
This NPM will guide you
through troubleshooting by indicating whether the root cause is a broken link,
faulty equipment or resource overload. Because it produces
network-centric views, it is intuitive to navigate, and as result you can
see easily what's working and what's not.
Perhaps Orion's best feature is the way it suggests solutions. Moreover, if
problems arise out of the blue, then you can configure Orion NPM 9.5 to notify
members of your team what's changed and how to fix it.
If you are interested in testing a professional performance monitor on your
network, then I recommend that you take advantage of Solarwinds' offer of a
download a free trial of Orion's Network Performance Monitor.
Logman
For those who like the command prompt, there is a utility called: logman.
Personally, I find the syntax too difficult for regular use, but I agree with
'Mad' Mick, you can use logman in batch files.
Trust me! Have faith that your performance monitor log has collected reams of
data. I say this because every time I examine a log, for a split
second I think, 'It's empty'.
- Firstly stop your log by right clicking on the green icon. Remember that the
system Monitor normally collects live data,
well now we are going to persuade it to interrogate the log we created earlier.
- The first of two crucial steps is to select the Log icon, see the red ring
in Diagram 3. Next find your log file in the Perflogs folder and press OK.
- For the second crucial step, go to the + and select the Object and
Counters you wish to examine. Start with Processor: % Processor time
then
press on Add. You should now see a static line, see Diagram 4.
Success!
- At your
leisure, you can add more Objects and Counters, as you do so, note that the
only objects available are those you choose when the log was created.
This is an important lesson for when you create future logs.
- After you have added the counters and admired their traces, you will be
struck by the similarity between the Log view and a pure System Monitor
capture. The only difference is that the logs are static.
- If you wish to adjust the time
frame, right click any where on the graph, click the Source (Tab) and slide
the grey bar underneath the Time Range.
Guy Recommends: SolarWinds LANSurveyor
LANSurveyor will produce a neat diagram of your network topology. But that's
just the start;
LANSurveyor can
create an inventory of the hardware and software
of your machines and network devices. Other neat features include dynamic
update for when you add new devices to your network. I also love the ability to export
the diagrams
to Microsoft Visio.
Finally, Guy bets that if you take a free trial of LANSurveyor then you will
find a device on your network that you had forgotten about, or someone else
installed without you realizing!
Download a Free Trial of LANSurveyor
To re-use your counters for future logging, right
click the counter in the Performance Monitor console, then select Save Settings
As; note the .htm format. As a bonus, you can now open the file in
Internet Explorer and track the System Monitor. I guess everything is web
based these days.
Log Formats
Text File: - Tab or Comma Delimited. Best for
95% of all counter logs.
Binary: - Useful for intermittent data.
SQL Database: You need the name of an existing
SQL database. Used for recording lots of data about lots of servers, the
enterprise scenario.
The next step - Schedule those logs
Create a schedule so that logs start automatically
early in the morning, and run thought the day until everyone has gone home.
In fact, you may want to run the log for the full 24 hrs, I once used a log to
un-earth a problem caused by backup in the middle of the night.
You may wish to run a test log for 10 minutes and
check how big it gets, then multiply up by how many hours you wish to run the
log. As a result of your test, you may want to move the log to a folder on
a partition with more free space.
To configure a schedule, right click your counter
log, properties, Schedule Tab. With a little guidance you will soon be able to create
Performance Logs for your Windows 2003 servers. Once you learn the technique and understand the menu items, you will soon be creating logs to check for bottlenecks on your network.
More Help for Detecting Computer Bottlenecks
|
