Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM) 2008 Version
Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM) 2008 Version
WSRM is Microsoft's cost nothing solution to improve your server's performance.
It cost's nothing to buy because it's amongst Windows Server 2008's built-in
features. And it cost's nothing for the processes or users because it only
kicks-in when resources become limiting, e.g. CPU usage reaches 70%.
The killer reason to install and configure WSRM is where you have Terminal
Services. However, servers with multiple roles also benefit from WSRM.
Even on single role servers there are performance gains from creating WSRM
policies that schedule server maintenance during off-peak hours.
Tip: Seek out the scheduler, then see which programs need low priorities
during working hours, for example backup.
Lastly, you could deploy Windows System Resource Manager for its accountancy
features and thus learn more about how processes consume a server's resources.
Firstly, remember that resource constraints are not enforced until resources
become limiting, for example, WSRM will not lower a process's thread priority
until the total CPU usage reaches 70%.
Processor 'Equal per user' or 'Equal per process' are the easiest settings to
understand, configure and manage. Other possibilities such as Processor
Affinity and Percent CPU require more care and more thought of the
ramifications.
One of the best uses of WSRM memory management is for Terminal Service users
where one or two power users can consume 95% of the resources and make everyone
else's sessions like trying to run in treacle. With WSRM you can
make sure that each user has equal share of CPU time.
Once you have decided which Resource Allocation Policy to manage, you can
experiment by creating Process Matching Criteria and then assigning them a
percentage of the available CPU. As you investigate so you will see that
obvious system processes are excluded from the policy restrictions.
Also examine the 'Conditions' folder and decide if you want to change the
defaults or add any more conditions.
The secret of successfully configuring the WRSM is: a) to have a plan, b)
keep alternating between 'Resource Allocation Policy' and 'Process Matching
Criteria' until you achieve your goals.
Learning the capabilities of the Windows System Resource Manager re-enforces
the idea that managing Terminal Services users is the principle use of this
utility. Indeed the Equal Per User setting makes most sense for servers
with the Terminal Services role.
Memory
My best advice is avoid using memory and manage your server by setting the above
processor constraints. If you must use memory, then research the
applications working set and committed memory consumption, as these are the
criteria that Windows System Resource Manager uses to constrain processes. Be
prepared to monitor the applications closely, and re-assign limits based on
practical experience.
Recap
With Microsoft's WSRM, you create policies to allocate the CPU and memory resources that
applications and services consume. A resource allocation consists of
matching a process with one or more of the following: an associated CPU, a
memory limit, or a processor affinity.
If a process exceeds its resource allocation, the WSRM service reduces the
resource usage of the process back to your target, for example by dynamically
adjusting the CPU priority for that process.
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
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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.
Fast-track Overview:
Click on the
Start 'Globe', Server Manager, Customize Server, Add features, WSRM
Getting started details:
WSRM is a feature of Microsoft's Windows Server 2008. To install extra features, call
for the Server Manager. (See diagram to the right to get started).
Scroll down until you see: 3) Customize This Server. Next click on the
link which says: Add Features. As you scroll down to the 'W' for WSRM,
observe other features that you could install on another day.
Note in passing that you also need a dependant feature, the Windows Internal
Database to store Accounting data; good news the 'Feature' installer realizes
you need this extra service and installs and configures it automatically.
To digress, this intelligence may sound trivial, but I tried to install Virtual
Server 2005 on Vista, and getting the dependant IIS installed and configured
correctly took over an hour.
Trick: The only trick with WSRM is pointing it to a server. While this
is a trivial task, there does not seem to be a default setting of 'Local
Computer'.
Once you have installed the Windows Resource Server Manager, I would run it
from the Reliability and Performance MMC snap-in. Adapting the above
technique to find the Server Manager, click on the Start Globe and type Perf in
the dialog box. Then launch the Reliability and Performance snap-in.
If the WSRM is not present in the MMC GUI, click on the File menu and then
choose: Add\Remove Snap-in and select WSRM.
The traditional method of launching WSRM is via, Start, Administrative Tools,
Windows Resource Server Manager.
We have been concentrating on the Server 2008 version of WSRM. However,
the Windows System Resource Manager joins a long list of Microsoft Products that
started life as separate programs, then following successful trials, were then
built-in to the next version of Windows. Thus you can a free download of
WSRM for Windows Server 2003, whereas there is no need to look further than the
built-in features of Windows Server 2008.
Guy
recommends: The Free IP SLA Monitor
The IP SLA Monitor offers so much more than just discovering network
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how effortlessly this free monitor analyzes and displays the IP
statistics. The key to configuring this Monitor is selecting the data most
relevant to your network, for example, ping echo, DNS resolution times,
or HTTP statistics. As a result of a few hours of investigation is that you
can set alerts on key
indicators, then get on with the rest of your job.
Train Signal has
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