Collecting Useful Data

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

When you set up performance monitoring, keep the following guidelines in mind:

  • Be selective when choosing which counters to run, because several counters running at the same time can cause a small decrease in performance and can consume disk space.

  • For routine monitoring, start by sampling data every 15 minutes.

  • If you are monitoring for a specific problem, try varying the length of the interval until you find the optimal setting for obtaining the data that you need.

    For example, if you are monitoring the activity of a specific process at a specific time, set a frequent update interval; however, if you are monitoring a problem that reveals itself slowly, such as a memory leak, use a longer interval.

  • When deciding the logging interval, consider the overall length of time over which you want to monitor.

    For example, you might sample data every 15 seconds for monitoring that is 4 hours or less. If you plan to monitor for 8 hours or more, set an interval longer than 300 seconds.

When you decide to change your system in any way, such as by tuning settings, adding hardware, or upgrading your system, follow these guidelines:

  • Always make changes one at a time. Unsatisfactory performance that appears to relate to a single component might be the result of bottlenecks involving multiple components. However, if you make multiple changes simultaneously, it is often impossible to assess the impact of each change. For this reason, even when you are troubleshooting performance problems that involve multiple components, you might need to address each problem individually, making changes one at a time.

  • Repeat monitoring after every change. Because tuning one resource can affect other resources, it is recommended that you monitor after every change that you make, being sure to monitor not only the area you changed but also more globally. Unless you monitor after you make a change, you cannot determine whether your change improved performance.

  • Review event logs. Sometimes poor or unsatisfactory performance generates output in event logs. Use Event Viewer to monitor events that appear in event logs, such as application, system, and security logs. In addition, IIS logs can provide you with information about your changes. For more information about Event Viewer, see Event Viewer in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003. For more information about IIS logs, see Analyzing Log Files.

  • Test your changes in a lab. When your changes are significant, test them in a performance lab before making the changes in a production environment.

  • Periodically, obtain a new performance baseline. After making several changes, monitor again to update your performance baseline. Compare the new baseline to previous logs to observe the actual effects your changes are having on performance and capacity.