Windows Server Administration/Performance

This lesson covers server performance. Activities include using Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Performance Monitor to monitor server performance.

Objectives and Skills

Objectives and skills for the Understanding Server Performance Management portion of Windows Server Administration Fundamentals certification include:

• Identify major server hardware components: memory; disk; processor; network; 32 / 64 bits; removable drives; graphic cards; cooling; power usage; ports
• Understand performance monitoring: methodology; procedures; effect of network, CPU, memory and disk; creating a baseline; perfmon; resmon; Task Manager; performance counters
• Understand logs and alerts: purpose of performance logs and alerts

Readings

1. Wikipedia: Computer performance
2. Wikipedia: Windows Task Manager
3. Wikipedia: Resource Monitor
4. Wikipedia: System Monitor
5. Wikipedia: Hardware performance counter
6. Wikipedia: Performance tuning

Multimedia

1. YouTube: How to monitor server performance with Windows Admin Center
2. System Insights overview
3. YouTube: How and why to change the Paging File in Windows 10
4. Microsoft: Windows Performance Analyzer
5. YouTube: Windows Performance Analyzer - Tutorial

Activities

1. Review Testlimit v5.24. Download TestLimit to simulate performance issues and report on some of your results.
2. Review Show disk performance metrics on Windows Server 2016 Task Manager. Use Windows Task Manager to monitor disk performance. This should be the same on Server 2019
3. Review Introducing the new Performance Monitor for Windows Download and Install the Admin Center if not already installed. Create some graphs and report on the performance tools included.
4. Review Windows Performance Monitor Overview. Use Resource Monitor to monitor server performance.
5. Review New Performance Monitor for Windows Server. Use Performance Monitor to monitor server performance.
6. Review Windows Performance Monitor Overview. Use Performance Monitor to monitor a remote server through the network.
7. Review Windows Performance Monitor Overview. Use Performance Monitor to create a Data Collector set and record a performance baseline.
8. Consider the impact on CPU and memory performance with performance monitoring.
9. Consider the impact on disk performance with recording of performance logs.
10. Consider the impact on network performance with remote performance monitoring.

Lesson Summary

• Computer performance is characterized by the amount of useful work accomplished by a computer system compared to the time and resources used.

• Performance monitoring measures how quickly a computer completes specific tasks.

• Overall system performance should be determined before monitoring individual applications and processes.

• As an extension of performance monitoring, performance analysis may be used for capacity planning.

• Task Manager (also known as taskman) shows realtime applications, processes, services, performance (CPU and memory) and network utilization, as well as logged-in users.

• Resource Monitor (also known as resmon) shows realtime processor (CPU), memory, disk, and network utilization.

• Performance Monitor (also known as System Monitor and perfmon) may be customized to display any available performance counter and can record performance log files for later viewing.

• Hardware performance counters are a set of special-purpose registers built into modern microprocessors to store the counts of hardware-related activities within computer systems. Software performance counters work similarly based on values stored in RAM.

• Performance tuning requires identifying potential bottlenecks, measuring existing performance, modifying the system to improve performance, then measuring the system after modification to verify improvement.

• Performance Monitor can record performance logs and trigger alerts based on performance counter values. Performance logs may also be used to record a performance baseline.

• Performance monitoring may itself impact performance by using processor, memory, disk, and network resources.

• System Insights is a new predictive analytics feature in Windows Server 2019.

• System Insights runs completely locally on Windows Server. Using new functionality introduced in Windows Server 2019, all of your data is collected, persisted, and analyzed directly on your machine, allowing you to realize predictive analytics capabilities without any cloud-connectivity.

Key Terms

bandwidth

A measurement of bit-rate of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits per second or multiples of it (bit/s, kbit/s, Mbit/s, Gbit/s, etc.).

baseline

A single work product or set of work products that can be used as a logical basis for comparison and subsequent activity selection.

bottleneck

A phenomenon where the performance or capacity of an entire system is limited by a single or limited number of components or resources.

paging

A memory-management scheme by which a computer can store and retrieve data from secondary storage for use in main memory.

response time

The time a system or functional unit takes to react to a given input.

throughput

The average rate of successful message delivery over a communication channel.

Review Questions

Click on a question to see the answer.

1. Computer performance is characterized by _____ accomplished by a computer system compared to _____.

   Computer performance is characterized by the amount of useful work accomplished by a computer system compared to the time and resources used.
2. Performance monitoring measures _____.

   Performance monitoring measures how quickly a computer completes specific tasks.
3. Overall system performance should be determined before _____.

   Overall system performance should be determined before monitoring individual applications and processes.
4. As an extension of performance monitoring, _____ may be used for capacity planning.

   As an extension of performance monitoring, performance analysis may be used for capacity planning.
5. Task Manager (also known as _____) shows _____.

   Task Manager (also known as taskman) shows realtime applications, processes, services, performance (CPU and memory) and network utilization, as well as logged-in users.
6. Resource Monitor (also known as _____) shows _____.

   Resource Monitor (also known as resmon) shows realtime processor (CPU), memory, disk, and network utilization.
7. Performance Monitor (also known as _____ and _____) may be customized to display _____ and can _____.

   Performance Monitor (also known as System Monitor and perfmon) may be customized to display any available performance counter and can record performance log files for later viewing.
8. Hardware performance counters are _____ built into modern microprocessors to _____. Software performance counters work similarly based on _____.

   Hardware performance counters are a set of special-purpose registers built into modern microprocessors to store the counts of hardware-related activities within computer systems. Software performance counters work similarly based on values stored in RAM.
9. Performance tuning requires _____, _____, _____, then _____.

   Performance tuning requires identifying potential bottlenecks, measuring existing performance, modifying the system to improve performance, then measuring the system after modification to verify improvement.
10. Performance Monitor can record _____ and trigger _____ based on _____. Performance logs may also be used to _____.

    Performance Monitor can record performance logs and trigger alerts based on performance counter values. Performance logs may also be used to record a performance baseline.
11. Performance monitoring may itself impact _____ by using _____.

    Performance monitoring may itself impact performance by using processor, memory, disk, and network resources.
12. System Insights is a new __________ _________ feature in Windows Server 2019.

    System Insights is a new predictive analytics feature in Windows Server 2019.
13. System Insights runs completely ________ on Windows Server. Using new functionality introduced in Windows Server 2019, all of your data is collected, persisted, and analyzed directly on your machine, allowing you to realize __________ ________ capabilities without any _____-connectivity.

    System Insights runs completely locally on Windows Server. Using new functionality introduced in Windows Server 2019, all of your data is collected, persisted, and analyzed directly on your machine, allowing you to realize predictive analytics capabilities without any cloud-connectivity.

Flashcards

• Test your understanding of this lesson.
• Test your understanding of the key terms.

References

Subject classification: this is an information technology resource.

Type classification: this is a lesson resource.

Completion status: this resource is considered to be complete.

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