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Chapter 76
Windows NT Performance Monitoring

Gilbert Held

One of the more valuable features included in Windows NT is its Performance Monitor, a graphical tool that can measure the performance of your NT based computer, other computers on a network, or metrics associated with the performance of different transmission protocols used on a network. By understanding how to use the built-in NT Performance Monitor as well as its alert capability network, managers and administrators obtain a window that provides a view of numerous computer and network related parameters.

INTRODUCTION

Performance Monitor is a graphical tool built into both Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server. This utility program enables you to view the behavior of a variety of computer and network related objects. Each of those objects has an associated set of counters that will provide metrics concerning the use of selected objects. Included in Performance Monitor are charting, alerting, and reporting capabilities that enable the utility to track selected objects over a period of time.

The charting capability included in Performance Monitor permits you to view counter values that are updated at a user-defined frequency. You can display multiple counter values on a single chart that can represent metrics associated with different computers.

The alert capability included in Performance Monitor enables you to specify thresholds for different counters which, when reached, are listed in the Alert Log or are used to notify the computer operator by displaying the alert on the computer’s display. You can set several types of thresholds, which can be valuable when attempting to determine if a computer can handle a given traffic load arriving via the network. You can also use thresholds to alert you to the computer reaching disk or memory utilization levels that warrant upgrades, as well as obtaining an understanding of the use of other computer and network related objects that might warrant modification to enhance computer or network performance prior to the occurrence of performance related problems. Since the best way to understand the use of the Windows NT Performance Monitor is by example, let us view its use.


Exhibit 1.  Selecting Performance Monitor from the Administrative Tools Group Window.

Utilization

Performance Monitor is bundled with Windows NT, with its program icon located in the Administrative Tools group. Exhibit 1 illustrates the Administrative Tools group window, with the Performance Monitor icon located as the third icon from the left side of the opened window. Similar to other Windows icons, double clicking on the Performance Monitor icon invokes the program.

The initial Performance Monitor window contains a blank or empty chart display area and familiar menu entries File, Edit, View, Options, and Help as illustrated in Exhibit 2. The icons displayed under the menu bar are used to invoke predefined functions, with the plus (+) sign used to add a counter for display. As you move the mouse pointer over an icon, a short description of its use is displayed below and to the right of the icon. This is indicated in Exhibit 2, in which the message label “Add counter” was displayed after this author placed the pointer on the plus (+) icon. By clicking on the plus (+) icon, you obtain the capability to select one or more objects, as well as different counters associated with different objects that will be charted.


Exhibit 2.  Invoking Performance Monitor Results in the Initial Display of an Empty Chart Display Area.

Exhibit 3 illustrates the dialog box labeled “Add to Chart,” which is displayed after you select the plus (+) icon from the Performance Monitor main window. This dialog box contains four main selectable items — Computer, Object, Counter, and Instance.

The Computer item enables you to select a specific computer in a Windows NT network for which an object, counter and instance will be selected. The Object represents a standard mechanism used in Windows NT for identifying and using a system resource. Objects represent the processor, memory, cache, hard disk, different network protocols, and other entities for which it is important to track statistical information. Certain types of objects, such as processor, memory and cache and their respective counters are present on all computers. Other objects, such as different network protocols, are only applicable to computers that are configured to use the appropriate protocol stack.


Exhibit 3.  Using the “Add to Chart” Dialog Box to Select the NWLink IPX Object.

The Counter item represents statistical information tracked for a defined object. Most objects have a number of counters which provide you with the ability to track different metrics associated with a selected object.

Each object type can have several instances, with the term “instance” used by Microsoft to identify multiple objects within the same object type. For example, the Processor object type will have multiple instances if a computer has multiple processors. Similarly, the Physical Disk object type will have multiple instances if the computer system has two or more physical hard disks. When an object type has multiple instances, each instance will produce the same set of statistics as they support the same counter values.

In Exhibit 3, NWLink IPX was selected as the Object. This is the transport protocol used in Novell NetWare based networks and the service which allows access to files, directories and printers on NetWare servers. The reason this author was able to select that object was due to the fact that Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server based computers were being used in a mixed networking environment to include communications occurring on many computers via the use of multiple protocol stacks to include TCP/IP and IPX/SPX.

Once you select an appropriate object, you can then select one or more counters associated with that object. Exhibit 4 illustrates the selection of the “Bytes Total/Sec” counter for the previously selected NWLink IPX object. In this display the Explain button located on the right side of the dialog box was clicked on, resulting in the display of the definition of the selected counter appearing at the bottom of the screen. The four selectable bars above the counter definition section enable you to set the color, scale, width, and style of the graph used to chart each selected counter. Those features can be extremely valuable when you want to chart multiple counters.


Exhibit 4.  Selecting a Counter for a Previously Selected Object.


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