19-13LESSON 2 USING THE PERFORMANCE CONSOLELESSON 2

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Lesson 2

Using the Performance Console

Lesson 2: Using the Performance Console

Windows XP Professional provides two tools for monitoring resource usage: the Sys-tem Monitor snap-in and the Performance Logs And Alerts snap-in. Both of thesesnap-ins are contained in the Performance console. You use the System Monitor snap-in to track resource use and network throughput. You use the Performance Logs AndAlerts snap-in to collect performance data over time from the local or a remote com-puter or to have Windows XP alert you when a particular performance threshold iscrossed.After this lesson, you will be able to

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Use System Monitor to monitor resource usage

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Add counters to System Monitor

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Use Performance Logs And Alerts to track a computer’s performance

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Establish a baseline for performance data

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Identify and resolve bottlenecksEstimated lesson time: 30 minutes

How to Use System Monitor

To access the Performance console, click Start, click Control Panel, click PerformanceAnd Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click the Performanceshortcut. The Performance console contains the System Monitor snap-in and the Per-formance Logs And Alerts snap-in (see Figure 19-5).

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Figure 19-5 The System Monitor snap-in displays counter values in a graph by default.You use System Monitor to collect and view real-time data about memory, disk, pro-cessor, network, and other activity on your computer or on remote computers. You canview this data in a graph, a histogram, or a report. To change the display, you can clickthe appropriate icon, as shown in Figure 19-5, or use the following key combinations:Ctrl+G for the graph, Ctrl+B for the histogram, and Ctrl+R for the report.Note A histogram is a chart that consists of horizontal or vertical bars. The widths or heights of these bars represent the values of certain data.Monitoring resources on your computer and overall system performance can help youto do the following:

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Evaluate how well your computer is currently performing

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Detect and eliminate bottlenecks to improve performance

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Look for trends to plan for future growth and upgrades

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Evaluate the effects of tuning and configuration changes on your computerThe Performance tool classifies information in the following areas:Object An object represents a major system component (hardware or software) ofthe computer or operating system. Examples of objects include physical disks, proces-sor, and memory.Instance Each occurrence of an object is considered an instance. For example, ifthere are two processors on a computer, there are two processor instances. If there arethree hard disks on a computer, each disk is represented by a separate instance. Not allobjects have multiple instances. If there is only one instance, the Performance snap-inshows a dash for the Instance value.Counter A counter is a particular aspect of an object that System Monitor can mea-sure. For example, the physical disk object contains the following counters:

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Percentage Disk Read Time

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Average Disk Bytes Per Read

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Disk Reads Per SecondSystem Monitor helps you gauge a computer’s efficiency and locate and resolve currentor potential problems. You monitor resources on your computer by selecting objects inSystem Monitor. A set of counters exists for each object; Table 19-3 describes some ofthe available objects.