DOCUMENT:Q146005 08-AUG-2001 [winnt] TITLE :Optimizing Windows NT for Performance PRODUCT :Microsoft Windows NT PROD/VER:WINDOWS:2000; winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0 OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS: ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 - Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51, 4.0 - Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional - Microsoft Windows 2000 Server - Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ======= When starting troubleshooting performance problems or when trying to optimize Windows NT, while working with Windows NT Performance Monitor it isn't always easy to choose from the large number of performance monitor objects and counters. This article helps you pick the right counters and objects. Below you'll find performance checkpoints for the following possible bottlenecks: - Suspected bottleneck: memory - Suspected bottleneck: processor - Suspected bottleneck: physical disk - Suspected bottleneck: network - Suspected bottleneck: network components MORE INFORMATION ================ Suspected Bottleneck: Memory ---------------------------- Check: Object: Memory Counter: Pages /sec Object: Logical Disk (location of the PAGEFILE.SYS) Counter: Avg. Disk sec/Transfer If the product of these two counters (equals percentage of the disk access time used by paging) > 10 % on a sustained basis, the system needs more memory. Check: Object: Memory Counter: Pages /sec If counter value is consistently > 5 , suspect memory. Check: Object: Server Counter: Pool Nonpaged Failures The number of times allocations from nonpaged pool have failed. Indicates that the computer's physical memory is too small. Check: Object: Server Counter: Pool Paged Failures Pool Paged Failures indicate that either physical memory or a paging file is near capacity. Check: Object: Server Counter: Pool Nonpaged Peak The maximum number of bytes of nonpaged pool the server has had in use at any one point. Indicates how much physical memory the computer should have. Suspected Bottleneck: Processor ------------------------------- Check: Object: Processor Counter: %Processor Time If this value is consistently high (> 80%) and disk and network counter values are low, suspect the processor. Object: System Counter: %Processor Time (for multi processor systems) If this value is consistently high (> 80%) and disk and network counter values are low, suspect the processor. Object: System Counter: Processor Queue Length A sustained processor queue length > 2 , generally indicates a processor bottleneck. Object: Processor Counter: Interrupts/sec A dramatic increase in this counter value without a corresponding increase in system activity indicates a hardware problem. Object: Processes (_Total) Counter: %Processor Time If more than a couple of processes are contending for the majority of the processor time, then a faster processor or an additional processor should be considered. Suspected Bottleneck: Physical Disk ----------------------------------- Check: Object: Physical Disk Counter: %Disk Time If this value is consistently high and disk queue length is greater than 2, suspect the disk. Object: Physical Disk Counter: Average Disk sec/Transfer A high value (values greater than 0.3 seconds) may mean that the disk controller is continually retrying the disk because of failures. Object: Physical Disk Counter: Disk Queue Length Counter: Average Disk sec/Transfer The Average Queue Time is the average amount of time for a disk transfer (either reads or writes) to complete. Use the following formula to find the average disk queue time: Avg. Queue Time = Disk Queue Length x Avg. Disk sec/Transfer This information is a relative performance measurement and should be compared with other hard disk drivers in your system. Compute the figures for all logical disks in your system. The number of disk commands waiting in the queue is normally the factor that slows disk performance by increasing the average disk queue time. Object: Physical Disk Counter: Disk Bytes/sec A Disk Bytes/sec count lower than 20K may indicate that an application is accessing a disk inefficiently. Suspected Bottleneck: Network Components ---------------------------------------- Check: Object: Redirector Counter: Current commands If this number is greater than one per network adapter, the redirector may be a bottleneck in the system for one or more of the following reasons: - the server with which the redirector is communicating is slower than the redirector. - the network may be experiencing capacity problems. - the redirector is busier than the adapter can keep up with. If network capacity problems are identified, it may be necessary to subnet the network in an attempt to partition network traffic. Check: Object: Redirector Counter: Network Errors/sec If any network errors are logged, check the Event Log for more details. Check: Object: Redirector Counter: Reads Denieds/sec Counter: Writes Denieds/sec These values indicate if the remote servers are having problems with memory allocation. Check: Object: Server Counter: Work Item Shortage An increase in Work Item Shortage should cause a change in the registry value(s) InitialWorkItems and/or MaximumWorkItems (depending on when the outage occurred). Check: Object: Server Counter: Raw Reads Rejected/sec Counter: Raw Writes Rejected/sec Rejections indicates the exhaustion of RAW work items used when busy doing large file transfers. The increase of the registry value RawWorkItems can possibly solve this bottleneck. Suspected Bottleneck: Network ----------------------------- Check: Object: Server Counter: Bytes Total/sec If the sum of Bytes Total/sec for all servers is roughly equal to the maximum transfer rates of your network, you may need to segment the network. Additional query words: prodnt 3.50 3.51 ====================================================================== Keywords : Technology : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT351search kbWinNT350search kbWinNT400search kbWinNTW350 kbWinNTW350search kbWinNTW351search kbWinNTW351 kbwin2000AdvServ kbwin2000AdvServSearch kbwin2000Serv kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbWinNTS351 kbwin2000ServSearch kbwin2000Search kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Pro kbWinNTS351search kbWinAdvServSearch Version : WINDOWS:2000; winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0 ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 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