Monitor Windows Server with Performance Counters

After selecting the counters and clicking OK, you should see graphs similar to Figure 3.

By default the counters are monitored automatically and will continue to be monitored until you stop the process. You might have more or less activity on your server depending on current operations. Loading the performance counters into the Performance tool lets you monitor live activity. Monitoring live activity is just one way to use this powerful performance tool. In addition, you must create a performance log if you want to create a baseline. Use the following instructions to create a log that will capture performance data for any length of time:

1. Launch the Performance tool as previously described.
2. Expand the Performance Logs and Alerts node in the left pane.
3. Right-click Counter Logs and select New Log Settings.
4. Enter a name for the log, such as Baseline 1.
5. Click the Add Counters button on the General tab and add the counters you want to log.
6. Select the Log Files tab, and then select the log file format you prefer. (I prefer the comma delimited text file so that I can analyze the data easily in Microsoft Excel.)
7. On the Schedule tab, schedule a start and stop time for the log or set it to start manually. Note that you can run a command after the log is created.
8. Click OK.
9. If you’re prompted to create the log directory, click Yes.

You now have a performance log configuration. If you created the log configuration with the 10 counters covered in this article, you have an excellent configuration for creating baselines. Use this log to capture a baseline of your server’s performance when it’s performing well. Then, when users inform you that it’s not performing well, you can run the log again and compare the two log files. Figure 4 shows two line graphs generated in Excel 2007 from comma-separated value (CSV) log files created in the Performance tool.

Measure Hardware Performance Against a Baseline
The Performance tool provides counters that can be used to measure the performance of hardware against recommendations or baselines. Capturing the right counters is the key to success with this tool. It’s also important to know that new counters are added every time you install a major Microsoft application (e.g., Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft IIS).