Reports
The final folder in the
Performance Monitor snap-in is Reports. The Reports folder provides
diagnostic reports to support administrators in troubleshooting and
diagnosing system performance problems including reliability. Reports
are viewed in the central details pane of the Performance Monitor
snap-in.
The reports are based on Data
Collector Sets that were previously defined by users or preconfigured
and included with Windows Server 2008 R2 Performance Monitor. The report
console’s features and functionality are very similar to those seen by
means of the reports introduced with Server Performance Advisor in
Windows Server 2003.
The Reports folder is
broken into two main subfolders: User Defined reports and System
reports. The default System reports typically include reports relating
to LAN Diagnostics, System Diagnostics, and System Performance.
Additional System reports are automatically generated depending on the
server role installed on the Windows Server 2008 R2 system. For example,
an Active Directory Diagnostics system report is automatically included
in the console when the Active Directory Domain Services server role is
installed on the Windows Server 2008 R2 system.
Creating a User Defined Report
The first step in creating a
User Defined report is creating a User Defined Collector Set and
defining the parameters for a collection. After the User Defined
Collector Set is created, data
collection must be manually started or scheduled to run at a specific
date. At this time, a report folder is automatically generated under the
User Defined folder. After the report is created, you can review the
contents by selecting it. When viewing reports, it is possible to expand
specific items such as the report summary, diagnostic results, or CPU
for additional information. This is depicted in the sample System
Performance Report in Figure 4.
Viewing Predefined System Reports
Another option for
assessing system health and troubleshooting system anomalies is to
leverage the predefined system reports. The following steps illustrate
how to view these system reports:
1. | In the Performance Monitor navigation tree, expand the Data Collector Sets folder and then System.
|
2. | Right-click
one of the predefined Data Collector Sets such as System Diagnostics,
and then click Start. This starts the data collection process.
|
3. | Now expand the Reports folder, System, and then System Diagnostics.
|
4. | Highlight the newly created report and review the contents of the report in the central details pane.
|
Note
The report generates
and appears when the data collection process is complete. The report is
automatically tagged with the current date.
Reliability Monitor
The
Reliability Monitor was a brand-new tool first introduced with the
release of Windows Vista and then reintroduced with Windows 2008. This
enhanced system management tool is the second monitoring tool available
within a Windows Server 2008 R2 system. The tool can be invoked by
selecting View Reliability History from within the Action Center. Use
this tool when you need help troubleshooting the root cause associated
with reduced reliability of a Windows Server 2008 R2 system. Reliability
Monitor provides event details through system stability charts and
reports that help diagnose items that might be negatively impacting the
reliability of a system.
The tool uses a System
Stability Index to rate the stability of a system each day over its
lifetime by means of an index scorecard that identifies any reduction in
reliability. An index rating of 1 represents a system in its least
stable stage, whereas an index rating of 10 indicates a system in its
most stable stage. Each day’s index rating is displayed in a System
Stability Chart graph, as illustrated in Figure 5.
This graph typically helps administrators to identify dates when
stability issues with the Windows Server 2008 R2 system occurred.
Additional itemized system stability information can be found in an
accompanying System Stability Report section of the Reliability Monitor
screen. The additional stability information further assists by
identifying the root cause of the reliability issues. This information
is grouped into the following categories: Software Installs and
Uninstalls, Application Failures, Hardware Failures, Windows Failures,
and Miscellaneous Failures.
Reliability Monitor is
an essential tool for identifying and correlating problems with Windows
Server 2008 R2. With Reliability Monitor, an administrator can quickly
identify changes
in a system that caused a negative trend with system reliability. As
such, this tool can also help administrators anticipate other problems,
which ultimately leads to solving issues efficiently and effectively.
