Managing Active Directory Performance

Active Directory Performance Monitoring Tools

Monitoring Active Directory performance is an important part of maintaining and administering your Microsoft Windows 2000 installation. You use Active Directory performance data to

• Understand Active Directory performance and the corresponding effect on your system's resources
• Observe changes and trends in performance and resource usage so you can plan for future upgrades
• Test configuration changes or other tuning efforts by monitoring the results
• Diagnose problems and target components or processes for optimization

This lesson introduces you to the Active Directory performance monitoring tools and guides you through the steps required to set up Active Directory performance monitoring.

After this lesson, you will be able to

• Describe the purpose of the Event Viewer console
• Use the Event Viewer console to view event logs
• Describe the components of the Performance console
• Describe the purpose of the System Monitor
• Use the System Monitor to monitor performance counters
• Describe the purpose of counter logs, trace logs, and alerts
• Use Performance Logs and Alerts to create counter logs, trace logs, and alerts

Estimated lesson time: 50 minutes

Performance Monitoring Tools

Windows 2000 provides several tools for monitoring Active Directory performance. On the Administrative Tools menu, the Event Viewer console allows you to view log files and error messages sent by applications. The Performance console provides a graphical way to view performance of Active Directory according to measurements, or counters, that you select. The Performance console also provides a means to log activity or send alerts according to those measurements and view the logs either printed or online.

Monitoring Access to Shared Folders

Microsoft Windows 2000 includes the Shared Folders snap-in so that you can easily monitor access to network resources and send administrative messages to users. You monitor access to network resources to assess and manage current usage on network servers.

After this lesson, you will be able to

• Identify the tool included with Windows 2000 to monitor access to network resources and to send administrative messages
• Identify who can monitor access to network resources
• Determine the shared folders on a computer
• Monitor shared folders
• Monitor open files
• Disconnect users from one or all open files

Estimated lesson time: 20 minutes

Why Monitor Network Resources?

Some of the reasons it is important to assess and manage network resources are the following:

• Maintenance. You should determine which users are currently using a resource so that you can notify them before making the resource temporarily or permanently unavailable.
• Security. You should monitor user access to resources that are confidential or need to be secure to verify that only authorized users are accessing them.
• Planning. You should determine which resources are being used and how much they are being used so that you can plan for future system growth.

Determining How Many Users Can Access a Shared Folder Concurrently

You can use the Shared Folders snap-in to determine the maximum number of users that are permitted to gain access to a folder. In the Shared Folders details pane, click the shared folder for which you want to determine the maximum number of concurrent users that can access the folder. On the Action menu, click Properties, and the Properties dialog box for the shared folder appears. The General tab shows you the user limit.

You can also use the Shared Folders snap-in to determine if the maximum number of users that are permitted to gain access to a folder has been reached. This is an easy way to troubleshoot connectivity problems. If a user cannot connect to a share, determine the number of connections to the share and the maximum connections allowed. If the maximum number of connections has already been made, the user cannot connect to the shared resource.

Modifying Shared Folder Properties

You can modify existing shared folders, including shared folder permissions, from the Shares folder. To change a shared folder's properties, click the shared folder, and then on the Action menu, click Properties. The General tab of the Properties dialog box shows you the share name, the path to the shared folder, and any comment that has been entered. The General tab also allows you to view and set a user limit for accessing the shared folder. The Security tab allows you to view and change the shared folders permissions.

Monitoring Open Files

Use the Open Files folder in the Shared Folders snap-in to view a list of open files that are located in shared folders and the users who have a current connection to each file (see Figure 14.8). You can use this information when you need to contact users to notify them that you are shutting down the system. Additionally, you can determine which users have a current connection and should be contacted when another user is trying to gain access to a file that is in use.

Sending Console Messages

To avoid data loss, you can send a message to some or all users who have an active session with the shared folders that you are managing.

To send a console message to a connected user

1. Click the Shared Folders snap-in, click the Action menu, select All Tasks, then click Send Console Message.

2. In the Send Console Message dialog box, type the message you want to send to users in the Message box.

3. Select the computer name that will receive the message in the Recipients box, then click Send.