Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (265 page)

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information that is stored on a read-only DFS replica is read-only, users are not able to

modify/delete/create the replicated content. Therefore, information that is stored in a

read-only DFS replica is protected at branch office locations from accidental modification.

For more information on understanding and deploying DFSR, review Chapter 28, “File

System Management and Fault Tolerance.”

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Group Policies

Windows Server 2008 R2 now uses DFSR to replicate Group Policy Objects between

domain controllers within a domain. By leveraging DFSR differential replication, changes

only occur between two domain controllers and not all of the domain controllers as in the

past. As a result, the amount of bandwidth required during Group Policy replication is

greatly reduced.

Group policies, which are the traditional Administrative Template files, are now replaced

with new XML-based files called ADMX in Windows Server 2008 R2. Moreover, the new

ADMX files are stored in a centralized store within SYSVOL. Thus, the new templates,

storage of group policies, and utilization of DFSR for replication improve branch office

solutions because less data needs to be replicated between the branch office and hub site.

For more information on understanding and implementing Group Policy Objects, see

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Chapter 27, “Group Policy Management for Network Clients.”

SMB Version 2.0

Another enhancement for Windows Server 2008 R2 branch office deployments is the

server message block (SMB) protocol version 2.0. SMB, originally invented at IBM, is an

application-level network file-sharing protocol mainly applied when accessing files, print-

ers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between computers on a network.

The protocol hasn’t evolved much since it was originally created 15 years ago. As a result,

the protocol is considered to be overly chatty and generates unnecessary network traffic

between computers on a network. This especially hinders users at branch office implemen-

tations when accessing files over the WAN to a hub site, especially if the WAN link is slow

or already congested.

Microsoft understands the concerns and limitations with the existing version of SMB and

has completely rewritten SMB to meet the demand of today’s branch office needs. The

benefits and improvements of the new SMB version 2.0 protocol on WAN network perfor-

mance and end-user experience when transferring data between the branch office and hub

sites include the following:

. Efficiency, performance, and data streaming are improved and are four to five times

faster than the older version of SMB.

. The client can increase parallel requests.

. Offline capabilities are included, which is beneficial on slow networks and improves

the end-user experience.

. Synchronization performance for offline files is improved.

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CHAPTER 32

Optimizing Windows Server 2008 R2 for Branch Office

Communications

. Multiple client requests can be compounded into a single round-trip.

. Users can now work in offline mode and synchronize changes on demand.

. Server scalability has been increased by reduced per-connection resource usage.

. The amount of bandwidth required for network communications has been dramati-

cally reduced.

Summary

Windows Server 2008 R2 provides fundamental technologies that assist organizations in

implementing solutions for their branch offices. When dealing with branch offices that

lack physical security and IT personnel, it is a best practice for organizations to combine

the new Windows Server 2008 R2 technologies such as RODCs and BitLocker when

deploying domain controllers at their remote locations. These combined technologies

provide the strongest solution when security, ease of management, and prevention of data

loss are concerns or business requirements.

Finally, with Windows Server 2008 R2, organizations can maintain the performance, avail-

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ability, and productivity benefits of a local branch office server while avoiding the nega-

tive issues typically associated with branch office environments, including, but not limited

to, connectivity setbacks and management overhead.

Best Practices

The following are best practices from this chapter:

. Utilize the latest Windows Server 2008 R2 technologies to improve support and

return on investment at the branch office.

. Leverage Read-Only Domain Controllers when there is a lack of experienced IT

support personnel supporting the domain controller at the branch office and to

reduce replication workload between the branch office and hub site.

. Use RODCs at the branch office to maintain administrator role separation and isola-

tion because the domain controller is hosting more than one application.

. Conduct a staged implementation of an RODC if there is a need to have a non–highly

privileged administrator conduct the RODC installation at the branch office.

. Exploit BitLocker to encrypt domain controller volumes at the branch office when

theft and a lack of physical security are concerns.

. When implementing BitLocker at the branch office, leverage more than one factor

for maximizing security and protection during bootup of the Windows Server 2008

R2 domain controller.

Best Practices

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. For maximum protection, combine all of the new Windows Server 2008 R2 branch

office technologies, such as RODCs, BitLocker, and Server Core installation, when

deploying domain controllers at branch offices.

. Employ DFSR to the branch office and replicate branch office data back to a hub site

to eliminate the need for branch office backups.

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. Take advantage of the Next Generation TCP/IP stack, including SMB version 2, to reap

the benefits of increased WAN performance between a branch office and hub sites.

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CHAPTER 33

IN THIS CHAPTER

Logging and Debugging
. Using the Task Manager for

Logging and Debugging

. Using Event Viewer for Logging

and Debugging

. Performance and Reliability

Monitoring

. Setting Baseline Values

Up until this chapter, the book has focused on planning,

. Using the Debugging Tools

designing, implementing, and migrating to Windows Server

Available in Windows Server

2008 R2. This chapter pays attention to the built-in

2008 R2

management tools for monitoring, logging, debugging, and

. Task Scheduler

validating reliability, which help organizations identify and

isolate problems in their networking environments.

Many of the tools identified in this chapter are similar to

those used in previous versions of Windows; however, as

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with most features of the Windows Server family of prod-

ucts, the features and functionality of the tools have been

improved and expanded upon in Windows Server 2008 R2.

This chapter covers the Task Manager for logging and

debugging issues, the Event Viewer for monitoring and

troubleshooting system issues, Performance Monitor, the

new Best Practices Analyzer tool, the Task Scheduler for

automation, and additional debugging tools available with

Windows Server 2008 R2.

Using the Task Manager for

Logging and Debugging

The Task Manager is a familiar monitoring tool found in

Windows Server 2008 R2. Ultimately, the tool is very

similar to the Task Manager included with previous versions

of Windows such as Windows Server 2003. It still provides

an instant view of system resources, such as processor activ-

ity, process activity, memory usage, networking activity,

user information, and resource consumption. However,

there are some noticeable changes, including the addition

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CHAPTER 33

Logging and Debugging

of a Services tab and the ability to launch the Resource Monitor directly from the

Performance tab.

The Windows Server 2008 R2 Task Manager is very useful for an immediate view of key

system operations. It comes in handy when a user notes slow response time, system prob-

lems, or other nondescript problems with the network. With just a quick glance at the

Task Manager, you can see whether a server is using all available disk, processor, memory,

or networking resources.

There are three methods to launch the Task Manager:

.
Method 1—
Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.

.
Method 2—
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc.

.
Method 3—
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and select Start Task Manager.

When the Task Manager loads, you will notice six tabs, as shown in Figure 33.1.

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FIGURE 33.1

The Windows Task Manager.

TIP

If you are working on other applications and want to hide the Task Manager, deselect

Always on Top in the Task Manager’s Options menu. In addition, select Hide When

Minimized to Keep the Task Manager off the taskbar when minimized.

The following sections provide a closer look at how helpful the Task Manager compo-

nents can be.

Using the Task Manager for Logging and Debugging

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Monitoring Applications

The first tab on the Task Manager is the Applications tab. The Applications tab provides a

list of tasks in the left column and the status of these applications in the right column.

The status information enables you to determine whether an application is running and

allows you to terminate an application that is not responding. To stop such an applica-

tion, highlight the particular application and click End Task at the bottom of the Task

Manager. You can also switch to another application if you have several applications

running. To do so, highlight the program and click Switch To at the bottom of the Task

Manager. Finally, you can create a dump file that can be used when a point-in-time snap-

33

shot of every process running is needed for advanced troubleshooting. To create a dump

file, right-click on an application and select Create Dump File.

Monitoring Processes

The second Task Manager tab is the Processes tab. It provides a list of running processes,

or Image Names, on the server. It also measures the performance in simple data format.

This information includes CPU percent used, memory allocated to each process, and user-

name used in initiating a process, which includes system, local, and network services.

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You can sort the processes by clicking the CPU or Memory (Private Working Set) column

header. The processes are then sorted in order of usage. This way, you can tell which one

is using the most of these resources and is slowing down performance of your server. You

can terminate a process by selecting the process and clicking the End Process button.

Many other performance or process measures can be removed or added to the Processes

tab. They include, but are not limited to, process identifier (PID), CPU time, session ID,

and page faults. To add these measures, select View, Select Columns to open the Select

Column property page. Here, you can add process counters to the process list or remove

them from the list.

Monitoring Services

With the release of Windows Server 2008, the newest edition to the family of Task

Manager tabs was the Services tab. When selected, you can quickly assess and trou-

bleshoot a specific service by viewing whether it has stopped or is still running. The

Services tab also offers additional key details, including the service name, service descrip-

tion, and service group. In addition, it is also possible to launch the Services snap-in if

there is a need to make changes to a specific service. For example, if you know a given

service should be running and you don’t see it running on the Processes tab (a common

one is spoolsv.exe, which is the Windows Print Spooler service executable), you can just

go to the Services tab and attempt to start the service from there. It’s very rudimentary,

but in keeping with what Task Manager is typically used for—it does offer a quick

overview of system status and preliminary problem resolution.