Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (282 page)

secondary DNS server

IXFR Success

Total number of successful incremental zone transfers received by the

Received

secondary DNS server

IXFR Success Sent

Total number of successful incremental zone transfers sent by the master

DNS server

It provides resource statistics such as errors, cache activity, network traffic from Remote

Desktop Server, and other session-specific activity. Many of these counters are similar to

those found in the Process object. Some examples include % Privileged Time, % Processor

Time, % User Time, Working Set, Working Set Peak, and so on.

NOTE

A comprehensive list of all performance counters and descriptions relative to Remote

Desktop Services can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/186536. More

information on Remote Desktop Services can also be found in Chapter 25.

Three important areas to always monitor for Terminal Server capacity analysis are the

memory, processor, and application processes for each session. Application processes are

by far the hardest to monitor and control because of the extreme variances in program-

matic behavior. For example, all applications might be 32-bit, but some might not be

certified to run on Windows Server 2008 R2. You might also have in-house applications

Optimizing Performance by Server Roles

1429

running on Remote Desktop Services that might be poorly designed or too resource inten-

sive for the workloads they are performing.

Virtual Servers

Deployment of virtual servers and consolidation of hardware is becoming more and more

prevalent in the business world. When multiple servers are running in a virtual environ-

ment on a single physical hardware platform, performance monitoring and tuning

becomes essential to maximize the density of the virtual systems. If three or four virtual

servers are running on a system and the memory and processors aren’t allocated to the

virtual guest session that could use the resources, virtual host resources aren’t being

utilized efficiently. In addition to monitoring the common items of memory, disk,

network, and CPU, two performance counters related to virtual sessions are added when

virtualization is running on the Windows Server 2008 R2 host. These counters are shown

34

in Figure 34.19.

The performance counters related to virtualization include the following:

.
Allocated MB—
Displays the amount of physical memory (RAM) allocated to each

virtual server

ptg

.
Allocated Pages—
Displays the amount of memory pages per virtual machine

The Virtual session object and its counters are available only when a virtual machine is

running. Counters can be applied to all running virtual sessions or to a specific virtual

session.

FIGURE 34.19

Performance Monitor counters for virtualization.

1430

CHAPTER 34

Capacity Analysis and Performance Optimization

Summary

Capacity planning and performance analysis are critical tasks in ensuring that systems are

running efficiently and effectively in the network environment. Too much capacity being

allocated to systems indicates resources are being wasted and not used efficiently, which

in the long run can cause an organization to overspend in their IT budgets and not get

the value out of IT spending. Too little capacity in system operations, and performance

suffers in serving users as well as creates a hardship on servers that can ultimately cause

system failure.

By properly analyzing the operational functions of a network, a network administrator

can consolidate servers or virtualize servers to gain more density in system resources,

which can result in additional physical servers that can ultimately be used for other

purposes, such as disaster recovery failover servers or cluster servers providing high avail-

ability of IT resources.

Although it’s easy to get caught up in daily administration and firefighting, it’s important

to step back and begin capacity-analysis and performance-optimization processes and

procedures. These processes and procedures can minimize the environment’s complexity,

help IT personnel gain control over the environment, assist in anticipating future resource

requirements, and, ultimately, reduce costs and keep users of the network happy.

ptg

Best Practices

The following are best practices from this chapter:

. Spend time performing capacity analysis to save time troubleshooting and firefighting.

. Use capacity-analysis processes to help weed out the unknowns.

. Establish systemwide policies and procedures to begin to proactively manage your

system.

. After establishing systemwide policies and procedures, start characterizing system

workloads.

. Use performance metrics and other variables such as workload characterization,

vendor requirements or recommendations, industry-recognized benchmarks, and the

data that you collect to establish a baseline.

. Use the benchmark results only as a guideline or starting point.

. Use the Task Manager or the Resource Monitor in Performance Monitor to quickly

view performance.

. Use the Performance Monitor to capture performance data on a regular basis.

. Consider using System Center Operations Manager or Microsoft and third-party prod-

ucts to assist with performance monitoring, capacity and data analysis, and reporting.

Best Practices

1431

. Carefully choose what to monitor so that the information doesn’t become unwieldy.

. At a minimum, monitor the most common contributors to performance bottlenecks:

memory and pagefile usage, processor, disk subsystem, and network subsystem.

. Identify and monitor server functions and roles along with the common set of

resources.

. When monitoring specific roles like virtual servers or Active Directory Domain

Services, include the common performance counters such as memory, CPU, disk,

and network as well as counters specific to the role of the server.

. Examine network-related error counters.

34

ptg

This page intentionally left blank

ptg

CHAPTER 35

IN THIS CHAPTER

Windows SharePoint
. Understanding the History of

SharePoint Technologies

Services
. What Are the Differences

Between Windows SharePoint

Services 3.0 and SharePoint

Server 2007?

. Identifying the Need for

Windows SharePoint Services

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) is the foundation

. Installing Windows SharePoint

for SharePoint Server 2007, provides much of the function-

Services

ality of the more complete version of the product, and is

well suited for organizations interested in exploring the

. Lists and Libraries in Windows

SharePoint Services 3.0

collaboration and document management capabilities of

the product. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 builds upon

. Integrating Office 2007

the previous version of the product (Windows SharePoint

Applications with Windows

Services 2.0) by greatly expanding the power of the tools

SharePoint Services 3.0

available, and adding a wealth of new features.

ptg

. Managing the Site Collection

This chapter focuses on how Windows SharePoint Services

can be used to extend the functionality of Windows Server

2008 R2 so that it can function as a powerful document

management and collaboration platform. This chapter

introduces Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 features using a

bottom-up methodology that starts with a history of the

evolution of the product, then the installation process, and

an introduction to the building blocks of organization—

document libraries and lists—and then works up to sites

and workspaces. This approach will help you understand

how different groups of users benefit from the new and

improved features of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

To learn more about the full range of features that can be

found in the SharePoint product line, you might consider

purchasing the book titled
SharePoint 2007 Unleashed

(Sams Publishing, ISBN: 978-0672329470).

1434

CHAPTER 35

Windows SharePoint Services

Understanding the History of SharePoint

Technologies

Most readers will have run into SharePoint in one incarnation or another, but a brief

review of the history of the product is helpful to understand the maturation process of the

product line and differences between the Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint

Server products.

SharePoint Origins

In 2001, Microsoft released SharePoint Portal Server 2001. The intent was to provide a

customizable portal environment focused on collaboration, document management, and

knowledge sharing. The product carried the “digital dashboard” web part technology a

step further to provide an out-of-the-box solution. SharePoint Portal was the product that

could link together the team-based websites that were springing up. SharePoint Team

Services was a separate product that offered a subset of features of the “Portal” product.

Having two separate products with similar names confused many people. “SharePoint”

was often discussed in a generic manner, and people weren’t sure whether the topic was

SharePoint Portal or SharePoint Team Services, or the two technologies together.

ptg

Then, in the 2003 version of the SharePoint products, Microsoft developed Windows

SharePoint Services as the engine for the team collaboration environment. Windows

SharePoint Services 2.0 replaced SharePoint Team Services, and it included many new and

enhanced features, some of which were previously part of SharePoint Portal Server 2001.

Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 was also included as an optional component to the

Windows Server 2003 operating system at the same time.

SharePoint Portal Server 2003 remained a separate server-based product. It built upon the

Windows SharePoint Services technology platform and was intended as an enterprise solu-

tion for connecting internal and external sources of information. SharePoint Portal Server

2003 allowed the creation of portal “areas,” searching across multiple sites, and enabled

the integration of business applications into the portal.

These versions of SharePoint integrated more closely with Microsoft Office 2003 products,

making it easier for users to leverage SharePoint 2003 features without leaving the comfort

of the Office 2003 applications. For example, users could create meeting and document

workspaces directly from Office 2003 products. Most Office 2003 applications also

included the Shared Workspace Task Pane, which allowed users to see information stored

on the site if the document they were editing was opened.

When the SharePoint 2007 products were released, many organizations already had expe-

rience with the first and second iterations of the products, and were eagerly awaiting the

“v3” products, knowing that the product was even more mature and that many new

features had been added. The SharePoint 2007 family includes SharePoint Server 2007,

and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, and abandoned the often confusing term
Portal

from the product title. The “v3” SharePoint products also continued the trend of close

integration with Office products, and although they work well with Office 2003 products,

Understanding the History of SharePoint Technologies

1435

are optimized for use with Office 2007 products. Microsoft also broke out a key compo-

nent from the server product, and made it available separately: SharePoint Server 2007 for

Search. Microsoft also introduced a set of features that were only available when the

Enterprise features were activated during or after the SharePoint Server 2007 installation

process: primarily Excel Services, Business Data Catalog, and Web Based InfoPath forms.

Understanding the Need for SharePoint 2007 Products

Organizations have increasingly recognized the need for collaboration and document

management products over the last decade, and most organizations have implemented

one or more products to meet these needs. An overarching goal was to enhance productiv-