Server Performance

timeout

I have been asked to produce a report on the performace of our servers and see what can be done to improve them. Thing is they are pretty good and I have no idea on how to judge they're performance at doing what they do.

Both Specs:
Server type: Dell
Processors: Intel dual Xeon (2.8GHz)
Memory: 1GB RAM
HardDrives: RAID (130GB)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows2000

Now these are used to host our site which is mainly content driven. One hosts the site while the other hosts the database. The idea is you do a search its passed off to the DB server and the results are returned quicker then doing it all on the one.
So how can I determine wether its having a hard time doing all this processing?
Any tools i could load?

Thanks
Timeout

SouperComputer

well 2k's built in tools can monitor CPU utilisation, disk usuage, swap usage and RAM usage which might be relevant.

Is simpler terms, is the information getting to those who need it quick enough? IE if it aint broke, dont go trying to fix it!

Another thing to consider is that the problem may not be the server at all, but network traffic that is causing a slowdown.

timeout

s simpler terms, is the information getting to those who need it quick enough?

No, well yes, but no. Its getting there quickly but not as quickly as it used to. It seems to be taking longer each month.

Another thing to consider is that the problem may not be the server at all, but network traffic that is causing a slowdown.

No we are quite sure its not the network as there has not been any jumps in that. It appears to be the servers that are taking longer to process the information. Trouble is I need to show that somehow. Can anyone give me a link to a program that can help me annaylise the information produced from windows built in monitoring tools?

Static M.e.

Havent used this but could be of some use to you. They might do a trial version that you could use.

http://www.passmark.com/products/pt.htm

seamus

There are a few things you need to check out.

On the software side, you'll need to run Performance Counter logs, and let them run for a few days. Google them. They're easy, come built in to Windows 2000 and up, and give loads of info.
Once you have a counter log, you can use the Performance Monitor (perfmon.exe) to analyse the data. There should even be stuff on microsoft.com in terms of acceptable CPU loads, disk queues, etc.

Then you need to gather up all the anecdotal evidence from the users;
Do the problems mainly occur at certain times of the day?
Do the problems mainly occur when they are doing a certain type of action?
etc etc

Since there's a database server, and the slowness is progressive, it may be worthwhile finding a performance monitoring tool for your particular DB server, and also perhaps you need to redo the indexes/archive some data/tweak performance on the DB server.

Blub2k4

You need to learn how to use Perfmon in Windows.
http://labmice.techtarget.com/troubleshooting/PerfMon.htm

A good idea would be to go get yourself an MCP in 2000, or go the whole hog and get an MCSE, maybe the company will pay for it.