Monitoring and Performance in Windows 7

Case Scenarios

In the following case scenarios, you will apply what you’ve learned about network settings. You can find answers to these questions in the “Answers” section at the end of this book.

Case Scenario 1: Using Data Collector Sets and Event Forwarding

James Seymour is an IT professional administering the production network at Tailspin Toys. Recently, users have been experiencing intermittent performance problems when accessing a file server running Windows Server 2008 R2 from their computers running Windows 7. James checks resource usage on the file server by using Task Manager but sees no indication of excessive processor, memory, disk, or network resource usage. He needs to monitor these resources over a period of time rather than look at a real-time snapshot, and to monitor resources both when the performance problems are occurring and when they are not. From his computer running Windows 7, James opens Performance Monitor and connects to the file server.

With these facts in mind, answer the following questions:

1. How does James generate performance logs that help him analyze disk, network, processor, and memory resource usage on the server, both when problems are occurring and when performance is normal?

2. James knows roughly when problems started to occur. How can he check what applications were installed or upgraded at that time?

3. Recently, a number of your users have had problems downloading files and e-mail because the space on their local disks had reached a critical limit. James needs to create a proactive method of identifying low disk space problems on computers running Windows 7 on the Tailspin Toys network so he can ask his desktop support technicians to free disk space on client computers before critical limits are reached. How does he monitor client computers for low disk space events?

Case Scenario 2: Troubleshooting Performance Issues on a Client Computer

James is troubleshooting performance issues on a client running Windows 7 at Wingtip Toys. This is normally a desktop support job, but the computer belongs to the CEO, so James needs to do the job himself and come up with some quick solutions.

With these facts in mind, answer the following questions:

1. James runs Task Manager and finds that one of the two processors on the computer is heavily used whereas the second is hardly used at all. He checks the records and finds that one of his team had installed the second processor retrospectively because the CEO had heard that another processor would improve performance on her computer. How does James ensure the processor resource is properly used?

2. James needs to quickly scan events in the event logs that are specifically related to performance. He knows he can create filters and custom views, but this would take time, and he needs answers now. How does James quickly access the appropriate events?

3. The CEO has a habit of pulling her USB flash memory device out of her computer without using the Safe Removal applet, especially when she is in a hurry. She has previously lost data on the USB device, but when a CEO loses data, it is (of course) the fault of technical support, not the CEO. How should James minimize the risk of data loss on the USB device?