The key to monitoring Windows Server performance lies in the rational use of the system's own and third-party tools. First, use the Task Manager to quickly view the real-time usage of CPU, memory and disks; second, set counters through Performance Monitor (PerfMon) to achieve long-term data recording and trend analysis; second, resource monitors can help identify resource consumption bottlenecks in specific processes; finally, deploy third-party tools such as PRTG, SolarWinds, Zabbix or Nagios to achieve centralized monitoring and automatic alarms.

Monitoring Windows Server performance is a critical step to ensure the stable operation of the server. In fact, it is not difficult, but many administrators tend to ignore some details, which leads to problems that only when they find that the resources have been in high load state for a long time.

Quick view of basic metrics using Task Manager

If you just want to quickly understand the server's current CPU, memory, or disk usage, Task Manager is the most straightforward tool. Press Ctrl Shift Esc to open Task Manager, switch to the Performance tab, you can see:

• CPU usage : More than 80% It needs attention for a while
• Memory usage : If the available memory is less than 10% for a long time, you may need to increase RAM or optimize the program.
• Disk activity : Pay special attention to the read and write speed and queue depth of the system disk (usually C disk)

This method is suitable for temporary inspection and is not suitable for long-term monitoring.

Performance Monitor (PerfMon) for detailed analysis

For more in-depth performance monitoring, Windows' own performance monitor (PerfMon) is a very powerful tool. You can use it to set a counter to record the usage of a specific resource.

Opening method:
Enter perfmon in Run and click Performance Monitor.

Common counters include:

• \Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time : Overall CPU usage
• \Memory\Available MBytes : Remaining memory size
• \LogicalDisk(C:)\Disk Reads/sec and \Disk Writes/sec : Disk IO situation
• \Network Interface(*)\Bytes Total/sec : Network traffic statistics

It is recommended to set up a logging function and save data regularly for trend analysis. You can also set an alarm to trigger notifications when certain metrics exceed thresholds.

Use Resource Monitor to troubleshoot bottlenecks

Resource Monitor can help you see more intuitively which processes are consuming resources. Opening method:

Search for Resource Monitor in the Start menu, or click Open Resource Monitor from the Performance page of Task Manager.

It has several key tags:

• CPU : Check the CPU usage of each process
• Memory : Displays the usage distribution of physical memory and paging files
• Disk : Lists disk access status for each process
• Network : Shows the network connection and transmission volume of each process

For example, when you find that a SQL Server process frequently accesses disk, you can see its specific behavior here and determine whether it is abnormal.

Third-party tools simplify management and alarm processes

Although the tools that come with Windows are already very comprehensive, if you want to implement centralized monitoring, historical data analysis, automatic alarms and other functions, you can consider deploying third-party tools, such as:

• PRTG Network Monitor : Supports SNMP and WMI, with a friendly interface
• SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor : Enterprise-level solution, powerful visualization
• Zabbix : Open source and flexible, suitable for teams with certain technical capabilities
• Nagios : Old-fashioned monitoring system, rich plug-ins

These tools can usually obtain data by installing clients or remotely collecting, and provide a web interface to facilitate viewing and configuring alert rules.

Basically these are the methods. Choosing the right tool combination in different scenarios can not only meet daily monitoring needs, but also quickly locate the root cause when problems arise.

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