Updated Server Performance Advisor

Version 2.0 of the Server Performance Advisor (SPA), a free tool that helps administrators monitor the workload of various Windows Server 2003 services and subsystems (such as the file system, networking, or processor) and generate diagnostic reports for single or multiple servers, is available. The new version includes better data management, trend reporting, and support for additional server roles, which help isolate the root cause of performance problems. Although SPA can help analyze performance problems to discover their causes, it does not manage systems. For management of systems and alert-based reporting, customers should consider Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM).

What SPA Does

SPA typically records short periods of activity measured in seconds or minutes rather than hours. SPA then analyzes the data it collects to discover the components and requests that created high loads on the system during that period. By analyzing the interactions among performance, event data, and configuration information from the Registry, and comparing them with rules that describe known or possible problems, the SPA can advise administrators on steps that could resolve performance problems for specific server roles, such as Active Directory, Internet Information System (IIS), Terminal Services, SQL Server, and the print spooler. (For an illustration, see “SPA Overview Report“).