How to: Create a Performance Log
To monitor an instance of Notification Services, you can create a performance log containing data from the Notification Services performance objects. Use the following procedure to create a new performance log.
To create a performance log
On the Start menu, point to Programs or All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Performance.
In the Windows Performance tool, expand Performance Logs and Alerts, right-click Counter Logs, and then click New Log Settings.
Type a name for the counter log, and then click OK.
Click Add Counters.
In the Performance object box, select a performance object you want to monitor. The names of Notification Services performance counters start with NS$instanceName.
Add as many counters as necessary for your Notification Services instance and other important values, such as processor time, disk time, and database counters.
The number of counters you add does not have a significant impact on system performance.
When you have finished adding counters, click Close.
On the General tab, under Sample data every, configure a sampling interval: start with a moderate sampling interval, such as 5 minutes, and then adjust the interval if necessary.
The shorter the interval, the more system resources and disk space is used. Additionally, intervals shorter than the quantum period can cause a performance report to show sporadic performance numbers, because you will have processing spikes mixed with no activity.
On the Log Files tab, configure the properties of the log file. Comma-delimited files can be viewed later in reporting tools such as Microsoft Excel.
On the Schedule tab, configure a monitoring schedule.
Click OK to create the performance log.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Access Notification Services Performance Objects
Concepts
Monitoring Notification Services Performance and Activity
Other Resources
Managing Performance How-to Topics (Notification Services)