New Features in Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor
Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista
Data Collector Sets
An important new feature in Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor is the Data Collector Set, which groups data collectors into reusable elements for use with different performance monitoring scenarios. Once a group of data collectors is stored as a Data Collector Set, operations such as scheduling can be applied to the entire set through a single property change.
Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor also includes default Data Collector Set templates to help system administrators begin collecting performance data specific to a server role or monitoring scenario immediately.
Wizards and templates for creating logs
You can now add counters to log files and schedule their start, stop, and duration through a Wizard interface. In addition, you can save this configuration as a template to collect the same log on subsequent computers without repeating the data collector selection and scheduling processes. Performance Logs and Alerts features have been incorporated into the Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor for use with any Data Collector Set.
Resource View
The home page of Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor is the new Resource View screen, which provides a real-time graphical overview of CPU, disk, network, and memory usage. By expanding each of these monitored elements, system administrators can identify which processes are using which resources. In previous versions of Windows, this real-time process-specific data was only available in limited form in Task Manager.
Reliability Monitor
Reliability Monitor calculates a System Stability Index that reflects whether unexpected problems reduced the reliability of the system. A graph of the Stability Index over time quickly identifies dates when problems began to occur. The accompanying System Stability Report provides details to help troubleshoot the root cause of reduced reliability. By viewing changes to the system (installation or removal of applications, updates to the operating system, or addition or modification of drivers) side by side with failures (application failures, operating system crashes, or hardware failures), you can develop a strategy for addressing the issues.
Unified property configuration for all data collection, including scheduling
Whether you are creating a Data Collector Set for one-time use or to log activity on an ongoing basis, the interface for creation, scheduling, and modification is the same. If a Data Collector Set proves to be useful for future performance monitoring, it does not need to be recreated. You can reconfigure it or copy it as a template.
User-friendly diagnosis reports
Users of Server Performance Advisor in Windows Server 2003 can now find the same kinds of diagnosis reports in Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor in Windows Vista. Report generation time is improved and reports can be created from data collected with any Data Collector Set. This enables system administrators to repeat reports and assess how changes have affected performance or the report recommendations.