System Insights- Understanding Monitoring

System Insights is a feature in Windows Server 2019/2022 that uses predictive analytics to analyze previous usage trends and predict future resource usage.

You can manage System Insights by using a Windows Admin Center extension or by using PowerShell. System Insights lets you configure each predictive capability separately in order to meet your needs. Using the Windows Admin Center dashboard allows you to view System Insights to display the four default capabilities as shown in Figure 16.39:

        CPU capacity forecasting

         Networking capacity forecasting

         Total storage consumption forecasting

         Volume consumption forecasting

FIGURE 16.39 System Insights on the Window Admin Center dashboard

System Insights runs locally on Windows Server, where all of the data is collected, preserveed, and analyzed and then predictions and forecasts are made. It collects and stores up to a year’s worth of data. If you want to keep your data when upgrading the operating system, make sure that you use an in- place upgrade to retain that information. System Insights is available on any Windows Server 2019/2022 instance and runs on both host and guest machines, on any hypervisor, and in any cloud.

You can install System Insights by using the extension within Windows Admin Center, using Server Manager by adding the System Insights feature, or by using PowerShell using the following cmdlet:

Add- WindowsFeature System- Insights – IncludeManagementTools

For a complete list of cmdlets and parameters that can be used with System Insights using PowerShell, check out Microsoft’s website at http://learn.microsoft.com/en- us/ powershell/module/systeminsights/?view=windowsserver2022- ps.

Summary

Each capability can be either enabled or disabled. When you disable a capability, it will prevent that capability from being invoked. Invoked means that the capability will present an output that explains the results of the analysis or prediction. All capabilities are enabled by default. By selecting a capability in Windows Admin Center, you can modify the settings by selecting either the Enable or the Disable button.

Each capability will display an output that shows the status and status description. The status description provides an explanation for the given status. The capability statuses are:

Ok Everything looks good.

Warning No immediate attention required, but you should take a look.

Critical You should take a look soon.

Error An unknown problem caused the capability to fail.

None No prediction was made. This could be due to a lack of data or any other capability- specific reason for not making a prediction.

Summary

This chapter began with a discussion of server optimization and reliability, including many tools that can help you monitor and manage your systems and the basics of troubleshooting your network in times of disaster.

Monitoring performance on servers is imperative to rooting out any issues that may affect your network. If your systems are not running at their best, your end users may experience issues such as latency, or worse, you may experience corruption in your network data. Either way, it’s important to know how to monitor the performance of your servers. We also looked at ways you can optimize the operations of your servers to ensure that your end users experience adequate performance.

You also examined how to use the various performance-r elated tools that are included with Windows Server 2022. Tools such as Performance Monitor, Task Manager, Resource Monitor, Windows Admin Center, and Event Viewer can help you diagnose and troubleshoot system performance issues. These tools will help you find typical problems related to memory, disk space, and any other hardware-r elated issues you may experience.

Knowing how to use tools to troubleshoot and test your systems is imperative, not only to passing the exams but also to performing your duties at work. To have a smoothly running network environment, it is vital that you understand the issues related to the reliability and performance of your network servers and domain controllers.

Exam Essentials

Understand the methodology behind troubleshooting performance. By following a set of steps that involves making measurements and finding bottlenecks, you can systematically troubleshoot performance problems.

Be familiar with the features and capabilities of the Windows Server 2022 Performance Monitor tool for troubleshooting performance problems. The Performance Monitor administrative tool is a powerful method for collecting data about all areas of system performance. Through the use of performance objects, counters, and instances, you can choose to collect and record only the data of interest and use this information for pinpointing performance problems.

Know the importance of common performance counters. Several important performance- related counters deal with general system performance. Know the importance of monitoring memory, print server, CPU, and network usage on a busy server.

Understand the role of other troubleshooting tools. Windows Task Manager, SNMP, and

Event Viewer can all be used to diagnose and troubleshoot configuration- and performance- related issues.

Understand how to troubleshoot common sources of server reliability problems. Windows Server 2022 has been designed to be a stable, robust, and reliable operating system. Should you experience intermittent failures, you should know how to troubleshoot device drivers and buggy system- level software.

Know how to work with the Windows Admin Center and working with System Insights. Windows Admin Center is a locally deployed, browser-b ased management tool that lets you manage your Windows Servers with no Azure or cloud dependency. It gives you full control over all aspects of your server infrastructure and is helpful for managing servers on private networks that are not connected to the Internet. I discussed how to use the Windows Admin Center to deploy a gateway server and how to configure a target machine as well as work with System Insights.

Know how to configure PowerShell Remoting, configure JEA for PowerShell Remoting, and work with second- hop remoting. PowerShell remoting allows you to run any Windows PowerShell command on one or more remote computers. I discussed how to configure PowerShell Remoting and work with second- hop remoting using CredSSP, Kerberos delegation, and Just Enough Administration (JEA) for PowerShell.

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