HOW TO: Create an IIS Baseline by Using the Processor Object

This article provides step-by-step instructions for creating performance logs that can help you to analyze the performance of your server running Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 and Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and later. These logs may be used for troubleshooting or for obtaining a performance baseline for future notification of possible issues with your IIS server.

NOTE: Performance is best analyzed over several set time intervals. The longer the logging period, the better analysis is as to the typical baseline as opposed to the heavy baseline that your IIS server experiences.

IIS 4.0

Set up the Performance Monitor Logs

You must create two sets of logs: one for high traffic, and one for low traffic.

1. Create two folders, one to host your high traffic Performance Monitor logs (for example, C:\Perfmon\High) and one for the low traffic logs (for example, C:\Perfmon\Low).
2. Open Administrative Tools. To do this, click Start, point to Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click Performance Monitor.
3. In Performance Monitor, click View, and then click Log.
4. Add the correct counter. On the Edit menu, click Add to Log, click to select Process, and then click Add.
5. Click Done.
6. To save the log file, click Options, click Log, and then name the file Perfmon.log. Note that you must remember the path to the file so that you can schedule the log to run at certain times. For example, the path may be C:\Perfmon\High\Perfmon.log.
7. On the File menu, click Save Log Settings, and then name the file Perfmon.pml. Note that you must remember the path to the file so that you can schedule the log to run at certain times. For example, the path may be C:\Perfmon\High\Perfmon.pml.
8. Follow these steps again to set up another log and log settings.

Schedule the Log to Run at Certain Times

The following steps are provided as-is and are to be used only to provide scheduling functionality that currently does not exist on the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 operating system. Instead of following these steps, you can use any third-party product that is designed to schedule performance monitoring.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Release Date: July 3, 2002

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file. NOTE: To use the following Microsoft Visual Basic script, you must update your Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) provider for Windows NT 4.0.

1. Download Schedperf.exe.
2. Unzip Schedperf.zip in its own folder (for example, C:\Perfmon).
3. Double-click Wmicore.exe to install it.
4. After the installation is complete, open a command prompt, switch to the folder that contains the extracted files, and then start the script by using the following command:
   WSCRIPT SCHEDPERF.VBS
5. Read the warning, and then click OK.
6. Type the path to the folder where you extracted Schedperf.vbs (for example, C:\Perfmon). Make sure that you do not type a backslash (\) at the end of the path.
7. Type the time zone information. To do this, calculate the offset from the GMT time zone in minutes (for example, 420 for Pacific Standard Time during Daylight Saving Time).
8. Type the path to your high-traffic Performance Monitor logs.
9. Type the start and end time for your high-traffic Performance Monitor logs in hh:mmAM/PM format.
10. Type the path to your low-traffic Performance Monitor logs.
11. Type the start and end time for your low-traffic Performance Monitor logs in hh:mmAM/PM format.
12. Type AT at a command prompt to review the schedule entries. The JobID that is listed in the left side can be used to delete an entry. Note that these Performance Monitor logs recur daily from Monday to Sunday. You may delete them by typing AT JobID /delete at a command prompt.

The AT functionality is only one of many Windows NT 4.0 scheduling applications. You can use any scheduling program for this task.

IMPORTANT: The key to obtaining data at the correct points is to have an understanding of when your IIS server is receiving the most requests and the least requests. For more information about how to obtain this information, see the "References" section.

IIS 5.0 and Later

Set Up the Performance Monitor Logs and Schedule the Logs to Run at Certain Times

1. Open Administrative Tools. To do this, click Start, open Control Panel, and then double-click Administrative Tools.
2. Click Performance.
3. In the left pane, double-click Performance Logs and Alerts.
4. Click to select Counter Logs.
5. Right-click inside the right pane, and then click New Log Settings.
6. In the New Log Settings dialog box, type a name for the log, such as "ProcessorHigh".
7. On the General tab of the ProcessorHigh log, click Add Objects in the Counters section.
8. In the Performance Objects list, click Processor, and then click Add.
9. At the log screen, click the Schedule tab to schedule the log times to run.
10. Calculate the correct time frame, and then set the start time to one hour before this time. For example, if the peak time is from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. PST every Friday, start the log at 10:00 A.M. PST and set it to end at 2:00 P.M. PST every Friday. If the lowest usage time is from 2:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M. PST every Friday, schedule a new log (such as ProcessorLow) to run from 1:00 A.M. to 5:00 A.M. PST every Friday.
11. Repeat these steps for the other log.

If you have already gathered your data by following the steps in this article and you want to analyze your data for performance or baseline purposes, view the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about similar procedures, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: