A hotfix that lets you diagnose mini-filter-based performance issues in Windows Server 2008 R2 is available

Article ID: 2666390 - View products that this article applies to.
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Introduction

This article introduces a new feature for Windows Server 2008 R2. After you install this hotfix, a logging mechanism is added to Filter Manager. This mechanism lets you diagnose mini-filter-based performance issues.
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Resolution

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this article. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft website:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support
(http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)
Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must be running Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

For more information about how to obtain a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 service pack, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
976932
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976932/ )
Information about Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2

Registry information

To apply the hotfix in this package, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace a previously released hotfix.

File information

The global version of this hotfix installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.
Windows Server 2008 R2 file information notes
Important Windows 7 hotfixes and Windows Server 2008 R2 hotfixes are included in the same packages. However, hotfixes on the Hotfix Request page are listed under both operating systems. To request the hotfix package that applies to one or both operating systems, select the hotfix that is listed under "Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2" on the page. Always refer to the "Applies To" section in articles to determine the actual operating system that each hotfix applies to.
  • The files that apply to a specific product, SR_Level (RTM, SPn), and service branch (LDR, GDR) can be identified by examining the file version numbers as shown in the following table.
    Collapse this tableExpand this table
    VersionProductSR_LevelService branch
    6.1.760 1 . 21xxxWindows Server 2008 R2SP1LDR
  • The MANIFEST files (.manifest) and the MUM files (.mum) that are installed for each environment are listed separately in the "Additional file information for Windows Server 2008 R2" section. MUM and MANIFEST files, and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are extremely important to maintain the state of the updated components. The security catalog files, for which the attributes are not listed, are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.
For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2
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File nameFile versionFile sizeDateTimePlatform
Fltmgr.sys6.1.7601.21910288,62428-Jan-201206:37x64
Ntoskrnl.exe6.1.7601.219105,561,20028-Jan-201206:37x64
Ntkrnlpa.exe6.1.7601.219103,972,46428-Jan-201206:18Not applicable
Ntoskrnl.exe6.1.7601.219103,916,65628-Jan-201206:18Not applicable
For all supported IA-64–based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2
Collapse this tableExpand this table
File nameFile versionFile sizeDateTimePlatform
Fltmgr.sys6.1.7601.21910626,03228-Jan-201205:37IA-64
Ntoskrnl.exe6.1.7601.2191011,130,22428-Jan-201205:37IA-64
Ntkrnlpa.exe6.1.7601.219103,972,46428-Jan-201206:18Not applicable
Ntoskrnl.exe6.1.7601.219103,916,65628-Jan-201206:18Not applicable
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Status

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
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More information

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
824684
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824684/ )
Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates
Currently, it is impossible to identify whether a mini-filter driver causes decreased performance on a computer.

In Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2, the Fltmgr.sys driver in the file system stack enables file system filter drivers to be written as mini-filter drivers instead of full-filter drivers. This behavior prevents issues from occuring in operating systems that have lots of filter drivers. The Fltmgr.sys driver is an interface between the file system and the mini-filter drivers. Most operations are performed in the mini-filter driver. Because of the interface design, and because the Fltmgr.sys driver does not log events that can be read by current performance monitoring tools(for example, Xperf.exe), these tools cannot identify which mini-filters cause decreased performance. Therefore, the tools incorrectly determine that the performance decrease is caused by the Fltmgr.sys driver instead of the mini-filter driver. Therefore, you must remove or update suspect mini-filter drivers to troubleshoot this kind of issue.

After you apply the hotfix, you can find the name of a mini-filter that is causing performance problems on your computer. To obtain and display the data, download the latest Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) and install the Windows Performance Toolkit. To download the Windows ADK, go to the following Microsoft website:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=28997

To run a trace, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, type command prompt in the Search box, and then click Command Prompt in the list of results.
  2. At the command prompt, type the following command and then press Enter:
    • XPERF -on PROC_THREAD+LOADER+FLT_IO_INIT+FLT_IO+FLT_FASTIO+FLT_IO_FAILURE+FILENAME -stackwalk MiniFilterPreOpInit+MiniFilterPostOpInit

      Note This command starts a trace by using the memory as a buffer.
    • XPERF -start -f <traceFile>.etl -on PROC_THREAD+LOADER+FLT_IO_INIT+FLT_IO+FLT_FASTIO+FLT_IO_FAILURE+FILENAME -stackwalk MiniFilterPreOpInit+MiniFilterPostOpInit

      Note       This command starts a trace by using <traceFile>.etl as a buffer to save memory. <traceFile>.etl is the file that is used as a backing store to store trace data, such as C:\temp\fltmgr.etl. You can add the +FILENAME switch if you want to log filenames of the files that the mini-filter is operating on.
To stop the trace and flush data to the trace file, type the following command and then press Enter:
Xperf –stop –d <mergedTrace>.etl
Note <mergedTrace>.etl is the final file which contains all trace information. <mergedTrace>.etl must be different from <traceFile>.etl.

For more information about the Xperf command, type xperf –help, and then press Enter.

To view the trace file, click <mergedTrace>.etl.

To view the mini-filter data, follow these steps:
  1. Locate the Graph Explorer pane on the left side of Windows Performance Analyzer.
  2. Expand the Storage node to show Mini-Filter Delays.
  3. Right-click the Mini-Filter Delays area, then select Add to New Analysis View.
A tabular view of data is displayed. This data lists statistics, such as Mini-Filter Driver, Stack, Duration, Major Function Name, and File Name. You can use this data to determine mini-filter delays.

Additional file information

Additional file information for Windows Server 2008 R2

Additional files for all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2
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File nameAmd64_9ca7de92a25d7579695f4856658aa8f8_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_f5171d406a83b12b.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size699
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)10:24
PlatformNot applicable
File nameAmd64_a690954e89ffbf145fd6a6f17d4b71ef_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_fb3a951037b9687b.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size701
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)10:24
PlatformNot applicable
File nameAmd64_e31762c757537024af8e99dc1712a304_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_e3599b8f5179a22a.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size710
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)10:24
PlatformNot applicable
File nameAmd64_eea1986a88144865204b564aa866360a_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_e6e30a8e80ac8b90.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size1,042
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)10:24
PlatformNot applicable
File nameAmd64_microsoft-windows-filtermanager-core_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_6fb519b65a8ccda9.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size10,681
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)07:25
PlatformNot applicable
File nameAmd64_microsoft-windows-os-kernel_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_cadc0864e3e3ce8c.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size15,291
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)07:36
PlatformNot applicable
File nameX86_microsoft-windows-os-kernel_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_6ebd6ce12b865d56.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size16,151
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)07:00
PlatformNot applicable
Additional files for all supported IA-64–based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2
Collapse this tableExpand this table
File nameIa64_819ec2d2796d43fbea487e4ba95e03bc_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_8613b85f6a3306d8.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size1,040
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)10:24
PlatformNot applicable
File nameIa64_b8ffd154ddb8849854f1602e21dfbb5c_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_784fabcad55bbfd0.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size708
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)10:24
PlatformNot applicable
File nameIa64_microsoft-windows-filtermanager-core_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_13982228a22d656f.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size10,679
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)07:16
PlatformNot applicable
File nameIa64_microsoft-windows-os-kernel_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_6ebf10d72b846652.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size15,289
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)07:21
PlatformNot applicable
File nameX86_microsoft-windows-os-kernel_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.21910_none_6ebd6ce12b865d56.manifest
File versionNot applicable
File size16,151
Date (UTC)28-Jan-2012
Time (UTC)07:00
PlatformNot applicable
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Properties

Article ID: 2666390 - Last Review: January 4, 2013 - Revision: 6.0
Applies to
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1, when used with:
    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter
    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation
    • Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems
    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard
Keywords: 
kbautohotfix kbqfe kbhotfixserver kbfix kbsurveynew kbexpertiseadvanced KB2666390
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