Yo - harryb here - author of 'da purple bookage. I hold a daily virtual book reading right here! Today we look at performance monitoring secrets inside SBS 2003!

 

c heers...harrybbbb

Harry Brelsford, CEO at smb nation www.smbnation.com

M icrosoft Small Business Specialist SBSC, MBA, MCSE, MCT, MCP, CNE, CLSE, CNP

PS - did u know I host an annual conference in Seattle each october for SBSers and SMB consultants? This year we help launch SBS 2008 and Essential Business Server (EBS) between October 4-6!

 

Oh-oh. A toot of ye’ olde horn here. With Eduardo’s permission, I’m proud as a peacock to let you know that I suggested the improved reply to customer functionality in the performance monitoring area and my suggestions were incorporated into SBS 2003. As previously mentioned, Eduardo is the hip program manager on the SBS 2003 development team who owns the performance monitoring area.

By the way, it’s also acceptable to report that things are not well, such as the tape backup failed. SBS customers can handle bad news. It’s more important that they receive it rapidly and straight up. Then you can go solve the problem.

SPRINGE RS time: Go ahead and reply to the SPR e-mail you have in the Inbox. Tell NormH that all is well and life is good. Be the bearer of good news (a rarity for many technical professionals who only appear in public when trouble arrives).

As promised, let’s also look at the Server Usage Report. You’ll recall this was configured in the Configure Monitoring Wizard procedure (step 4 earlier in the chapter). You elected to have the report generated every two weeks at that time. The report, shown in Figure 12-9, is focused on real-world stuff (not deep MCSE-like statistics).

Notes:

Chapter 12 ☛ Monitoring SBS 2003

Figure 12-9

The Server Usage Report can be viewed in both the Server Management console (shown) and e-mail. .

Notes:

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Table 12-1 provides specifics on what the Server Usage Report displays.

Table 12-1: Server Usage Report Details

 

Area Monitored

Specific Reading

Description

Web Activity by Computer

Computer Name

Lists the computers thatmade at least one connection to the Internet during thespecified reporting period.

 

Total Active Hours

Specifies the total number ofhours spent on the Internetduring the specified reportingperiod. Each five-minutetime period of the day iscounted as active if there are one or more hits during thattime period.

 

Average Active Hours per Day

Specifies the average numberof hours spent on the Internetper day during the reportingperiod.

Web Traffic by Hour

Hour

Lists hourly intervals for thereporting period specified inthe usage report.

 

Total Connections

Specifies the total number ofconnections made, by hour,to the Web, during thereporting period.

 

Average Connections per Day

Specifies the average numberof connections made, byhour, to the Web each day.

E-mail Sent

User Name

Lists all user names that sent at least one e-mail during thereporting period.

Internal E-mail

Specifies the total numberand size of e-mail messagessent to an internal address during the specified reportingperiod.

External E-mail

Specifies the total numberand size of e-mail messagessent to an external address during the reporting period.

 

Chapter 12 ☛ Monitoring SBS 2003

 

 

Total E-mail Sent

Specifies the total numberand size of e-mail messagessent during the reportingperiod.

E-mail Received

User Name

Lists all user names that received at least one e-mail during the reporting period.

 

Internal E-mail

Specifies the total numberand size of e-mail messagesreceived from an internal address during the specifiedreporting period.

 

External E-mail

Specifies the total numberand size of e-mail messagesreceived from an external address during the reportingperiod.

 

Total E-mail Received

Specifies the total numberand size of e-mail messagesreceived during the reportingperiod.

Mailbox Size

User Name

Lists all user names with a mailbox.

 

Starting Size (MB)

Specifies the size of a user’smailbox at the start of the reporting period.

 

Ending Size (MB)

Specifies the size of a user’smailbox at the end of the reporting period.

 

Rate of Change

Specifies the percentage ofincrease or decrease in the mailbox size from the start to the end of the specified date range.

Outlook Web Access Activity by User

User Name

Lists all user names that visited the Outlook Web Access site at least once during the reporting period.

Visits

Specifies the number of visitsa user made to an Outlook Web Access site during thereporting period. Each five-minute period of the day is

 

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counted as one visit if there are one or more hits duringthat time period. The listincludes only users who sentat least one e-mail messageduring the reporting period.

Average Visits per Day

Specifies the average numberof visits per day, by user, toan Outlook Web Access site.

Outlook Web Access by Hour

Hour

Lists the hourly intervals forthe reporting periodspecified in the usage report.

 

Total Visits

Specifies the total number ofvisits to an Outlook Web Access site for all users during the specified reportingperiod.

 

Average Visits per Day

Specifies the average numberof visits per day, by hour, toan Outlook Web Access site. For each user, each five-minute period of the day iscounted as one visit if there are one or more hits duringthat reporting period.

Remote Connection Activity by User

User Name

Lists all user names that established a remote connection to the server at least once during thereporting period.

 

Total Connections

Specifies the total number ofconnections made to the server, by user, during thereporting period.

 

Average Time

Specifies the averageduration of connections made during the reporting period.

 

Average Connections per Day

Specifies the average numberof connections made to the server per day, by user.

Remote Connection Activity by Hour

Hour

Lists the hourly intervals forthe reporting period specifiedin the usage report.

 

Chapter 12 ☛ Monitoring SBS 2003

 

 

Total Connections

Specifies the total number ofconnections made to the server, by all users, by hour,during the reporting period.

Average Connections per Day

Specifies the average numberof connections made to the server per day, by all users,by hour.

Faxes Sent

To

Lists all fax numbers to which at least one fax was sent during the reportingperiod.

 

Total Faxes

Specifies the total number offaxes sent to a particularnumber during the specifiedtime period.

 

Average Size (Pages)

Specifies the average numberof pages per fax sent to aparticular phone numberduring the reporting period.

 

Average Time

Specifies the averageduration of each fax sent.

 

Average Faxes Sent per Day

Specifies the average numberof faxes sent per day to aparticular number.

Faxes Received

From

Lists all fax numbers from which faxes were received during the reporting period.

Total Faxes

Specifies the total number offaxes received from a particular number during thespecified time period.

Average Size (Pages)

Specifies the average numberof pages per fax receivedfrom a particular phonenumber during the reportingperiod.

Average Time

Specifies the averageduration of each fax received from a particular phonenumber during the reportingperiod.

 

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Averages Faxes Received per Day

Specifies the average numberof faxes received per dayfrom a particular number.

Faxes Sent by User

User Name

Lists all user names that sent at least one fax during thereporting period.

 

Total Faxes

Specifies the total number offaxes each user sent duringthe reporting period.

 

Average Size (Pages)

Specifies the average numberof pages per fax sent by eachuser during the reportingperiod.

 

Average Time

Specifies the averageduration of each fax sent.

 

Average Faxes Sent per Day

Specifies the average numberof faxes each user sent perday.

Fax Traffic by Hour

Hour

Lists the hourly intervals forthe reporting period specifiedin the usage report.

Total Faxes

Specifies the total number offaxes sent and received during the reporting period.

Average Faxes per Day

Specifies the average numberof faxes sent and received each day, by hour.

 

I close this interpretation section with a final thought. You’ll be the best judge of what values are valid, germane, and correct as you work with SBS 2003 over time. You’ll learn to detect false alarms along the way and you’ll know a double­911 emergency when you see it. The point is to use these cool server monitoring tools in SBS 2003 and make ‘em work for your individual situation. So go forth, dig into these cool reports, such as the business owner’s report (log on as NormH at PRESIDENT and launch Outlook 2003 to view), use the usage reporting stuff (wait two weeks for this to be generated and then come back and take a look-see), and so on.

Chapter 12 ☛ Monitoring SBS 2003

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