Using Data Collector Sets in Windows 2008 to gather Windows performance (perfmon) data

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

With Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2 guest operating systems, you may need to troubleshoot performance issues by gathering and analyzing performance data. These operating systems introduce the concept of the Data Collector Set, for collecting performance data, as well as the ability to generate reports based on this data.

 

Although Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2 contain a variety of built-in Data Collector Sets, depending on the server's roles, steps in this article help you create a Data Collector Set in binary format to diagnose performance issues. This article also suggests some counters that are useful in most situations.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x

Resolution

To create a Data Collector Set:

1. Log in to your Windows 2008 or 2008 R2 virtual machines with administrative credentials.
2. Launch Server Manager. Click Start > Server Manager.
3. Expand Diagnostics > Reliability and Performance > Data Collector Sets.
4. Right-click the User Defined folder and click New > Data Collector Set.
5. Give your Data Collector Set a descriptive name, select Create manually (Advanced), then click Next.
6. Under Create data logs, select Performance Counter, then click Next.
7. To add the counters you want to work with, select the counter, then click Add. Here is a list of suggested counters:
8. • Cache
   • Memory
   • Network Interface
   • Objects
   • Paging File
   • Physical Disk
   • Process
   • Processor
   • Redirector
   • Server
   • Server Work Queues
   • System
   • Thread
     
     
9. Click OK.
10. Select a Sample interval (based on problem occurrence). For performance problems, an interval between 5 and 15 seconds is typically appropriate. Click Next.
11. Select a path for the data files to be saved.
12. Click Start this data collector set now > Finish. The Data Collector Set has now started collecting data. You can browse to the location you selected for the files to ensure that a file of type Performance Monitor has been created.
    
    Note: To stop the Data Collector Set, right-click the Data Collector Set under User Defined and click Stop). If you stop the Data Collector Set, the file will no longer be empty.

With the binary file created, you can view a report on the Data Collector Set. Under Server Manager > Diagnostics > Reliability and Performance > Reports > User Defined, expand your Data Collector Set, right-click on the first available data under it, and select Report.

Additional Information

Collecting the Windows Perfmon log data to diagnose virtual machine performance issues