Server Health Checks - 1
When I’m troubleshooting I
like to compartmentalize what I’m looking for. With that my health checks
are set up the same way. I also believe health checks are quick snapshots
of the health of a server. Sure there are tools that you can use to
analyze systems further but in this case we are doing a quick health
check. Not all of these need to be done but some should, you get to
decide.
CPU
Occasional high CPU spikes
are ok as long as you are aware of the process causing this. A server should
maintain 80% CPU utilization for an extended period of time. If it does
it may be time to upgrade. Its a good idea to keep Task Manager open
during the duration of your troubleshooting to see trends.
Check
CPU Usage
1. Open Task Manager
2. Check the Processes tab, ensure there are no processes consuming
excessive CPU
3. Check the Performance tab, ensure there are no single CPU’s that
have excessive CPU usage
Check
CPU HW
1. Open Device Manager (right click computer –> Manage)
2. Ensure that no CPU’s have red X or yellow ! underneath the
Processors
Processes
This is one area that you may not want to do for quick health
checks but is something you should be familiar with. Task Manager only
gives you basic info on processes and you will find that you may need to dig a
bit deeper. For that I recommend Process Monitorfrom the great SysInternal tools. Process Explorer can also be used. In fact download
and play with all these tools…they will save your bacon, I guarantee it.
In-Depth
Check
SysInternals:
SysInternals:
Copy Process
Monitor locally,
then launch it.
1. Analyze each process and watch what operations open the reg
keys, file etc.
Copy Process
Explorer locally,
then launch it.
1. Analyze each process based upon the number of threads, handles,
loaded DLL’s, etc.
Two great webcasts can be
viewed here to see these types of tools in action.
Memory
General rule of thumb is to
make sure the general memory utilization does not exceed 80%within a given
period of time.
Check
Memory Availability
1. Open Task Manager
2. Select the Performance tab
3. Look at the Physical memory box, and multiply the total memory
by .2
4. If the total available memory is less than this number then the
box is currently utilizing more than 80 percent of the memory.
Current
utilization by process
1. Select the Process tab
2. Check the ‘show processes from all users’ box in the bottom left
corner
3. Click the column header ‘Mem Usage’ to sort the processes by
memory utilization, highest to lowest. This will help you determine what
processes are currently utilizing the memory on the box and can help you narrow
your search for memory intensive processes.
Network
Check
NIC HW
1. Verify both ends of the network cable are securely seated in the
port
2. On the back of the server verify you have a green blinking link
light on the NIC port
3. Verify NIC HW is working properly by using Device Manager and
ensure the active NICs are showing green
4. Verify gateway, IP, subnet mask, DNS, DNS suffixes, etc. are properly
configured.
5. If everything is properly configured and HW is working, you
should be able to get a ping response from the gateway.
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