Collecting the Data

Windows Media Services has built-in data-collection and reporting capabilities and makes use of other data collection features in Windows Server 2003. Here are some of the reporting options that are provided by default:

Windows Media Performance Monitor reports

These reports use performance counters that are available at both the server and publishing point level of your Windows Media servers. Performance Monitor can be used for real-time monitoring and historical reporting purposes.

WMS Unicast Client Usage Logs

These are log files that are created by the WMS Client Logging plug-in. These logs can be created for either an entire server or an individual publishing point.

WMS Multicast Client Usage Logs

These are log files that are created by the Multicast and Advertisement Logging Agent which is an ISAPI plug-in that can be used with IIS 6.0 to report on multicast client usage.

WMS Cache/proxy Server Logs

These are log files that are created by the WMS Client Logging plug-in on a cache/proxy server. These log files can be retained on the cache/proxy server or sent to the origin server.

Using Performance Monitor Reports

Performance Monitor uses a set of specialized counters for real-time reporting. These counters collect data that is similar to what is reported in the Windows Media log files, so comparing the two could be informative.

Windows Media Services provides two sets of performance counters that you can use to monitor Windows Media servers and publishing points. To access these counters from your Windows Media server, navigate the console tree and click the server or publishing point that you want to monitor. In the details pane, click the Monitor tab, click the Performance Monitor button at the bottom of the screen, and then add or remove counters from the monitor to suit your specific needs. Figure 23.1 shows the Performance Monitor button, which is indicated by a rectangular outline.

Figure 23.1: Click the Performance Monitor button to view reports.

Because they want an historical report of streaming activity, the Fabrikam technicians choose the following counters for their report:

• Total Connected Players. This statistic reports how many users connected to the server or publishing point.

• Total UDP Resend Requests. This statistic reports the number of times a client has requested that the server resend packets because they were not received. Resend requests can be high when the server cannot send UDP packets reliably or if network overload is preventing packets from being delivered.

• Total Stream Errors. This statistic reports how many errors, such as dropped packets, occurred during streaming. A high number can indicate poor stream quality.

• Total Stream Denials. This statistic reports the number of stream data packets discarded by the server. Discarding occurs when the CPU cannot keep up with the demand for data. This typically occurs in conjunction with late reads and can indicate too much network or disk traffic.

Many other counters for both the server and publishing point are available as well. For example, these counters are useful for diagnosing problems on a server:

• %Processor Time. This is the percentage of CPU time that is used to execute non-idle threads. If the server is consistently at a level of 85 percent or higher, then it may indicate the need for a faster CPU.

• Current Late Read Rate. This is a disk read operation that takes significantly longer than expected to complete. If this number is greater than 0, then it may indicate that the disk drive is too slow for the load.

• Current Late Send Rate. This is a disk write operation that indicates when the server is unable to send out data at the rate that is expected. A sustained late send rate could mean that you need faster or additional CPUs.

• Total UDP Resends Sent. This should be similar in number to UDP Resend Requests. If this number is significantly lower than UDP Resend Requests, then it may indicate that the server load is too high.

See appendix B for a complete list of Windows Media performance counters that are available for both the server and publishing points.

Once you have selected the counters you want to use, it is easy to create a Performance Monitor report. To create the report, open Windows Media Performance Monitor, and then click View Report. The report is displayed and can be printed. The total counters were used by Fabrikam because this is an overall historical report; current and peak counters may be added if they are of interest.