Exam Objectives Fast Track

Understanding Performance Bottlenecks

• RAM is the one resource that most often becomes a performance bottleneck.

• A good rule of thumb is that more RAM is better.

• Virtual memory uses hard disk space to expand the apparent memory available in the system. Performance decreases as virtual memory on the disk is heavily used.

• The processor is the brain of the computer. A computer can have multiple processors.

• Disk controller technology and the use of RAID determines how fast data can be read from or written to disk.

• Defragmenting a file system can improve read and write performance.

• Running multiple network protocols decreases overall network performance.

• Modern NICs can offload some of the communication processing overhead from the CPU to the NIC, which can increase system performance.

• The use of IPSec can greatly increase the security of information as it travels on the network. Using appropriate NICs to offload IPSec processing can improve system performance.

• Full-duplex communication is desired for servers. Switches are typically required to support full-duplex communications.

• System Monitor displays information collected by counters that let you examine the performance of your system. Counters are installed by default by the operating system and some applications.

• Baselining is used to determine the average operating parameters of your system so that variations can be detected.

• Monitoring a large number of counters can impact system performance. Monitor only the necessary counters.

• Information about various events that occur in the system is collected in a number of event log files, which can be viewed using the Event Viewer utility.

• Event Viewer can be used to search the logs and filter out events you do not wish to examine.

Planning a Backup and Recovery Strategy

• Data backup is an essential part of a high-availability strategy.

• Many things can cause loss of data—from hardware and software problems to human factors.

• Good procedures are an indispensable part of a backup and restore strategy.

• The Windows Backup Utility is used to perform backups and restores, as well as to create ASR sets.

• Specific user rights and permissions are required to perform a backup or restore.

• Several different backup types exist, including normal (full), copy, differential, and incremental.

• Backup types are most effective when used in combination.

• Volume Shadow Copy is a new feature in Windows Server 2003 that allows the Windows Backup Utility to back up open files.

• Different applications and components of the operating system may have specific needs for either backup or restore.

Planning System Recovery with ASR

• ASR is a new feature of Windows Server 2003 that assists in the rapid re-creation of a server after a major failure.

• ASR is a last-resort option. Booting into Safe Mode and the Last Known Good mode should be tried before attempting an ASR restore.

• ASR sets are created from the Windows Backup Utility.

• ASR sets consist of a floppy disk and media containing the data on every partition or volume that contained system components.

• A floppy diskette is required to perform an ASR restore. The diskette contains files that describe the disk identities and structure of the system being restored.

• An ASR restore requires the ASR backup media, the ASR diskette, and the original Windows Server 2003 media.

Planning for Fault Tolerance

• Fault tolerance allows for components of a system to fail while the system continues to function.

• Fault tolerance is achieved through a combination of redundancy, efficient load distribution, proper planning, proper procedures, and training.

• Five nines refers to a system that is available 99.999 percent of the time.

• Network interfaces can be made fault tolerant by configuring multiple NICs for failover or load-balanced operation.

• Using multiple Web and proxy servers increases availability.

• Use of RAID technology can reduce or eliminate downtime caused by disk drive failure.

• Several RAID levels exist. Each RAID level is suitable for a specific type of use.

• Modern servers often have built-in redundancy, increasing their reliability.

• A UPS can prevent or reduce the downtime caused by a power failure.