One of the most frustrating and time consuming tasks for an IT professional is the time spent analyzing and trying to make sense of performance counter log files. With all the various server roles within an IT infrastructure and the thousands of counters associated with these, it is difficult to be proficient, let alone an expert, on analyzing the information generated.
Thanks to PAL you may not have to be anymore. The Performance Analysis of Logs or PAL tool is a free offering from Microsoft’s CodePlex site. PAL reads performance counter logs, analyzes them and reports on the thresholds using HTML based reports. These reports use graphical charts to represent the counters and sends alerts when the preset thresholds are exceeded.
These preset threshold counters are being added to constantly but most major Microsoft products are already part of PAL such as: Exchange, IIS, Active Directory, SQL Server and MOSS. PAL also allows you to create your own threshold counters as well. HTML based reports can be copied and pasted into other applications as well.
This simple and easy to setup and configure tool can save you hours of tedious Admin work. Work that needs to be done, but never needs to be painful. Download PAL and start spending time on more important things…. like playing Burnout Paradise.
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Ron Barrett, Director of e-Strategy for ClipTraining , is an independent trainer, author and consultant. He has been a technology professional for over 12 years, working for several major financial services firms and dotcoms. Ron is a specialist in network infrastructure, security, and IT management. He is the author of Office Communications Server 2007 R2: How-To , as well as co-author of Windows Server 2008: How-To and The Administrator’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers. Ron has been a co-author or technical editor for several other books on Windows administration. Along with book writing, Ron has contributed to several industry magazines such as Redmond, Datamation and Windows IT Pro. Beyond writing, Ron has spoken at several technology conferences for CPAmerica, AICPA and MCP’s TECHMENTOR. Recently Ron has joined ClipTraining as the Director of e-Strategy in an effort to further the company’s presence via the Internet and social networking channels.
Ron's latest book, Windows Server 2008 How-To has been selected as the September 2009 book giveaway on Microsoft Subnet. To enter the monthly book giveaway, visit the Microsoft Subnet home page.
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