Server Performance Advisor

I am using Server Perfromance Advisor on my Windows 2003 Domain Controllers
and noticed that two of the four DC's have considerably higher DS Search
Sub-operations/sec. Visibly it is quite significant but I am not sure where
to begin addressing this. Three of the four DC's are at different physicall
locations although my domain consists of a single site. Interestingly though
two DC's are in the same location but only one shows the reaised levels of DS
search sub-operations. It may not mean anything but the two with rasied
performance counters are physical boxes whilst the other two are VM's. Maybe
I am just tinkering and there is nothing to be done but what should I be
looking at to even out this performance counter accross all my DC's?

Howdie!

On 22.03.2010 12:27, Kevin Gallagher wrote:
> I am using Server Perfromance Advisor on my Windows 2003 Domain Controllers
> and noticed that two of the four DC's have considerably higher DS Search
> Sub-operations/sec. Visibly it is quite significant but I am not sure where
> to begin addressing this. Three of the four DC's are at different physicall
> locations although my domain consists of a single site. Interestingly though
> two DC's are in the same location but only one shows the reaised levels of DS
> search sub-operations. It may not mean anything but the two with rasied
> performance counters are physical boxes whilst the other two are VM's. Maybe
> I am just tinkering and there is nothing to be done but what should I be
> looking at to even out this performance counter accross all my DC's?

Are those DCs in question GCs or are they FSMO role owners?

Cheers,
Florian

Both are GC's but only one has any FSMO roles (PDC, RID, I).

"Florian Frommherz [MVP]" wrote:

> Howdie!
>
> On 22.03.2010 12:27, Kevin Gallagher wrote:
> > I am using Server Perfromance Advisor on my Windows 2003 Domain Controllers
> > and noticed that two of the four DC's have considerably higher DS Search
> > Sub-operations/sec. Visibly it is quite significant but I am not sure where
> > to begin addressing this. Three of the four DC's are at different physicall
> > locations although my domain consists of a single site. Interestingly though
> > two DC's are in the same location but only one shows the reaised levels of DS
> > search sub-operations. It may not mean anything but the two with rasied
> > performance counters are physical boxes whilst the other two are VM's. Maybe
> > I am just tinkering and there is nothing to be done but what should I be
> > looking at to even out this performance counter accross all my DC's?
>
> Are those DCs in question GCs or are they FSMO role owners?
>
> Cheers,
> Florian
> .
>

"Kevin Gallagher" <> wrote in message news:66597945-EB49-440B-9BF5-...
> Both are GC's but only one has any FSMO roles (PDC, RID, I).
>
> "Florian Frommherz [MVP]" wrote:
>


Searches use GCs. What may be occuring considering that you have multiple locations and all of them being under the Default-First-Site, is a GC is randomly being picked elsewhere which may not necessarily be in the same Site (location). Plus the fact you only have two GCs out of the 4 DCs you have, and the recommendation being that all DCs in a single domain/forest scenario should be GCs, then I can see what may be going on, especially that thewhole infrastructure is under one Sites. If you have Sites defined, it will use a GC in its own Site first, then eleswhere if one does not exist.

I'm willing to bet that if you made all DCs GCs (as recommended), and created IP subnet objecst, then created Sites and assocaited the appropriate subnet objects for the locations to the Site you created, you will probably see a more even performance curve among all DCs.

Sites control logon/authentication traffic, as well as replication traffic among DCs. What you may be seeing is a random pick for a GC in another site going across the WAN link. Sites will control this. Making all DCs GCs, will help for a search to use its own GC in the site. You will see Outlook GAL search improvements, as well, if you set this up correctly. You may even see user logon performance increases, too.

--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.

Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.

Ace Fekay, MVP, MCT, MCITP EA, MCTS Windows 2008 & Exchange 2007, MCSE & MCSA 2003/2000, MCSA Messaging 2003
Microsoft Certified Trainer
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services

If you feel this is an urgent issue and require immediate assistance, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.

Ace

I probably didn't make it very clear but all our four DC's are GC's. We had
a Microsoft ADRAP (AD Health Check) which concluded that even though we have
three campuses because of the speed of our connection they could be
considered a single site. Just to be clear are you recomending that I create
a separate site for each campus and dedicate a DC/GC to each one.
What I find odd is that there are two DC's at one site and only one of them
shows the raised performance counter. As a newbie how is the same DC always
being selected? Is it possible to without creating sites even out the
election process?

"Ace Fekay [MVP-DS, MCT]" wrote:

> "Kevin Gallagher" <> wrote in message news:66597945-EB49-440B-9BF5-...
> > Both are GC's but only one has any FSMO roles (PDC, RID, I).
> >
> > "Florian Frommherz [MVP]" wrote:
> >
>
>
> Searches use GCs. What may be occuring considering that you have multiple locations and all of them being under the Default-First-Site, is a GC is randomly being picked elsewhere which may not necessarily be in the same Site (location). Plus the fact you only have two GCs out of the 4 DCs you have, and the recommendation being that all DCs in a single domain/forest scenario should be GCs, then I can see what may be going on, especially that thewhole infrastructure is under one Sites. If you have Sites defined, it will use a GC in its own Site first, then eleswhere if one does not exist.
>
> I'm willing to bet that if you made all DCs GCs (as recommended), and created IP subnet objecst, then created Sites and assocaited the appropriate subnet objects for the locations to the Site you created, you will probably see a more even performance curve among all DCs.
>
> Sites control logon/authentication traffic, as well as replication traffic among DCs. What you may be seeing is a random pick for a GC in another site going across the WAN link. Sites will control this. Making all DCs GCs, will help for a search to use its own GC in the site. You will see Outlook GAL search improvements, as well, if you set this up correctly. You may even see user logon performance increases, too.
>
> --
> Ace
>
> This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.
>
> Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.
>
> Ace Fekay, MVP, MCT, MCITP EA, MCTS Windows 2008 & Exchange 2007, MCSE & MCSA 2003/2000, MCSA Messaging 2003
> Microsoft Certified Trainer
> Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
>
> If you feel this is an urgent issue and require immediate assistance, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.
> .
>

"Kevin Gallagher" <> wrote in message news:14E7B151-F4BD-4085-A2BA-...
> Ace
>
> I probably didn't make it very clear but all our four DC's are GC's. We had
> a Microsoft ADRAP (AD Health Check) which concluded that even though we have
> three campuses because of the speed of our connection they could be
> considered a single site. Just to be clear are you recomending that I create
> a separate site for each campus and dedicate a DC/GC to each one.
> What I find odd is that there are two DC's at one site and only one of them
> shows the raised performance counter. As a newbie how is the same DC always
> being selected? Is it possible to without creating sites even out the
> election process?


I see, so you have a high speed link. Sure, you can leave it all a single site, but the drawback is it will randomly pick a DC from any location. Sites control that.

As for two DCs at one site and only of them is showing an increase in the counter, keep in mind, the term 'site' in your usage is not an AD Site, so it doesn't matter in your current scenario which location they are in. DNS is used to "find" a DC/GC. You can read up on the DC Locator process to understand how that's done, but in reality, it becomes a random pick in DNS if all DCs and GCs are in the same AD Site (not location).

DC Locator Procedss
=======
How DCs are located in Sites - Dc Locator Process

The DsGetDcName and GetDcSiteList function (if I remember the function names
correctly), queries DNS for DC and site info. If there is no matching site
to the client's IP address, DNS will pick the 'closest' site based on subnet
based on subnet prioritization, and if no 'closest' subnet, it will round
robin between available sites.

It is best to create IP subnets objects for all subnets in the
infrastructure, and assign the subnet object appropriate under each site. If
you don't have a DC at a specific site, you can still assign that subnet
object to the default site so the DCs in that site will be used first.

You can also check the netlog on each dc, see if the clients at the remote site are
reporting not defined in a site by:

Start/Run, notepad.exe C:\WINDOWS\Debug\Netlogon.log
=======

Read more...

Here is more specific information about the logon process:

How DNS Support for Active Directory Works: Active DirectoryEnables a client
to locate a domain controller (dc) of the domain named ..... The process
that the Locator follows can be summarized as follows: ...
Scroll down to "Domain Controller Locator Process."
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...50(WS.10).aspx

How Domain Controllers Are Located in Windows XP_TCP.dc._msdcs.domainname.
After the client locates a domain controller, the client establishes ... To
troubleshoot the domain locator process: ...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314861

Jorge 's Quest For Knowledge! : DC Locator Process in W2K, W2K3(R2 ....This
is the 2 nd part of "DC Locator Process in W2K, W2K3(R2) and W2K8" Looking
at this all, the DC locator process as explained above still applies to ....
http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/jorge...k8-part-2.aspx


--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.

Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.

Ace Fekay, MVP, MCT, MCITP EA, MCTS Windows 2008 & Exchange 2007, MCSE & MCSA 2003/2000, MCSA Messaging 2003
Microsoft Certified Trainer
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services

If you feel this is an urgent issue and require immediate assistance, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.

Ace

Thanks for the advice on the DC Locator Process. I will look into this more
and develop a better understanding.

"Ace Fekay [MVP-DS, MCT]" wrote:

> "Kevin Gallagher" <> wrote in message news:14E7B151-F4BD-4085-A2BA-...
> > Ace
> >
> > I probably didn't make it very clear but all our four DC's are GC's. We had
> > a Microsoft ADRAP (AD Health Check) which concluded that even though we have
> > three campuses because of the speed of our connection they could be
> > considered a single site. Just to be clear are you recomending that I create
> > a separate site for each campus and dedicate a DC/GC to each one.
> > What I find odd is that there are two DC's at one site and only one of them
> > shows the raised performance counter. As a newbie how is the same DC always
> > being selected? Is it possible to without creating sites even out the
> > election process?
>
>
> I see, so you have a high speed link. Sure, you can leave it all a single site, but the drawback is it will randomly pick a DC from any location. Sites control that.
>
> As for two DCs at one site and only of them is showing an increase in the counter, keep in mind, the term 'site' in your usage is not an AD Site, so it doesn't matter in your current scenario which location they are in. DNS is used to "find" a DC/GC. You can read up on the DC Locator process to understand how that's done, but in reality, it becomes a random pick in DNS if all DCs and GCs are in the same AD Site (not location).
>
> DC Locator Procedss
> =======
> How DCs are located in Sites - Dc Locator Process
>
> The DsGetDcName and GetDcSiteList function (if I remember the function names
> correctly), queries DNS for DC and site info. If there is no matching site
> to the client's IP address, DNS will pick the 'closest' site based on subnet
> based on subnet prioritization, and if no 'closest' subnet, it will round
> robin between available sites.
>
> It is best to create IP subnets objects for all subnets in the
> infrastructure, and assign the subnet object appropriate under each site. If
> you don't have a DC at a specific site, you can still assign that subnet
> object to the default site so the DCs in that site will be used first.
>
> You can also check the netlog on each dc, see if the clients at the remote site are
> reporting not defined in a site by:
>
> Start/Run, notepad.exe C:\WINDOWS\Debug\Netlogon.log
> =======
>
> Read more...
>
> Here is more specific information about the logon process:
>
> How DNS Support for Active Directory Works: Active DirectoryEnables a client
> to locate a domain controller (dc) of the domain named ..... The process
> that the Locator follows can be summarized as follows: ...
> Scroll down to "Domain Controller Locator Process."
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...50(WS.10).aspx
>
> How Domain Controllers Are Located in Windows XP_TCP.dc._msdcs.domainname.
> After the client locates a domain controller, the client establishes ... To
> troubleshoot the domain locator process: ...
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314861
>
> Jorge 's Quest For Knowledge! : DC Locator Process in W2K, W2K3(R2 ....This
> is the 2 nd part of "DC Locator Process in W2K, W2K3(R2) and W2K8" Looking
> at this all, the DC locator process as explained above still applies to ....
> http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/jorge...k8-part-2.aspx
>
>
> --
> Ace
>
> This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.
>
> Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.
>
> Ace Fekay, MVP, MCT, MCITP EA, MCTS Windows 2008 & Exchange 2007, MCSE & MCSA 2003/2000, MCSA Messaging 2003
> Microsoft Certified Trainer
> Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
>
> If you feel this is an urgent issue and require immediate assistance, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.
> .
>

"Kevin Gallagher" <> wrote in message news:00A3D2E5-6C94-4BC5-8FD9-...
> Ace
>
> Thanks for the advice on the DC Locator Process. I will look into this more
> and develop a better understanding.

You are welcome. Keep in mind, this is the basis for everything in AD.

Ace