Key Performance Indicators for Active Directory

[Paul Leenards]

For a client I'm trying to come up with some clear targets
to assess the performance of the active directory at their
site.
We want to monitor these indicators and report to
mangement on their status on a monthly basis. Of course we
do not want to report in order to report: we're looking
for indicators which give us a clear indication of a
possibile problem where intervention by Operations is
necessary.

Besides monitoring the availability, are there any other
indicators of the active directory which need to be
monitored on a regular basis and which tells us something
about the performance?

Thanx, Paul

 

[Neil Ruston]

This is a topic I have deliberated over for some time now.
It is a very subjective issue - one which MS do not
provide many specifics for, as a result.

The MOM and NetIQ AppMan docs cover this in some detail
and indeed, the NetIQ scripts do include default
thresholds for many AD related performance options.

I have found that I need to monitor and collate metrics
for a period and then create a baseline. This baseline
will then be used to establish 'real' thresholds which
relate to my environment. I can then be alerted only
when 'my' thresholds are exceeded and not those suggested
by NetIQ nor MS (which have largely proved to be
inappropriate).

I would suggest you evaluate MOM or AppMan (or both) and
let your performance monitoring 'evolve' as per the above.

HTH,
Neil