Understanding Paging and Performance Monitor Counters

[TomM]

I'm trying to pinpoint some performance issues we are a having whereby PC’s
start running slowly and grinding to a halt, at approximately the same time
as the AV update window. I suspect that memory usage is an issue and that
the PC's may be heavily paging leading to the slowdown. I am trying to find
out why this is happening.

I have created a Performance Monitor log to include the following counters

"\Memory\Committed Bytes"
"\Memory\Pages Output/sec"
"\Memory\Pages/sec"
"\Process(FrameworkService)\Page File Bytes"
"\Process(FrameworkService Bytes Peak"
"\Processor{_Total}\%Processor Time"

The trouble is that having gathered the counters I'm having trouble actually
interpreting them.
The sample window is 2 hrs, to try and get a before and after understanding
of what is happening
I think, but am open to correction, that the 3 main counters which I should
be interested in are
\Memory\Committed Bytes
Memory\Pages/sec"
\Process(FrameworkService\Page File Bytes Peak

FrameworkService is a component of the McAfee ePo suite

I’d like to be able to show you the graphical representation, but in summary
this is what I’m seeing

\Memory\Committed Bytes is showing at maximum 100 on the scale for the
duration of the sample
\Memory\Pages/sec – peaking every few minutes to 80, 90, 95 on the scale for
the duration of the observation, with a sharp flurry of high activity
directly after the time when the FrameworkService shows a rise
\Process(FrameworkService\Page File Bytes Peak – trundles along happily at
around 20 on the graph, rises sharply to 100 on the scale, drops back and
rises almost immediately. It them flatlines and stays at 100 on the scale
until the end of the sample

I haven’t mentioned installed RAM, or the actual figures from the sample, as
the pattern appears to be the same on PC’s with 1 GB and 2GB. I can give
figures if it helps, but I think pattern is relevant

From my limited explanation, is anyone able to help me interpret this
behaviour.
Why is Memory committed Bytes constant at 100 on the scale
Why is the FrameworkService flatlining ?, what does this mean, and what
would be the results of this on PC behaviour

Thanks

 

[Gerry]

Tom

Who is we? Are they commercial or home computers?

McAfee ( and Norton ) are well known for creating performance issues. A
simple look at pagefile usage will tell you if the system is making
excessive use of pagefile.

How much RAM?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

How long does the McAfee subscription have to run? An alternative would
be to add RAM memory.

You can get more accurate information on pagefile usage using
pagefilemon, a small freeware utility.

Use page file monitor to observe what is the peak usage. Start it to run
immediately after start-up and look at the log. Pagefilemon takes
snapshots. You need to run it at the beginning of the session at then
run it again at intervals throughout the sessions. The log is Pagefile
log.txt. If you right click on the file in Windows Explorer and select
Send to, Desktop (Create Shortcut). The same applies to
XP_PageFileMon.exe.

A small utility to monitor pagefile usage:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

Note that programs using undo features, particularly those associated
with graphics and photo editing, require large amounts of memory so if
you use this type of programme check these first observing how the page
usage increases when they start and whether the usage decreases when you
close the programme.

You can get clues as to what is generating peak memory demands but this
is not a precise science, more a matter of judgement.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[TomM]

Gerry,

PC's on (clients) Corporaste Network. RAM would typically be 1 or 2GB.
I've used Taskmgr, and know there is a high commit, but am now trying to
narraow things down a bit. Task Manager would typically show a commit of
between 900MB to 1.2GB on a 1Gb PC.
The Limit would be installed RAm + Pagefile size.
My instinct would be to add RAM, but I need to justify it, as they have a
large PC estate (many thousands)

Again becuae it's a corporate environment, I've no Control over the McAffe
subsciption. It is the preferred product at the moment. The ePO managment
team are side stepping this one, and I'm left trying to prove it either way.

I did take a look at Pagefilemon, but becuase of said constraints, I won't
get permission to run it on the network.

 

[Gerry]

Tom

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?

Are computers left on 24/7?

What Add-Ons are being used with Internet Explorer? In Internet Explorer
select Tools, Manage Add Ons, Enable or Disable Add Ons.

Are there performance variations fom one computer to another?

Any evidence of unexplained CPU usage. You can never rule out malware.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[TomM]

Thanks Gerry,

I have to collect info on servral PC's at multiple location, which is why I
opted for Perfmance moniotr, as I could save the output for later analysis.

Seems like We've got a RAM/paging issue, I just need to prove it before
opening my big mouth

 

[Gerry]

Tom

What exactly are these computers used for? Most computers with I gb of
RAM will cope with typical office use. Any kind of common graphics
programme for design or the like might require more RAM especially if it
has an Undo feature.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~