WINDOWS SYSTEM RESOURCE MANAGER - WINDOWS SERVER 2008
Description: Microsoft Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM) provides resource management and enables the allocation of resources, including processor and memory resources, among multiple applications based on business priorities. With WSRM, you can implement tight operational processes to predictably meet your service level requirements, maximize the return on your IT investments, and manage a changing mix of workloads.
The aim of Windows System Resource Manager is to ensure that system resources are available to processes, users, Remote Desktop Services sessions, or Internet Information Services (IIS) application pools (collectively called workloads). If unmanaged, these workloads can contend for and exhaust the system resources. However, there are situations in which Windows System Resource Manager is not an appropriate management solution or cannot guarantee sufficient resources to server workloads.
Scoping the Issue: Windows System Resource Manager is integrated in Server 2008, so installation is done through Server Manager by adding the Windows System Resource Manager feature. Once the feature is installed, you will need to manually start the service via the Services snap-in. The service name is Windows System Resource Manager.
If it appears that Windows System Resource Monitor is not functioning properly after starting, export the configuration and include it with data that is gathered below.
Note: Windows System Resource Manager cannot manage system resources correctly if the computer is being managed by another resource manager, including process-oriented and job object-oriented resource managers. For best results, use Windows System Resource Manager as the only resource manager on the computer.
What should not be managed by Windows System Resource Manager
- Applications with built-in resource management : Applications and processes that modify their process priority, memory limits, or processor affinity dynamically can interfere with the correct operation of Windows System Resource Manager.
- Applications that use job objects : Some applications create processes that use job objects. Processes that use job objects cannot be managed by Windows System Resource Manager. To determine whether an application uses job objects, see the documentation for the application.
What is not managed by Windows System Resource Manager
- Applications or processes hosted by an excluded application : Exercise caution when adding processes that host other processes or applications to the user-defined exclusion list. If an application such as svchost.exe is added to the user-defined exclusion list, any process that it hosts could potentially consume all available resources because it is not managed. If the hosting process is not on the user-defined exclusion list, it and any processes it hosts will be managed as part of a criterion match or as part of the default group.
- Resources used by the operating system : Processor and memory resources that are used by the operating system are excluded from management by Windows System Resource Manager. For example, if the operating system is using 25 percent of the available CPU on a system that is managed by the Equal_Per_User resource allocation policy, each of three users who are running processes on the computer will be allocated 25 percent of the total CPU, which is 33.33 percent of the CPU that is available to be managed.
Data Gathering: In all instances, collecting either MPS Reports with the General, Internet and Networking, Business Networks and Server Components diagnostics, or a Performance-oriented MSDT manifest must be done. If you are experiencing issues with installing WSRM, you will also need to get the SETUPAPI.LOG file in c:\windows and send it in for review.
Additional Resources:
- TechNet: Windows System Resource Manager Frequently Asked Questions
- Windows System Resource Manager Fast Facts
- Microsoft KB Article: 941314 Description of Windows Server 2008 Remote Server Administration T...
- Microsoft KB Article 330018: Limitations When You Run Windows System Resource Management (WSRM...
- AskPerf Blog: Two Minute Drill: Introduction to Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM)