You are the network administrator for an outdoor equipment wholesaler in Detroit, MI. You have three locations. One is the head office from which the ordering and distribution is handled. The other two locations are retail outlets—one in a retail park on the edge of the city and another in a downtown location. Each of the retail outlets has its own Windows Server 2003 system in its own domain. The retail park location has a new server with 1 GB of RAM and four processors. The downtown store has an older server with 512 MB of RAM and two processors that has been installed for some time and was originally a Windows 2000 Server system. Staff in the downtown store have been complaining that ever since a new point-of-sale application was installed the server seems very slow. The retail park location is not having any problems.
Using System Monitor, you monitor the server in the retail park location and the downtown location at the same time. You monitor counters related to processor, memory, disk, and network on each of the servers. Of all the counters you monitor, you notice that the Server: Bytes Total/Sec counter for the downtown location is very high, while the other counters are very similar between servers. Which of the following strategies might you use to cure this issue
Install a faster network adapter
To cure the issue of slow performance on the downtown server, which is indicated by the high value of the Server: Bytes Total/Sec counter while other counters are similar between servers, you can consider the following strategies:
1. Increase RAM: The downtown server has only 512 MB of RAM, which may be insufficient to handle the new point-of-sale application efficiently. Consider upgrading the RAM to a higher capacity, such as 4 GB, to provide more memory for the server to work with.
2. Upgrade the server: Since the downtown server is an older Windows 2000 Server system, it may not have the necessary hardware capabilities to handle the workload of the new application. Consider upgrading the server to a newer model with better processing power, more memory, and improved performance.
3. Optimize the point-of-sale application: It's possible that the point-of-sale application itself is causing excessive network traffic and using high server resources. Consult with the application vendor or developer to optimize the application for better performance.
4. Check for network issues: The high value of the Server: Bytes Total/Sec counter could indicate excessive network traffic. Ensure that there are no network connectivity issues and check for any bottlenecks or congestion in the network infrastructure.
5. Analyze disk performance: Although the counters provided do not indicate any specific disk-related issues, it's worth checking the disk performance on the downtown server. Look for any disk bottlenecks or disk latency issues that could be affecting the server's overall performance.
6. Monitor other performance counters: While the high value of the Server: Bytes Total/Sec counter is a clear indicator, it's beneficial to monitor other performance counters as well. Keep an eye on CPU utilization, memory usage, and disk activity to identify any other potential performance bottlenecks or issues.
Remember, these strategies are general recommendations based on the given information. It's important to thoroughly analyze and diagnose the specific problem before implementing any changes. Consulting with IT professionals or experts may provide more accurate solutions tailored to your specific environment.