Performance counter monitoring
keeps applications robust
The PRTG Windows Performance Counter locates network bottlenecks
PRTG improves the performance of your system and applications
PRTG provides information on applications running on an IIS server
Performance counter monitoring with PRTG
PRTG keeps a constant eye on the performance of your applications
Performance is the Alpha and Omega
Application and service performance is at the heart of any IT-based business's success. As the performance of an IT work environment increases, so does the productivity of its workers. Slow applications, however, can thwart your company's potential.
With its performance counters, Windows allows administrators to find bottlenecks in their networks and thus improve the performance of their systems and applications. Windows' own Performance Monitor (perfmon.exe) lets you graphically display the data made available by performance counters. In order for you to obtain a quick overview of this data and receive the notifications that go with it, performance counters must deliver an extraordinary amount of data, which can consequently lead to bottlenecks in your system.
You therefore need a professional monitoring tool such as the PRTG Performance Counter.
Easy-to-read display
PRTG first reads the available performance counters in your Windows systems and then supplies various workstations with easy-to-read graphics of the performance statistics of your applications. You can use PRTG to determine where bottlenecks arise, when applications crash, and where the causes of problems are to be found - in the network, hardware, or application itself.
Set limits for individual counters to receive notifications before something really goes wrong with your network, and have reports for previous time periods generated automatically. With PRTG, all work gets done in a proactive manner. PRTG provides for increased application stability and uninterrupted work processes, as well as a sound decision-making basis for optimizations to your company's own software.
With PRTG, everyone will work with peace of mind.
A sneak peek into PRTG: Performance counter monitoring
Performance Counter: Weekly overview
Performance Counter Custom Sensor
Performance Counter: IIS application sensor
The PRTG Performance Counter gathers the following information
User-defined Windows performance counters with the PerfCounter Custom Sensor
Performance counters, e.g. on CPU load and network card traffic with default sensors
Performance data for applications, services, and the operating system
Information on applications running on an IIS server such as Microsoft SharePoint or SSRS
6 good reasons to choose PRTG as your Windows performance counter
Establish an overview
You get an overview of the performance data of your applications: both individual ones and those spanning several workstations.
Increase security
If an application’s performance drops, you can promptly search for the causes and prevent a crash.
Stabilize business processes
Continuous monitoring and rapid fine-tuning provide company employees with a stable and high-performance work base.
Discover and solve problems
Software developers and administrators will troubleshoot software components and hardware configurations, and take appropriate actions to optimize them.
Develop your firm’s own applications
Collect company-wide data on the performance of applications developed in-house, and reach conclusions regarding the company’s future software development plans.
Be alerted automatically
Should business-critical applications (defined by you) take a hit, you’ll be notified at once.
Your performance counters at a glance – even on the go
PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.
John Krull, CTO, Oakland Unified School District, USA
“Our network engineers really love PRTG, because of its customization”
How PRTG performance counter monitoring works
How PRTG defines sensors
In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, e.g. the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, the free space of a disk drive. On average you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.
Read and analyze measured values
Performance counters are time-sensitive, measured values administered by Windows that deliver information on the performance of operating systems, applications, services, and hardware. PRTG automatically reads this performance data in real-time via the Remote Registry Service, and then makes it available for analysis. This allows sysadmins to isolate problem areas and plan improvements to their network infrastructures.
The performance counter method
There are a few good reasons for using performance counters as monitoring technology for Windows Server: WMI, Microsoft's default method for monitoring Windows systems, uses an excessive amount of network resources and is sometimes unstable. PRTG offers so-called "hybrid sensors" by default, which first attempt to request the desired data (such as CPU load) via performance counters, and only resort to WMI if performance counters are unavailable or cannot be read for some other reason.
Using custom sensors, administrators often find the performance counter method easier to configure, for only the desired counters need to be entered into the sensor settings. Finding the name of the desired performance counter is extremely simple, as we explain in the following article: https://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/50673. The user-defined WMI sensor requires an entire WQL query and is therefore somewhat more complicated to configure.
From the point of view of performance, SNMP is definitely our top choice for monitoring Windows devices, but in certain cases this monitoring technology is inappropriate. Some data is simply not available on Windows machines via SNMP; in such cases, performance counters are often the better bet.
Using PRTG as the perfect performance counter
All performance counters built into Windows are fully supported by PRTG. Take a look at your Windows Performance Monitor as described in the aforementioned knowledge base article (link included above): Sometimes it's incredible to think of just how many performance counters there are for Windows apps! These also include those which do not come from Microsoft itself, for such counters often provide surprising insights into applications and processes.
More information on how to configure the PerfCounter Custom Sensor and other performance counter sensors can be found in our manual.
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by industry analysts as a leader
“Fantastic network and infrastructure monitoring solution that is easy to deploy and easier still to use. Simply the best available.”
“Software is absolutely perfect, Support is superior. Meets all needs and requirements, this is a must have solution if you are needing any form of monitoring.”
“The tool excels at its primary focus of being a unified infrastructure management and network monitoring service.”
Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s IT partners
Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
With ScriptRunner, Paessler integrates a powerful event automation platform into PRTG Network Monitor.
ScriptRunner
PRTG makes your job easier
Our monitoring software frees you to focus on other tasks by promptly notifying you of potential issues.
Save effort
PRTG gives you one central monitoring tool for your servers and entire network. Enjoy a quick overview of your whole infrastructure via our dashboard and app.
Save time
Getting started with PRTG is a breeze. Setting up or switching from another network monitoring tool is easy thanks to the auto-discovery and pre-configured device templates.
Save money
80% of our customers report substantial cost savings with network monitoring. Your costs of licenses will likely pay for themselves within weeks.
Also interesting:
Packet Capture: PRTG analyzes data packets and displays the data packet loss rate. In the event a critical value is exceeded, you’ll automatically receive an alert. Read more about packet sniffing here.
CDN monitoring: PRTG offers you an overview of traffic distribution between international DN nodes, as well as information on traffic strength, response times, server performance, and potential weak spots.
PRTG: The Swiss Army knife for sysadmins
Adapt PRTG individually and dynamically to your needs and rely on a strong API:- HTTP API: Access monitoring data and manipulate monitoring objects via HTTP requests
- Custom sensors: Create your own PRTG sensors for customized monitoring
- Custom notifications: Create your own notifications and send action triggers to external systems
- REST Custom sensor: Monitor almost everything that provides data in XML or JSON format
Still not convinced?
More than 500,000 sysadmins love PRTG
Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier.
Still not convinced?
Monitor your entire IT infrastructure
Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.
Try Paessler PRTG for free
Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free. Start now with your trial.
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PRTG |
Network Monitoring Software - Version 23.1.82.2175 (March 1st, 2023) |
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Hosting |
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available |
Languages |
English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese |
Pricing |
Up to 100 sensors for free (Price List) |
Unified Monitoring |
Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more |
Supported Vendors & Applications |
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A functional Active Directory is one of the core elements in a network’s organization. PRTG Network Monitor solves typical Active Directory problems by preventing replication errors, identifying logged-out and deactivated users, and monitoring ad group memberships. Try PRTG now for free.
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