Windows server monitoring: How to make it work for your company

Server monitoring is important because servers that run on Windows are the backbone of a company’s IT infrastructure.

When servers aren’t monitored properly, the whole business suffers. Unstable server performance leads to project complications and delays, as well as unsatisfied customers and, implicitly, revenue losses. 

This is why it is extremely important to ensure that IT departments constantly assess the status of the Windows servers, focusing on threats and risk mitigation strategies, so that they may treat each potential issue in time and optimize their resources.

No matter whether you are monitoring physical or virtual servers, there are 4 key functions that need to be taken into account: 

• CPU - ensure whether the computing power is efficiently distributed and whether there is enough capacity for all operations.
• RAM - identify if there is enough memory for all applications, as well as the cache.
• Block or object storage - check if there is enough storage on the system and whether the data matches the expected throughput.
• The network - understand who has access to the server data, at what speed the data is transported and to which areas.

Infrastructure monitoring tools keep track of all these to help IT administrators assess the status of the IT landscape. However, this is not limited to the servers in the environment.

For example, if you choose to use Checkmk, you have one platform to monitor the performance of your network, including all the connected devices. In addition to traditional network devices and servers, monitoring with Checkmk also includes dynamic environments with cloud-native IT assets.

The Windows source code and performance counters are manufacturer-specific, so it is important that the monitoring software user benefits from the best tools to monitor Windows. Microsoft provides documentation for its products, but practical experience is also important.

This is the only way that companies – alongside the general information for server monitoring such as CPU, RAM, partitions, and network – can also monitor the system's internal values. This is about services, processes, and application monitoring on the Windows systems.

With the Checkmk agents, you have an optimal data basis and can, for example, check whether certain services have been started or have a desired status. If, for example, a user ends the antivirus program or deactivates its autostart, the monitoring detects this.

Checkmk also keeps an eye on the patch level for you. Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) helps roll-outs and the managing of updates. Nevertheless, the Update Service from Microsoft does not record individual systems. Monitoring enables you to identify the exact version of your assets and ensure that no server misses an important update.

In order to maximize your monitoring capabilities, you need to start with a clear strategy, which focuses not only on your goals but also on the benchmark. 

A good monitoring tool assesses servers running under standard conditions, collects time series data. This way, the IT team can better classify behavior based on historical data and identify possible deviations that may be indicative of a potential threat.

Based on this information, the system defines the optimal functioning ranges for corporate servers and identifies what sort of deviations are threat-triggering.

Such an approach will enable you to monitor server performance and detect in time any potential issues and risks, thus enabling you to make the right decisions before a situation escalates.

Windows monitoring tools need to be used 24 / 7, as it is extremely important to continually watch key metrics and see how they evolve across the day. It is only by doing so that you may detect performance issues before they become a burden and generate issues on an organizational level. 

While some IT administrators only focus on monitoring servers during business hours, that might prove to be quite a risky technique. Sometimes, processes and potential failures may occur during an off-duty time, when no users are connecting to the system.

Examples include automated events, like backups and virus scans, system updates, and database re-indexing. If you don’t monitor consistently, you might not see critical issues during these processes and, thus, you might only find out about them when it’s too late.

Alerts are an important feature of Windows monitoring software because they enable IT administrators to have access to real-time information that signals performance issues. They send automated messages when things are outside the pre-defined thresholds, ensuring potential issues don’t go unnoticed.