Understanding the Analytics License Limits

You can configure hundreds of metrics on the NetProfiler by clicking a few checkboxes. If you understand the concept behind the check boxes, you can make intelligent decisions about how to configure services for optimal performance.

Figure 8‑1 shows a simple SharePoint service configuration. The SharePoint Web servers are connected to three end-user locations (Atlanta, Boston, and New York), and they are supported by LDAP and MS-SQL on the back end.

Figure 8‑1. Simple SharePoint Service Configuration

Using the example shown in Figure 8‑1, five metrics are selected (Figure 8‑2) for each of the segments during service discovery for the SharePoint service.

Figure 8‑2. Five Metrics for SharePoint Service

For the backend segments, DBTransactions and AuthenticationService, there are a total of 10 metrics used (five metrics times two segments). However, for SharePoint-Web, there are three end-user locations. Because it is necessary to monitor each location individually, this yields a total of 15 metrics (5 metrics x 3 locations). The total number of metrics used to monitor the SharePoint service is 25.

A location with 100 end users is more representative of a larger enterprise network. If there are 100 end-user locations, the SharePoint service requires more than 500 metrics (510 metrics to be exact) for monitoring.

You can view the number of metrics on a running system:

during the process of service discovery using the wizard.

On the Commit Changes to Service page of the wizard, you have to commit changes to the service before the analytics are configured. The page shows a count of how many metrics to be added when you save the service.

Figure 8‑3. Metrics Shown on the Commit Changes to Service Page

The Commit Changes to Service Page only shows how many metrics are added when the service is committed. It does not display the total used or how many are still available.

on the Information page.

The System > Information page includes the Policies Usage display, which shows the total number of metrics currently in use and the overall limit for the system. The difference between the number of metrics currently used and the limit (5000, 7500, or 10,000, depending upon the platform) is the number remaining. The remaining number is available for you to configure.

Figure 8‑4. Metrics Shown on the Information Page