Microsoft Server Performance Advisor 3.0
Microsoft Server Performance Advisor (SPA) 3.0 helps IT administrators collect metrics to identify, compare, and diagnose potential performance issues in a Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008 deployment. SPA generates comprehensive diagnostic reports and charts and provides recommendations to help you quickly analyze issues and develop corrective actions. This page provides a brief introduction to SPA 3.0 and links to download the SPA 3.0 software and the accompanying user’s manual and development guide.
About Server Performance Advisor 3.0
SPA is composed of two parts, the SPA framework (which is a console and libraries) and the advisor packs.
The SPA framework
This is the engine that is responsible for collecting data that is designated by the advisor packs, pumping the collected data into a SQL Server database, creating an IT-friendly environment to run scripts for advisor packs, and showing the final reports. The SPA framework only needs to be installed on the SPA Console. The SPA Console can remotely access the servers under test or alternatively the SPA console can be installed on a server under test.
Advisor packs
These are the center of all tuning rules, which consist of a series of metadata and SQL script files. SPA ships with the following advisor packs, and it offers an extensible model for non-Microsoft developers to write advisor packs to suit their needs.
The advisor packs that are included in SPA are:
- The Core OS advisor pack, which is used to analyze performance of general operating system functions, independent of specialized server roles.
- The Internet Information Server (IIS) advisor pack, which is used to track the performance of IIS.
- The Hyper-V advisor pack, which is used to analyze the general performance of the Hyper-V Host role. Note the Hyper-V advisor pack does not analyze the Hyper-V Guest.
Note It is not possible for SPA to understand all hardware and user scenario contexts. Users of SPA should use the recommendations that are provided by the tool to help them make decisions, and they should understand the consequences of any potential changes to be made to the servers.
Download the SPA 3.0 software
Use the following links to download the latest Server Performance Advisor (SPA) binaries for the Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008 operating systems.
Microsoft Server Performance Advisor 3.0 (32-bit)
File name: SPAPlus_x86.cab
609 KB
Updated: August 13, 2012
Microsoft Server Performance Advisor 3.0 (64-bit)
File name: SPAPlus_amd64.cab
609 KB
Updated: August 13, 2012
Caution While extracting the .cab file, SPA must preserve the hierarchical directory structure to function correctly. Depending on the CAB tools that are installed on your server, extraction may result in a nonoperational directory structure. To retain the hierarchical directory structure, you can use a CAB extraction utility tool that extracts a file directory structure. You can use Extrac32.exe (which ships with the Windows operating systems) to install SPA. In this example we use Extrac32.exe as described below (assuming the destination directory and downloaded file exists):
- extrac32.exe /e /a /l “d:\SPA” “d:\SPA\SPAPlus_amd64.cab”
If the CAB extraction tool properly extracted the files, subdirectories will automatically appear in the extraction target folder.
Known Issues
N/A
Prerequisite Software (not supplied with SPA)
SPA Console requires the following software to be installed:
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4*
- SQL Server 2008 R2 Express SP1* (or SQL Server*)
*Newer versions may be compatible. Please note that any known product incompatibilities with SPA Console will be noted.
Download the user’s manual and development guide
Use the following links to download the Microsoft Server Performance Advisor User’s Manual and the Microsoft Server Performance Advisor Pack Development Guide.
Microsoft Server Performance Advisor User’s Manual Provides guidelines about how system administrators can use SPA to help them identify performance bottlenecks in their systems for various server roles.
File name: spa-user-manual.docx
826 KB
Updated: June 2012
Microsoft Server Performance Advisor Pack Development Guide Illustrates how to create an advisor pack.
File name: spa-advisor-pack-dev-guide.docx
350 KB
Updated: June 2012
Note If you do not have Microsoft Office on your computer, to view the user’s manual or development guide, you may need to install the Microsoft Word viewer. See Get Office Online File Converters and Viewers on the Microsoft Office website.
