11.1.3 Performance Metrics

Which of the following is true about processor performance? - Processor utilization is the amount of time the processor spends on idle tasks. - If a processor utilization is consistently high, your system is performing well. - Utilization spikes as long as an application is open. - A healthy system's CPU utilization should average around 40%.

A healthy system's CPU utilization should average around 40%. A healthy system's CPU utilization should average around 40%. Processor utilization spikes when a task is launched or a significant task is performed. However, it should not remain high simply because the application is open. Processor utilization is the amount of time the processor spends on non-idle tasks. If processor utilization is consistently high, your CPU likely has a bottleneck.

Where can you check your CPU's temperature? - Performance Manager - Device Manager - Task Manager - BIOS

BIOS You can check your CPU's temperature in the system BIOS, or you can use third-party software to monitor and alert you to any extreme temperature spikes. Although they're useful performance tools, Task Manager, Performance Manager, and Device Manager can't be used to check your CPU's temperature.

Which of the following is the term for when a system is unable to keep up with the demands placed on it? - Hard fault - Latency - Bottleneck - Jitter

Bottleneck A bottleneck occurs when a system is unable to keep up with the demands placed on it. Latency, jitters, and hard faults are related to network and device metrics. They do not occur when a system can't keep up with the demands placed on it.

Which of the following is a best practice when establishing a baseline? - Establish baselines using only specialized tools. - Determine baselines over time by analyzing network traffic. - Establish baselines within a network or device's first week of installation. - Establish baselines only during the busiest times of the day.

Determine baselines over time by analyzing network traffic. You should determine your baselines by analyzing network traffic. To get a true picture of your network's activity, you want to collect data over a period of time. You should monitor different times of day and different times of year (especially if your organization has notoriously busy or slow periods). You can create baselines manually, however, there are also tools you can purchase to collect more information and to possibly create more accurate baselines, if you so choose.

Which of the following is the term for a calculation of how often bits are damaged in transit due to electromagnetic interference? - Bottleneck - Latency - Error rate - Bandwidth

Error rate Error rate is a calculation of how often bits are damaged in transit due to electromagnetic interference (or other interference). Latency is the speed at which data packets travel from source to destination and back. A bottleneck is the condition that occurs when a system is unable to keep up with the demands placed on it. Bandwidth is the amount of data that could be transferred from one place to another in a specific amount of time.

When packets arrive at their destination at different speeds, they sometimes arrive out of order. What does this cause? - Error rates - Jitter - Latency - Dropped packets

Jitter When packets arrive at their destination at different speeds, they sometimes arrive out of order. This causes what's known as jitter. Latency, dropped packets, and error rates are not caused by out-of-order packets.

What is the definition of bandwidth? - The amount of data that can be transferred from one place to another in a specific amount of time. - The condition that occurs when a system is unable to keep up with the demands placed on it. - The calculation of how often bits are damaged in transit due to electromagnetic interference. - The speed at which packets travel from source to destination and back.

The amount of data that can be transferred from one place to another in a specific amount of time. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred from one place to another in a specific amount of time. Latency is the speed at which packets travel from source to destination and back. Error rate is the calculation of how often bits are damaged in transit due to electromagnetic interference (or other interference). A bottleneck is the condition that occurs when a system is unable to keep up with the demands placed on it.

Which of the following could be to blame if your computer is regularly crashing or restarting? - You don't have enough memory. - The processor is too hot. - You're dropping packets. - You've run out of bandwidth.

The processor is too hot. An overheated CPU can result in crashing or constant restarts and shutdowns. Insufficient memory, low bandwidth, or dropped packets can cause delays, but these do not usually result in crashes and restarts.

What is the definition of latency? - The speed at which data packets travel from source to destination and back. - The percentage of available bandwidth being used. - The percentage of time that a disk subsystem reads from and writes to a disk. - A calculation of how often bits are damaged in transit due to electromagnetic interference.

The speed at which data packets travel from source to destination and back. Latency is the speed at which packets travel from source to destination and back. Error rate is the calculation of how often bits are damaged in transit due to electromagnetic interference (or other interference). Bandwidth utilization is the percentage of available bandwidth being used. Hard disk utilization is the percentage of time that a disk subsystem reads from and writes to disk.

Your computer seems to be running slowly. In particular, you notice that the hard drive activity light remains lit when you run multiple applications and switch between open windows. This happens even though you aren't saving large files. What should you do to troubleshoot the problem? - Use Reliability Monitor to monitor system reliability. - Use Task Manager to monitor disk activity. - Use Resource Monitor to monitor disk activity. - Use Resource Monitor to monitor memory utilization.

Use Resource Monitor to monitor memory utilization. In this scenario, you should use Resource Monitor to monitor memory utilization. Most likely, you'll see that the physical RAM is being over-utilized. When physical memory is low, the computer must swap data from memory to hard disk (to the paging file) to make physical memory available for other applications. If you hear the hard drive constantly operating as you work or if the hard drive light on the front of the system case stays illuminated for long periods of time, it means that the computer is constantly working to move data into and out of memory. The only long-term solution is to add more physical RAM. Monitoring disk activity with Resource Monitor or Task Manager won't reveal the true source of the problem in this scenario (which is a shortage of physical RAM). Reliability Monitor is not the appropriate tool to use in this scenario.