The Network Monitor tool helps determine where network bottlenecks are occurring. Network Monitor runs on Windows NT Server and is available from Microsoft. Other network monitoring tools can be obtained from independent software vendors.
For Microsoft Exchange Server or any client-server application, an important measurement is the number of bytes flowing between the server and the client and how many RPCs are required per action. Network Monitor can count both, and you can run it on both the server and the client. Network Monitor can analyze each frame, then compute the overhead.
The Network Monitor can also report the actual number of bytes transmitted. It includes low-level connections for Windows NT Server actions, and the redirector to establish and maintain that network connection. The number of connections should be kept low, especially when a large number of users are connected remotely. The number of bytes is particularly important for scalability and for slow-link clients. Less network I/O means a network/server can support more clients, and also means faster operation for remote clients over slow links such as a modem.
Using a network monitor during a test of a Microsoft Exchange Client shows that each RPC has a 304-byte overhead. So many RPCs are being requested that RPC overhead consumes 50 percent of network I/O. Also, more than 40,000 bytes of network I/O are required to reply to a message. This again demonstrates the importance of reducing RPCs and monitoring their use.
Repeat these steps for any other computers to be monitored.
For future use, save and load the filters.
The Station Stats window allows you to view how many bytes are being sent and received between the client and the server.
For future use, load and save the views.