How Windows System Resource Manager Can Help You Get the Most Out of Your System

December 23rd, 2009 by Andrew H.

Have you ever experienced resource contention on your server? If you have, a Windows feature called Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM) might help minimize the impact of those situations. WSRM allows you to control CPU and memory resource allocation to applications, terminal services users, and IIS Application pools when they are scarce.

CPU limits in WSRM kick in when CPU utilization exceeds 70%. Instead of limiting CPU usage, Windows ensures that processes receive at least the amount of processing power specified. You can think of it as a sort of QoS for processors. While being able to set process priority is a feature many people are aware of, it did not provide the level of granularity that many environments require. WSRM allows for different resource policies in different situations. For example, different policies might apply on the weekend than during the workday to allow your server’s priorities to match the priorities of the business.

In a Terminal Services environment, one user could potentially use all of the available processing power, causing other user sessions to become extremely slow. With WSRM, it is possible to guarantee a user a certain amount of processing power or divide it equally among users—all without wasting available resources. IIS application pools can be managed the same way, allowing administrators to prioritize websites similarly to applications.

Whether you have a misbehaving process you need to reign in, a power user slowing down a terminal server for other users, or just need a better way to manage your server’s resources, WSRM could be the tool that keeps your critical applications running smoothly.