How do we determine processor contention?

Simplest way, use the Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time which measures the average processor utilization of your machine (i.e. utilization averaged over all processors not a specified processor). You can further break down the usage by examining which instance/process is hogging the processor with Processor(instance)\% Processor Time.

For example, instances/processes such as IIS and MS Exchange can be examined with Process(inetinfo)\% Processor Time and Process(store)\% Processor Time respectively. While WebLogic Server can be examined with Process(java.exe)\% Processor Time. (Note: WLS may generate more than one java.exe which you will have to be sure of the correct instance). A rule of thumb, keep the Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time under 85%. However, there maybe cases of spikes due to backup jobs, which you can determined with patterns of constant periodic spikes or known backup tasks schedules.

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