Processing Page
The Processing page on the CPUs drilldown shows the overall performance details of CPUs on the current Windows system. To view performance details for individual CPUs in the system, see the CPUs Page and Multiprocessor Page. The Processing page contains several charts.
To open the CPUs page
- Select the Spotlight on Windows connection in the Spotlight Browser.
-
Click CPUs | Processing.
Charts on the Processing page
Notes:
- Every chart has a legend (list of symbols) to its right that describes the various series (line graphs) on the chart.
- Click an item in the legend to highlight its series (line) in the chart. Click a second time to return the series to its normal appearance.
- Move the mouse pointer over an item in the legend to view the current value for that series within the chart.
| Chart | Description |
|---|---|
| Total CPU Utilization |
Shows the combined CPU utilization for all processors on the system. Two data series are displayed:
Note: To view CPU utilization for the individual CPUs in the system, see the CPUs Page. |
| Total Processor Queue Length |
Shows the total number of threads (program execution units) that are waiting to be run on ALL processors. A sustained processor queue length greater than three times the number of processors can indicate processor congestion. Note: To view Server Work Queues for the individual CPUs in the system, see the CPUs Page. |
| Total Process & Thread Count |
This chart displays the total number of Windows processes and threads that exist. A process is one instance of an application program or system service that is currently executing on the server. Each process will have one or more threads which are the basic entity that can be scheduled. Sophisticated application processes such as SQL Server or Exchange can have dozens of threads running concurrently. |
| Context Switching |
The Context Switching chart shows the rate at which Windows has been processing context switches. A Context Switch occurs when a processor switches from one thread to another. Context switches occur when a running thread voluntarily relinquishes the processor, is preempted by a higher priority ready thread, or switches between user-mode and privileged (kernel) mode to use an Executive or subsystem service. |