---
schema_version: "1"
id: d075cb65ffe5e0e742db82dc26efb90ab3fa09cc42aeb329dc901c4768104a69
title: Collect Data with Windows Performance Monitor
collection: tableau
version: next
locale: en-gb
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/tableau/next/en-gb/server/perf_collect_perfmon.md
canonical_url: https://help.tableau.com/v0.0/server/en-gb/perf_collect_perfmon.htm
source_site: help.tableau.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 4e15095372e22efe3b770636889649aa474dfb8d2ed20397251c294733df589c
description: Collect server performance data using Windows Performance Monitor (PerfMon).
---
[Skip to main content](#main-content)

# Collect Data with Windows Performance Monitor

To monitor resource usage and server processes, you can use Windows Performance Monitor (PerfMon), which is included with Windows Server. Use PerfMon to gather detailed performance information, including how often the CPU is being used, how much memory is being used, information about each Tableau Server process and more.

For more information about what each Tableau Server process does, see [Tableau Server Processes](https://help.tableau.com/v0.0/server/en-gb/processes.htm).

**Disclaimer**: This information refers to a third-party product. This example is not an endorsement of this product over any other competing products.

Before you can use PerfMon, you set up a data collector set, which is how PerfMon stores the data that it collects. To collect information about Tableau Server processes with PerfMon, Tableau Server must be running when you create the data collector set. The data that you collect in PerfMon are often referred to as performance counters.

## How to collect data with Windows Performance Monitor

### Step 1: Create a new data collector set

1. Click the Windows Start menu and search for "performance".
2. Right-click **Performance Monitor** and then click **Run as administrator**.
3. In the left pane, click **Data Collector Sets**.
4. In the right pane, right-click **User Defined**, click New, and then click **Data Collector Set**.
5. In the **Create new Data Collector Set** wizard, enter a name for the data collector set. For example, you might enter **Tableau Server Performance**.
6. Select **Create manually (Advanced)** and then click **Next**.
7. Under **Create data logs**, select **Performance counter** and click **Next**.

### Step 2: Select performance counters

1. Set the sample interval to 30 seconds.
2. Click **Add**.
3. Select the computer that you want to record performance data for.
    
    If you run Tableau Server on a single computer, select **<Local Computer>**. If you run Tableau Server on multiple computers, you must repeat some of these steps to gather data about each computer.
4. Select performance counters from the list.
    
    The following table lists some performance counters that we recommend for tracking Tableau Server performance.
    
    <table class="simple-table"><colgroup><col class="col-20pc"><col class="col-20pc"><col></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Category</th><th>Performance Counters</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>Logical Disk</p></td><td><p>Current Disk Queue Length</p><p>Disk Read Bytes/sec</p><p>Disk Write Bytes/sec</p></td><td><p>The number of outstanding write requests and the amount of bytes read and written to the server’s hard disk. Select these counters for the disk on which you installed Tableau Server (referred to as the <em>instance</em> in PerfMon).</p></td></tr><tr><td>Memory</td><td><p>% Committed Bytes in Use</p><p>Available MBytes</p></td><td>The percentage of virtual memory in use, and the amount of memory available in megabytes.</td></tr><tr><td>Processor Information</td><td><p>%Processor Time</p><p>% Processor Utility</p></td><td>The percentage of time that the processor spends active, and the percent of processing capacity being used by the processor.</td></tr><tr><td><p>Process</p></td><td><p>% Processor Time</p><p>Private Bytes</p></td><td><p>The percentage of processing capacity being used by a particular process, and the amount of memory reserved for the process. Select these counters for the following processes (referred to as <i>instances</i> in PerfMon):</p><ul><li><code>run-backgrounder</code> (Backgrounder)</li><li><code>run-dataserver</code> (Data server)</li><li><code>redis-server</code> (Cache server)</li><li><code>hyperd</code> (Data engine)</li><li><code>run-vizqlserver</code> (VizQL Server)</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table>
    
    To select each performance counter:
    
    1. Double-click to select a category in the drop-down list.
    2. Select the performance counter or counters that you want to use.
    3. Under Instances of selected object, if appropriate, select the process (or instance) that you want to collect information about.
        
        ![A dialog listing available and added counters.](/tableau/next/en-gb/server/en-gb/Img/everybody_perfmon_add_counters.png)
    4. Click **Add**.
    5. If you run Tableau Server on multiple computers, return to step 3, select another computer and then repeat the above steps.
        
        **Important:** Depending on how you configured server processes to run across computers, you might have to monitor only a subset of the processes listed for each computer. For example, it's a best practice to isolate the backgrounder processes on a separate computer. As a result, for that computer, you would only monitor the backgrounder processes.
    6. Click **OK** and then click **Next**.

### Step 3: Save the data collector set

1. Browse to the directory where you want to store the data, and then click **Next**.
    
    **Important:** You must store the data in a place that's accessible by Tableau. For example, you might want to store the data on a network drive. If you don't have a network drive mapped, right-click **This PC** and select **Add a Network Location**.
2. Click **Finish**.
3. In the left pane of the main **Performance Monitor** window, select the data collector set that you created.
4. In the right pane, right-click the performance counter **DataCollector01** and then click **Properties**.
5. Select **Comma separated** as the log format and then click **OK**.

### Step 4: Run the data collector set

In the left pane, right-click the name of the data collector set that you created and click **Start**. The Windows Performance Monitor tool starts monitoring your server and storing information in the location that you specified.

### Step 5: Allow Remote Access for Multiple Computers

For PerfMon to collect data about other computers, you need to make sure that the other computers can be reached – that is, that they are on the same network and do not have firewall rules that prevent access. The firewall rules that you need to set differ across versions of Windows, so you might need to contact your network administrator for information. In addition, you must make sure that the Run As user account has permission to collect data on the remote computers. By default, PerfMon runs the data collector set as the SYSTEM user. To change the Run As user, complete the following steps:

1. In the left pane of PerfMon, open the Data Collector Sets node and then the **User Defined** node.
2. Right-click the name of the data collector set and then click Properties.
3. In the **Run As** section of the **General** tab, click the **Change** button and specify a different account.