2004-06-22

PSS and Memory Dumps

On exchanfe Backups folyt.:

A whitepaper which describes memory dump files and their use by Product Support Services (PSS) has just been released to the web.  The paper was created in response to customers who have voiced frustration with requests to obtain multiple memory dump files to troubleshoot certain problems and wanted to understand the processes used by PSS to collect and analyze those files.  I remember working on all of the types of cases in PSS that required a memory dump to find root cause.  In many cases, it was difficult for a customer to schedule any down time because of SLA agreements, etc., so asking them to get dumps that could require up to 15+ minutes of down time was not always acceptable.  Hopefully this document will help explain the importance of capturing memory dumps and help everyone understand why PSS frequently requests them.

The paper discusses the following key areas:

  • Definition of a memory dump file 
  • Differences between full memory dump files and mini memory dump files
  • An explanation of why it takes so long to create a memory dump file 
  • An overview of tools that are used to capture memory dump files 
  • A discussion of capturing hangs, performance problems and crashes with memory dump files
  • An explanation of why engineers will need multiple memory dump files to diagnose certain problems 
  • A chart that customers can view to set their expectations on the type of data PSS needs to begin troubleshooting certain conditions

Currently this document is found here: http://support.microsoft.com/support/exchange/content/whitepapers/MemoryDump.doc

[Via Microsoft WebBlogs] Hasznos eszközök találhatóak a hivatkozott doku végén: ... FOR MORE INFORMATION For the latest information about Exchange, visit the following Microsoft Web sites: " http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=exch2003 " http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=exch2k " http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/ For additional information about how to collect memory dump files and scenarios where memory dump files can be useful on Exchange Server 2003 computers and Exchange 2000 Server computers, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 241215 How to use the Userdump.exe tool to create a dump file 823150 How to gather data to troubleshoot Exchange Server 2003 virtual memory 325044 HOW TO: Troubleshoot virtual memory fragmentation in Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2000 286350 Use ADPlus to troubleshoot "hangs" and "crashes" ...