Windows has a hard coded file descriptor limit of 2048 when using the C runtime library which limits the number of files that can be opened simultaneously. This can be a significant performance issue when hosting a busy MySQL server on Windows as MySQL uses the C runtime library to access the file system. This limit of 2048 simultaneously opened files can cause performance issues for MySQL when the table cache value needs to be higher than this. To improve the performance of repeatedly opening tables MySQL places these tables in the table cache, however on a busy MySQL server the table cache may need to be set to a value of several thousand for optimal performance. The double whammy here is that the MyISAM database engine in MySQL needs to open two file descriptors for each unique open table. So by the time you account for temporary tables and other files the maximum effective table cache value for MySQL on Windows when using the MyISAM database engine is actually a good deal less than half of the hard coded file descriptor limit of 2048 imposed by Windows (circa 950 in my experience). So what can be done to work around this?

PHP Installation guides for IIS are a dime a dozen on the Internet these days (though there are only a handful I've seen that I'd consider accurate), however there is not a lot of guidance for uninstalling PHP from IIS. Being able to fully, and cleanly uninstall PHP from your Windows environment is very important for troubleshooting and ensuring a clean environment to do PHP upgrades. This guide details the steps you need to take to fully and cleanly uninstall PHP from IIS.

I've always been a bit of a geek for performance analysis and testing. There is just something about squeezing every last drop of performance out of an environment that I find a very interesting challenge. With IIS 7 now taking over the crown of being the flagship version of Microsoft's webserver from IIS 6, I was very keen to read the Microsoft.com Operations Performance Analysis of IIS 7.0/Windows Server 2008 as there are but a handful websites in the world that get higher user traffic. Of key interest was that using IIS 7 the Microsoft operations team were able to service 31.4% more HTTP requests than on IIS 6, and this all using the same hardware. Definitely worth the read!

Restore points in Windows XP has always been an extremely useful feature and I've often wondered why the System Restore Service was never included in Windows 2003 Server. I've never been able to find any official statement from Microsoft, but perhaps it was because a server environment is not intended to be in such a state of flux as that of a desktop. Even so, how accurate is this assumption when you consider the number of Windows updates that you need to install to keep your server environment secure and up to date.

I recently needed to install a load of Windows updates on a remote Windows 2003 Server where there was no chance of me getting physical access in the event something should go wrong. Before proceeding I needed to ensure I was able to quickly and effectively restore the server operating environment. I remembered seeing several guides on how to enable restore points on Windows 2003 Server, however I had never seen any that covered doing this while using a remote desktop connection which is what I'll cover in this guide.

I recently brought a new Dell M1330 laptop which came preloaded with Windows Vista. The problem with preloaded operating systems is that they almost always come configured with a load of trialware software which is often restricted feature wise and consumes considerable system resources. This aside I wanted to put Windows XP SP2 onto my Dell M1330 as I had several applications that weren't Vista compatible which I used on a regular basis. The problem was that my new Dell M1330 used the new Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) for which there are no drivers on the Windows XP Professional SP2 installation CD, and as my Dell M1330 has no floppy disk drive I wasn't able to load additional drivers when installing XP which brought me to a stalemate. The only option from here was to slipstream the AHCI SATA drivers into my Windows XP installation which is what I'll cover in this article.

Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP) is a protocol designed to be the eyes and ears for the System Administrator by providing a standard interface that can be used to monitor all manner of items connected to a network. Not only can SNMP monitor, it can also alert System Administrators to elements of their environments that are operating outside of their threshold. It was for these reasons I recently installed the Microsoft SNMP agent on my own Windows 2003 server, however I had forgotten just how limited the scope of the Microsoft SNMP agent was.