Analysis, Debugging and Monitor
1) Use the SharePoint Dispose Checker Tool (SPDispose) to find memory leaks in custom software: http://archive.msdn.microsoft.com/SPDisposeCheck
2) Enable the SharePoint developer dashboard and enable SQL Profiler to check SQL Server database problems
3) Get the Process Monitor tool for monitoring real-time file system, registry, and process/thread activity: http://sharepointdragons.com/2012/04/09/process-monitor/
4) If page load is very slow, check if the ACL count is the problem, even when it’s well within the official limits: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sharepoint2010setup/thread/aa37c03c-11b1-421c-baf7-47f27349e3e9
5) Get to know SharePoint, its usage, and its response times by studying the IIS logs. One of the ways to do this is to use the free SharePoint Flavoured Weblog Reader (SFWR) tool: http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/The-SharePoint-Flavored-5b03f323
6) Use the SharePoint Diagnostic Data Provider/Logging database to get more insight into your environment. Check out http://sharepointdragons.com/2011/11/16/leveraging-the-logging-database-to-see-performance-counters/ and http://sharepointdragons.com/2011/12/05/using-the-entity-framework-to-see-the-contents-of-the-sharepoint-logging-database/
7) Use 3rd party analysis tools: http://webtrends.com/products/integrations/sharepoint/, http://www.intlock.com/intlocksite/productsandservices/cardiolog/cardiolog.asp, http://www.intlock.com/intlocksite/productsandservices/cardiolog-sharepoint-marketing-suite/default.asp (that includes Cardiolog), http://www.idera.com/Free-Tools/SharePoint-perf-monitor/, or http://www.idera.com/Free-Tools/SharePoint-admin-toolset/
8) Monitor performance counters that are relevant for SharePoint. The gallery post http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/PowerShell-script-for-59cf3f70 shows an overview of a set of relevant performance counters that have been established after careful research, and a small PowerShell script for reading them. Also see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff758658.aspx for a different perspective.
9) Get the SharePoint Administration Toolkit. It contains a load testing kit that can be employed to determine if an environment is able to handle the current load. It also contains SharePoint Diagnostic Studio 2010, a tool used by Microsoft personnel for troubleshooting. It’s able to capture lots of information about performance counters, ULS log files, and so on. See http://sharepointdragons.com/2011/11/28/the-sharepoint-administration-toolkit-for-sharepoint-2010/ for more information. If you find you’re having trouble that the ULS log files are empty, check out the following Wiki page: http://sharepointdragons.com/2012/04/11/solving-problems-with-uls-log-file-generation/
10) Get PAL, a tool for troubleshooting performance troubles. See http://sharepointdragons.com/2011/12/30/when-you-have-performance-troubles-you-need-a-pal/ for more info. See http://www.loisandclark.eu/Pages/warmup.aspx for more info.
Optimization Considerations
1) The first authenticated user may experience a very poor response time. Consider warming up SharePoint. See http://www.loisandclark.eu/Pages/warmup.aspx for more info.
2) Enable ASP.NET profiling (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261797.aspx), object cache (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261797.aspx), enable output cache.
3) Shrink the SharePoint content database transaction log files if they become too big or when it’s size increases abnormally: http://sharepointdragons.com/2012/02/08/managing-sharepoint-2010-log-files/
4) Enable BLOB cache. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261797.aspx , http://www.ittreats.com/microsoft/aspnet/configure-blob-cache-for-sharepoint-2010-web-applications.html
5) Enable IIS compression. See http://weblogs.asp.net/owscott/archive/2009/02/22/iis-7-compression-good-bad-how-much.aspx
6) Configure list throttling. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/gg491393.aspx
7) Use list indexes: http://blog.dynatrace.com/2009/01/28/sharepoint-list-performance-how-list-column-indices-really-work-under-the-hood/
8) Limit the maximum upload file size
9) If you’re working with extremely large files, consider using Remote Blob Storage (RBS): http://www.loisandclark.eu/Pages/blob.aspx and http://www.sharepointedutech.com/2011/07/11/sharepoint-contentdb-guidance-too-many-shades-of-gray-along-with-a-little-brown/
10) Follow best practices when using the Content Query Web Part (CQWP): http://techblog.ranjanbanerji.com/post/2007/07/16/Content-Query-Web-Part-(CQWP)-SharePoint-2007-Performance.aspx
11) Use a 3rd party performance optimizer tool for SharePoint (that uses compression, caching, and action prioritizing) such as Aptimizer: http://www.riverbed.com/us/products/stingray/stingray_aptimizer.php
Performance Testing for SharePoint
1) Do performance and stress testing, even if you’re already in trouble. It helps a lot to be able to simulate when a comparable environment gets into trouble. See http://sharepointdragons.com/2012/02/10/sharepoint-performance-and-stress-testing/ , http://sharepointdragons.com/2012/02/28/sharepoint-2010-testing/ , http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/7828.sharepoint-2010-useful-information-about-testing.aspx , and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff758659.aspx
2) Use tools to test traffic on-the-fly:
Fiddler ( http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/), YSlow ( https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/yslow/), and WireShark (http://www.wireshark.org/)
Plan and Study
1) Study other performance and capacity test results and recommendations: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=12768 and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff608068(office.14).aspx
2) Even if your environment is already up and running, do capacity planning. This way you can check if you’re crossing any important limits that might threaten performance. Check out http://sharepointdragons.com/2011/12/05/sharepoint-capacity-planning/ and http://sharepointdragons.com/2012/02/03/more-capacity-planning-links/ . Also check out http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Maxer-for-SharePoint-2010-8cd0f26f, Maxer for SharePoint 2010 is a tool that checks for capacity boundaries in existing SharePoint farms. Do remember that content database limits include remote BLOBs (if you use them) and that auditing has a great impact on capacity planning: http://www.sharepointedutech.com/2011/07/11/sharepoint-contentdb-guidance-too-many-shades-of-gray-along-with-a-little-brown/
3) Study the set up of the database environment, which is crucial for the success of your SharePoint environment. The SharePoint 2010 Administrator’s Companion contains an excellent chapter about this: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-SharePoint-2010-Administrators-Companion/dp/0735627207/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330935904&sr=1-2
