As an administrator you are always looking for new tools to make your life easier. One of these tools is the Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL).  The best part of this tool is that its free and can be downloaded from codeplex.  I have included the link at the bottom of the article.  The main person behind the project is Clint Huffman who joined Microsoft back in 1999.  While troubleshooting problems for the premier performance team he notcied that most problems could be found using perfmon.  The problem with perfmon is that you really have to know what you are looking for and have the ability to weed out everything that does not matter.  That is where the PAL tool comes into play.  Instead of making an art out of reading perfmon captures it make it more like a science.  You can run your perfmon captures through this tool and it will point out where potential bottlenecks might exist.  Some of the products you can troubleshoot using this tool are IIS, MOSS, SQL Server, Exchange Server, and Active Directory.  The list is not limited to the products listed but they are the most common.  I urge to head on over to the codeplex site to download the tool.  Clint was also recently on RunAs Radio.  If you get a chance stop over and listen to the podcast.

PAL Tool On Codeplex:
http://www.codeplex.com/PAL

Clint Huffman’s Blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/clint_huffman/

RunAS Radio Podcast Link:
http://www.runasradio.com/default.aspx?showNum=82

One of the best podcast for IT professionals I have been able to find is RunAs Radio. The hosts of this podcast concentrate on Microsoft topics that administrators run into everyday. The hosts try to limit the show to roughly thirty minutes and concentrate on one topic. The hosts are Richard Campbell and Greg Hughes. Both of these IT professionals have allot of respect in the IT field. Some of the latest topics they have covered are Windows 7, Hyper-V, and Server 2008 R2. You can download the shows in mp3, wma, and acc. So if you get a chance stop by and check out the shows.

RunAS Radio Site:
http://www.runasradio.com

Well I just found another one of those programs that I can’t believe I have not been using up until this point. The program that I am talking about is called Terminals. This program is used to manage multiple RDP connections that you use. Personally this program is going to be a life saver because I connect to several servers by IP address that I am only aware of. I have included a couple links below so you can try the program out for yourself. I don’t think you will be pleasantly surprised and will probably wonder how you lived without it.

Terminals CodePlex Link
http://www.codeplex.com/Terminals

Screen shots
http://weblogs.asp.net/rchartier/archive/2007/10/02/terminals-v1-6b-release.aspx