With the next Windows Server 2019, a new feature will arrive for all IT admins that, from my point of view, is the future for analytics. The name of this component is System Insights and the scope is analyze and predict the operating system behavior to avoid issues. The main layer of this feature is a local machine-learning that collect information from many sources, like performance monitor, inside Windows Server, with the scope to give high visibility return that allows companies to reduce costs and business failure.
This system doesn’t use cloud and this means works without connectivity and without Azure subscription. In the future we cannot exclude this possibility because the cloud integration can be a great point to extend the management in order to manage many servers around different offices.
Setup
System Insights can be managed only, yet, via Windows Admin Center (aka Honolulu) because inside the operating system there are only the PowerShell cmdlets to enable and manage the feature. The build necessary to manage SI is 1806 that gives you the possibility to enable the role easily – figure 1.
Figure 1 – Enable System Insights
When the feature is enabled, there will be possible active the metrics for each single component, as showed in figure 2, while into settings are, figure 3, there’s the possibility to schedule when collect the data and what to do in case of Warning or Critical state. In this moment is possibile run PowerShell script from local machine, so it’s very important keep updated and aligned the files from a central repository, maybe manage via Azure Automation.
Figure 2 – Enable Metrics
Figure 3 – Settings
The first collection requires up to 24 hours, but after this period a graphic report will show the trend of each component and a great history show us what happened during last capture – figure 4.
Figure 4 – Report
Windows Server System Insights is absolutely the future for all IT admins, thanks a perfect integration with Windows Admin Center that provides a clear user interface, powered by PowerShell. The non-dependency with System Center or Microsoft Azure opens the doors to all scenarios and companies that wants prevent issues or block. So, you don’t have excuse to not use it!