Security Accounts Manager Test

Every Windows computer has a local Security Accounts Manager (SAM). The SAM is responsible for a few functions. First, it is responsible for storing the local users and groups for that computer. Second, the local SAM is responsible for authenticating logons. When a computer is not joined to a domain, the only option is to use the local SAM to perform the authentication.

If too many computer/user creations in SAM fail or if SAM takes too long to enumerate, evaluate, and authenticate users/user groups, the user experience with the computer is bound to be impacted adversely. By periodically monitoring the operations of SAM, administrators can proactively detect potential problem conditions and plug the holes, so that the user experience remains unaffected. The Security Accounts Manager test does just that. At configured intervals, this test checks how well SAM performs its core functions, and promptly reports real/probable failures and latencies to the administrator.

Note:

This test applies only to Active Directory Servers installed on Windows 2012 and above.

Target of the test : An Active Directory server or a Windows Domain Controller

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every Active Directory server that is being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test

Parameters	Description
Test period	This indicates how often should the test be executed.
Host	The IP address of the machine where the Active Directory is installed.
Port	The port number through which the Active Directory communicates. The default port number is 389.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Machine creation attempts	Indicates the number of attempts per second to create computer accounts.	Number
User creation attempts	Indicates the number of attempts per second to create user accounts.	Number
Successful user creations	Indicates the number of user accounts successfully created per second.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be equal to the value of the User creation attempts measure. A low value is a cause for concern, as it indicates that many user creation attempts are failing; the reasons for the same have to be ascertained and addressed soon.
Successful computer creations	Indicates the number of computers successfully created per second.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be equal to the value of the Machine creation attempts measure. A low value is a cause for concern, as it indicates that many machine creation attempts are failing; the reasons for the same have to be ascertained and addressed soon.
GC evaluations	Indicates the number of SAM global catalog evaluations per second.	Number
Enumerations	Indicates the number of net user, net group, and net local function enumerations per second.	Connections/Sec
Display information queries	Indicates the number of queries per second to obtain display information.	Connections/Sec
Account group evaluation latency	Indicates the  time taken by SAM to evaluate an account group.	Secs	This indicates the mean latency of the last 100 account and universal group evaluations performed for authentication. A high value could indicate a bottleneck.
Resource group evaluation latency	Indicates the time taken by SAM to evaluate a resource group.	Secs	This indicates the mean latency of the last 100 resource group evaluations performed for authentication. A high value could indicate a bottleneck.