Analyze This: A Diagnostics Tool for Monitoring, Benchmarking PCs

For a system builder, SiSoftware&s Sandra is a valuable addition to the standard maintenance tool kit. This Swiss army knife of software provides an easy way to compare the performance of your systems against others with identical configurations, which is a great way of making sure yours are up to snuff. Also, Sandra can help you ensure that the configurations and BIOS settings of your systems match their hardware component capabilities. Finally, Sandra is invaluable in helping to tweak and tune systems for maximum performance.

With over 4,000 benchmarks, Sandra gives system builders a terrific comparison tool for checking systems, whether under construction or in the field. System builders can use this tool as a sanity check, too, helping them determine how their systems are doing in the field. They can also use Sandra to check system configurations before delivering systems to customers. With this tool, things are far less likely to go wrong.

Sandra--short for the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant--has been available for nearly a decade. Today the tool boasts a loyal community of customers and a large cadre of benchmarking experts who work with Sandra regularly.

Sandra comes in four flavors, but the Professional version is the one most likely to interest system builders. With a license fee of just under $40, the Professional version supports client-server processing, and it can run against multiple PCs on the same network, either locally or remotely. But for this TechBuilder Recipe, I&ll show you how to install and use the free trial version of the Professional, called Sandra Lite. System builders can use the free version to get a sense of the product and its possible uses. Just keep in mind that Sandra Lite reverts to limited functionality after its 30-day trial period.

The primary difference between the Lite and Professional versions is the level of detail provided about system configuration data. For instance, the Professional version offers data on IRQs, DMA, I/O, network data and certain Windows configuration items, while the Lite version doesn't. Also, remote client, burn-in and tune-up support are all features supported by the Professional version, but not by Lite.

Ingredients

Here's all you'll need to get started working with Sandra:

• A fast Internet connection (Sandra Lite is an 8-MB download).
• A copy of SiSoftware's Sandra Lite, available on the SiSoftware site.
• One or more PCs (either desktop or laptop) running Windows 2000 or higher.

Now you&re ready to download and install Sandra Lite on a target PC. If we were working with the Professional edition, I&d recommend that you install it on either a laptop you carry around with you or a network console machine, because that edition works with remote machines on a network. But because Sandra Lite doesn&t offer remote client functionality, I recommend you install it on a test machine you&re familiar with. That way, you can put the software through its paces based on your knowledge of that PC.

Also, because SiSoftware is a British company, U.S. users will note the occasional use of U.K. spelling or terminology. But this shouldn't cause any serious difficulties while working with the program. Seven Steps to Installing SiSoftware&s Sandra

Downloading and installing SiSoftware&s Sandra Lite should take no more than 10 minutes. Here are the steps:

• If you haven't already, download Sandra Lite. Go to the SiSoftware site. Then go to the "Download and Buy" page listed in the top nav bar. Follow the download link at the bottom of that page.
• Pick a mirror site, and then download the free Sandra Lite version. You'll save a file named san2005.SR2a-1060-xxx.exe, where xxx reflects the mirror site from whence the download comes.
• Execute the file to run the program installer. To start, select a setup language (English is the default).
• Next, the Sandra Setup Wizard will start up, as shown below:
• Cycle through a sequence of screens, which include a license agreement, general program description, user name and company affiliation, and target installation directory. Then select the components to install. System builders who do not synchronize Windows machines with SmartPhones or PDAs can elect to not install related libraries, as shown below:
• You should see screens to set up a start menu folder, create desktop or quick-launch icons, and get an install summary. This is a useful feature that shows either all elected options or those supplied by default. It also gives you an opportunity to review your install settings before the actual installation, as shown here:
• A progress bar tracks installation while files are copied and set up. Finally, a Finish notification screen lets you launch the program.

Working with Sandra&s Home Window

By default, Sandra launches as soon as installation is completed. Sandra's home window--called the “Local Computer” window--provides icon-based access to all kinds of monitors or audits, benchmarks and analysis Wizards. Here's a shot of the Local Computer window:

Double-clicking any icon in the window shows the individual reporting and analysis elements of Sandra. For instance, the System Summary window shows basic system contents, including the local computer's name, CPU, and motherboard (or "mainboard" in Sandra's U.K. English). You&ll also find a set of controls on the bottom of these windows. Green-colored left and right arrows let you move among windows related to icons in the parent window. The blue "refresh" symbol immediately to their right causes benchmarks to run, as shown below:

Clicking the right-facing arrow takes you to the Mainboard information screen, which provokes the message, “Your computer is being analyzed.” This lasts until the screen's contents can be produced. Use the right arrow to work your way through the program's many screens.

Be aware that Sandra Lite does not produce screen contents for any of the following icons: OLE, network information, SCSI, IP network info, remote access service connections, CMOS, data sources, hardware IRQ, DMA, I/O, memory resources, plug and play enumerator, event log, installed applications, installed programs, start menu applications, on-disk programs and libraries, installed Web packages, and key applications. Commercial versions of Sandra do produce output for these screens. But none are critical, since much of this data is readily available from other Windows utilities, including Device Manager and System Information.

That said, Sandra Lite does deliver several features that are well worth checking out. These include:

• CPU and BIOS information: CPU speeds and feeds, and reports on all common BIOS settings.
• PCI(e): All PCI(e) devices installed with setting data.
• AGP: Ditto as for PCI(e).
• Cardbus information: PC Cards installed, plus functions and settings.
• Windows Memory information: Memory configuration, plus module sizes and settings.
• Drives information: Drive type, size, partitions, and other settings.
• Windows information: The version of Windows installed, plus updates and service packs.
• Services information: Services installed, with status data.

To view related information in Sandra's display window, you must select individual items one at a time. This applies primarily to individual hard disks, PC cards, and other specific devices.

It&s worthwhile poking around the program to see what information could help you. As you do, you'll encounter Sandra&s benchmarks and Wizards. Let's take a look at these next. Three Steps to Working with Sandra&s Benchmarks

The first Sandra benchmark is entitled CPU Arithmetic Benchmark. It provides a broad set of metrics that help gauge system performance. In this section of the program are 10 benchmarks that apply to various aspects of CPU behavior, disk and CD/ROM drives and file systems, memory, networking, and more. Let's tackle a couple of them to show what the program can do by way of individual benchmarks.

• To start, double-click the CPU Arithmetic Benchmark icon on the Sandra Local Computer home window. Your first view of the CPU Arithmetic Benchmark window will show no actual benchmark results; instead, it displays only reference system data, as depicted here:
• To run a benchmark on the local system, click the refresh icon, the blue double arrows to the right of the green window selection arrows. The screen shot below shows the Arithmetic CPU benchmark window for a 2001-vintage (but pitifully underpowered) Dell laptop:
• Use the right arrow at the bottom of the window to move six icon windows to the right (based, of course, on their order in the "local computer" home window), or to close the open results window. Then, to obtain a set of metrics for the CPU cache and RAM installed on the local machine, double-click the Cache and Memory Benchmark icon. The results provide a measure of chase and RAM memory bandwidth. With that information in view, you can compare the local system's performance with top-of-the-line Pentium and Xeon systems, as shown below:

Besides being fun to play with, Sandra's benchmarks are excellent sources of comparison data you can use to measure a local system against a specific reference machine.

Working with Sandra&s Wizards

For system builders, some of Sandra's most useful information comes from its Wizards. These occupy the last six icon positions at the bottom of the primary Local Computer window. These Wizards run Sandra&s tools, then interpret the results to provide observations or suggest possible performance-tuning tweaks. Of these six wizards, I've found the most useful to be Combined Performance and Performance Tune-up.

To run the Combined Performance Wizard, double-click its icon in the Local Computer Window; this will launch the display window. Unfortunately, before you can see the Combined Performance Wizard window and its contents, you must wait for the underlying benchmarks to be completed. This will take about 10 minutes.

By default, the results are compared with a new high-end P4 system in that display, and are rated against that P4 system on each of the five dimensions that show up in the graph. If you&re working with an older, slower system, I recommend that you select an older, slower system as the reference for comparison. That&s because comparing an old, slow local system to the P4 default will cause the inner portion of the graph to appear as a small, five-sided figure in the middle of the graph that is sometimes too small to see. By instead choosing a reference system more like the system you&re working with for comparison, you should be able to clearly see the differences between the two systems, as shown below.

To use the Performance Tune-up Wizard, double-click on its icon. Again, you'll have to wait for underlying analyses and benchmarks to complete before you can see any output. Once Tips and Warnings appear in this display, right-click on any of them to open a window with additional hints and other information on how to boost performance, as shown below:

Once you're done, close any open windows to exit Sandra. You're done. Now continue using Sandra, and keep all your systems humming smoothly.

ED TITTEL is a technology writer who has contributed to more than 100 computer books; a trainer; and a consultant who specializes in IT certification and information security, with a special emphasis on Windows desktops. He is the author of a forthcoming book, Build the Ultimate Home Theater PC (Wiley, Nov. 2005). Ed has no commercial ties to any of the products mentioned in this TechBuilder Recipe.