Logging and Systems Management in Microsoft .NET Framework Application Development Foundation

Suggested Practices

To master the “Embedding configuration, diagnostic, management, and installation features into a .NET Framework application” exam objective, complete the following tasks.

Manage an Event Log by Using the System.Diagnostics Namespace

For this task, you should complete at least Practice 1. If you want a better understanding of how events can be used in the real world and you have the resources, complete Practices 2 and 3 as well.

• Practice 1 Go through your Application event log, or other custom event logs, and examine the events. Notice which events are the most useful for troubleshooting and which characteristics make them useful.

• Practice 2 Configure event forwarding on computers running Windows Vista to forward events selectively from multiple computers to a single computer. Administrators often use event forwarding to assist in managing events.

• Practice 3 Using a real-world application that you wrote, create a custom event log in the application’s setup. Then add events to the event log when users log on or off or perform other tasks that might be relevant for security auditing.

Manage System Processes and Monitor the Performance of a .NET Framework Application by Using the Diagnostics Functionality of the .NET Framework

For this task, you should complete at least Practices 1 and 2. If you want a better understanding of how events can be used in the real world and you have the resources, complete Practice 3 as well.

• Practice 1 Create an application that adds a custom performance counter category with both single-instance and multi-instance counters.

• Practice 2 Use the Performance snap-in to monitor the performance of a remote computer. Examine the Performance counters added by applications and think about how system administrators might use the counters in a real-world environment.

• Practice 3 Using a real-world application that you wrote, add code to the setup procedure to establish a custom performance counter category. Then add code to the application to populate several counters revealing internal application metrics.

Debug and Trace a .NET Framework Application by Using the System.Diagnostics Namespace

For this task, you should complete both practices.

• Practice 1 Using a real-world application that you developed, add debugging and trace commands to allow you to follow the application’s execution. Use debugging commands for information that would be useful only in a development environment. Use trace commands when the output might be useful for troubleshooting problems in a real-world environment.

• Practice 2 Install the application you used in Practice 1. Then update the .config file to write trace output to a text file.

Embed Management Information and Events into a .NET Framework Application

For this task, you should complete all three practices.

• Practice 1 Create a program that displays new event log entries to the console.

• Practice 2 Create a program that displays a dialog box when a user connects a USB flash drive.

• Practice 3 Create a program that examines all network adapters connected to a computer and identifies the network adapter with the highest bandwidth.