Note: This article discusses a scenario that may be addressed by Microsoft Advisory Services.

Microsoft Advisory Services is an hourly fee-based, consultative support option that provides proactive support beyond your break-fix product maintenance needs. This is a remote, phone-based support option that includes working with the same technician for assistance with issues like product migration, code review, or new program development. This service is typically used for shorter engagements, and is designed for developers and IT professionals who do not require the traditional onsite consulting or sustained account management services that are available from other Microsoft support options. This article also provides some self-help resources for this scenario.

For additional information on Microsoft Advisory Services, including on how to engage, refer to this Microsoft web page:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=AdvisoryService (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=advisoryservice)

Microsoft can provide Performance Tuning services for your software solutions, Microsoft development technologies and platforms such as Common Language Runtime (CLR) framework, Internet Information Server (IIS), developer tools like Visual Studio.NET, and other Microsoft Software Development related tools and solutions. Example includes:

• IIS/ASP performance diagnostics and tuning, such as CPU spikes and slow user experience.
• CLR performance debugging, profiling, detailed analysis, and architectural best practices.
• Team Foundation Server performance issues, such as Work Item Tracking, Source Control, Reporting, and Server Responsiveness.

Each Advisory Services engagement will begin with some questions designed to scope the project and determine your exact needs. For this scenario, the scoping questions include:

1. Are you experiencing a perofrmance issue or do you need tuning?
2. Are you engaging Microsoft for interactive assistance with a support engineer or are you explicitly looking for Microsoft to provide general documentation on best practices?

Below is a list of self-help resources or this scenario. These resources may also be used by Microsoft Support Engineers during an Advisory Services engagement.

IIS 6 Performance Forum

A forum aimed at sharing ideas, techniques for optimizing IIS performance.
http://forums.iis.net/1037.aspx (http://forums.iis.net/1037.aspx)

IIS 7 Performance Forum

Discussion on how to effectively tweak IIS 7 to resolve issues related to performance.
http://forums.iis.net/1050.aspx (http://forums.iis.net/1050.aspx)

PAG Performance Testing Guide

This guide shows you an end-to-end approach for implementing performance testing. Whether you are new to performance testing, or looking for ways to improve your current performance testing approach, you will find insights that you can tailor for your specific scenarios.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb924375.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb924375.aspx)

PAG Improving .NET Application Performance and Scalability

This guide provides end-to-end guidance for managing performance and scalability throughout your application life cycle to reduce risk and lower total cost of ownership. It provides a framework that organizes performance into a handful of prioritized categories where your choices heavily impact performance and scalability success.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms998530.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms998530.aspx)

Optimizing Performance of Database Access in IIS

This document provides some "best practices" for optimizing database access.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms525484.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms525484.aspx)

ASP.NET Performance Monitoring and When to Alert Administrators

Discusses which performance counters are most helpful in diagnosing stress and performance issues in Microsoft ASP.NET applications, what thresholds should be set in order to alert administrators to problems, and other resources that can be used to monitor the health of an ASP.NET application.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms972959.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms972959.aspx)

Designing Scalable IIS Applications

This guide provides design considerations for performance and scalability.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms525522.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms525522.aspx)

Scaling Strategies for ASP.NET Applications

This MSDN article discusses scaling requirements for ASP.NET applications.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc500561.aspx?pr=blog (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc500561.aspx?pr=blog)

Tools for Optimizing Performance

This document lists brief descriptions of performance-optimizing tools and how to access them.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd328379.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd328379.aspx)

Design and Configuration for Performance (ASP.NET)

This topic discusses design, configuration, compilation, and memory options available to improve the performance of a Web application.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms227998.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms227998.aspx)

ASP.NET Performance Articles

This document provides a listing of articles that can be used to improve and montior the performance of your applications.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/44e5wy6k(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/44e5wy6k(VS.85).aspx)

Troubleshooting a Performance Issue with Failed Request Tracing and appcmd in IIS 7

This blog post discusses how to troubleshoot a performance issue in IIS 7.
http://blogs.msdn.com/tess/archive/2008/08/19/troubleshooting-a-performance-issue-with-failed-request-tracing-and-appcmd-in-iis7.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/tess/archive/2008/08/19/troubleshooting-a-performance-issue-with-failed-request-tracing-and-appcmd-in-iis7.aspx)

Bess's "Performance Issues and Hangs"

List of blog postings regarding performance issues.
http://blogs.msdn.com/tess/archive/tags/Performance+issues+and+hangs/default.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/tess/archive/tags/Performance+issues+and+hangs/default.aspx)

How to View What ASP.NET Requests Are Doing at Runtime

This blog post discusses a tool with a User Interface that allows you to choose a process and thread and see the managed call stack at that point in time that can be run on IIS 6.0.
http://blogs.msdn.com/webtopics/archive/2009/05/05/how-to-view-what-asp-net-requests-are-doing-at-runtime-on-iis-6-0.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/webtopics/archive/2009/05/05/how-to-view-what-asp-net-requests-are-doing-at-runtime-on-iis-6-0.aspx)

Troubleshooting System.OutOfMemoryExceptions in ASP.NET

This blog post discusses how to troubleshoot OutOfMemoryExceptions in ASP.NET.
http://blogs.msdn.com/webtopics/archive/2009/05/22/Troubleshooting-System.OutOfMemoryExceptions-in-ASP.NET.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/webtopics/archive/2009/05/22/Troubleshooting-System.OutOfMemoryExceptions-in-ASP.NET.aspx)

Javascript Resources

Profiling Script with the Developer Tools

This page provides an introduction to script profiling, which can be used to identify and resolve performance-related issues.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd565629(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd565629(VS.85).aspx)

JScript Debugger in Internet Explorer 8

This blog post provides information on how to use the JScript debugger

http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2008/03/13/jscript-debugger-in-internet-explorer-8.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2008/03/13/jscript-debugger-in-internet-explorer-8.aspx)

Improved Productivity Through Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools

This blog post focuses on the developer tools available for Internet Explorer 8.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/07/improved-productivity-through-internet-explorer-8-developer-tools.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/03/07/improved-productivity-through-internet-explorer-8-developer-tools.aspx)

IE + JavaScript Performance Recommendations - Part 1

This blog post discusses ways to improvie performance of JavaScript.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/08/28/728654.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/08/28/728654.aspx)

IE + JavaScript Performance Recommendations - Part 2: JavaScript Code Inefficiencies

This blog post discusses how to avoid JavaScript code inefficiencies.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/11/16/ie-javascript-performance-recommendations-part-2-javascript-code-inefficiencies.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/11/16/ie-javascript-performance-recommendations-part-2-javascript-code-inefficiencies.aspx)

IE + JavaScript Performance Recommendations - Part 3: JavaScript Code Inefficiencies

This blog post focuses on specific inefficiencies related to closures and object-oriented programming.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2007/01/04/ie-jscript-performance-recommendations-part-3-javascript-code-inefficiencies.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2007/01/04/ie-jscript-performance-recommendations-part-3-javascript-code-inefficiencies.aspx)

Performance Optimization of Arrays - Part 1

This blog post discusses how to improve performance of Array operations
http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2008/03/25/performance-optimization-of-arrays-part-i.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2008/03/25/performance-optimization-of-arrays-part-i.aspx)

Performance Optimization of Arrays - Part II

This blog post continues the discussion on how to improve performance of Array operations.
http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2008/04/08/performance-optimization-of-arrays-part-ii.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2008/04/08/performance-optimization-of-arrays-part-ii.aspx)

Performance issues with "String Concatenation" in JScript

This blog post focuses on how to improve the performance of string concatenations in JScript.
http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2007/10/17/performance-issues-with-string-concatenation-in-jscript.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/jscript/archive/2007/10/17/performance-issues-with-string-concatenation-in-jscript.aspx)

Eval is Evil - Part 1

This blog post provides alternative solutions to the use of the Eval method.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2003/11/01/53329.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2003/11/01/53329.aspx)

Eval is Evil - Part two

This blog post continues the discussion of alternate solutions to the Eval method.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2003/11/04/53335.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2003/11/04/53335.aspx)

Networking Resources

How to capture network traffic with Network Monitor

The purpose of this article is to provide you with the information needed to capture network traffic from a local area network using Microsoft's Network Monitor.
http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=148942 (http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=148942)

Fiddler PowerToy - Part 1: HTTP Debugging

Learn how to use the Microsoft Fiddler HTTP debugger when developing and testing Web applications and clients.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250446(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250446(VS.85).aspx)

Fiddler PowerToy - Part 2: HTTP Performance

Learn how to build a faster Web site using the Microsoft Fiddler HTTP Debugger.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250442(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250442(VS.85).aspx)

Part 2: TCP Performance Expert and General Trouble Shooting

This blog discusses TCP Performance Expert and General Troubleshooting skills.
http://blogs.technet.com/netmon/archive/2007/01/26/part-2-tcp-performance-expert-and-general-trouble-shooting.aspx (http://blogs.technet.com/netmon/archive/2007/01/26/part-2-tcp-performance-expert-and-general-trouble-shooting.aspx)

TCP Analyzer Expert: Make Your Network Run Faster

This blog post focuses on how to use the TCP Analyzer Expert.
http://blogs.technet.com/netmon/archive/2009/06/30/tcp-analyzer-expert-make-your-network-run-faster.aspx (http://blogs.technet.com/netmon/archive/2009/06/30/tcp-analyzer-expert-make-your-network-run-faster.aspx)

Tools Resources

Fiddler Web Debugging Proxy

Fiddler is a Web Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the Internet. This document discusses use of the tool.
http://www.fiddlertool.com/fiddler/ (http://www.fiddlertool.com/fiddler/)

AjaxScope

Ajax View enables developer to see and control the behaviors of their web applications on user's desktops. This page discucess how tu use this tool.

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/ajaxview/ (http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/ajaxview/)

Microsoft Network Monitor

Tool to allow capturing and protocol analysis of network traffic.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=983b941d-06cb-4658-b7f6-3088333d062f (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=983b941d-06cb-4658-b7f6-3088333d062f)

Debugging tools for Windows

You can use Debugging Tools for Windows to debug drivers, applications, and services on systems that are running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx)

DebugDiag

The Debug Diagnostic Tool (DebugDiag) is designed to assist in troubleshooting issues such as hangs, slow performance, memory leaks or fragmentation, and crashes in any Win32 user-mode process.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=28bd5941-c458-46f1-b24d-f60151d875a3&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=28bd5941-c458-46f1-b24d-f60151d875a3&displaylang=en)

neXpert Performance Tool

Discussion On Using Fiddler and neXpert To Identify and Fix Web Performance Issues.
http://blogs.msdn.com/nexpert/ (http://blogs.msdn.com/nexpert/)

Strace
STRACE is a socket/SSL tracer designed to generate LOG for Internet Explorer.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F5EC767F-27F2-4FB3-90A5-4BF0D5F4810A&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F5EC767F-27F2-4FB3-90A5-4BF0D5F4810A&displaylang=en)

HTTPReplay
HTTPREPLAY is a SOCKTRC plugin allowing to analyze and replay HTTP traffic.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d25ba362-c17b-4d80-a677-1faff862e629&displaylang=en&tm (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d25ba362-c17b-4d80-a677-1faff862e629&displaylang=en&tm)

Design Resources

Designing for Add-on Performance

Blog post describing how to improve add-on performance with Internet Explorer.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/04/04/designing-for-add-on-performance.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/04/04/designing-for-add-on-performance.aspx)

Performance Considerations in Internet Explorer

This page provides links and tips for getting extra performance from DHTML, Script, Web Servers, ActiveX Controls, Java Applets, and Plugins.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533021(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533021(VS.85).aspx)

Faster DHTML in 12 Steps

This article describes how using some DHTML features can affect performance more than others, and it presents tips that will help your pages perform faster.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533019(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533019(VS.85).aspx)

Building High Performance HTML Pages

This article presents some tips on how you can get the most performance out of your pages.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533020(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533020(VS.85).aspx)

Frequent Flyers: Boosting Performance on DHTML Pages

This blog post discusses how to get better performance from your Dynamic HTML pages.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb264005(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb264005(VS.85).aspx)

Asynchrony: Loved Your Performance

This article discusses how to improve performance with asynchrony.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb263994(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb263994(VS.85).aspx)

Building ActiveX Controls for Internet Explorer

This article covers features of Windows Internet Explorer that a developer writing Microsoft ActiveX Controls should take into account when targeting Internet Explorer as a container.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa751970(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa751970(VS.85).aspx)

Memory Leak Resources

Understanding and Solving Internet Explorer Leak Patterns

This article discusses how to troubleshoot and resolve memory leaks.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250448(VS.85).aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250448(VS.85).aspx)

General Resources

Learn Internet Explorer

A series of topics designed to teach Internet Explorer programming.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/aa740473.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/aa740473.aspx)

Measuring Browser Performance: Understanding issues in benchmarking and performance analysis

This document explains the various browser and network components and how each piece can impact performance when benchmarking
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=cd8932f3-b4be-4e0e-a73b-4a373d85146d (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=cd8932f3-b4be-4e0e-a73b-4a373d85146d)

IE8 Performance

Blog post discussing the performance changes in Internet Explorer 8.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/08/26/ie8-performance.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/08/26/ie8-performance.aspx)

Common Issues in Assessing Browser Performance

This blog post focuses on performance with a discussion around some of the issues impacting browser performance testing and the techniques that you can use to effectively measure browser performance.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/01/23/common-issues-in-assessing-browser-performance.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/01/23/common-issues-in-assessing-browser-performance.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/01/23/common-issues-in-assessing-browser-performance.aspx)

http://support.microsoft.com

This is the support site for Microsoft.
http://support.microsoft.com/ (http://support.microsoft.com/)

http://msdn.microsoft.com

This is the main MSDN site.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/ (http://msdn.microsoft.com/)

How to improve browsing performance in Internet Explorer

This article describes how to improve browsing performance in Internet Explorer.
http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=153790 (http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=153790)

How to optimize Internet Explorer

This article describes how to reset or optimize Internet Explorer 7.
http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=936213 (http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=936213)

How to troubleshoot Internet Explorer issues in Windows Vista and in Windows XP

This article discusses how to troubleshoot possible issues that you may experience when you use Windows Internet Explorer 7 or Windows Internet Explorer 8 on a computer that is running Windows Vista.
http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=936215 (http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=936215)