Help! Do you know if there are any interesting Active Directory Objects or Counters?

NTDS is the main source of information on Active Directory traffic to and from Domain Controllers. It contains a ton of interesting looking counters.

Unfortunately, there is not much written that documents AD performance issues and how to use these counters. This TechNet overview article is a good place to start. There are two main objects to monitor:

1. Information related to the NTDS Object:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/6a2abace-5fab-49f0-8c6d-5daea891a5f71033.mspx?mfr=true

2. Information related to the Database Object:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/26bfde1e-7938-4573-b12f-6e4e9cedf4a51033.mspx?mfr=true

The following represents Microsoft’s recommendations when monitoring Domain Controllers:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/c5d72b6f-5974-4263-b29f-2eece0ab44371033.mspx?mfr=true

It will at least help you get acquainted with the basic terminology that AD uses.