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BackOffice Server onWindows 2000 Server:Performance Characterization

White PaperAbstract

The goal of information technology (IT) management is to reduce system costs and complexity while maintaining acceptable levels of performance for end users. One way to achieve this goal is to consolidate applications onto a small number of server computers. This paper outlines the performance characteristics of the Microsoft®

BackOffice® Server version 4.5 suite of applications running on the Windows® 2000 Server operating system on an integrated branch office, departmental, or mid-sized business server operating under a mixed workload. This paper will be beneficial to IT professionals who are considering using BackOffice Server 4.5 to consolidate multiple applications onto one server, and who want guidelines on system sizing for BackOffice Server 4.5 operating in a Windows 2000 Server environment.For more information about Microsoft BackOffice Server see http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver/. Published: February 2000

BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization

http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver/

Table of ContentsIntroduction 1

Test Cofiguration 2Windows 2000 Server and Windows NT Server 4.0 Comparison 3

Test Methodology 4Server Hardware Specifications 4Configuring the Server Hardware 5Configuring BackOffice Server 4.5 6Generating the Application Loads 6

SQL Server 7.0 and TPC-C: 6Exchange Server 5.5 and LoadSim: 7Internet Information Server 5.0 and InetMonitor 3.0 8File I/O and ZD NetBench 8Artificial Loads and the Real World 9

Evaluating Server Resource Utilization 9Evaluating the Results 11

Reading the Data 11300 Users Under Test 13

1 Processor - 256 MB RAM with 300 Users 131 Processor – 384 MB RAM with 300 Users 141 Processor – 768 MB RAM with 300 Users 152 Processors - 384 MB RAM with 300 Users 162 Processors - 768 MB RAM with 300 Users 17

600 Users Under Test 172 Processors - 384 MB RAM with 600 Users 182 Processors - 768 MB RAM with 600 Users 194 Processors - 768 MB RAM with 600 Users 20

BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization i

800 and More Users Under Test 212 Processors - 768 MB RAM with 800 Users 214 Processors – 768 MB RAM with 900 Users 22

Recommendations for Implementing BackOffice Server 4.5 24Be Conservative 24Survey User Work Patterns 24Select the Server (Processors and RAM) 24Manage Disk Storage 25Windows NT Tuning 26Configure SQL Server 7.0 27Configure Exchange Server 5.5 27Configure Memory for SQL Server and Exchange Server Coexistence 27Configure IIS 28Defragment Disk Drives 28Provide Backup Power via a Uninterruptible Power Supply 28

Additional Information and References 30

ii BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization

BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance CharacterizationWhite PaperPublished: February 2000For the latest information, please see http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver/.

IntroductionThis paper outlines performance results for the Microsoft® BackOffice® Server version 4.5 suite of applications running on a single server running the Windows® 2000 Server operating system under a common mixed workload of e-mail, Web, file, and database transactions. These tests used a variety of memory and processor configurations to demonstrate the platform’s scalability in a growing network environment. This testing was not intended to be a scalability benchmark, given the fact that the tests kept the disk subsystem constant with eight drives.As a result, this paper is designed to provide some basic system sizing and tuning guidelines, enumerated throughout the paper, for BackOffice Server 4.5 on Windows 2000 Server.The test results indicate that BackOffice Server 4.5 can be used effectively, with response times of less than one second, on a single server supporting up to 800 users. The testing outlined here is based on standard benchmarks and tools available to all Microsoft customers. We recommend you use this paper as a starting point for your own capacity planning, by using your own workload and custom and third party applications. The testing objectives were to: Test the most common combination of component products in use by

BackOffice Server customers today. Test load simulation tools that are readily available. Tune system and application performance to provide real world results. Run a series of trials to provide insight into the behavior of

BackOffice Server 4.5 on Windows 2000 Server under varying user loads. Scale the tests using one, two, and four processors; varying memory

configurations; and different user loads, while keeping the disk subsystem constant.

BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization 1

http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver/

Test ConfigurationThe tests used the configurations listed in Table 1, using Windows 2000 Server and the most commonly deployed BackOffice Server 4.5 components: Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5 client/server messaging and

groupware Microsoft SQL Server™ version 7.0 client/server database management

system Microsoft Internet Information Services version 5.0 Internet serverTable 1: Testing Levels and Configurations

1-256 1-384 1-768 2-384 2-768 4-768300 Users *

600 Users

800 Users

900 Users

Note To ensure adequate Windows 2000 Server performance, a minimum of 256 MB RAM was used, rather than the recommended 128 MB RAM.

Throughout this paper, testing configurations are designated as 1-256, 2-384, 4-768, and so on. These numbers refer to number of processors and the amount of random access memory (RAM). The first number designates the number of processors and the second number refers to the amount of RAM, in megabytes. Thus, 1-256 refers to platform with a single processor and 256 MB of RAM. 2-768 refers to a platform with a dual-processor and 768 MB of RAM. The checkmarks in Table 1 indicate the trial was considered within the hardware platform’s capacity, meaning that the platform was able to support the given number of users with a given workload with response times of less than one second. These trials provide insight into the way system behavior changes as resources become constrained.The conclusions based on our test results are: BackOffice Server 4.5 meets the database, messaging/ collaboration, Web

and file server needs of a 600-user office or department operating on a dual-Pentium III Xeon system with 384 MB of RAM.

Application performance scales well with additional memory. Under heavy user loads (more than 600 users), the disk subsystem

performance became a bottleneck. The default "out of the box" configuration of BackOffice Server 4.5 is well

tuned, requiring only minor adjustments to obtain good performance. 2 BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization

Windows 2000 Server will perform optimally right out of the box, assuming your hardware has been configured properly.

Internet Information Services 5.0 provides excellent response times and works well as a business Web or intranet server.

The results should give users confidence that, with only moderate tuning, BackOffice Server 4.5 can sustain reasonable workloads on a single server. However, customers should not make system-sizing decisions based solely on this paper. They should use this paper as a guideline for further testing using their own workloads, custom and packaged applications, and hardware configurations.

Windows 2000 Server and Windows NT Server 4.0 ComparisonBackOffice Server 4.5 running on Microsoft Windows NT® Server 4.0 performs and scales very well, as detailed in the white paper Microsoft BackOffice Server 4.5 Performance Characterization, available at http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver/prodinfo/45perform.htm.BackOffice Server 4.5 running on Windows 2000 Server performs equally well or better in certain areas, as the testing described in this paper indicates. However, a direct comparison between the two scenarios is inadvisable, because two different hardware platforms were used, with differing levels of disk controller cache, hard disk size and speed, and processor speed. In addition, the hardware requirements between Windows NT Server 4.0 and Windows 2000 Server are somewhat different. The throughput and performance of the system were consistent with the previous tests run on Windows NT Server 4.0 (or better, allowing for the updated hardware). Windows 2000 Server has more efficient processor, thread, and memory management capabilities, and many core operating system services—such as Internet Information Server--have been vastly improved. These improvements caused resource utilization, by services such as SQL Server 7.0 and Exchange Server 5.5, to be noticeably less. This results in increased headroom and capacity when BackOffice Server 4.5 runs on Windows 2000 Server.


http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver/prodinfo/45perform.htm

Test MethodologyThe series of tests described in this paper was run on an isolated network made up of a single server running Microsoft BackOffice Server 4.5 and six client workstations. The client workstations provided the simulated workload. A high capacity Compaq Netelligent 5708 TX Dual-Speed Ethernet 100 Mbits/second switch was used to avoid the possibility of an unintended network bottleneck. The tests used a popular BackOffice Server 4.5 installation scenario consisting of Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, and Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0. Because it is common for a computer running BackOffice Server 4.5 to support additional file services, all of the simulations included a file input/output (I/O) load.The tests used load generation tools to drive the server applications at levels typical of branch office settings. A trial was considered acceptable if the 90th-percentile response times (RT) were less than one second.

Note A 90th-percentile response time means that 90 percent of all responses met or exceeded the response time. The requirement of a response time of less than one second is more rigorous than other industry standard benchmarks, such as those of the Transaction Processing/Performance Council version C (TPC-C).

User loads were divided. Twenty-five percent of the user load went to SQL Server 7.0, 50 percent to Exchange Server 5.5, and 25 percent to Internet Information Server 5.0. The test also included a file I/O load. The remainder of this section reports on the testing design. It covers hardware specifications, hardware and software configuration, load generation, and performance measuring techniques.

Server Hardware SpecificationsTesting was performed on an IBM Netfinity 5500 M20 server, configured as follows:

4 BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization

Table 2: Hardware Configuration

Component ConfigurationModel IBM Netfinity 5500 M20 Model 8662 Processor Four Pentium III Xeon, 500 MHz with 512-KB L2 CacheArray Controller IBM ServeRAID-3H, 3 Channel with 32-MB CacheDrives Nine 18-GB Wide Ultra-SCSI-2/LVD 10K RPMNetwork Intel Pro 100B PCI Ethernet NICMemory 1024 MB EDO

Configuring the Server HardwareThis IBM chassis had bays for six hard drives. Adding the EXP 15 expansion created an additional ten bays. These sixteen bays were connected by one of three small computer system interface (SCSI) channels. One SCSI channel connected six bays and the second channel connected ten bays. To stay consistent with previous performance characterization simulations, the third channel was unused. Figure 1 illustrates the disk arrangement used for these tests. Figure 1: Server Hardware Configuration

The server relied on two different redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID) configurations. One RAID 1 (disk mirroring) volume was used for the system files on drive C, as well as the dump files and system monitor


logs on drive F. A separate RAID 1 volume was used for the transaction logs and the Windows 2000 Server Paging File on drive E. A RAID 5 (disk striping with parity) volume was used on the data drive D. A spare hot-swappable drive was installed for fault tolerance.The number of processors and amount of RAM available for use was controlled with command line options /NUMPROC and /MAXMEM in the Boot.ini file, as shown below:[operating systems]multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Server" /fastdetect /NUMPROC=x /MAXMEM=yyy

Using these capabilities, it was possible to make rapid changes to the hardware platform under test without making physical hardware changes.

Configuring BackOffice Server 4.5The server was loaded with BackOffice Server 4.5, which includes Windows NT Server 4.0. The operating system was upgraded to Windows 2000 Server according to the guidelines of the Upgrading Microsoft BackOffice Server 4.5 to Windows 2000 Server white paper, available at http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver/prodinfo/installupgrade.htm (published in October 1999). After the operating system was upgraded, the latest service packs, as well as the BackOffice Server 4.5 QFE Update, included in the BackOffice Server 4.5 Readiness Kit for Windows 2000 Server were installed. You must apply the BackOffice Server 4.5 Readiness Kit for Windows 2000 for BackOffice Server 4.5 to function properly on Windows 2000 Server.Disk performance counters are enabled, by default, on Windows 2000 Server. Using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) improves the implementation of the counters and substantially reduces their performance cost. The disk counters do not affect performance unless you are actually viewing them with System Monitor (the counter logging tool formerly known as PerfMon in Windows NT Server 4.0). To enable the disk counters1. At a command prompt, type diskperf –y.2. Restart the server.Diskperf.exe is a utility for measuring physical disk counters.

Generating the Application Loads Six Cyrix Media GX 233-MHz, 128-MB RAM workstations were configured with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 4. To stay consistent with previous performance characterization tests, Windows 2000 Professional was not 6 BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization

http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver/prodinfo/installupgrade.htm

used for the clients. Each client ran a single load generation tool designed to stress specific components of BackOffice Server 4.5.

SQL Server 7.0 and TPC-C:The SQL Server 7.0 loads were generated using a derivative of the TPC-C Benchmark. It is important to note that, even though the database workload used here is similar to TPC-C, the results reported in these trials should not be compared to any actual TPC-C results. To emphasize the difference, the workload will be reported as an Entry throughout the remainder of this paper. The TPC-C Benchmark is a standard database test. You can use the many official published TPC-C results to compare different hardware platforms and databases. More information on this topic can be found at http://www.tpc.org/. The SQL Server 7.0 database was initialized with a 25-warehouse data set with over 5 GB of information. The number of connected SQL Server 7.0 users varied between 75 and 225. These loads were driven from two client workstations.The Entry workload is composed of five transactions: New Order, Payment, Delivery, Stock Level, and Order Status. A mix of these transactions is maintained during the test, and the response time is measured for each type of transaction. For purposes of this white paper, good performance was considered to be a response time of less than one second for 90 percent of the users running each transaction type.

Exchange Server 5.5 and LoadSim:Exchange Server 5.5 response times were tested using the Microsoft utility Load Simulator (LoadSim). LoadSim is a publicly available Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 load simulation tool. It is a multi-client emulator program that mimics Exchange Server MAPI client calls. The load can be controlled to exercise particular elements of an Exchange Server Information Store (mailboxes and public folders, for example). LoadSim was run on two workstations, each with half the total LoadSim user load. At these levels, no memory, processor or network bottlenecks occurred at the client. LoadSim was configured for 150 to 450 Exchange users using a customized Medium User profile, as described in Table 3. Each user was configured as an Exchange client in LoadSim and configured to browse and post to public folders, as well as to log off the Exchange Server once per day. Also, each user account was configured to perform a specific number of transactions per day.


http://www.tpc.org/

Table 3: Tasks or Conditions for Medium User

Task or Condition Medium UserSend Mail – Compose and send a new message 4 messages per dayProcess Inbox – Random mix of reply, reply all, forward, move, or delete message from Inbox.

12 times per day

Browse Mail – View messages in folders other than Inbox. 15 times per daySchedule+ – Make an update to user’s schedule 5 events per day

Certain user behaviors are consistent regardless of the messaging client used. For example, a user sends a certain number of messages per day. This number may vary from individual to individual according to the user’s business needs, but does not change from one messaging client to another. The medium user load is a canonical value, defined as a user who sends 14 messages per day regardless of the client type. This load is a combination of newly composed messages and replies to and forwards of received messages. The frequency of tasks performed and number of messages and folders created during initialization vary according to the canonical profile.In addition, each user mailbox was configured with 40 custom folders, each containing 20 messages. This configuration generated a mailbox size varying between 3.5 and 4 MB each. LoadSim builds mailboxes without attachments. In contrast, most real-world mailbox size scenarios would include the use of attachments, which increases the average mailbox size significantly (from 25 to 40 MB, using the same folder and message configuration discussed here).More information on LoadSim can be found athttp://www.microsoft.com/exchange/55/downloads/LoadSim.htm.

Internet Information Server 5.0 and InetMonitor 3.0InetMonitor 3.0 is a publicly available Microsoft utility that stress tests Web-based applications on Windows 2000 Server by simulating real-time access of thousands of Internet users. For this study, InetMonitor was used to simulate the stress users would place on a company intranet supported by IIS 5.0. InetMonitor was run from a single client workstation, and the number of users ranged from 75 to 225.InetMonitor can be configured by modifying two text files. One text file provides the loading instructions. The second text file contains a list of 145 URLs available on the tested server. The large number of pages prevented page caching and led to more realistic performance figures. Windows 2000 Server NTLM authentication was configured for the required pages. In Windows 2000 Server, NTLM is used as the authentication protocol for transactions between two computers in a domain, where one or both computers 8 BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/55/downloads/LoadSim.htm

are running Windows NT 4.0 or earlier. Windows 2000 Server is installed in a mixed-mode network configuration by default. A mixed-mode network configuration uses any combination of Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. If you do not have a mixed-mode network, you can disable NTLM authentication by switching to native mode at a domain controller.More information on InetMonitor can be found athttp://www.microsoft.com/siteserver/site/DeployAdmin/InetMonitor.htm.

File I/O and ZD NetBenchZiff-Davis NetBench® version 5.01 tool was used to generate the file I/O load. NetBench 5.01 was installed on the server with one controller client and one client that generated the simulated user load. Throughput was measured as the number of bytes per second the server could process. The tests were performed without independent verification by Ziff-Davis, and Ziff-Davis makes no representations or warranties as to the results of these tests. The NetBench 5.01 test was configured using the Disk Mix Test. The Disk Mix suite was selected because it simulates the actual file activity generated by applications such as Microsoft Office based on the Win32® application programming interface. NetBench provided a constant file I/O load, while the server performed its SQL Server 7.0, Exchange Server 5.5, and Internet Information Server 5.0 transactions. Evaluation of disk activity was based on the total I/O throughput of the server and the percentage use of the disk subsystem.More information on NetBench can be found at http://www.zdnet.com/zdbop/netbench/netbench.html.

Artificial Loads and the Real WorldThe tools described above placed a constant demand on the server throughout the test. In real life, demand varies and can be unpredictable at times. Both SQL Server 7.0 and Exchange Server 5.5 provide rapid client response times, and complete transactions with idle cycles that arise later during lulls in activity. Due to the nature of the load generation tools used in these tests, no lulls and extra idle cycles were available. This unnatural environment may have actually placed a lab server in a higher sustained stress environment than it would experience in the real world.

Evaluating Server Resource UtilizationEach test scenario ran for at least two hours. Performance was measured following a ramp-up period. Depending on how many clients ran, the ramp-up period was usually 30 minutes to one hour. While this amount of time is too short to guarantee a completely warmed up system in a true steady state, several long


http://www.zdnet.com/zdbop/netbench/netbench.html

http://www.microsoft.com/siteserver/site/DeployAdmin/InetMonitor.htm


haul simulations revealed performance improved the longer the test ran. After carefully observing real-time behavior with System Monitor, the all counters reached operational levels by the one-hour mark.During testing, critical hardware and software resources were monitored with Windows 2000 Server System Monitor. An enhancement to this new version of the performance counter tool in Windows 2000 Server allows you to chart and log with one instance of the program. System Monitor ran on the server, and log files were written to the server’s own hard disk (drive F). There was very little impact on server performance under this scenario, and local monitoring avoided any unnecessary network traffic.As with Windows NT Server 4.0, performance monitoring can still be done from a remote machine. However, in Windows 2000 Professional, the Performance Logs and Alerts service starts under the local computer’s "system" account. Normally, the system account only has permission to access services and resources on the local computer, and does not have permission to access log files on network computers. This behavior is built into Windows 2000 Server by design. As a result of this stronger security, the remote computer only allows a network connection to users with sufficient administrative permissions to access the server.Server performance is dependent upon many subsystems. The disk, memory, processor, and network subsystems are generally the most critical. All instances of the following counters were logged in Performance Logs and Alerts: Active Server Pages, Cache, Database, HTTP Indexing Service, Internet Information Services Global, IP, Logical Disk, Memory, MS ExchangeIS Private, Network Interface, Paging File, Physical Disk, Process, Processor, Server, SQL Server, System, TCP, Thread, and Web Service. Generally, a 15-second collection interval was set.Following the conclusion of each test, performance statistics were extracted from the log file. Key objects and counters for each of these subsystems, along with the recommended values the counters should exhibit, are listed in Table 4. Hardware bottlenecks that affect performance may occur when these thresholds are exceeded.Table 4: Resource Utilization Limits

Resource Utilization LimitsDisk Logical Disk: Average Disk Queue Length < 2

MemoryMemory: Available Memory > 4 MBMemory: Pages/Second < 50/sec

CPUSystem: % Total Processing Time < 70%System: Processor Queue Length < 2

File I/O > 5 MB/sec10 BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization

Evaluating the ResultsReading the DataThe allocation of users for each application was 25 percent to Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, 50 percent to Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, and 25 percent to Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0. This arbitrary mix, along with the file I/O, was selected as a reasonable representation of typical use of the Microsoft BackOffice Server 4.5 suite of applications. Table 5 below identifies the user load distribution for each BackOffice Server 4.5 application tested. Loads of 300, 600, 800, and 900 users were run against various hardware configurations. Table 5: User Load Distribution

SQL25%

Exchange50%

IIS25%

300 Users 75 150 75600 Users 150 300 150800 Users 200 400 200900 Users 225 450 225

The test results are summarized in a standard table for each test (an example is given below in Table 6a). These tables list application-related performance information on the left side and hardware-related server resource utilization on the right. For each application, acceptable response times are as short as possible and must be less than one second.Application throughput is reflected as a measure derived from each load-generation tool and appropriate for the application – SQL Server 7.0 entries made, Exchange Server 5.5 messages delivered, and Internet Information Server 5.0 active server pages (ASPs) requested. Throughput is a function of the load. Resource utilization indicates how the hardware is responding to the load, and helps determine adequate system performance and potential bottlenecks. Acceptable limits for resource utilization counters are highlighted in Table 4 above.


Table 6a: 1-256 with 300 Users

1 Processor - 256 MB RAM with 300 UsersApplication Performance Resource Utilization

SQL Server75 Users

Response Time .27 sec

Disk

% Disk Time 155%Entries/Minute 93/min Disk Q Length 1.56

(.4)*% Processor Time

1.59% Disk Array Data

Exchange Server150 Users


Memory256 MB

% Commit Bytes

54.4%

Messages Delivered/Minute

9.59/min

Available Memory

5.68 MB

% Processor Time

.85% Pages/Sec 31.7/sec

IIS75 Users

Response Time .04 secCPU1

% Tot Proc Time

15.5%

ASP Page Gets/Minute

125/min

Proc Q Length 5.76

% Processor Time

.60 % File I/O 5.26 Mbits / second

*For Hardware RAID 5 arrays, the System Monitor value for Logical Disk: Disk Queue Length must be divided by the number of spindles in the array, which in this case is four. The resulting value can be compared against the threshold value of two. This calculated value is reported in parentheses in this and following tables.

To ensure adequate performance with Windows 2000 Server, a single processor server with 256 MB of RAM was the recommended minimum hardware tested for BackOffice Server 4.5. The results of this trial confirm the ability of BackOffice Server 4.5 to support simultaneous use of SQL Server 7.0, Exchange Server 5.5, and the Internet Information Server 5.0 on the tested minimum hardware configuration. The % Disk Time shows the total percentage of elapsed time for the RAID 5 drive array. To get the number for a single drive, divide by the number of drives in the array (in this case, four). Due to overlapping I/O and smart disk controllers it is possible for this number to exceed 100 percent. The better approach to finding this number is to subtract % Disk Idle Time from 100. The number of drives in the array does not affect this computation.


300 Users Under Test1 Processor - 256 MB RAM with 300 UsersTable 6b: 1-256 with 300 Users

1 Processor - 256 MB RAM with 300 UsersApplication Performance Resource Utilization

SQL Server75 Users


Disk


(.4)*% Processor Time




Memory256 MB

% Commit Bytes

54.4%


9.59/min

Available Memory

5.68 MB

% Processor Time


IIS75 Users


% Tot Proc Time

15.5%


125/min

Proc Q Length 5.76

% Processor Time

.60% File I/O 5.26 Mbits / second


Performance measured from the clients was well below one second of response time. Memory and throughput were well within acceptable ranges. During this trial, the Average Disk Queue Length was 0.4, revealing no disk bottleneck.Although the processor surpassed the nominal limit (less than 2 threads in the processor queue), the testers did not consider this a bottleneck because the processor was at 15.5 percent utilization. A single counter by itself, taken out of context, does not signify an issue.


1 Processor – 384 MB RAM with 300 UsersTable 7: 1-384 with 300 Users

1 Processor – 384 MB RAM with 300 UsersApplication Performance Resource Utilization

SQL Server75 Users


Disk

% Disk Time 199%Entries/Minute 92/min Disk Q Length 1.99 (.5)*% Processor Time




Memory384 MB

% Commit Bytes 52.9%Messages Delivered/Minute

9.7/min Available Memory

9.6 MB

% Processor Time


IIS75 Users

Response Time .05 sec CPU1

% Tot Proc Time 14.61%ASP Page Gets/Minute

122/min Proc Q Length 8.15

% Processor Time

.64 % File I/O 5.14 MB/Sec


For this trial, memory was increased by 128 MB of RAM. The additional memory improved the responsiveness of SQL Server 7.0, and the response times for Exchange Server 5.5 and IIS 5.0 declined very slightly (0.01 seconds). The processor time remained comparable with the previous one-processor, 256-MB of RAM, 300-user simulation, with Exchange using 0.11 percent less of the processor time.The Average Disk Queue Length of 0.5 does not present a problem. Although the Processor Queue Length (8.15) surpassed the nominal limit, it is not assessed as a bottleneck because the processor was at 14.6-percent utilization. Again, the low overall processor activity reflects an uneven work pace. The system performance in this trial was acceptable.


1 Processor – 768 MB RAM with 300 UsersTable 8: 1-768 with 300 Users

1 Processor – 768 MB RAM with 300 UsersApplication Performance Resource Utilization

SQL Server75 Users


Disk

% Disk Time 114%Entries/Minute 93/min Disk Q

Length1.1 (.3)*

% Processor Time




Memory768 MB

% Commit Bytes

48.98%


10.3/min

Available Memory

54.8 MB

% Processor Time


IIS75 Users


% Tot Proc Time

15.3%


121/min Proc Q Length

6.2

% Processor Time

.60% File I/O 5.21 MB/Sec


For this trial, memory was doubled. The client response times for SQL Server 7.0, Exchange Server 5.5 and IIS 5.0 improved significantly. The processor time for these applications was also enhanced.. Again, the Average Disk Queue Length was acceptable with an Average Disk Queue Length of 0.3.The doubling of memory reduced any memory pressure: The total disk utilization decreased, paging activity decreased and available memory increased. Throughput increased and the processor queue length fell. The total load generated by this scenario falls well below the hardware’s capacity.


2 Processors - 384 MB RAM with 300 UsersTable 9: 2-384 with 300 Users

2 Processors - 384 MB RAM with 300 UsersApplication Performance Resource Utilization

SQL Server75 Users


Disk

% Disk Time 158%Entries/Minute 93 /min Disk Q Length 1.6 (.4)*

% Processor Time




Memory384 MB

% Commit Bytes

57.6%


10.1/min

Available Memory

8.1 MB

% Processor Time

.63% Pages/Sec 41/sec

IIS75 Users


% Tot Proc Time

9.7%


125/min Proc Q Length .28

% Processor Time



With the addition of a second processor, the 384-MB RAM server in this trial easily supported the 300-user load. Compared to the 1-384 simulation, the response times improved and the % Processor Time decreased, which corresponds with resource utilization well within the nominal levels.Comparing the 300-user trial conducted on the 1-384 configuration, the Processor Queue Length fell from 8.15 to 0.28, and the Total Processing Time decreased from 14.6% to 9.7%. This test scenario was well below the hardware’s capacity, and the second processor provided a performance payoff.




SQL Server75 Users


Disk

% Disk Time 150%Entries/Minute 93/min Disk Q Length 1.5 (.4)*% Processor Time




Memory768 MB


10.5/min Available Memory 18.38 MB

% Processor Time

.59% Pages/Sec 25 /sec

IIS75 Users




% Processor Time



The response times and application processor time of this simulation produced results statistically equal to those of the 1-768 server test. However, the % Total Processor Time fell from 15.3 percent to 9.8 percent, and the Processor Queue Length decreased from 6.2 to 0.19, which can be attributed to the additional processor. There is no disk bottleneck; the Disk Queue Length was reported at 0.4. File I/O throughput is consistent with the previous tests.Compared to the 1-768 test, the performance gain resulted from additional memory. The additional processor did not increase the response times for SQL Server 7.0, Exchange Server 5.5, or Internet Information Server 5.0.


600 Users Under TestThe next series of tests increased the total user load from 300 users to 600 users. The allocation of users to each application remains 25 percent to SQL Server 7.0, 50 percent to Exchange Server 5.5, and 25 percent to IIS 5.0, in addition to the file I/O user load.




SQL Server150 Users

Response Time .34 secDisk

% Disk Time 119%Entries/Minute 186 /min Disk Q Length 1.7 (.42)*% Processor Time 2.74% Disk Array Data


Response Time .83 secMemory384 MB


16.6 /min Available Memory

6.39 MB

% Processor Time 1.41% Pages/Sec 33.8 /sec

IIS150 Users



244 /min Proc Q Length .32

% Processor Time 1.0% File I/O 5.1 MB/Sec*For Hardware RAID 5 arrays, the System Monitor value for Logical Disk: Disk Queue Length must be divided by the number of spindles in the array, which in this case is four. The resulting value can be compared against the threshold value of two. This calculated value is reported in parentheses in this and following tables.

A dual-processor server with 384 MB of RAM was the base configuration for the 600-user trials running BackOffice Server 4.5 on the Windows 2000 Server platform. The processor time for the applications increased marginally with the user load. The response time for SQL Server 7.0 and Exchange Server 5.5 decreased, but the IIS 5.0 response time increased. However, the response times for all three applications fell within the acceptable standard of less than one second.The Average Disk Queue Length (0.42) was well below the threshold of two, which represents a situation with no disk bottleneck. The available memory, paging, and throughput were within acceptable levels. As expected, the Total Processor Time (9.19 percent) and the Processor Queue Length (0.32) indicate the additional processor handled the larger load without any difficulty.Based on the combined resource utilization results, the 2-384 configuration for this simulation is well within the server’s capacity.




SQL Server150 Users


Disk

% Disk Time 370%Entries/Minute 187/min Disk Q Length 3.7 (.93)*

% Processor Time




Memory768 MB



% Processor Time

1.37% Pages/Sec 27.7/sec

IIS150 Users




% Processor Time

1.06% File I/O 5.1 MB/Sec


For this trial, the amount of memory was doubled. The response time for SQL Server 7.0 decreased dramatically by 0.13 seconds; the response time for Exchange Server 5.5 showed a slight improvement from 0.83 to 0.70 seconds, and the response time for IIS 5.0 remained constant at 0.02 seconds. The % Total Processor Times for the applications had minimal gain from 9.19 percent to 8.8 percent. Paging improved by approximately 25 percent, while throughput, total processor time, and the processor queue length were within nominal limits. The disk utilization created no bottleneck.Overall, SQL Server 7.0 was the true beneficiary of increased RAM. With this hardware configuration, BackOffice Server 4.5 was able to handle this 600-user load.




SQL Server150 Users


Disk

% Disk Time 405 %Entries/Minute 187/min Disk Q Length 4.1 (1.0)*

% Processor Time




Memory768 MB

% Commit Bytes 53.4 %Messages Delivered/Minute


% Processor Time

1.3 % Pages/Sec 28.3/sec

IIS150 Users


% Tot Proc Time 5.36 %ASP Page Gets/Minute


% Processor Time

1.02 % File I/O 5.1 MB/Sec


The addition of two processors in this test showed very minimal benefits. The application response time for Exchange Server 5.5 decreased by 0.19 seconds, but the response times remained constant for SQL Server 7.0 and IIS 5.0. The application processor time for SQL Server 7.0 increased marginally (0.08 percent), and decreased minimally for Exchange Server 5.5 and IIS 5.0, indicating very little system performance gain with additional processors.The disk utilization, paging, and throughput actually decreased slightly. Compared with the 2-768 Test, approximately 4 MB more memory was available. If the simulation had run for a longer duration, BackOffice Server 4.5 would have made use of the available memory with its self-tuning capabilities.The Total Processing Time improved from 8.8 percent to 5.36 percent, and the Processor Queue Length improved from 0.32 to 0.01.


800 and More Users Under TestA final series of tests was conducted using loads of 800 users or more.



SQL Server200 Users


Disk


(1.6)*% Processor Time .48% Disk Array Data


Response Time .80 secMemory768 MB



% Processor Time .16% Pages/Sec 32.2/sec

IIS200 Users




% Processor Time .61% File I/O 4.91 MB/Sec*For Hardware RAID 5 arrays, the System Monitor value for Logical Disk: Disk Queue Length must be divided by the number of spindles in the array, which in this case is four. The resulting value can be compared against the threshold value of two. This calculated value is reported in parentheses in this and following tables.

The addition of 200 users did not adversely affect system performance. The response time for IIS 5.0 (0.02 seconds) continued to remain consistently good throughout all of the simulations. The response times of both SQL Server 7.0 and Exchange Server 5.5 were less than one second, but Exchange Server (0.80 seconds) neared the threshold. The application process times used very little of the total, available, processor times under this load.The disk utilization, paging, throughput, Total Processing Time, and Processor Queue Length increased under the higher stress, but they were within acceptable limits. The server subsystems were definitely pushed, but they handled the increased user demand.Under this test scenario, BackOffice Server 4.5 continued to perform well, and within the given boundaries.


4 Processors – 768 MB RAM with 900 UsersTable 15: 4-768 with 900 Users

4 Processors – 768 MB RAM with 900 UsersApplication Performance Resource Utilization

SQL Server225 Users


Disk


(1.7)*

% Processor Time .55% Disk Array Data


Response Time 1.3 secMemory768 MB



% Processor Time .28% Pages/Sec 34.0/sec

IIS225 Users




% Processor Time .70% File I/O 4.96 MB/Sec*For Hardware RAID 5 arrays, the System Monitor value for Logical Disk: Disk Queue Length must be divided by the number of spindles in the array, which in this case is four. The resulting value can be compared against the threshold value of two. This calculated value is reported in parentheses in this and following tables.

The addition of two processors provided the most benefit to SQL Server 7.0. The response time for SQL Server 7.0 (0.28 seconds) and IIS 5.0 (0.02 seconds) were well below one second. However, the response time for Exchange Server 5.5 (1.3 seconds) exceeded the threshold. The application process time used very little of the total, available, processor time.Although disk utilization and paging increased, they were within acceptable limits. The % Total Processor Time (5.61 percent) and Processor Queue Length (0.02) indicate the processors are not creating a bottleneck.Under this load simulation, acceptable results for Exchange Server 5.5 might be obtained with some performance tweaks. Also, a test duration greater than two hours might stabilize the available memory and allocate it to Exchange Server 5.5. Overall, BackOffice Server 4.5 pushes the 900-user simulation with four processors and 768 MB RAM.The screen shot in Figure 2 is taken from the System Monitor Performance Log and Alerts file of the 2 processor, 768 MB of RAM, 600-user test. In Windows 2000 Server, the % Disk Time counter can indicate a value greater 24 BackOffice Server on Windows 2000 Server: Performance Characterization

than 100 percent if you are using a RAID controller. If this occurs, you can use the Average Disk Queue Length to determine how many system requests on average are waiting for disk access. For Hardware RAID 5 arrays, the System Monitor value for Logical Disk: Disk Queue Length must be divided by the number of spindles in the array, which in this case is four. The resulting value can be compared against the threshold value of two. During this trial, the % Disk Time was 370. Therefore, the Average Disk Queue Length of 0.93 is used, which reveals the disk is not a bottleneck. Also, the peaking above the maximum 100-level reflects the SQL Server 7.0 LazyWrite periods when SQL Server 7.0 dumps transacted data to the data drives. Figure 2: System Monitor


Recommendations for Implementing BackOffice Server 4.5This paper has documented the ability of the Microsoft BackOffice Server 4.5 suite of applications to provide quality performance for typical branch office, departmental, or line of business solutions running on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server operating system. This section summarizes a process for optimizing BackOffice Server 4.5 in your environment.

Be ConservativeThe user levels reported in this study are arbitrary samples. Although this white paper was designed to be a real-world scenario, the tests used load generation tools that produce different workloads than you may experience in your applications. We recommend that you carefully evaluate the behavior and requirements of your specific applications, create a benchmarking baseline, and use System Monitor to gather specific data for analysis.Regular performance monitoring ensures that you always have up-to-date information about how your computer is operating. When you have performance data for your system over a range of activities and loads, you can define a baseline – a range of measurements that represent acceptable performance under typical operating conditions. This baseline provides a reference point that makes it easier to spot problems when they occur. In addition, when you troubleshoot system problems, performance data gives you information about the behavior of system resources at the time the problem occurs, which is useful in pinpointing the cause. Finally, monitoring system performance provides you with data with which to project future growth and to plan for how changes in your system configurations may affect future operation.

Survey User Work PatternsThis paper reported a total number of users composed of the sum of all users tested against each application. This number was arbitrarily based upon users working with one application at a time. However, your users probably work differently. You should take into consideration differences that may influence the translation of this study’s results to your environment. Determine the pace at which your users operate most efficiently. Although it is difficult for a single generic study to provide answers for everyone, these results should provide you with the guidance you need to determine system requirements confidently.

Select the Server (Processors and RAM)Memory is a common bottleneck in system configurations. Unless you have a very limited requirement for BackOffice Server 4.5 and resources are limited,


consider implementing memory at higher levels. Providing additional RAM is an economical way to add flexibility and performance to your system. Memory was typically far more important to performance than additional processors. However, a second processor allows applications to take full advantage of the built-in multiprocessor capabilities of Windows 2000 Server. With today’s processing power, BackOffice Server 4.5 runs optimally using dual processors in a typical branch office, departmental, or line of business implementation.

Manage Disk StorageIf you are running Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft SQL Server™ 7.0, Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, and Internet Information Server 5.0 on a server, you can increase performance and create fault tolerance by using separate physical disk drives for the operating system, data, and log files. With additional drives, you can increase system performance even further by using RAID configurations. We suggest creating a RAID 1 (disk mirroring) volume for the operating system; a RAID 5 (disk striping with parity) volume or RAID 10 (mirrored stripe sets) for the data drive; and a RAID 1 volume for the application log files. Each volume should be configured as a separate spindle set. That is, you should avoid combining multiple volumes (such as the operating system volume and application log volume) on the same set of disks. Doing so negatively impacts performance because of excessive disk head movement.Fast SCSI hard disk drives and hardware RAID controllers provide the best performance. Put the RAID controller in the fastest bus available (PCI 32/33, PCI 32/64, PCI 64/66, for example). Preferably, use a bus without network adapters or other controllers that generate many interrupts. Controllers with on-board battery backup can be configured to use write-back and read-ahead cache to improve performance. Do not enable write-back cache on controllers without on-board battery backup. Furthermore, you should regularly monitor the on-board battery backup. Check with your disk controller manufacturer for details on implementing write-back caching. Your minimum on-board controller cache memory should be 32 MB, and depending on your controller and the data being stored, set your stripe size set to 8 K or 16 K for RAID 5 configurations. To increase security and fault tolerance, format the disk drives with the NTFS file system using a 16 K allocation size.To format disk drives with NTFS with a 16 K allocation size From a command prompt, type format <drive>:/fs:ntfs /A:16K. Increase the NTFS file system log file size to 64 MB for large volumes.To increase NTFS log file size to 64 MB From a command prompt, type chkdsk /L:65536.


Calculate the number and size of disk drives required based on your operating system and the space requirements of your data and log files. Fewer, larger drives require less drive bays and less rack space, but limit the total I/Os per second that the drive subsystem can service. This is also a consideration when backing up and restoring your system and data. The smaller capacity hard drives will produce more I/Os per second and provide faster response times. Choose the combination that meets both your performance requirements and your storage requirements.You can also improve the performance of your disk subsystem by distributing your hard disk drives across multiple disk channels. Many SCSI RAID controllers include multiple on-board SCSI channels.For SQL Server-based applications, consider adding physical data drives based upon the number of transactions your system needs to support.

Windows NT TuningOut of the box, Windows 2000 Server is, for the most part, self-tuning. However, there are several settings that can improve performance. On your server, set Application Response to Optimize Performance for

Applications. This setting is best when running multiple BackOffice applications on a single server.To set Application Responsea. From the desktop, right-click My Computer and click Properties.b. Click Properties, click Advanced, click Performance Options, and

then click Applications.c. Click Optimize Performance for Applications.

Configure the paging file to a size sufficient to prevent Windows 2000 Server from having to expand the paging file during day-to-day operations, which causes disk fragmentation. Given the small, finite set of drives used in the tests, testers had to figure out the best place to put the paging file. Based on disk activity and the fact that the domain controller was on drive C, the paging file was moved from the operating system files location (drive C) to the log files location (drive E).By default, Windows 2000 Server sets the initial paging file size to 1.5 times the amount of physical RAM in the computer, rather than the amount of physical RAM plus 12 MB, which was the default for the Microsoft Windows NT® Server 4.0 operating system. However, the paging file size also depends upon the amount of free space available on your hard disk when the file is created.

Configure the network subsystem by


Setting the network interface card (NIC) receive buffers for optimal performance.

Balancing the client I/O across NICs. Setting the file server and workstation network adapters to full-duplex

mode and connecting them to a switch. Disable any services and devices that are not required for your environment.

For example, remove unnecessary network protocols and disable application services that are not in active use. Make sure your hardware devices have the latest read-only memory, firmware updates, basic input-output system, and Windows 2000 drivers available. Most vendors have Windows 2000 driver updates available on their respective Web sites The Windows 2000 release to manufacturing (RTM) version may not contain the latest device drivers, because the drivers are continuously being updated.

Configure SQL Server 7.0Use TCP/IP Sockets for Network Connections to SQL Server 7.0 rather than its default network support, Named Pipes. TCP/IP Sockets offer performance gains over the use of Named Pipes. SQL Server 7.0 has removed the requirement of manually configuring most settings. Over time, SQL Server 7.0 will tune itself and allocate memory as needed.

Configure Exchange Server 5.5Run Exchange Server Performance Optimizer after you make any configuration changes to the hardware or Exchange Server 5.5 organization, including the number of processors, amount of RAM, or server function. Split data and log files onto separate physical drives. Be careful when considering the recommendations of Performance Optimizer for file locations. The Performance Optimizer will recommend data and log file locations that are different, and move them for you automatically. If you have changed the file locations, do not allow Performance Optimizer to move them automatically.

Configure Memory for SQL Server and Exchange Server CoexistenceIf both SQL Server 7.0 and Exchange Server 5.5 with Service Pack 3 coexist on a computer running BackOffice Server 4.5, you must configure the memory used by SQL Server. The minimum dynamic memory setting for SQL Server 7.0 must be increased from the default of zero to a value of at least 32 MB. SQL Server 7.0 and Exchange Server 5.5 both attempt to allocate the available memory to themselves. If you understand what memory you want Exchange Server 5.5 to use, you can use the Exchange Server Performance Optimizer to set this limit.


It may be necessary to set the minimum memory for SQL Server 7.0 higher than 32 MB to support the processing load of SQL Server. This setting will determine the memory used by SQL Server when Exchange Server is running and under load. In this environment, the maximum dynamic memory setting for SQL Server will not be reached. SQL Server and Exchange Server administrators should determine the amount of memory to be allocated to SQL Server that will optimize the overall performance of both applications, and then set the SQL Server minimum memory option to the desired value. If the SQL Server database is supporting a third-party application, you may need to consult the application's documentation or vendor to determine how much memory SQL Server will need to support the application-processing load. You can change SQL Server 7.0 memory allocations through the SQL Server Enterprise Manager.

Configure Internet Information Services (IIS)You can make the following changes to increase system performance for Internet Information Services 5.0: Set IIS performance for 100,000+ hits per day. Remove script and script/execute permission on directories containing only

static data. Keep these permissions on directories with Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI), Active Server Page (ASP), and Common Gateway Interface (CGI) programs.

Set Application Protection to Low (IIS Process) on directories with ISAPI, ASP, and CGI programs. This may decrease the reliability of your Web server. An errant ISAPI or ASP component can bring down the entire Web server, which it could not do in the default configuration.

Turn off Index This Resource property for the Web site. Put the log file on a disk other than one with the Web site files.


Defragment Disk DrivesPerformance degradation is a complex topic. If system performance has deteriorated over time, disk fragmentation could be the cause. A defragmented disk provides improved system performance by allowing quicker access to data because the files are stored in a contiguous space location on the disk drive instead of being broken up into fragments. We recommend that you run chkdsk before defragmentation to insure the integrity of the files. A backup is always good practice as well. Windows 2000 Server comes with built in defragmentation software. Defragmentation should be scheduled on a routine basis during off hours. The only safe method of defragmenting the Master File Table and paging files is through boot-time defragmentation. Never assume that a new computer or a half-full disk is not fragmented. Consider installing disk fragmentation software on every file server and workstation running any Microsoft Windows operating system. The tests in this white paper used Executive Software Diskeeper 5.0 to schedule defragmentation for the server during the night when no tests were taking place.

Provide Backup Power via a Uninterruptible Power Supply Power protection is an essential ingredient of BackOffice Server deployments, but is often overlooked. Many industry studies clearly demonstrate the importance of power protection in disaster recovery plans. IT managers deploying BackOffice in their organizations should consider power protection when planning a BackOffice deployment because you never know what type of disaster (earthquake, fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, and so on) might strike and knock out power to your data center and bring your systems down. Reliable power protection ensures your systems will continue to function for a limited time, allowing you to bring them down safely without losing crucial data. The costs to restore data are staggering.


Additional Information and ReferencesMicrosoft BackOffice Server 4.5For the latest information on BackOffice Server 4.5, see the World Wide Web site athttp://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver.Windows 2000 Server Resource KitThe Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit developed by the product team contains seven volumes, and provides extensive information and tools for deploying, managing, and optimizing Windows 2000 Server. http://mspress.microsoft.com/prod/books/1394.htmTechNetMicrosoft TechNet is the most comprehensive, up-to-date clearinghouse of resources to assist with deploying, maintaining, and supporting Windows 2000 operating systems.http://www.microsoft.com/technet/win2000/default.aspInetMonitorhttp://www.microsoft.com/siteserver/site/DeployAdmin/InetMonitor.htmLoadSimhttp://www.microsoft.com/exchange/55/downloads/LoadSim.htmTPC-Chttp://www.tpc.orgZiff-Davis NetBenchhttp://www.zdnet.com/zdbop/netbench/netbench.htmlIBM Corporationhttp://www.ibm.com/Special thanks to IBM Corporation for supplying the NetFinity 5500 M2 server hardware used during the testing process.Compaq Corporationhttp://www.compaq.com/Specials thanks to Compaq Corporation for supplying the Netelligent 5708 TX Dual-Speed Ethernet switches used during the testing process.Cyrix Corp. http://www.cyrix.com/Special thanks to Cyrix Corporation for the use of their PC Workstations . These generated our client load.Executive Softwarehttp://www.execsoft.com or http://www.diskeeper.com/execsoft.asp


http://www.diskeeper.com/execsoft.asp

http://www.execsoft.com/

http://www.cyrix.com/

http://www.compaq.com/

http://www.ibm.com/

http://www.zdnet.com/zdbop/netbench/netbench.html

http://www.tpc.org/

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/55/downloads/LoadSim.htm


http://www.microsoft.com/technet/win2000/default.asp

http://mspress.microsoft.com/prod/books/1394.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/backofficeserver

Special thanks to Executive Software for supplying a copy of Diskeeper Server 5.0 used during the testing process. American Power Conversionhttp://www.apcc.comSpecial thanks to American Power Corporation for supplying a Smart UPS-1400 Uninterruptible Power Supply used during the testing process.


http://www.apcc.com/

The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT.

Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, BackOffice, Win32, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.


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