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Compaq ProLiant 6000 Software Manual
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Compaq ProLiant 6000 Software Manual

Compaq ProLiant 6000 Software Manual

Performance of microsoft exchange server 5.0 on compaq proliant 6000-class servers
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Download this manual See also: Maintenance and Service Manual, Reference Manual
August 1997
Prepared By
Internet Solutions
Business Unit
Compaq Computer
Corporation
C
O N T E N T S
Executive Summary ........ 3
Test Configuration .......... 4
Configuration of Test Facility . 8
Performance
Results......................... 11
Introduction........................ 11
Disk Subsystem.................. 14
Memory Subsystem ............. 17
Network Subsystem ............ 19
Conclusions and
Recommendations .............. 19
Conclusion ................... 21
Appendix: Full
Disclosure of Test
Results......................... 22
ECG052.0897
W
HITE
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Performance of Microsoft Exchange
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Server 5.0 on Compaq ProLiant 6000-
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Class Servers
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Electronic Messaging and GroupWare applications are quickly becoming ubiquitous in
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the business world. Because people must process and share increasing amounts of
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information, there is a need for powerful software and hardware products to satisfy the
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requirements of these applications. As customers deploy such systems, capacity planning
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and optimization become increasingly critical. Being the world's largest supplier of Intel-
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based servers, Compaq is uniquely positioned to be a leader in GroupWare and
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Messaging system platforms.
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Microsoft Exchange Server has been the focal point of extensive development and testing
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by both Microsoft and Compaq. Throughout this activity, Compaq and Microsoft have
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worked together to optimize Microsoft Exchange Server performance on Compaq Server
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products.
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Microsoft Exchange Server is complex and has many features and capabilities. For
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system administrators as well as potential purchasers of both Microsoft Exchange Server
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and Compaq products, a solid grasp of the performance issues associated with Microsoft
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Exchange Server is crucial to the decision-making process.
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This white paper contributes to such an understanding by examining various
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performance aspects of Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 on Compaq ProLiant Servers,
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specifically the ProLiant 6000-class of servers. The reader will learn what to expect from
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such a system under various user loads. Also, he or she will discover other useful
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information pertaining to Microsoft Exchange Server configuration and performance
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tuning, as well as CPU, RAM, and disk utilization on Compaq ProLiant servers.
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Ultimately, this paper should help the potential purchaser make good decisions about
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which Compaq products to purchase in order to satisfy the requirements of his or her
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business needs.
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1
P
APER

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Summary of Contents for Compaq ProLiant 6000

  • Page 1 Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 on Compaq ProLiant Servers, specifically the ProLiant 6000-class of servers. The reader will learn what to expect from such a system under various user loads. Also, he or she will discover other useful information pertaining to Microsoft Exchange Server configuration and performance tuning, as well as CPU, RAM, and disk utilization on Compaq ProLiant servers.
  • Page 2 This test is not a determination of product quality or correctness, nor does it ensure compliance with any federal, state or local requirements. Compaq does not warrant products other than its own strictly as stated in Compaq product warranties.
  • Page 3 X E C U T I V E U M M A R Y The Compaq ProLiant 6000 is the flagship of Compaq’s server product line. This server is an ideal deployment platform for Microsoft Exchange. With the current version of Microsoft Exchange Server (version 5.0), the ProLiant 6000-class system with two processors and 256 MB...
  • Page 4 To determine the actual performance of a Compaq server product in your environment, it should be characterized, profiled, and simulated against your planned deployment platform.
  • Page 5 HITE APER (cont.) For example, in any system there will be bursts of activity due to coincidence, when more users than usual initiate actions at nearly the same time. These bursts can be random in nature or a consequence of scheduled events that affect many users on the same server, such as when a large meeting adjourns.
  • Page 6 HITE APER (cont.) Default User Profiles There are three pre-configured profiles built into LoadSim: Light, Medium, and Heavy. Their characteristics are detailed in Table 1. EFAULT ROFILES LoadSim USER ATTRIBUTE ATTRIBUTE DETAIL LIGHT MEDIUM HEAVY TEST DURATION Length of a day (hours) READING MAIL New mail (times/day) Existing mail (times/day)
  • Page 7 HITE APER (cont.) LoadSim USER ATTRIBUTE ATTRIBUTE DETAIL LIGHT MEDIUM HEAVY Word attachment (upsWDatt.msg) Excel attachment (upsXLatt.msg) Embedded Excel object (upsXLobj.msg) SCHEDULE+ CHANGES Changes per day Update Free/Busy information? Average Schedule File Size PUBLIC FOLDERS Folder activity None None None CALCULATED DAILY LOAD TOTAL MAIL RECEIVED PER DAY 22.94...

  • Page 8: Configuration Of Test Facility

    Exchange Server machine is performing under load. Exchange http://www.compaq.com or on Server, along with several Compaq server subsystems, has counters available for instrumented the Compaq ResourcePaq for NT subsystems. Performance Monitor, although not perfect, is an invaluable tool for capacity version 2.5...
  • Page 9 Management Station DP 6000 Integration/Store Server 100Mb Switch (\\MASTER) ProLiant 2500 Monitor Switchbox (8) ProLiant 6000 ProLiant 6000 ProLiant 2500 Figure 1. Exchange Server test lab setup and topology. LoadSim Client Configurations IM CLIENT HARDWARE CONFIGURATIONS Machine Class Compaq ProLiant 4500 System Processor Dual Pentium/133 –...
  • Page 10 (cont.) ProLiant 6000 Exchange Server Configurations Results presented in this paper were based on two different ProLiant 6000 hardware configurations. The configurations were designed to provide for the availability of two distinct levels of hardware resource for Exchange Server. This gave the ability to compare performance characteristics under the same user loads with different levels of hardware resource.
  • Page 11 RISC-based system may provide performance gains of from five to ten percent, but may cost as much as 200% of the price of a Compaq ProLiant server. Again, the question is: Does the possible performance benefit justify the cost premium?

  • Page 12: Response Time

    3000 3200 User Load Figure 2. ProLiant 6000 Response Time (See Appendix for detailed information) Processor Subsystem In general, the processor subsystem is not an area of contention for Exchange servers directly supporting Exchange Mail users. However, certain specialized server functions in Exchange Server such as Public Folder, Bridgehead, DL Expansion, Free/Busy, and DS Replication do place heavier loads on the processor subsystem.
  • Page 13 Branch Prediction, Out-of-order Execution, and Register Renaming that have made it the volume processor technology in the industry today. The X86 application base is one of many reasons that Compaq has built its entire server line around the Pentium and Pentium Pro processor technologies A further important point is that a “chip”...

  • Page 14: Disk Subsystem

    (assuming approximately 150 sequential I/Os per second per drive). Additional information helpful for capacity planning and sizing of client/server applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server is available in the following Compaq white papers: SMART-2 Array Controller Technology (Document number 317A/0797) Configuring Compaq RAID Technology for Database Servers (Part number 184206-001) Configuration and Tuning of Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 on Compaq Servers (Document...
  • Page 15 For example, understanding not only the volume of disk I/Os but also the type (READ or WRITE) is a requirement for making choices about RAID levels and number of drives (See Compaq White Paper Configuring Compaq RAID Technology for Database Servers).
  • Page 16 I/Os required also increases, so the benefit of the array controller becomes more apparent (compare Configuration A to Configuration B). Since the Exchange Server IS Buffers manage database/disk READ caching, Compaq recommends setting the SMART-2 Array Controller cache to 100% WRITE.

  • Page 17: Memory Subsystem

    Exchange Server computer. For best applications that perform performance, both Compaq and Microsoft recommend designing your system for NO operating sequential READs. system paging. In other words, the server should have enough physical memory to accommodate the application requirements in addition to enough free memory for Windows NT.

  • Page 18: Available Memory

    HITE APER (cont.) Available Memory Conf iguration A Conf iguration B 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 User Load (Exchange MAPI) Figure 8. Available System Memory at various user loads Memory: Paging Conf iguration A Conf iguration B 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 User Load...

  • Page 19: Network Subsystem

    The network subsystem in many respects is a non-issue in Exchange Server performance. Every NOTE: Testing by both Microsoft and Compaq has shown that indication is that, while network infrastructure should be an important consideration for client/server RPC traffic is not an Exchange Server planning and deployment, network bandwidth is not an area of resource area of great concern.
  • Page 20 Use resources such as field staff, tools, and white papers available from both Microsoft and Compaq to assist with capacity planning, performance optimization, and deployment of Compaq servers in an Exchange Server environment. Be sure to consider whether a resource is a bottleneck before adding more of that resource.
  • Page 21 The Compaq ProLiant 6000-class server is an ideal deployment platform for Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 in the enterprise. As this paper demonstrates, the ProLiant 6000 comfortably supports the maximum user loads attainable with the current version of Exchange Server. Future enhancements by Microsoft to Exchange Server will allow customers deploying Microsoft Exchange Server to take full advantage of Compaq’s server architecture.
  • Page 22 HITE APER (cont.) P P E N D I X U L L I S C L O S U R E O F E S T E S U L T S RESPONSE TIMES CONFIGURATION A 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3200...
  • Page 23 HITE APER (cont.) MEMORY INFORMATION CONFIGURATION A 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 Avg. Avail. Bytes (MB) Avg. Pages/sec 0.016 0.014 0.08 0.228 2.07 103.27 CONFIGURATION B 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 Avg. Avail. Bytes (MB) Avg. Pages/sec 0.008 0.021 0.011 0.008 0.089 0.028...

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