Test Configuration; Introduction; Loadsim - Compaq 108164-003 - ProLiant - 800 White Paper

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HITE APER
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EST ONFIGURATION
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Introduction

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Before diving right into the performance results, it is important to take a few minutes and review
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the tools and configuration used to arrive at these results.
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There are two main tools used to prepare the data for this white paper:
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Microsoft Exchange Server LoadSim
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Microsoft Windows NT Performance Monitor
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Naturally, your results will vary depending upon your exact conditions. In other words, the results
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shown probably won't be exactly what you will see. However, the trends should be the same.
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Additionally, the configuration of test loads selected for this paper are a good overall mix of
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potential real world situations. If anything, the load is a bit on the heavy side, so it should
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illustrate a worst case scenario for most Exchange users. In other words, most likely your user
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load won't be heavier than the loads used in these tests, and as a result your performance should
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be at least as good as, if not better than, the performance shown here.
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LoadSim

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The main tool used in generating the performance data contained in this paper is the Microsoft
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Exchange Server User Load Simulation utility - called LoadSim.
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As its name implies, LoadSim is a tool for simulating a client user load on an Exchange Server.
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Its purpose is to enable a single Windows NT machine - called a LoadSim client - to simulate
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multiple Microsoft Exchange client users.
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For more information on the details of Loadsim operation and configuration, refer to the
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. . Microsoft white paper entitled, " L oadSim: Microsoft Exchange Server Load Simulation Tool for
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Microsoft Exchange 4.0". This paper is included with the LoadSim utility, and they can both be
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found on the Microsoft Exchange Server CD in the \SUPPORT\LOADSIM directory.
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The operation of LoadSim users is governed by a LoadSim profile, which is stored on disk as a
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.SIM file. This profile controls things like how long a LoadSim 'day' is, how many email
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messages to send in a day's time, how many times to open and read existing email, whether to use
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distribution lists, whether to use public folders, etc.
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