Ignite Lab 2: Using Exchange

Server 2010 (Beta) Tools to Plan a

Deployment
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Lab: Using Exchange Server 2010 (Beta) Tools to Plan a
Deployment
During this lab, you will use Microsoft Exchange Load Generator (Loadgen) to simulate
users in your Exchange Server 2010 environment. Use Loadgen as a simulation tool to
measure the impact of Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), Outlook
Web Access (OWA), Internet Message Access Protoco (IMAP), Post Office Protocol (POP)
and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) clients on Exchange servers. Loadgen allows you
to test how a server running Exchange responds to e-mail loads. To simulate the delivery of
these messaging requests, run Loadgen tests on client computers. These tests send multiple
messaging requests to the Exchange server, thereby causing a mail load. Loadgen is a useful
tool for administrators who are sizing servers and validating a deployment plan.
Specifically, Loadgen helps determine if each server can handle the load to which they are
intended to carry. Another use for Loadgen is to help validate the overall solution.
Estimated time to complete this lab: 60 minutes

Before You Begin

To complete this lab, you will need:
To have completed Lab 1.
Or, apply the Lab 2 Start snapshot in the Hyper-V Manager for the Lab A set of
Virtual Machines.

What You Will Learn

After completing this exercise, you will be able to:
Install Loadgen.
Configure the Reliability and Performance Monitor.
Configure Loadgen.
Execute Loadgen.
Interpret Loadgen Results.

Scenario
The virtual environment for this lab is as follows:

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 The following pre-requisites were performed on Client01
a. The following registry keys have been added to Client01 to support this beta
version of Loadgen:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\StrongName]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\StrongName\Verification]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\StrongName\Verification\*,*]

All Exchange Server 2010 pre-requisites and the Exchange Management Tools
Note: were installed on Client01 as a requirement for installing Loadgen. This
requirement will change with future versions of Loadgen.

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Exercise 1: Installing Loadgen
In this exercise you will install Loadgen on Client01.

Scenario
You have installed Exchange Server 2010 (beta) in a test environment. You will run some
tests against this new install to see how the server will respond to various loads.
Performance counters will be collected during the load simulation and compared against
expected results.

Tasks
1. Install Loadgen on Client01.
a. On Client01, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and then click Switch User
b. Log in as nwtraders\Administrator with a password of pass@word1
c. In the Virtual Machine menu, click Media, point to DVD Drive, and then
click Insert Disk...
d. Navigate to C:\labfiles\ISOs and double click Ignite_masters.iso
e. Click Start click Computer and then click DVD Drive (D:).
f. Double click the LoadgenBeta.msi
g. On the Welcome page, click Next.
h. On the End-User License Agreement page, click I accept the terms in the
Licensing Agreement and then click Next.
i. On the Select Installation Folder page, click Next.
j. On the Confirm Installation page, click Next.
k. When setup is complete, click Close.
l. Click Yes to restart Client01.

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Exercise 2: Configuring Reliability and Performance Monitor
In this exercise you will configure the Reliability and Performance Monitor on the Exchange
Server 2010 server to collect performance data during the Loadgen simulation.

Scenario
Below are the most useful performance counters to monitor on servers running Microsoft
Exchange Server 2010 with the Mailbox server role installed. When monitoring
Exchange 2010 servers, you should know which performance aspects are most important.
The counters and threshold values detailed in this exercise can be used to proactively
identify potential issues and help identify the root cause of issues when troubleshooting.
When you use Microsoft Office Outlook® in MAPI mode, Outlook executes client
operations as remote procedure calls (RPCs) between the client and the server. If the user is
running in online mode, these RPCs occur synchronously. Any delay by the server in
fulfilling these synchronous requests directly affects the user experience and the
responsiveness of Outlook. In contrast, most operations that are performed when you run
in cached mode occur against the user's local copy of the mailbox or are issued to the server
in the form of asynchronous (background) RPCs. Generally, asynchronous RPCs do not
affect the responsiveness or overall experience of the Outlook client itself.
In this lab we will use the counters listed in the following table to determine whether there
are any information store RPC processing-related issues.

Counter Expected values

MSExchangeIS\RPC Requests Should be below 70 at all times.

Indicates the overall RPC requests that are currently
executing within the information store process.
The maximum value in Exchange 2007 is 500 RPC
requests that can execute at any designated time
before the information store starts rejecting any new
connections from clients.

MSExchangeIS\RPC Averaged Latency Should not be higher than 25 ms

Indicates the RPC latency, in milliseconds, averaged on average.
for all operations in the last 1,024 packets. To determine if certain protocols
are causing overall RPC
latencies, monitor
MSExchangeIS Client (*)\RPC
Average Latency to separate
latencies based on client

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 Counter Expected values

protocol.
Cross-reference
MSExchangeIS\RPC Client
Backoff/sec to ensure higher
latencies are not causing client
throttling.

MSExchangeIS\RPC Operations/sec Should closely correspond to

Indicates the current number of RPC operations that historical baselines. Values much
are occurring per second. higher than expected indicate
that the workload has changed,
while values much lower than
expected indicate a bottleneck
preventing client requests from
reaching the server.
For online mode clients, between
.75 and 1 RPC Operations/sec per
user is considered a moderate
user. Cached mode clients have a
slightly higher rate due to other
synch-related functions.

MSExchangeIS\RPC Num. of Slow Packets Should be less than 1 on average,

Shows the number of RPC packets in the past 1,024 and should be less than 3 at all
packets that have latencies longer than 2 seconds. times.

MSExchangeIS Client \RPC Average Latency Should be less than 50 ms on

Shows a server RPC latency, in milliseconds, averaged average.
for the past 1,024 packets for a particular client Wide disparities between
protocol. different client types, such as
IMAP4, Outlook Anywhere, or
The following is a list of client protocols that can be
Other Clients (MAPI), can help
gathered:
direct troubleshooting to
Exchange Administrator appropriate subcomponents.
Exchange ActiveSync
Exchange Mailbox Assistants
Exchange Outlook Web Access

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 Counter Expected values

Exchange POP-IMAP
Exchange Transport
Other Clients
Exchange Outlook Anywhere
Exchange Content Indexing
Exchange Availability Service
Exchange Managed Custom Folder Creation
Exchange Management Task
Exchange Monitoring Task
Exchange Unified Messaging

MSExchangeIS Client\RPC Operations/sec Not applicable.

Shows which client protocol is performing an
excessive amount of RPC Operations/sec.
High IMAP4, POP3, or Outlook Anywhere latency can
indicate problems with Client Access servers rather
than Mailbox servers. This is especially true when
Other Clients (which includes MAPI) latency is lower
in comparison.
In some instances, high IMAP latencies could indicate
a bottleneck on the Mailbox server in addition to the
latencies that the Client Access server is experiencing.

Tasks
1. Create a new data collector set.
a. Switch to Ex2010.
b. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools and then click Reliability and
Performance Monitor
c. In the left pane, click Performance Monitor.
d. Right click Performance Monitor, point to New, and then click Data
Collector Set.

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 e. In the Name box type New Install Test 1 and then click Next.
f. In the file directory window, click Next.
g. In the Run as: window, click Finish.
2. Create a new data collector
a. In the left pane, expand Data Collector Sets, expand User Defined, right
click on New Install Test 1, point to New and then click Data Collector.
b. In the Name box, type IS Counters and then click Next.
c. In the Sample interval box, type 5
d. Click Add… and select the counters listed in the table above and then click
OK.
e. Click Finish but do not close the Reliability and Performance Monitor
window.

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Exercise 2: Configuring Loadgen and Running a Loadgen
Simulation
In this exercise, you will configure Loadgen and initialize the simulation. Then you will
configure start data collection on the Exchange Server 2010 server and start and run the
simulation.

Tasks
1. Login to Client01
a. Switch to Client01.
b. Log in as nwtraders\Administrator with a password of pass@word1
2. Specify the test settings
a. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then
click Exchange Load Generator.
b. In the Welcome to the Exchange Load Generator window, click Start a new
test.
c. Verify Create a new test configuration is selected and then click Continue.
d. Select 15 Minutes for Simulation Day.
e. Select 15 Minutes for total length of the simulation.

A 15 minute test is used for lab purposes only.

Note:

f. Enter a Directory Access Password of pass@word1

g. Enter a Mailbox Account Master Password of pass@word1
3. Click Continue with recipient management.

a. For user settings, in the Ex2010 Mailbox Database box, type 1 and then click
Continue.

The number of users is limited to 1 due to the limited resources of the virtual
Note: environment.

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 b. For Advanced Recipient Settings, click Continue. You may have to maximize
the window to view the scroll bar.

This will take a few moments to create the users.

Note:

4. Specify Test user Groups

a. Click Add new (the yellow plus sign).
b. For the Client Type, choose Outlook 2007 Cached.
c. For the Action Profile, choose Heavy.
d. Click Continue.
e. In the Remote configurations page, click Continue.
5. Save the configuration
a. On the Configuration summary window click Save the Configuration file
as...
b. In the File Name box, type New Install Test 1.xml and click Save and then
click OK.
c. Click Start the Initialization Phase (recommended before running the
test).

This will take a few minutes.

Note:

6. Once the Initialization is complete, switch to EX2010 and start data collection.
a. Switch to Ex2010.
b. In Performance and Reliability Monitor, right click the User Defined Data
Collector Set named New Install Test 1 and then click Start.

c. Once a green play symbol appears on New Install Test 1, switch to

Client01.
d. In the Initialization completed page of Loadgen, click Start the simulation.

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 This will take 15 minutes.
Note:

7. Stop data collection and then view the configuration summary.

a. Once the simulation is finished, switch to EX2010
b. Switch to the Reliability and Performance Monitor console, right click the
User Defined Data Collector Set named New Install Test 1 and then click
Stop.

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Exercise 3: Analyzing Loadgen Results
In this exercise, you will analyze the results of your Loadgen test that were collected using
the Performance and Reliability monitor. The results collected will be compared to
expected results.

Tasks
1. Expand Reports, expand User Defined, expand New Install Test 1, and then click
IS Counters.blg
2. Review the results of each counter in the table below and compare against the
recommended value.

Results will vary and are for demo purposes only.

Note:

3. Close the Reliability and Performance Monitor.

4. Switch to Client01 and close Microsoft Exchange Load Generator.
5. Switch to Hyper-V Manager
6. Right -click each Virtual Machine that is Running and then click Turn Off.
7. Click Turn Off to verify you want to turn off the Virtual Machine.

Counter Expected Actual

MSExchangeIS\RPC Should be below 70 at all times.

Requests
Indicates the overall RPC
requests that are currently
executing within the
information store process.
The maximum value in
Exchange 2007 is 500 RPC
requests that can execute at
any designated time before the
information store starts
rejecting any new connections
from clients.

© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. 11

 Counter Expected Actual

MSExchangeIS\RPC Should not be higher than 25 ms

Averaged Latency on average.
Indicates the RPC latency, in To determine if certain protocols
milliseconds, averaged for all are causing overall RPC latencies,
operations in the last 1,024 monitor MSExchangeIS Client
packets. (*)\RPC Average Latency to
separate latencies based on client
protocol.
Cross-reference
MSExchangeIS\RPC Client
Backoff/sec to ensure higher
latencies are not causing client
throttling.

MSExchangeIS\RPC Should closely correspond to

Operations/sec historical baselines. Values much
Indicates the current number higher than expected indicate
of RPC operations that are that the workload has changed,
occurring per second. while values much lower than
expected indicate a bottleneck,
preventing client requests from
reaching the server.
For online mode clients, between
.75 and 1 RPC Operations/sec per
user is considered a moderate
user. Cached mode clients have a
slightly higher rate due to other
synch-related functions.

MSExchangeIS\RPC Num. of Should be less than 1 on average,

Slow Packets and should be less than 3 at all
Shows the number of RPC times.
packets in the past 1,024
packets that have latencies
longer than 2 seconds.

MSExchangeIS Client Should be less than 50 ms on

(*)\RPC Average Latency average.

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 Counter Expected Actual

Shows a server RPC latency, in Wide disparities between

milliseconds, averaged for the different client types, such as
past 1,024 packets for a IMAP4, Outlook Anywhere, or
particular client protocol. Other Clients (MAPI), can help
direct troubleshooting to
The following is a list of client
appropriate subcomponents.
protocols that can be gathered:
Exchange Administrator
Exchange ActiveSync
Exchange Mailbox Assistants
Exchange Outlook Web Access
Exchange POP-IMAP
Exchange Transport
Other Clients
Exchange Outlook Anywhere
Exchange Content Indexing
Exchange Availability Service
Exchange Managed Custom
Folder Creation
Exchange Management Task
Exchange Monitoring Task
Exchange Unified Messaging

MSExchangeIS Not applicable.

Client(*)\RPC
Operations/sec
Shows which client protocol is
performing an excessive
amount of RPC
Operations/sec.
High IMAP4, POP3, or
Outlook Anywhere latency can
indicate problems with Client
Access servers rather than

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 Counter Expected Actual

Mailbox servers. This is

especially true when Other
Clients (which includes MAPI)
latency is lower in comparison.
In some instances, high IMAP
latencies could indicate a
bottleneck on the Mailbox
server in addition to the
latencies that the Client Access
server is experiencing.

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