FSCT test results detail the performance of Windows Server 2008 R2 File Server configurations – 23,000 users with 192 spindles

1. Introduction The File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) is a free download from Microsoft that helps you determine the capacity of a specific file server configuration (running Windows or any operating system that implements the SMB or SMB2 protocols). It simulates a specific set of operations (the “Home Folders” workload) being executed by a large … Continue reading FSCT test results detail the performance of Windows Server 2008 R2 File Server configurations – 23,000 users with 192 spindles →

File Server improvements from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 R2. 8 items for 8 years…

Introduction The File Server team often talks to customers about file server migration and file server consolidation projects. Many times, these are customers running Windows Server 2003 that can point to a number of issues they wanted fixed. In most cases, those issues have been identified and corrected in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server … Continue reading File Server improvements from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 R2. 8 items for 8 years… →

Notes from SNIA’s Storage Developers Conference (SDC) 2010 and CIFS/SMB/SMB2 Plugfest

If you’re following me on Twitter, you probably noticed I am attending SNIA’s Software Developer’s Conference 2010 (SDC 2010) and the CIFS/SMB/SMB2 PlugFest this week. The agenda for the event is published at http://www.snia.org/events/storage-developer2010/agenda2010. Here are some random notes from the event, some of them taken from a few earlier tweets (some sessions are just … Continue reading Notes from SNIA’s Storage Developers Conference (SDC) 2010 and CIFS/SMB/SMB2 Plugfest →

Presentations from Storage Developer Conference 2009 (SDC 2009) are now available for download

The presentations from SNIA's SDC 2009 are now publicly available for download. This SNIA event happened in Santa Clara, CA last September and the decks are now publicly available, after being restricted to conference attendees for a few months. Out of the dozens of presentations, I wanted to highlight a few that were delivered by … Continue reading Presentations from Storage Developer Conference 2009 (SDC 2009) are now available for download →

File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) 1.0 available for download

Version 1.0 of the File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) was announced yesterday during a presentation by Jian Yan and Bartosz Nyczkowski at SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference in Santa Clara, CA. The presentation covered a number of details about FSCT and included a demo running FSCT with the HomeFolders workload. If you are not familiar with … Continue reading File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) 1.0 available for download →

File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) Release Candidate available for download

The File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) is a capacity planning software for CIFS/SMB/SMB2 file servers. It’s also useful for identifying performance bottlenecks. FSCT results include the maximum number of users for a file server configuration, throughput for that configuration and performance counters for the server and clients used. This is a command line tool and … Continue reading File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) Release Candidate available for download →

2008 SNIA Storage Developer Conference presentations available for download

The presentations from the SDC 2008 are now publicly available for download. This SNIA event happened in Santa Clara, CA on September 22-25 and the decks are now available to everyone, after being restricted to conference attendees for a few months. Out of the dozens of presentations, I wanted to highlight a few that were delivered by … Continue reading 2008 SNIA Storage Developer Conference presentations available for download →

“FSCT” – A CIFS/SMB/SMB2 File Server Tool for Capacity Planning and Performance Troubleshooting

Overview A recent presentation during SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference described an upcoming tool called “FSCT”.“FSCT” (which stands for “File Server Capacity Tool”) was created by Microsoft after analyzing the workload of production file servers used to store user’s home folders.The tool can simulate that typical file server workload (and potentially others) in a lab environment. … Continue reading “FSCT” – A CIFS/SMB/SMB2 File Server Tool for Capacity Planning and Performance Troubleshooting →

Storage Developer Conference presentation next week

Next week I will be delivering a presentation on “A CIFS/SMB/SMBV2 File Server Tool for Capacity Planning and Performance Troubleshooting” during SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference in Santa Clara, CA.You can see the agenda and some additional details in the public event agenda at http://www.snia.org/events/storage-developer2008/agenda2008. I can’t disclose any additional information before the event, but the … Continue reading Storage Developer Conference presentation next week →