Detecting performance loss? FSCT to help

The File Server Capacity tool serves as a way to evaluate the performance of different versions of Windows Server, such as seeing if a particular version of the performance has degraded, but it is also a supplement to the utility package that all administrators use to evaluate system load.

FSCT works by generating traffic to or from a server that uses the Server Information Block (SMB) protocol, which Microsoft systems use to control how files are used (usually TCP). ) sent between machines. This scheme uses a native Win32 API to simulate this network behavior while simulating behavior such as multiple user requests from a single client. This tool is small, just around 700K, with a white paper on instructions and explanations. You should know that this tool has both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, so for each machine running FSCT, be sure to use the appropriate version.

FSCT requires administrators to use at least three separate machines: server, client, and controller. The first two are obvious: the server is the machine used for load testing, and the client is the machine used to simulate user activity on the server. The controller coordinates the test process between the server and the client, gets statistics from both, and generates a report in the results.

If it is not already obvious, administrators can use multiple clients in the setup. There is no limit to the number of clients that can be connected, but machine testing as a server may have inbound connection restrictions. For example, the inbound SMB connection limit for Windows 7 Ultimate is 20 users. The number of connections on any Windows version can be found by typing NET CONFIG SERVER from the administrator level prompt.

An Active Directory domain controller can be used as part of this test, but it is also possible to run FSCT in a regular peer-to-peer workgroup environment. If the client and controller computers are Windows-based, it is also possible to use a non-Windows server that supports SMB as a test target. Please note that the server should not be used as a production machine to limit the occurrence of variables during the test.

When running FSCT on a given client/server configuration, the administrator uses a "workload", which is a description of a series of user behaviors called "script” XML file. A script is also a file operation, such as renaming or deleting a file, etc., executed by a .DLL file loaded with FSCT. Because workloads are just XML files, modifying them or creating a custom workload is a very simple process. It is possible to specify a file to use with the workload, such as a large file to test the speed at which the file is copied to or copied from the server. By default, only one workload is included in the FSCT: "home directory folder", which simulates the behavior of a user's own home directory folder with approximately 100 megabytes of data.

FSCT is not specifically designed for Windows server versions. It can also be used with desktop systems as a target to measure how well a particular desktop can meet a particular network connection or SMB request for current attached hardware (hard disk, memory, etc.).

In addition to the documentation that comes with the program, there is a technical forum where users can post feedback or get answers to questions related to FSCT. Please note that many common errors and issues are included in the FSCT documentation that is included as an appendix.