MetaFrame XP Oracle 11i Bandwidth Analysis · MetaFrame XP Presentation Server, Microsoft Exchange 2003 Bandwidth Analysis iii Introduction Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server is the latest

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By Citrix Consulting

Citrix Systems, Inc.

Notice

The information in this publication is subject to change without notice.

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Copyright © 2003 Citrix Systems, Inc., 851 W Cypress Creek Road, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33309 U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Version History

1.0 Helmer Perez, Citrix Consulting

Eric Gallo, Citrix Consulting

May 28, 2003

2.0 – QA Review Ed Rodriguez, Citrix Consulting

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................................................................ 2 APPROACH ................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 KEY FINDINGS............................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Network Spikes....................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Bandwidth Results .................................................................................................................................................................. 3

CUSTOM MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 2003 SCRIPTS ..................................................................................................................... 4 REQUIREMENTS AND ASSUMPTIONS ................................................................................................................................................ 4 MICROSOFT OUTLOOK SCRIPT........................................................................................................................................................ 4

ENVIRONMENT ARCHITECTURE................................................................................................................................................ 8 METAFRAME XP PRESENTATION SERVER........................................................................................................................................ 9 MICROSOFT EXCHANGE 2003 ENVIRONMENT................................................................................................................................. 10 HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 SOFTWARE AND PLATFORM SPECIFICATIONS.................................................................................................................................. 12 METAFRAME SERVER CONFIGURATION.......................................................................................................................................... 13 INTERNET EXPLORER 6.0 CONFIGURATION .................................................................................................................................... 14

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................................................... 15 OUTLOOK WEB CLIENT BANDWIDTH .............................................................................................................................................. 16

CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 18

APPENDIX A: EEYE IRIS SNIFFER............................................................................................................................................ 19

APPENDIX B: MS SQL ANALYSIS............................................................................................................................................. 20

MetaFrame XP Presentation Server, Microsoft Exchange 2003 Bandwidth Analysis iii

Introduction Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server is the latest edition of the Microsoft exchange platform that includes an improved Microsoft Outlook Web Access client, and provides added enhancements to Outlook 2003 clients. The Microsoft Exchange server is a powerful messaging system that enables member users to exchange information with others over the Internet and other systems. Users can send documents, spreadsheets, graphics, and other items in e-mail to other users; view items that are available in public folders; or post items in public folders so that other users can access them. Outlook 2003 clients work with the new Exchange 2003 server to provide additional enhancements including a cache mode which allows users to use the local Exchange mailbox data file, synchronization improvements to allow for data compression on information sent between the server and client, enhanced authentication features, and application persistence during network interruption and latency.

Citrix Consulting conducted a bandwidth analysis project of Microsoft Exchange 2003 server using an Outlook 2003 client interface to test various simulated user scenarios. The same scenarios were also tested and compared on the new Microsoft Outlook Web Access Server. All testing was completed using Citrix’s MetaFrame XP Presentation Server Enterprise Edition with Feature Release 3. The results of these tests provided valuable information regarding the bandwidth demands of Outlook/Exchange 2003 deployed using Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server versus a traditional client/server or web application access mechanism. The results discussed in the sections that follow provide a quantitative comparison when deciding the best Outlook/Exchange 2003 implementation model for your organization’s environment.

MetaFrame XP Presentation Server, Microsoft Exchange 2003 Bandwidth Analysis 1

Executive Summary The increased processing power of desktop computing has allowed many organizations to reevaluate the typical client/server architecture. Information Technology (IT) departments are realizing that centralizing the delivery of application processing can reduce the administrative and physical costs of maintaining an IT infrastructure. One manner in which to ease administrative costs is to lower the amount of client workstation upgrades and the amount of user support by deploying applications within an application server model, or as web applications. By allowing users to access applications using a thin client model, the client workstation does not need to be upgraded when application code is updated and user support is minimized since there is one common user interface to multiple applications.

One potential side effect with traditional client/server applications is the amount of bandwidth that they may consume. Depending on the application functionality and architecture, some applications may be prone to network bursts. The network bursts typically occur because the externally located client interface is requesting data that resides in a centrally located data storage network. If the client requests large quantities of information, network resources can be stressed for short periods of time, ultimately resulting in performance issues for the end user.

MetaFrame XP Presentation Server can assist in alleviating the network bursts that are present in a typical client/server application environment by passing minimal keyboard, mouse, and video information over the slower WAN network segments. This limits the network bursts that are present between the client and the backend server to an isolated high speed network. Citrix Consulting has undertaken the task of evaluating the bandwidth efficiency of Microsoft Outlook/Exchange 2003 Server running as a typical client/server application versus accessed using MetaFrame XP Presentation Server, Feature Release 3.

Approach To determine the bandwidth utilization of the Microsoft Outlook/Exchange 2003 application, a test environment was created using two MetaFrame XP servers; one used as a dedicated zone data collector, and the other running the Outlook 2003 native client, as well as using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 to access the Microsoft Outlook Web Access Server. An automated user script was executed that ran through several typical scenarios. The inbound and outbound network activity from the MetaFrame XP server to the Citrix ICA client was monitored to determine the bandwidth consumed over the network when Outlook was accessed using MetaFrame XP Presentation Server. While the same script was executed, the inbound and outbound network activity from the MetaFrame XP server to the Exchange server was monitored to determine the bandwidth consumed when Outlook/Exchange 2003 is run as a typical native client and web application. The resulting data was then analyzed to draw bandwidth utilization comparisons between accessing Outlook/Exchange 2003 natively versus using MetaFrame XP Presentation Server.

Key Findings The following table provides a brief summary of the testing results. The network traffic Sum (in kilobytes), as well as the Average kbs, are shown for each corresponding Outlook implementation (Outlook Client, Outlook Web—and their complement ICA implementations.)


Outlook Client

ICA Client

Outlook Web

ICA Web

Sum 2821.76 2028.79 11229.11 2407.97

Average 7.21 5.19 27.25 5.84

Network Spikes

Microsoft Exchange performs very well when running both as a standard client/server application and as a web application. The average bandwidth observed when running as a web application was 27.25 Kbps, and 7.21 Kbps when running on a standard Outlook client. However, when Outlook was actively communicating with the Exchange server, the network was susceptible to large spikes in bandwidth utilization. Depending on the frequency and intensity of the spikes, running Outlook in a MetaFrame XP Presentation Server access architecture, particularly over a slow WAN link, can provide significant benefits to the end user resulting in a more stable network with less bandwidth load.

Bandwidth Results

Analysis of the bandwidth utilization when running Outlook as a standard application, and as a web client showed that sizeable benefits can be achieved when they are accessed through MetaFrame XP Presentation Server. The standard Outlook client bandwidth rate of 7.21 Kbps was improved to 5.19 Kbps on the ICA client. Likewise, the Microsoft OWA Server traffic was improved from 27.25 Kbps to 5.84 Kbps when the web client was accessed through a MetaFrame XP deployed web browser. These results confirmed that MetaFrame XP can provide significant improvements in bandwidth usage and network stability which can improve performance of the Microsoft Exchange platform.


Custom Microsoft Outlook 2003 Scripts This section details the custom scripts developed for the Microsoft Exchange 2003 bandwidth analysis initiative. These scripts were developed to simulate typical tasks performed daily by Microsoft Outlook users. The following sections detail the requirements, assumptions and the process flow of each script.

Requirements and Assumptions The purpose of this section is to identify the functional requirements and assumptions used to develop and execute the Microsoft Exchange 2003 bandwidth tests. The following requirements must be met by the Microsoft Outlook user scripts:

The Microsoft Outlook client scripts simulate standard users.

Microsoft Outlook simulation includes the normal task of opening and sending emails, saving attachments, creating appointments, adding contacts, and searching the global address book.

Users are initialized with the requisite messages and settings prior to load analysis.

The following lists the assumptions identified by Citrix Consulting during the initial phase of the project:

The MS Outlook scripts reflect the typical usage pattern and resource utilization of a typical Outlook user.

User variance is based on the speed that they use the application and not the tasks that they execute.

The scripts do not simulate printing.

The user accounts are configured correctly.

The Microsoft Exchange and MetaFrame XP servers are optimally configured for the environment.

Microsoft Outlook Script The objective of this script is to simulate the usage pattern of a typical Outlook user while maintaining the requirements and assumptions outlined in the previous section. These scripts were created and executed using Mercury LoadRunner 7.51. The network bandwidth data was gathered while only one concurrent user was connected to the MetaFrame XP server. The individual steps that were conducted each time the script was executed are depicted in the following diagram:

Note: The script used primary keystrokes, rather than mouse clicks, to perform the tasks in the script. This was done to insure the script would remain in sync regardless of the window positions displayed during the test.


Launch OutlookProvide Credentials Open Unread Emails View Attachments Save Attachments to local

Disk

Create EmailsAdd Attachments

Send Emails

Sort Inbox by Sender / ByDate

Search Messages forKeywordsMove Mail between folders

Open Calendar View andCreate new Appointment Create new Contact Search Global Address

Book Exit Outlook

Figure 1: Outlook 2003 User Workflow

The following table describes in detail the steps used in the script:

Sections Detailed Steps Launch Outlook / Provide Credentials

The user launches an ICA session using a predetermined ID. The published Outlook application is launched and the user is authenticated according to Windows Active Directory credentials.

Once the Outlook Client loads, the user enters CTRL-Y and selects the Inbox. The Inbox is now shown and all received emails are displayed.

The most recent email in the Inbox is selected, and the user selects the ENTER key. A window opens displaying the contents of the email (31 KB text message). The user presses ALT-F4 key and the email window is closed.

Open Unread Emails

The user selects another email from the Inbox, and selects the ENTER key. A window opens displaying the contents of the email (1022 KB highly formatted Rich Text message). The user presses ALT-F4 key and the email window is closed.


The user selects another email with a small attachment from the Inbox, and selects the ENTER key. A window opens displaying the contents of the email (770 KB .pdf attachment). The user double clicks on the attachment with the mouse, and the attached PDF document is displayed. The user selects File Close and the attachment document is closed.

The user selects File Save Attachments, selects the local drive as destination, and selects the SAVE button. The user presses ALT-F4 key and the email window is closed.

The user selects another email with a large attachment from the Inbox, and selects the ENTER key. A window opens displaying the contents of the email (2 MB .bmp attachment). The user double clicks on the attachment with the mouse, and the attached BMP graphic is displayed. The user presses ALT-F4 and the attachment graphic is closed.

View Attachments / Save Attachments to local Disk

The user selects File Save Attachments, selects the local drive as destination, and selects the SAVE button. The user presses ALT-F4 key and the email window is closed.

The user selects another email with an attachment from the Inbox, and selects the ENTER key. A window opens displaying the contents of the email (20 KB Word .doc attachment). The user presses ALT-R and sends a reply to the email. The user presses ALT-F4 and the opened email window is closed.

Create/Send Emails

The user presses ALT-N and selects new email. The user creates a 2KB text message and sends the email.

The user presses ALT-N and selects new email. The user presses CTRL-I and selects to insert a FILE. The user chooses the source content (770 KB .pdf) from the local drive and clicks the INSERT button. The user then presses ALT-S to send the newly created email.

Create Emails / Add Attachments

The user presses ALT-N and selects new email. The user presses CTRL-I and selects to insert a FILE. The user chooses the source content (2 MB .bmp) from the local drive and clicks the INSERT button. The user then presses ALT-S to send the newly created email.

Sort Inbox by Sender / By Date

The user presses ALT-V and changes the view to sort Inbox by Sender. The emails in the inbox are now sorted by Sender. The user presses ALT-V and changes the view to sort Inbox by Date. The emails in the inbox are now sorted by Date.

Search Messages for Keywords

The user presses CTRL-E and the Search bar is displayed. The user enters a keyword search from within the Inbox and selects the FIND NOW button. An email list is returned showing only emails matching the keyword search. The user closes the Search bar by clicking on the Close button.

Move Mail between Folders The user presses CTRL-Y and selects the Junk Mail folder. The user selects the ENTER button to open the selected email from this folder.


From the opened email window the user selects “File Move to Folder” then selects the Deleted Items folder. The user then presses CTRL-Y to change the folder to Deleted Items folder, and moves the new email back to the Junk Email folder.

The user presses CTRL-Y and selects the Calendar view. The user presses ALT-V and selects Month view. The Calendar is now displayed for the current Month.

Open Calendar View / Create New Appointment

The user presses ALT-N and selects a new Appointment. On the new Appointment screen, the user presses CTRL-TAB to view the Scheduling section. User clicks on the Add Others button, and selects Add From Address Book. The user then selects another user from Address Book to be part of the appointment. The appointment start and end dates are selected. The user presses CTRL-TAB and types the subject and location, then presses ALT-S to send the appointment.

Create a new Contact The user presses CTRL-Y and selects the Contact view. The user presses ALT-N and selects a new contact. The user types a first and last name, the title and company for the new contact. Then selects the Save and Close button.

Search the Global Address Book

The user presses ALT-T and selects Address Book from the tools menu. Types the name of another user to search in the address book. The user clicks on the selected global entry to view user details, and then presses ALT-F4 to close the Global Address book.

Exit Outlook The user then selects File Close from Outlook menu to exit the application.


Environment Architecture This section describes the test environment and configuration of the hardware and software used to conduct the Microsoft Exchange 2003 bandwidth tests. It also provides an overview of the interaction between the components in the MetaFrame XP bandwidth testing environment.

To determine the bandwidth requirements of ICA and help provide a general network guideline for ICA client deployment, Citrix Consulting examined the network utilization of users exercising the Outlook 2003 client through a MetaFrame XP server. It was unnecessary to have the users repeat their tasks on both the desktop version of Outlook and the MetaFrame deployed Outlook application because the network analysis that was performed was able to simultaneously monitor the Outlook traffic and ICA traffic originating from the MetaFrame XP server. Because the Outlook client is running on the MetaFrame XP server exactly as it would from the desktop, the Outlook traffic generated is identical to the desktop traffic, performing the same task. Using this approach ensures that the network analysis of ICA is closely linked to the actual Outlook activities, thereby ensuring an accurate comparison of ICA to Outlook traffic. To enable this configuration, the environment required the presence of two MetaFrame XP servers, an ICA Client, and the various components of the Microsoft Exchange 2003 architecture. A LoadRunner Virtual User Generator running ICA Client version 6.30 was used to establish a connection to the servers detailed in the following section to conduct the bandwidth testing.


Metaframe XPDELLMF2

Zone Data CollectorSQL Data Store

DELLMFDC

LoadrunnerICA Client

LR01

CITRIX DELL FARM - ZONE DELLMFDC

Microsoft TitaniumDELLEXCH

Outlook Web ClientDELLWEB

Domain ControllerDHCP ServerDNS Server

DELLAD

Figure 2: MICROSOFT EXCHANGE 2003/ METAFRAME XP - NETWORK DIAGRAM

MetaFrame XP Presentation Server Citrix MetaFrame XP Presentation Server enables robust, easily managed, and cost-effective delivery of Windows and UNIX applications to a variety of client devices. Because the ICA protocol, which enables this application access, supports all types of hardware, operating platforms, network connections, and network protocols, it lets organizations deliver a common set of applications to different types of client devices and to users in separate locations with better performance than alternative technologies.


MetaFrame XP servers are organized at the highest level into server farms. A MetaFrame XP server farm is a group of MetaFrame XP servers managed as a single entity with Citrix’s Independent Management Architecture (IMA) components. Servers in such a farm share some form of physical connection and a single IMA-based data store. MetaFrame XP uses the data store to centralize configuration information for a server farm in one location. The data store maintains information about the servers, applications, and MetaFrame XP administrators in the server farm. Servers in a MetaFrame XP server farm are also further organized into zones. A zone is a logical grouping of MetaFrame XP servers intended to enhance the performance of MetaFrame by allowing geographically related servers to be grouped together. Each zone within a server farm has one server that is designated as a zone data collector. A zone data collector stores information about the servers and published applications in the farm from each server within its zone and all other zone data collectors. This information is in turn used to dynamically load balance users to the least-busy server when connecting to a MetaFrame XP server farm.

For testing purposes, the MetaFrame environment was composed of two servers. One server contained a local Microsoft SQL database acting as the data store. This server was also acting as the zone data collector. The other server acted as the presentation server, hosting the Outlook 2003 client and Internet Explorer application.

Microsoft Exchange 2003 Environment The test environment utilized two physical servers to run Microsoft Exchange 2003, which is broken down as follows:

Microsoft Exchange 2003 server: The Microsoft Exchange 2003 server is a required component of the Exchange platform. The Exchange server provides the administration interface to manage the Exchange environment. Through these management tools, administrators can manage mailboxes, and configure specific Exchange server settings. The Exchange server communicates with the Outlook client to route messages to the appropriate destination.

Microsoft Outlook Web Access server: The Microsoft OWA server provides a web interface accessible through an Internet Explorer browser. The web client provides many of the same features available through a standard Outlook client. To implement the Microsoft OWA server, a dedicated web server must be used to manage the web traffic when communicating with an Internet Explorer browser. This server also serves as a front-end to the existing Exchange environment.

Hardware Specifications The following table outlines the hardware specification for the MetaFrame XP Presentation Servers that were used during the bandwidth testing initiative.

Server Name DELLMF2 DELLMFDC

Purpose MetaFrame XP Presentation Server

MetaFrame XP Zone Data Collector

Vendor DELL Compaq

Server Model Poweredge 1655MC Proliant DL360

Processor Type 1.26 GHz 1.4 GHz


Number of Processors 2 2

RAM 2 GB 2 GB

Partition Size C: 16.9 GB 8.42 GB

NIC Vendor Broadcom NetExtreme Gigabit Ethernet

Compaq NC7780 Gigabit Server Adapter

The following table outlines the hardware specifications and functionality of the remainder of servers in the environment.

Server Name DELLEXCH DELLWEB DELLAD LR01

Purpose Microsoft Exchange Server

Microsoft Outlook Web Access Server

Domain Controller DHCP Server

Loadrunner ICA Client

Vendor DELL DELL Compaq Compaq

Server Model Poweredge 2650

Poweredge 1655MC

Proliant DL360 Proliant DL360

Processor Type 2.58 GHz 1.26 GHz 1.4 GHz 1.4 GHz

Number of Processors

2 2 2 2

RAM 3.75 GB 2 GB 2 GB 2 GB

Partition Size C: 16.9 GB 16.9 GB 8.42 GB 8.42 GB

NIC Vendor Broadcom NetExtreme Gigabit Ethernet

Broadcom NetExtreme Gigabit Ethernet




Software and Platform Specifications The following table outlines the software configuration for each component used during the bandwidth testing effort.

Component Software

MetaFrame XP Server Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition

MetaFrame XP Presentation Server Enterprise Edition with Feature Release 3

Microsoft Outlook 2003 (11.4920.4920 Beta)

Internet Explorer 6.0.3790

Adobe Acrobat 5.0

EEye Iris Network Traffic Analyzer

MetaFrame XP Data Store / Zone Data Collector

Windows 2000 Server SP 3

MetaFrame XP Presentation Server Enterprise Edition with Feature Release 3

Microsoft SQL Server 2000

LoadRunner Server Windows 2000 Server SP 2

LoadRunner 7.51

ICA Client 6.30

Microsoft Exchange 2003 Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition

Microsoft Exchange 2003 (6.5.6803.4 Beta)

Microsoft Outlook Web Access Server

Windows 2003 Web Edition

Microsoft Exchange 2003 (6.5.6803.4 Beta)

The following services were installed and running on the Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft OWA servers:

• .Net Framework

• ASP.NET

• World Wide Web Service (IIS)

• SMTP Service


• NNTP Service

MetaFrame Server Configuration This section details the steps required to stage the MetaFrame XP servers in preparation for the bandwidth test. Because of the limited size needed for this particular test environment, a single MetaFrame XP farm with two MetaFrame XP servers in a single zone was created. The Citrix XML service was configured to use port 80. In order to ensure consistent test results the following ICA connection configuration settings were configured and validated on the MetaFrame servers.

Advanced Settings Timeout Setting for Connection Inherit User Configuration

Timeout Setting for Disconnection 1 Minute

Timeout Setting for Idle Inherit User Configuration

Required Encryption Basic

AutoLogon Inherit User Configuration

Prompt for Password No

Initial Program Inherit Client/User Configuration

Only Run Published Apps Not Selected

User Profile Overrides Not Selected

On a broken or timed out connection Inherit User Configuration

Reconnect sessions disconnected Inherit User Configuration

Shadowing Inherit User Configuration

ICA Client Settings Client Audio Quality Medium

Client Settings Connect Client Drives at Logon Inherit User Configuration

Connect Client Printers at Logon Inherit User Configuration

Default to Main Client Printer Inherit User Configuration

Disable Client Drive Mapping Not Selected

Disable Windows Client Printer Mapping

Not Selected


Mapping

Disable Client LPT Port Mapping Not Selected

Disable Client COM Port Mapping Not Selected

Disable Client Clipboard Mapping Not Selected

Disable Client Audio Mapping Not Selected

Internet Explorer 6.0 Configuration Internet Explorer 6.0 is the web browser that was used to access the Microsoft OWA server. Custom configurations were validated before the test was executed. The following configurations were completed before the bandwidth tests were executed.

Enabled the following items from the security settings for the trusted sites to include:

• Download signed ActiveX controls

• Download unsigned ActiveX controls

• Initialize and Script ActiveX controls not marked as safe

• Note: The remaining items retained the default values for the Low security settings.


Results and Analysis When presenting and analyzing the bandwidth data, the network traffic of the client/server application environment will be labeled as “Native Outlook” traffic and the network traffic for the MetaFrame XP environment will be labeled as “ICA” traffic. Traffic that pertains to the Microsoft OWA server will be labeled as “Web Outlook”.

The following graph illustrates the bandwidth distribution over time for a Native Outlook client, shown in comparison to the corresponding ICA traffic.

ICA Vs. Native Outlook

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ICANative Outlook

Figure 3: Bandwidth Distribution Comparison of ICA versus Native Outlook Client

As the graph illustrates, the native Outlook application while very efficient, generates traffic in periodic bursts represented by the large spikes (760 kb, 790 kb, 740 kb) seen in the graph. The spikes in the native Outlook graph demonstrate the burden the network takes when requests to the backend Exchange server are executed. At the same times that the network bursts occur, ICA traffic remains at a fairly constant level.

The observed network bursts with Outlook traffic which do not occur with ICA can be explained by reviewing the behavior of the two computing architectures. The majority of ICA traffic will be keyboard and mouse information from the ICA Client to the MetaFrame XP server and video information from the MetaFrame XP server to the ICA Client. As functionality such as printing and client drive mapping is introduced to the environment, the network communication becomes more complex, but for the purposes of this testing the original statement will hold true. For the bandwidth testing, keystroke and mouse movements were commonly occurring during the execution of the test script, which resulted in consistent


and low bandwidth utilization for the ICA connection regardless of what processing was being conducted by the MetaFrame XP server.

Since all requests to the Exchange server are handled by the MetaFrame XP server, the ICA client is not burdened with any client/server traffic. During the test cycles, communication between the Exchange server and the Outlook client was therefore significantly larger than the bandwidth required for ICA traffic. The total traffic generated by the native Outlook application was 2821 kb, compared to an ICA total of 2028 kb. Similarly, average kb per second for the native Outlook client was 7.21 kbps; Citrix ICA traffic generated an improved rate of 5.19 kbps, approximately a 29% reduction.

Microsoft Outlook Web Access Server Bandwidth The Microsoft OWA server provides a web accessible interface to the Exchange server with many of the common features available through the standard Outlook client. To access the Microsoft OWA server an Internet Explorer browser is required. The bandwidth test compared the performance of the web application driven by a browser against the performance of the ICA client running a published browser.

The following graph illustrates the bandwidth distribution over time for a browser driven Microsoft OWA server implementation, shown in comparison to the corresponding ICA traffic.

ICA Vs. Microsoft OWA Server

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Figure 4: Bandwidth Distribution Comparison of ICA versus Microsoft OWA Server

As seen in the graph an Internet Explorer browser client shows a similar tendency for network spikes during communication with the Microsoft Outlook OWA server. The Outlook web traffic also proves more


demanding on network resources, with several bursts in excess of 1500 kb. As a result, the total amount of bandwidth required also shows a marked increase over the native Outlook client. ICA traffic running a published browser however remains fairly constant with fewer and smaller spikes.

The graph depicts the benefits of accessing the Microsoft OWA server through an ICA connection. ICA traffic again avoids the traditional client/server traffic, in this case the HTTP traffic between the Microsoft Outlook Web Access server and the web browser, to deliver a smoother connection with less bandwidth load. The web browser client required a bandwidth total of 11229 kb; by comparison the Citrix ICA client required 2407 kb. Similarly, the average kb per second for the web browser client was 27.25 kbps, while Citrix ICA client required 5.84 kbps—a reduction of 78%, or nearly a five-fold improvement.


Conclusions The purpose of this testing was to compare the bandwidth utilization of the Microsoft Exchange 2003 platform running as a standard Outlook client and web application, against having the application deployed using MetaFrame XP Presentation Server. Testing was performed using a typical user script that simulated a wide variety of features found in Outlook, and thereby provided sufficient data for analysis.

The following chart summarizes the bandwidth data with Outlook running on a standard client, web browser client and comparatively through an ICA client. All data is in kilobytes per second (Kbps):

Outlook Client

ICA Client

Outlook Web

ICA Web

Sum 2821.76 2028.79 11229.11 2407.97

Median 0.00 0.54 0.00 .71

Average 7.21 5.19 27.25 5.84

Standard Deviation 65.75 41.8 165.18 54.30

Maximum 776.73 703.11 1739.31 784.08

Outlook 2003 in combination with Exchange 2003 proved efficient at using network bandwidth, though susceptible to periodic network spikes. When using ICA a significant improvement in efficiency was achieved and network activity was more consistent. Reducing the network load and avoiding data congestion are both noticeable benefits of a MetaFrame XP Presentation Server deployment of Outlook 2003.

Testing of the Microsoft OWA server proved that the web access interface is less efficient than the standard application, and likewise susceptible to surges in network bandwidth use. Using MetaFrame XP Presentation Server to deliver the Microsoft OWA server interface achieved a substantial reduction in bandwidth demand; bandwidth was reduced nearly five-fold. ICA network traffic was also more consistent and less likely to result in a strained network.

The large spikes in network utilization occur when requests are made to the backend components of the Exchange architecture. This is when network availability is most desired by the end user because it is during this period that the user must wait for a response from the application. ICA traffic provides for more consistent bandwidth utilization, which is the preferred behavior over WAN links. Furthermore, deploying Outlook 2003 through MetaFrame XP Presentation Server helped attain a sizeable improvement in overall system bandwidth requirements for both standard and web clients.


Appendix A: EEye Iris Sniffer The EEye Iris sniffer software was configured to capture and log all network packets Inbound and Outbound for the MetaFrame XP Server. The log files consisted of line entries recording the details for up to 2000 packets. Once the buffer size had been exceeded, Iris would continue to write out all capture details to a different log file. The naming conventions for these files display the file date and capture time (e.g. “capture_Wed_Apr_04_08_55_41_2001.txt”). Inside each file, the EEye Iris log file contains 9 columns of data:

• No. Id – number 0-2000

• Timestamp – Time the packet was captured, in milliseconds

• Type – Basic type of traffic, usually IP

• Protocol – Protocol type of the captured packet. ICA is identified as TCP->ICA

• IP_Src – The IP address of the network host that originated the packet

• IP_Dest – The IP address of the network host that is the packet’s destination

• IPort_Src – The Port on the network host that originated the packet

• Port_Dest – The Port on the network host that is the packet’s destination

• Size – The total size of the captured packet, in bytes

The following example displays the actual layout of the log files: No Timestamp Type Protocol IP_src IP_dest Port_src Port_dest Size 0 8:34:36:187 IP TCP->LANSOURCE XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX 1494 1485 336 1 8:34:36:203 IP TCP XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX --- --- 74 2 8:34:36:218 IP TCP XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX 1494 1199 196 3 8:34:36:234 IP TCP XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX 1199 1494 354


Appendix B: MS SQL Analysis Once the Iris data was captured into a text format, the information required to be imported into database format for analysis purposes. To accomplish this task, a set of stored procedures was created so that the process of organizing and importing the data into a SQL database could be automated. Upon execution of the stored procedures the following data summarization tables existed in the SQL database.

Table Name Description

WebPacketData Used to Store the ICA and Web Outlook packet traffic generated. For each data packet the following fields are stored:

Time

Protocol

Source IP

Destination IP

Source Port

Destination Port

Packet Size

NativePacketData Used to Store the ICA and Native Outlook packet traffic generated. For each data packet the following fields are stored:

Time

Protocol

Source IP

Destination IP

Source Port

Destination Port

Packet Size

Reference Table that stores an entry for every second of the test, used to synchronize data from different protocols.


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Copyright © 2003 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix, WinFrame and ICA are registered trademarks, and MultiWin and MetaFrame are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. All other products and services are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. Technical specifications and availability are subject to change without prior notice.

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MetaFrame XP Oracle 11i Bandwidth Analysis · MetaFrame XP Presentation Server, Microsoft Exchange 2003 Bandwidth Analysis iii Introduction Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server is the latest