Scalability of 64-bit Terminal Server
Platforms
Posted by Benny Tritsch on April 24,
2007
–
updated on July 17, 2007
[Introduction] [Test
Environment] [Tools
and Scripts] [Methodology] [Results] [Conclusions]
[Appendix 1: Performance Counters Used] [Appendix 2:
Step-by-Step Description]
Appendix 2: Step-by-Step Description of a Test Run
Setting up the Controller
- Install visionapp Remote Desktop (vRD).
- Add required user credentials for each load creator
client and test server in vRD: Name, username, password
and domain (= IP address of the test server).
- Add load creator clients to Connections folder in
vRD: Name, server name (IP address) and client-specific
credential. Leave all other settings as they are.
- Add test servers to Connections folder in vRD: Name,
server name (IP address) and client-specific credential.
Leave all other settings as they are.
Setting up the Clients (Load Generators)
- Install vRD Load Edition (vRDLoad) by running
vRDLoadSetup.msi.
- Modify settings of .vrd XML files to be
compliant to your test environment: Domain (IP
address of test server), username and password.
- Copy the required .vrd files to the clients.
- Run vRD on the Controller and log in to all
clients.
- Run vRD Load Edition on the clients and import
the appropriate .vrd file.
- Change settings in vRD Load Edition, such as the
interval between automated user log ins.
Setting up the Server
- Install Windows Server 2003 Standard or
Enterprise Edition English.
- Install Windows Server 2003 SP1 or R2.
- Change terminal services to application
server mode and allow remote connections.
- Run “cscript nuser.vbs” from the command
line. Creating 400 user accounts and adding them
to the local Users and Remote Desktop Users
groups may take up to one hour.
- Install Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.5.
- Run Adobe_wisptis__Service_Uninstall.reg to
deactivate Wisptis.exe process.
- Run AcrobatDisableEulaSplashScreen.reg to
deactivate splash screen.
- Delete link to Adobe Acrobat Speed Launch
from the All Users’ Startup folder.
- Install Microsoft Office Professional
Edition 2003 including Service Pack 2.
- Removing the Word dialog for requesting the
user’s initials: Log in as administrator and
change to install mode. Start Microsoft Word and
answer the questions in the dialog box.
Terminate Word and change back to execution
mode.
- Removing Ctfmon.exe – step 1: Open Add or
Remove Programs from the Control Panel. Select
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 from
Change or Remove Programs. Click Change. In the
Maintenance Mode Options dialog box, select Add
or Remove Features, and then click Next. Select
advanced customization of applications in the
Custom Setup dialog and click Next. This
displays the Choose installation options for all
Office applications and tools dialog box. Click
the plus sign (+) next to Office Shared Features
to expand it. Click the icon next to Alternative
User Input, and then select Not Available. Click
Update.
- Removing Ctfmon.exe – step 2: Open Regional
and Language Options from the Control Panel. In
the Languages tab click the Details… button.
This displays the Text Services and Input
Languages dialog. Open the Advanced tab and
select Turn off advanced text services.
- Removing Ctfmon.exe – step 3: Run “Regsvr32
/u msimtf.dll” and “Regsvr32 /u Msctf.dll” from
the command line.
- Removing Ctfmon.exe – step 4: Start Regedit
and load NTUSER.dat from the Default User
profile into the HKEY_USERS hive. Remove the
entry HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\Run\ctfmon.exe.
- Copy Documents folder to local drive C.
- Copy bigiron.cmd from the local Documents
folder to C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. NOTE: There
are different versions of bigiron.cmd for either
32-bit or 64-bit platforms.
- Copy sleep.exe from the local Documents
folder to the Windows folder.
Testing
- Run MSinfo32.exe and save data into a
file. IMPORTANT: This is a required test
result!
- Run “pslist –m > C:\before.txt” on the
server. IMPORTANT: This is a required test
result!
- Set up the performance log. First adapt
the server name in LogSettings.htm in the
Documents folder. The select Performance in
the Administrative Tools menu. In the
Performance Monitor right-click Performance
Logs and Alerts | Counter Logs and select
New Log Settings From. In the Open dialog
select LogSettings.htm. Now start the log.
- Start the test sequence in vRD Load
Edition on one client after the other (this
is done from vRD on the Controller).
- Now the test sequence is running. On the
server, you should do nothing interactively
except watching Task Manager. You can
interrupt the test sequence manually by
clicking the Stop button in all instances of
vRD Load Edition. When the test is over all
Start buttons in vRD Load Edition switch
back to active.
- Stop the performance log and copy the
log file to a save place. IMPORTANT: This is
a required test result!
- Run “pslist –m > C:\after.txt” on the
server. IMPORTANT: This is a required test
result!
- Save the log files of all instances of
vRD Load Edition from the Program
Files\visionapp\.
Cleaning up
- Use Terminal Services Manager to
remove all user sessions from the test
server.
- If Terminal Services Manager is not
able to start due to memory limitations,
use Task Manager to force one user log
off after the other.
- If you want to use the server for
another test, you have to remove all
user profiles. This can be done by
running System from the Control Panel.
In the Advanced tab select Settings of
the User Profiles. Delete all user
profiles beginning with “v” and followed
by a number. NOTE: Use shortcuts (Alt+D
and Alt+Y) instead of mouse clicks.
