1

I have 2 servers (Both: Windows Server 2008, Dual Xeon 2.8Ghz, 32GB RAM, 8 x 15k SAS Drives). One of them is a DC / Web server / Exchange Server, the other is a SQL Server (2008).

I have a 48 port Netgear GS748T Gigabit switch.

When I ping from server to server, I get ping times <1ms, great, but when I ping from a PC, I get varying pings from the occasional <1ms to >500ms!!

If I log into either server and look at Task Manager, CPU usage peaks at 20%, memory usage is 100%, but I am led to believe this is normal as Exchange will just use as much as you have, and release it when requested. Network usage peaks at 1%.

I really don't understand how the ping can vary that much. I know I am giving very little info, but this is all I know, I apologise, but can anyone help?

In response to question, I have pinged by both IP address and hostname, no difference in ping times.

2
  • Did you have a programming question?
    – p.campbell
    Nov 24, 2011 at 15:40
  • 1
    Do you ping by IP or Name? Does it make a difference if you do one or the other?
    – Dave M
    Nov 24, 2011 at 16:12

2 Answers 2

2

If I log into either server and look at Task Manager, CPU usage peaks at 20%, memory usage is 100%, but I am led to believe this is normal as Exchange will just use as much as you have, and release it when requested. Network usage peaks at 1%.

Memory usage should not be at 100%, there should be some free room even with Microsoft Exchange.

It is most likely that your server is disk trashing with your page file; use the Performance Monitor as well as the Resource Monitor to inspect the amount of page faults per second (in total and per process).

Then, figure out how to let your server consume less memory or add more RAM. Please note that in professional settings a server is only meant to host a very small number of services. Having IIS, Exchange, File Hosting and so on all on one server is likely to bog your server and in some occasions your network performance.


When I ping from server to server, I get ping times <1ms, great, but when I ping from a PC, I get varying pings from the occasional <1ms to >500ms!!

Try excluding things from the network, to find the source of the problem. It could be the server...

0

The problem turned out to be Exchange. store.exe takes up all the RAM it can get its hands on, and while it does release it when required, this takes time.

So if like us you have a relatively quiet web server, when you do get some requests, the RAM has to be freed up by store.exe before it can be used by IIS (this is prompted by a small period of paging), but when IIS becomes quiet again, store.exe steals all the RAM again and you have a constant battle.

I set the maximum and minimum RAM usage in Exchange (google it for instructions) and now exchange is perfectly happy and IIS runs smoothly.

1
  • Did you disable the page file by any case? Because this is not the default behavior and changing the store.exe RAM should not be necessary. Also, set up periodic recycling in IIS because IIS should not be battling for lots of RAM if set up properly. Memory leaks in web applications can easily bog down your server... In any case, you can't refer to Exchange being the problem as this is intended behavior. Dec 5, 2011 at 2:59

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .