Exchange Server Role Requirements Calculator Release Notes

[Ross Smith IV]

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Change log for the Exchange Server Server Role Requirements calculator.

Version 9.1

Bug Fixes

• Fixed compilation error due to regional language settings

Version 8.9

Bug Fixes

• Fixed various VBA bugs with automatic configuration calculations
• Added support for 192GB of memory for Exchange 2016 deployments

Version 8.7

Bug Fixes

• Fixed calcNumActiveDBsSF to show correct number of activated copies in A/A design
• Conditional formatting changes
• Comment location fixes
• Fixed "DAG Solution Found" dialog label to indicate data volumes / server
• Fixed issue where MaximumPreferredActiveDatabases was calculated incorrectly for 4 server deployments
• Fixed VBA bug with automatic configuration calculation where it would provide an error regarding the processor configuration

Version 8.5

Bug Fixes

• Fixed export of CreateMBDatabaseCopies.ps1 to include contents of entire script
• Conditional formatting fixes

Version 8.4

New Functionality

• Added support for ReplayLagMaxDelay
• Added support for SafetyNetHoldTime in CreateDAG.ps1

Bug Fixes

• Improved the DAG auto-calculation results display to highlight deployment configuration in both datacenters
• Fixed an issue that prevented DAG auto-calculation in single site DAG deployments
• Fixed a SPECInt2006 validation issue with DAG auto-calculation
• Fixed a bug with the DAG auto-calculation with Active/Passive deployments
• Fixed conditional formatting issues with the transaction log table
• Removed data validation from certain unused cells on the Input tab
• Fixed bug in calcNumActiveDBsSF formula

Version 8.3

New Functionality

• Added ability for the calculator to automatically determine the number of Mailbox servers and DAGs that need to be deployed to meet the chosen input requirements
• Added Read from Passive support for Exchange 2016 deployments which results in decreased bandwidth utilization for HA copies

Version 7.9

New Functionality

• Added support for 1.8TB disk capacity
• Added color formatting for when memory exceeds the maximum recommended value

Bug Fixes

• Fixed calcNumDBCopyInSDC formula to take into account proper number of lagged copies
• Fixed calcActDBPDCWorst formula to take into account non-HA deployments
• Fixed an issue where the ReplayLagManager calculated field did not take into account the user disabling JBOD
• Fixed a version mismatch and added Add-PartitionAccessPath in Diskpart.ps1 script
• Fixed an issue with the export file and CreateDAG.ps1 script where it defined an Alternate Witness in single datacenter deployments
• Fixed diskpart.ps1 script to sleep 10s after creating partition but prior to formatting to minimize error condition
• Fixed RetainDeletedItemsUntilBackup to be set to $false for NDP deployments

Version 7.8

New Functionality

• Added support for Exchange 2016
• Included CPU utilization guidance changes for Exchange 2016
• Diskpart.ps1 and CreateDAG.ps1 now support ReFS

Enhancements

• Moved DataMoveReplicationConstraint setting from CreateMBDatabases.ps1 to CreateMBDatabaseCopies.ps1
• Revised all of the Distribution dialog controls to load their defaults from variables rather than use hard-coded values
• The DAG name from the Input tab now flows through as the default on the Export DAG dialog
• Updated Distribution tab dialog controls to persist the global catalog value during a session
• Added conditional formatting for ReplayLagTime and SafetyNetThreshold
• Removed 2013 from the name of the calculator

Bug Fixes

• Fixed inaccuracies with "Number of Exchange Data Volumes per Server" input
• Fixed calcActDBPDCWorst formula to take into account non-HA deployments
• Fixed multiple dbs / volume calculation to take into account ReplayLagManager
• Fixed calcNumDBCopyInSDC formula to take into account proper number of lagged copies
• Fixed MaxPreferredActive not being displayed for A/A (Single DAG) site resilient solutions
• Fixed an issue with Fail* buttons on Distribution tab when using some regional settings
• Fixed an issue with volume path persistence on the Distribution tab Mount Points dialog

Version 7.6

• Fixed an issue that prevented the calculator from displaying results when site resilience was disabled while Active/Active (Single DAG) was selected

Version 7.5

New Functionality

• Added support for ReplayLagManager
• Added support for PreferredMaximumActiveDatabases
• Added new table that exposes theoretical CPU utilization for each mode (normal runtime, first server failure, second server failure, site failure, site failure + 1 failure)
• Added Restore-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup scenario support in Distribution algorithm
• Added warning about designs that include more than24 processor cores / server and 96GB of memory

Bug Fixes

• Changed Processor Cores/Server to not use a list drop down, thereby enabling customers to enter in configurations they are deploying.
• Fixed bugs in Diskpart script with PrepareAutoReseedVolume switch and WhatIf processing
• Fixed bug in Diskpart with escaping quotes in some languages
• Fixed bug with display of lag copies in single site design
• Fixed multiple databases / volume calculation to take into account symmetric designs that utilize an odd number of servers in a single site
• Fixed scenario to count number of servers in A/P scenario where the only copy deployed in DR is a lagged copy
• Fixed #NAME error in Database Copy Configuration table for standalone configurations
• Updated DC1 memory sizing to take into account site failure mode for A/A (Single DAG) designs involving a 2 copy architectures
• Updated Distribution Tab error reporting and Lastrow calculation
• Fixed copy count validation formula for site resilient scenarios to not allow more copies in the primary datacenter than the number of servers
• Added support for 10TB and 12TB capacity disks
• Fixed run-time error on distribution tab when disabling site resilience
• Fixed distribution error when disabling cross-site failover
• Fixed bug in Distribution tab ActiveServer formula when modeling Cross Site Failover behavior
• Fixed an issue with the distribution tab throwing an error when two files were opened at the same time
• Fixed distribution algorithm where lagged copies were not always represented correctly
• Blocked unsupported A/A (Single DAG) scenario where copy count is not the same in both datacenters

Script Enhancements

• Added support for DAGs without Administrative Access Point (default behavior is no administrative access point) in the CreateDAG script
• Changed default for Deleted Item Retention in export file to be the highest profile value for Deleted Item Retention
• Changed default for Circular Logging in export file to be true when using Exchange Native Protection
• Added ability to save scripts and CSV files to OneDrive for Business
• Fixed CreateDAG.ps1 script error for DAG creation without administrative IP address
• Modified CreateMBDatabases.ps1 to ignore CircularLogging choice and modified CreateMBDatabaseCopies.ps1 to enforce CircularLogging choice
• Fixed Export DAG list function to use the correct value for MaximumActiveDatabases
• Added support for MaximumPreferredActiveDatabases and AutoDatabaseMountDial in Export DAG List function and createdag.ps1
• Modified CreateMBDatabaseCopies.ps1 to remove sleep timer, improving copy creation significantly
• Fixed createdag.ps1 to not generate an error when there is no alternate witness server provided

Version 6.6

• Fixed circular logic issue with initial mailbox size calculation

Version 6.5

• New Functionality – The calculator now includes mailbox space modeling graphs that extrapolates (for each mailbox tier) the projected amount of time it will take to consume the mailbox quota.
• Fixed "Number of Exchange Data Volumes per Server" to support more than 50 volumes.
• Optimized memory sizing for FAST which reduces memory requirements for small mailbox server designs.
• Added the ability to specify multiple AutoReseed volumes per DAG server to calculator and scripts.
• Fixed 3 database/volume layout scenario involving 100 copies/server.
• Fixed rounding error in calculating number of databases/volume in "2 Volumes / Backup Set"
• Log isolation is now a calculated property to align with best practices guidance.
• Changed "Disk" to "Vol" in left column of Distribution tab to align with scenarios that do not involve JBOD configurations.
• Added additional processor core options.
• Fixed JBOD storage design results table to accurately account for Restore Disk capacity being set to "--" and for differences between PDC and SDC Restore Disk capacity settings.
• Fixed Backup Requirements worksheet to expose Weekly Full backups correctly.
• Various comment changes/corrections.

Version 6.3

• Fixed Backup Requirements calculations to include greater than 50 databases.
• Added additional processor core support.
• Fixed the number of database volumes calculation when disk count is specified.
• Fixed the database size calculation for A/P scenarios to match A/A scenario calculations.
• Fixed the calculator to take into account halving database number per volume in non-site resilient scenarios.
• Fixed conditional formatting errors on transport configuration settings.
• Fixed transport sizing to take into account mailbox growth.
• Updated CAS megacycle calculations to align with SP1 guidance.
• Revised Dispart.ps1 script to create database mount points consistent with JetStress performance counters.
• Added Calculator version number to record one field three of CSV export files.

Version 6.1

• Fixed operator mistake in calcNumActiveDBsSF formula
• Fixed missed validation scenario where the calculator could recommend a copy count that could not be deployed on the custom disk architecture
• Optimized remaining servers formula
• Fixed an issue where single datacenter, multiple databases per volume architecture with lagged copies didn't calculate the correct number of copies/volume
• Fixed VirtCPUFactor reference
• Various comment changes
• Improved cell highlights for insufficient disk capacity on storage design tab
• Added additional storage capacities – 1.2TB, 6TB and 8TB
• Fixed database count validation logic to take into consideration dedicated lagged copy servers

Version 5.9

• DAG script fix

Version 5.8

• Fixed VBA error "The object invoked is disconnected from its client" error when recalculating Distribution tab
• Added validation check for per-server database limit
• Improved conditional formatting for JBOD disk capacity/type alerts
• Fixed conditional formatting bug on custom databases input
• Fixed bugs and improved the CreateMBDatabases.ps1 and CreateDAG.ps1 scripts
• Fixed disk function display name problem
• Revised calulation of TotDBVolSpaceDAG on Volume Requirements tab to account for multiple databases per volume
• Fixed bug when custom database size is set to zero
• Fixed number of volumes for 48 copies/server in 2 volumes/backup set scenario
• Removed 2nd site dependency for setting Alt FSW
• Added support for 100 databases / server
• Fixed bug with circular logging export
• Fixed transcript bug in CreateMBDatabaseCopies script
• Adjusted CI memory calculation for corner case scenarios
• Fixed Shadow Effect calculation
• Fixed mistakes in comments
• Disabled AutoReseed when Log Isolation is enabled

Version 5.6

• Optimized Volume Design Architecture Formula.
• Fixed Recommended Min Number of GC Cores (Secondary Datacenter)" calculation to use SDC instead of PDC CAS count.
• Fixed CPU comments and removed erroneous information.
• Fixed multiple conditional formatting bugs.
• Fixed problem where this workbook had to be the active workbook at all times.
• Fixed problem with extra-wide Fail Server button on the distribution worksheet.
• Enabled variable based tracing.
• Resolved VBA Divide by Zero error caused by DiskGroup = 0.
• Fixed problem with lagged copies in conjunction with multiple databases per volume.
• Fixed missing "\" character in path names in MailboxDatabases.csv file.
• Fixed problem with WAN failure simulation.
• Fixed calcNumAMBXServersDC2 to ensure it cannot have more servers that primary site.
• Fixed calculated IO Multiplication factor formulas to take into consideration IOPS override.
• Added condition to validate that there are enough copies for multiple databases/volume scenario.
• Fixed conditional formatting and JBOD storage results when JBOD evaluation is disabled.