Introducing the Forefront Security for Exchange capacity planning tool

Hello.

My name is Frank Trujillo, and I want to tell you about a new capacity planning tool the FSS team just released.

The Forefront Security for Exchange Server capacity planning tool helps you understand what hardware, architecture, and configuration settings will produce recommended system performance and message throughput results for comprehensive protection of your Exchange Servers. The tool is an Excel spreadsheet with built in workflow and can be used to help plan your Forefront Security for Exchange Server 10 SP1/SP2 deployment.

With the tool, you will be able to plan the details for a new deployment or understand the impact of adding security protection to an existing deployment. To use the tool, you will need to have information on hand about your Exchange environment, server hardware, and user load.

Once this information is entered into the workflow, the tool will make deployment recommendations that can be used to meet your specific objectives. You can also take the liberty to augment the results based on relative hardware performance – links are provided in the resource tab of the tool.

You can download a free copy of the FSE capacity planning tool at: https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=522da65d-5263-4f5d-b929-8428a394b9af&displaylang=en

After downloading the tool, you should first read the “Directions” and “Readme” tabs for complete information on using the tool. A “Resource” tab is also provided with links to obtain additional data to help make an informed decision during the planning stage.

Please keep in mind, however, that the FSE tool is not a replacement for thorough Exchange capacity planning. The expectation is that the deployment architecture adheres to the Exchange 2007 capacity planning guidelines.

Feedback or enhancement requests about the tool are appreciated. You can send comments directly to frankt@microsoft.com.

Thanks for reading.

Frank Trujillo

Program Manager - FSS