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 Windows NT4, 2000, and 2003 FirstClass Server Tuning Recommendations
Important: If you are using Windows NT4, ensure that you have updated to Service Pack 6a before contacting Support. If you are using Windows 2000, ensure that you have updated to Service Pack 4 before contacting Support. If you are using Windows 2003, ensure you are using SP1 or SP2 of Windows 2003 Server (Any Version, including R2). Windows NT4 is not supported to run FirstClass 8 Server or Internet Services.
To check the specific version of service pack that you have, on the Windows taskbar click on START, then RUN, type WINVER in the command line and then click on OK. A window will appear advising you of what specific operating system version and service pack you are running.
For best performance, we recommend using NTFS file system with the indexing and compression options disabled.
If you are running an MP site (with more than 250 concurrent sessions), refer to the MP site tuning recommendations which can found by clicking here. If you do not know if you are running an MP site, you probably are not.
FirstClass Tools Settings
Sessions:
Set the number of anticipated sessions plus an additional 5 - 10%. In other words, do not configure more sessions than required.
Modems:
Modem sessions are especially a concern as they tend to add additional load on the OS and CPU. Modems should be attached to the computer through an "intelligent" multi-port serial adapter to offload serial requests to a dedicated serial adapter processor rather than the system CPU. The latest drivers for serial adapters should be installed. Modems that are consistently unable to be reset (initialize) should be removed and replaced.
Priority:
If the FirstClass Server and Internet Services are running on the same single-processor machine, they should both be set to Medium Priority.
If the FirstClass Server and Internet Services are running on the same multi-processor machine, the FirstClass Server should be set to Medium Priority and Internet Services should be set to High Priority.
If the FirstClass Server OR Internet Services are running on a machine by themselves, they should be set to High Priority.
Directory Management:
You should rebuild the user directory if any of the following apply:
1. More than 5000 users added since last rebuild.
2. Where large numbers of users' names have all numeric userids, or all userids start with the same letter.
3. When hosting large numbers of newsgroups, where the conferences begin with a common letter (e.g. alt.* newsgroups).
4. When the directory contains double-byte names. (e.g. Kanji characters)
Check OrgDir integrity by running Diagnostics after each rebuild.
FirstClass Server
Turn FirstClass Server console menu item "Server - Console To File" and other diagnostic menu items off - Use for periodic diagnostic collection only or to gather information concerning a reported issue.
Rename LogFiles folder to disable standard log file creation - Use Stats instead. Stats are more useful for an administrative view of server activity.
Medium Priority - The server runs much more efficiently under load if server priority is set to medium from the server console "Server -> Priority " menu item.
Do not use any FCS.INI options except SkipVol unless specifically requested to by Centrinity Support.
You may notice that the FirstClass Server utilizes 100% of CPU Usage in the Task Manager. This is normal. FirstClass does not actually utilize 100% but keeps 100% of the CPU cycles in reserve for itself. If other applications are running (i.e. Internet Services), CPU usage will be released to those applications as required.
Operating System / Platform
Generally no network volumes should be mapped. It is okay for them to be mounted, so long as they either have no drive letter associated (just browsed in using Network Neighborhood) or any drives mounted are listed in the FCS.INI - SkipVol setting.
CD in drawer? Remove or use SkipVol FCS.INI option. If contents of CD are required as an external FirstClass volume, then copy CD contents to fixed disk drive.
The currently approved Service Pack for Windows 2000 is Service Pack 4. If you have SP3 installed, please roll back to SP2 or upgrade to SP4 as SP3 is unsupported.
Other Important Tuning Tips
- Minimize the use of NT shares.
- Avoid IDE and slower hard disk drives.
- Avoid low end video cards.
- Do not use the FirstClass server computer as a file or print server.
- Disable the Indexing Service that Win2K installs by default during OS install.
- Under Performance Options, for most situations it is best that the OS is optimized for Background Services, not Applications.
- Avoid Macintosh file sharing.
- Do not run the server on Windows 9x, ME, or XP.
- The NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate time Registry patch for NTFS (Microsoft KB article Q150355) that was referred to in the tuning recommendations in the past is no longer required. The server automatically adds this if such a Registry setting is missing. It becomes active after the next machine restart.
Gateway Message Body Size
Sometimes a malformed message containing an abnormally large message body can tie up a mail server. To combat this, it is recommended that you set the maximum body size of messages to 1024K for all your gateways (located in the Gateways folder on the admin FirstClass desktop). This does not affect attachment sizes, only the text within the body. Examples showing where this is configured are displayed below for the Internet gateway and a generic FirstClass gateway, outlined in green. Click to enlarge.
  Internet Services Console and Logging
Ensure that Internet Services console and logging are enabled on the machine running Internet Services. In the FCSERVER folder, locate a file called INETSVCS.CF. Open it in Notepad. In the Config section, locate the lines that begin with CONSOLE = and LOGGING =. Ensure that the number after them is 1. If they are 0 or -1, change them to 1. For example, the lines should look like this:
[Config]
Console = 1
Logging = 1
Save the changes. Exit Internet Services and restart it. The Internet Services console will now be saved in the file FCSD.LOG in Library/FirstClass Server.
Windows Update
You should not have Windows Update configured to automaticaly update the server OS software. Updates on mission critical servers such as mail servers should be reviewed by the site and support team of the software that may be affected.
Volume Shadow Copy: (Windows 2003 Server)
This Windows service should be disabled.
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