Exchange Team Blog

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Exchange Server Role Requirements Calculator Release Notes

Ross Smith IV

Microsoft

May 24, 2013

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.