Windows 2000 Advanced Server More Stable Than Windows NT 4.0 Server
By Frank J. Ohlhorst, Computer Reseller News New York
10:06 PM EST Thurs., Dec. 16, 1999
Performance tests at the CRN Test Center showed the
release-to-manufacturing-version of Microsoft Windows
2000 Advanced Server throttles back CPU and memory
use to increase stability, at the sacrifice of throughput
for Web applications. That allows the network operating
system to scale up better in enterprise environments,
keeping the server up and running under torturous
loads. Tweaks can be made to enhance throughput if the
reseller so chooses.
Tests show CPU utilization drops about 58 percent when
compared with Windows NT 4.0. Throughput for Web
services also dropped by approximately 18 percent, and
memory usage dropped by about 10 percent.
With Windows 2000 out of the beta phase, most
resellers are wondering what impact the upgrade to 2000
from Windows NT 4.0 would have. To address some of
these burning issues, the Test Center benchmarked a
quad processor server with both Windows NT 4.0 and
Windows 2000 Advanced Server.
The test server was a Tekgraf Inc. rack-mount enterprise-class server, equipped with
quad Xeon Processors running at 500MHz. An American Megatrends Inc. MegaRaid
controller with IBM Corp. ultrawide SCSI drives in a RAID 5 configuration was used for
the disk subsystem. The system featured 1 Gbyte of RAM.
Test Center engineers performed benchmarks on the system by attaching it to a server
test fixture, consisting of seven PCs equipped with 2 network interface cards (NICs)
each, with connectivity via a 100-Mbit switch.
To eliminate PCI bus bottlenecks, 4 Intel 100-Mbit NICs were installed into the Tekgraf.
The seven client PCs then were configured to run scripts to gauge HTML and FTP
access speeds.
National Software Testing Laboratories' Loadrun traffic-generating application was used
as the primary vehicle to place FTP and HTTP loads on the server. This style of testing
provides a good approximation of a server configured in an enterprise environment
serving heavy Internet traffic, such as an E-business enterprise or a component of an
E-commerce site.
Test Center engineers first performed benchmarks on the system while it was running
Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3. The results were comparable to a previous Test
Center evaluation of the server.
After testing was completed with Windows NT 4.0, Test Center engineers performed an
upgrade to Windows 2000 Advanced Server on the Tekgraf system.
During the upgrade process, Windows 2000 Advanced Server indicated that 565 Mbytes
of space was required and that SQL Server 6.5 and GLINT-based video adapters were not
supported.
Seventy minutes after the start of the upgrade, and after several scheduled reboots,
Windows 2000 Advanced Server booted up with no apparent problems. As upgrades go,
the Test Center was impressed with the ease and stability of the upgrade process.
All previous settings and account information was successfully migrated along with
installed services. The performance-monitoring applet sported many new options and a
cleaner interface. Under Windows 2000, the server appeared more responsive.
The Test Center was pleasantly surprised by Windows 2000 Advanced Server. When
attached to the test fixture, CPU utilization dropped significantly compared with
Windows NT 4.0, and memory was used more efficiently.
Throughput on Web services was decreased compared with Windows NT 4.0, but this
helps to prevent a crippling load from occurring on the server.
With indications presented from these tests, Windows 2000 Advanced Server merits
consideration as an upgrade to Windows NT 4.0 Server. The Test Center will continue to
evaluate performance and stability issues of Windows 2000 and publish additional
information as it becomes available.
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