Q140194: PC WSPlus: Tuning a Schedule+ 1.0 Installation
Article: Q140194
Product(s): Microsoft Schedule+ for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:1.0,1.0a
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s):
Last Modified: 15-SEP-1999
1.00 1.00a
WINDOWS
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Schedule+ for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.0a
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SUMMARY
=======
This article outlines some of the tuning considerations to think about when you
implement Microsoft Schedule+. You should have a general understanding of
Schedule+ server and clients to obtain value from this section.
NOTE: The following information is from the Microsoft Mail Resource Kit, Chapter
4, pages 129-131.
The Schedule Distribution Process
---------------------------------
Schedule distribution is the process by which an administrator can send snapshots
of user's appointment books to another postoffice so users on that postoffice
can view the data. These snapshots--schedule distribution mail messages,
actually--contain the following information:
- Free/busy bits for each user on the postoffice.
- Flags specifying which accounts on the postoffice are resources.
- A list of the assistants for those users on the postoffice who have
assistants.
This information is sent only if a change occurs. For example, if there are 150
users on a postoffice but only 10 users have modified their schedule since the
last schedule distribution message was sent, only 10 new sets of free/busy bits
are sent in the next schedule distribution message.
The schedule distribution information is kept in the CAL directory of the
receiving postoffice. On every postoffice, there is one postoffice file (POF)
for each postoffice that sends it schedule distribution messages.
Schedule distribution is configured through the Schedule+ administration program.
The actual work of distributing schedule information is done when the schedule
distribution program is run.
With schedule distribution, users can view free/busy information for users on
another postoffice without having network access or access privileges to the
other postoffice. Once the user has viewed the free/busy time of users on other
postoffices, they can send a meeting request.
Limitations
-----------
The network traffic caused by schedule distribution is predictable, as explained
below. Schedule distribution allows Schedule+ to quickly find out if users on
other postoffices have assistants or are resources. Schedule+ needs to know this
information to decide where to send meeting requests. Schedule distribution uses
the mail system to route information across different LANs. Schedule
distribution can cause a large amount of consistent network traffic.
This process does not allow users on one postoffice to see anything more than
free/busy time of users on other postoffices. Schedule distribution alone cannot
enable a user on one postoffice to view appointment details, modify appointment
books, or act as an assistant for a user on another postoffice.
Additionally, schedule distribution alone does not let users on one postoffice
automatically book resources on another postoffice. The process of schedule
distribution requires the schedule distribution program to be run, either
manually or continuously, on a dedicated machine or with other processes using
the DISPATCH.EXE program.
Message size
------------
The size of each schedule distribution message is determined by:
1. the number of Schedule+ users on the postoffice
2. the number of schedule changes the average user makes each day
3. the frequency with which schedule distribution messages are sent
4. the number of months of data sent by schedule distribution.
Each schedule distribution message contains the following data:
Information Size
Message header 100 bytes
Assistant/resource information
for each user whose free/busy
information has changed 25 bytes
One month of free/busy
information for one user 20 bytes
For example, if an administrator chooses to distribute 3 months of schedule data
and 10 users on the postoffice have changed their appointments since the last
schedule distribution, the schedule distribution message will be
100+{10x[25+(3x20)]}=950 bytes. Of course, these numbers will vary depending on
the frequency of schedule distribution, number of months of data propagated, and
the frequency of schedule activity per user on the postoffice.
Each schedule distribution message is very small. On a large network, however,
these messages can really add up. On a mail network with 100 postoffices all
participating in schedule distribution, for instance, each postoffice could send
up to 99 schedule distribution messages per "round" of schedule distribution. If
every postoffice sends to every other, 9,900 messages are sent during every
round of schedule distribution.
Optimizing the Performance of a Schedule+ 1.0 Installation
----------------------------------------------------------
This section outlines the tuning options available for a Schedule+ 1.0
installation.
Server:
Do not over-send free/busy information. If you do not need to have each others
free/busy information updated every 10 minutes, then do not set up SchDist to
send this information so often. A user's free/busy information may not change
very often, and an organization may need just an idea of when a user might be
free of busy. Find a reasonable interval for your organization, recognizing that
decreasing the interval to give users more up-to-the-minute information
increases the messages that must be processed. Also, send free/busy information
only where it makes sense. If users on two postoffices do not schedule meetings
with each other very often (or at all), do not set up SchDist between them.
Do not run SchDist across time zones. Because Schedule+ does not work across time
zones, there is no need to run schedule distribution across time zones. In fact,
doing so will cause confusion for the users.
Use dynamic postoffice connections very sparingly. Dynamic postoffice connection
establishes network connections between postoffices. Therefore, it may cause
network traffic to increase, because every Schedule+ user could connect to
multiple postoffices. Limiting the number of dynamic postoffice connections will
help limit the amount of network traffic. A common practice is to allow everyone
to be able to dynamically connect to the postoffice that contains the conference
rooms and other resources, but that is all.
When using dynamic postoffice connections, still run SchDist between the two
postoffices. Most users will not need to dynamically connect to other
postoffices to see detailed, up-to-the-second information on other calendars.
Free/busy information as recent as the last SchDist cycle is usually enough.
Running SchDist at least once a day will make the Schedule+ system run more
efficiently by reducing network traffic.
Client:
When working remotely, work offline. Schedule+ performs slowly across dial- up
connections because of its infrastructure. Working offline keeps Schedule+ from
trying to update the user's calendar (CAL) file on the postoffice. Then, when
the user is back online, Schedule+ updates the user's CAL file with the changes
they made while working offline.
Change how often Schedule+ updates the user's CAL file. By changing the CopyTime
parameter in the SCHDPLUS.INI file, a user can control how often (in minutes)
that the online CAL file is copied to the local CAL file. The default time is 15
minutes.
MORE INFORMATION
================
For additional information regarding the Schedule Distribution process, please
see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q94183 Schedule Distribution Command-Line Parameters
Q100032 Free/Busy Times Are Not Received
Q101403 Running SCHDIST.EXE as Idle Process in Dispatch
Q101752 Dispatch Cannot Spawn Batch File Without COMMAND.COM
Q104249 Setting Up Schedule Distribution
Q98977 Setting up Dynamic Connections
Additional query words: fine tune sched plus dist setting mrk
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Keywords :
Technology : kbScheduleSearch kbSchedule100 kbSchedule100a
Version : WINDOWS:1.0,1.0a
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