How to Benchmark your Infrastructure

Hardware benchmarking involves evaluating various aspects of server performance to ensure optimal operation and identify areas for improvement.

Here are three common approaches for hardware benchmarking.

Synthetic Benchmarking

Synthetic benchmarks simulate specific types of workloads or tasks to assess the performance of hardware components under controlled conditions.

Examples of synthetic benchmarks for Windows servers include:

• CPU benchmarking tools like CPU-Z, PassMark, or Geekbench measure processor performance by running mathematical computations and other CPU-intensive tasks.

• Memory benchmarking tools such as MemTest86 or AIDA64 evaluate memory bandwidth, latency, and stability using various memory access patterns.

• Disk benchmarking utilities like CrystalDiskMark or ATTO Disk Benchmark measure storage device performance, including sequential and random read/write speeds, IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second), and latency.

• Network benchmarking tools like iPerf or NetStress assess network throughput, latency, and packet loss by generating and transmitting network traffic between servers.

Real-World Workload Simulation

Real-world workload simulation involves running actual applications or tasks representative of typical server usage scenarios to assess performance under realistic conditions.

This approach provides insights into how hardware components perform when executing real-world workloads, such as database transactions, web server requests, virtual machine operations, or file transfers.

Tools like Microsoft's SQLIOSim or DiskSpd can simulate database workloads and stress test storage subsystems. In contrast, tools like Apache JMeter or Microsoft's Web Capacity Analysis Tool (WCAT) can simulate web server traffic and assess server scalability and response times.

Application-Specific Benchmarking

Application-specific benchmarking focuses on evaluating the performance of Windows server hardware in the context of specific applications or workloads deployed in the environment.

This approach involves running performance tests or benchmarks provided by the application vendor or using custom scripts to measure application performance metrics such as transaction throughput, response times, and resource utilization.

For example, benchmarking tools like Microsoft Exchange Load Generator can simulate email server workloads to assess the scalability and performance of Exchange Server deployments. In contrast, tools like Microsoft Exchange Jetstress can evaluate the storage subsystem's ability to handle Exchange database operations efficiently.

When conducting hardware benchmarking, selecting appropriate benchmarking tools and methodologies is essential based on the specific hardware components, usage scenarios, and performance metrics of interest. Additionally, it's critical to consider factors such as data security, resource availability, and potential impact on production environments when performing benchmarking tests.