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Introduction

This article reports Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 performance results for:

• The Lotus Notes Traveler 64-bit on Windows 64-bit operating systems.
• The Lotus Notes Traveler 32-bit on Linux-64 bit operating systems. Lotus Domino® for Linux is a 32-bit application, but the 64-bit Linux operating system allows Lotus Notes Traveler to use up to 3 GB memory.
• A comparison of Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 (64-bit) and 8.5.2 (64-bit) servers for Windows 64-bit operating systems. Lotus Notes Traveler support on Linux started in 8.5.2.

Performance of Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 for Lotus Domino 32-bit servers was not measured in Windows 32-bit operating systems because the better choice for large Lotus Notes Traveler deployments is Lotus Domino 64-bit servers.

Lotus Notes Traveler provides two-way, over-the-air synchronization between Lotus Domino servers and Windows Mobile, Nokia S60, and Apple (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) devices. Lotus Notes Traveler synchronizes mail, calendar, to-do, address book, and journal data in real time. The Lotus Notes Traveler server runs as a Lotus Domino server task and is installed on a server running Lotus Domino. The Lotus Notes Traveler server task uses the Lotus Domino directory to automatically look up and find Lotus Notes users. You can read more about Lotus Notes Traveler.

Test setup

For this study, two Lotus Domino servers were used. One server was used to host the Lotus Notes Traveler server task, and the other hosted the user mail databases as shown in figure 1.

The test strategy was to simulate a typical enterprise customer messaging load and then add mobile devices to that environment. The NotesBench workload generators simulate Lotus Notes client activity by sending mail to random users in the test set and causing other activity on the Lotus Domino mail server. The mobile devices are added into this mix using the device simulators that keep the changes generated by NotesBench in synchronization with the client and that simulate mobile user actions on the device.

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Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2

The performance of the Lotus Notes Traveler server and the Lotus Domino mail server was measured using the Lotus Notes Traveler and N8Mail workloads on the Windows 2003 64-bit server operating system and, for the first time, on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 64-bit operating system. The Lotus Notes Traveler server was on a separate server from the Lotus Domino mail server, and it was exercised by test systems that simulated mobile device clients. The driver systems ran scripts that simulated remote devices reading and sending mail messages.

Here are the details of the Lotus Notes Traveler client script.

There are 64 iterations of this loop with a 15-minute wait between iterations. Each user starts on a random iteration count (first, fifth, and so on), and each user runs for the entire 64 iterations.

Loop start

• OPEN/READ five Inbox mails (every iteration)
• reply to the first mail (every second iteration)
• SEND one 10-byte mail to one person (every eighth iteration)
• SEND another 10-byte mail to three people (every eighth iteration)
• MOVE one mail from the Inbox to the NotesBench folder (every iteration)
• DELETE two mails (every iteration)

Loop end

In addition to these user scripts , the Lotus Notes Traveler clients are listening for auto-synchronize messages from the Lotus Notes Traveler server. If mail or calendar data was changed on the server as a result of the NotesBench load drivers, then the Lotus Notes Traveler client automatically synchronizes the server changes to the device. Scripts were updated to reflect a more realistic user experience for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 in comparison with Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1:

1. The wait and retry time was changed from five seconds to five minutes as real devices do (for both versions 8.5.2 and 8.5.1).
2. All clients for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices were simulated as HTTP push clients instead of SyncML clients.
3. Apple OS 3.0 was used instead of Apple OS 2.1. for previous tests.

The load driver for Lotus Notes Traveler simulates Windows Mobile 6, Nokia, and Apple devices. For Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2, Windows Mobile and Nokia clients now use HTTP-based auto sync, which is different from the TCP auto sync channel used by Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 and earlier versions. Apple devices use a different synchronization protocol and have different performance characteristics than the Windows Mobile and Nokia devices.

The following workload simulations were used:

• 100 percent Windows Mobile 6 devices with all the mail formatted as rich text
• 100 percent Apple devices
• A mixed workload with 50 percent Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia devices and 50 percent Apple devices

Lotus Domino 8.5.2 mail server workload

The N8Mail workload that was run on the Lotus Domino 8.5.2 mail server simulated users sending mail using a Lotus Notes 8.5.2 client. This workload is part of a NotesBench workload suite that is part of the tools NotesBench and Server.Load (included as an installation option in the administrator client). For more information about the details of the N8Mail workload, refer to the developerWorks® article, “IBM Lotus Notes V8 workloads: Taking performance to a new level.”

For these measurements, the N8Mail workload simulated 4,000 Lotus Notes clients sending mail to as many as 6000 users (4000 plus the number of mobile device users). The additional 2000 users (or as otherwise noted) were the Lotus Notes Traveler registered users. These measurements simulate a customer environment in which mail users have either a Lotus Notes client or a Lotus Notes Traveler device, but not both at the same time.

Disclaimer

All our tests are lab measurements; therefore, the results might differ from those produced in real customer environments. For assistance with capacity planning, consult with the IBM TechLine team. The TechLine team does capacity planning for new hardware.

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Lotus Domino mail server configuration and results

The following tables show the hardware and software configurations for the Lotus Domino mail server.

The mail server is running Lotus Domino 8.5.2 32-bit server setup as a single Lotus Domino partition server on an eServer™ xSeries® 3850 running Windows 2003 64-bit Standard Server with four dual-core processors and 12 GB of physical memory. The storage configuration was an IBM DS4000® series (FAStT) hardware array with 42 disk drives. The Lotus Domino executable files were installed on one RAID 0 logical volume totalling 200 GB in size. The mail databases were spread across three RAID 0 logical volumes, each 800 GB in size. Mail journaling was set up on a separate logical volume. Network access was through a single, 1 GBit Ethernet adapter running in full-duplex mode.

Figure 2 shows the processor resource utilization on the Lotus Domino mail server at various Lotus Notes Traveler Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia user loads and 4,000 N8Mail users. This utilization was measured with the 64-bit Windows 2003 server configuration for Lotus Notes Traveler Server 8.5.2 (64-bit).

When increasing the number of users from 1,000 to 2,000, we measured 8 percent relative processor usage increase on the Lotus Domino mail server.

When increasing the number of Lotus Notes Traveler Apple users from 1000 to 1500, we measured 4 percent relative processor usage increase on the Lotus Domino mail server as show in figure 3.

The processor utilization data in figures 2 and 3 remains the same if the Lotus Notes Traveler server was on a Windows or a Linux operating system. The increase is directly correlated with the load on the Lotus Notes Traveler server. The processor overhead of enabling Lotus Notes Traveler users on the Lotus Domino mail server is moderate due to the efficient use of polling for Lotus Domino mail by the Lotus Notes Traveler server.

IBM Lotus Notes Traveler server 64-bit (Windows 64-bit) configuration and results

Lotus Notes Traveler Server 8.5.2 (64-bit) was set up as a single Lotus Domino partition server on an eServer xSeries 3550 running Windows 2003 64-bit Enterprise Server with four dual-core processors and 8 GB of physical memory. Network access was through a single, 1 GBit Ethernet adapter running in full-duplex mode.

Tables 3 and 4 show the hardware and software configuration for the Lotus Notes Traveler server, 64-bit.

The Lotus Notes Traveler server must be tuned for the number of active users that it supports. The settings changed for this test are indicated in table 4. See the performance tuning section of the Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 Product Documentation.

In addition to these tuning parameters, to accommodate more devices on the same server, the following Windows TCP/IP stack changes were needed in the local registry.

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Services \Tcpip \Parameters]MaxUserPort = 15000
  This value was increased from 5000 to 15000 for the results that follow.
• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Services \Tcpip \Parameters]MaxFreeTcbs = 10000
  This value was increased from 2000 to 10000 for the results that follow.
• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \services \Tcpip \Parameters]MaxHashTableSize = 2650
  This value was increased from 512 to 2650 for the results that follow.
• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Services \Tcpip \Parameters]EnableConnectionRateLimiting = 0

Results

Figure 4 shows the processor resource utilization for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 server (64-bit) on 64-bit Windows 2003 at Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia simulated user loads. Figure 5 shows the processor resource utilization for Apple devices.

The processor utilization at 1000 active users was 21 percent, and at 2000 active users, the processor utilization was 48 percent. Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 did scale to 2500 active users with a processor utilization of 66 percent.

The processor utilization at 1000 active users was 15 percent, and at 1500 active users the processor utilization was 23 percent. Increase in 500 users led to only an 8 percent increase in processor utilization.

At 2000 users with a mixed set of devices (50 percent Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia, 50 percent Apple) the processor utilization was 40 percent.

Table 5 shows memory usage for different types of loads.

For the conditions to obtain the results that are shown in figures 2 and 3, the Lotus Domino mail server was continuously running at steady state of 4000 N8Mail users and the number of Lotus Notes Traveler users was incrementally increased. The Lotus Domino mail server was configured for 6000 mail users, out of which 4000 mail users simulated Lotus Notes client traffic using N8Mail workload. The number of Lotus Notes Traveler users simulating device traffic was then increased from 1000 users to 2000 users.

Table 6 shows several key resource utilization metrics on the Lotus Notes Traveler server at a load of 2000 active Lotus Notes Traveler Windows Mobile 6 users and 4000 active Lotus Domino N8Mail users. Table 6 shows the same metrics for Apple devices and Table 7 for a mixed load of 50 percent Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia and 50 percent Apple devices.

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Lotus Notes Traveler server 32-bit (Linux 64-bit) configuration and results

Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 server (32-bit) was set up as a single Lotus Domino partition server on an eServer xSeries 3550 running Linux Red Hat 64-bit Enterprise Server with four dual-core processors and 8 GB of physical memory. Network access was through a single, 1 GBit Ethernet adapter running in full-duplex mode.

Tables 9 and 10 show the hardware and software configurations for the Lotus Notes Traveler server 64-bit.

Results

Figure 6 shows the processor resource utilization for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 server (32-bit) on 64-bit Linux at Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia simulated user loads. Figure 7 shows the processor resource utilization for Apple devices and a mixed device workload processor utilization at 34 percent.

The processor utilization at 1000 active users was 27 percent, while at 1500 active users the processor utilization was 40 percent.

The processor utilization at 1000 active users was 20 percent, and at 1500 active users, the processor utilization was 32 percent, as shown in figure 7.

Table 11 shows the memory usage for different types of loads.

For the conditions to obtain the results that are shown in figures 6 and 7, the Lotus Domino mail server was always running at a steady state of 4000 N8Mail users and the number of Lotus Notes Traveler users was incrementally increased. The Lotus Domino mail server was configured for 5500 mail users, of which 4000 were mail users simulating Lotus Notes client traffic using the N8Mail workload. The number of Lotus Notes Traveler users simulating device traffic was then increased from 1000 users to 1500 users.

Table 12 shows several key resource utilization metrics for the Lotus Notes Traveler server at a load of 1000 and 1500 active Lotus Notes Traveler Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia users and 4,00 active Domino N8Mail users.

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Comparison of Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 and Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2

Comparing Lotus Notes Traveler version 8.5.1 to version 8.5.2 can be done only based on the Windows server load. Lotus Notes Traveler support for Linux server started in version 8.5.2.

Figure 8 shows the processor resource utilization charts on the Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 server (64-bit) in comparison with the same load on the Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 server (64-bit) on 64-bit Windows 2003.

The processor utilization at 1000 active users was 24 percent, for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 and decreased to 21 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2. At 1500 active users, the processor utilization was 53 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 and decreased to 48 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2. See figure 9.

The processor utilization at 1000 active users was 32 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 and decreased to 20 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2. At 1500 active users the processor utilization was 45 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 and decreased to 32 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2. See figure 10.

The processor utilization at 2000 active users was 53 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 and decreased to 40 percent for Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2.

Memory usage for Apple devices didn’t changes from Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 to Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 and stays at 1.6 GB for 1500 Apple devices.

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Conclusion

Windows (64-bit) operating systems

The performance measurements of the Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 server and the Lotus Domino 8.5.2 Mail server in a remote configuration on Windows 64-bit operating systems show that a Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 64-bit server was able to support more than 2000 Windows Mobile users or more than 1500 Apple device users, or 2000 mixed users for the workloads presented in this report. Testing showed the ablity to achieve a load of 2500 Windows Mobile users.

The Lotus Notes Traveler Windows 64-bit server, with four dual-core processors and 8 GB memory was at approximately 47 percent processor utilization at 2,000 (WM) active users and at 1.7 GB memory usage for 2000 Windows Mobile devices and 23 percent processor and 1.6 GB memory usage for 1500 Apple devices. For a mixed load of 2000 active users (50 percent Windows Mobile 6/Nokia and 50 percent Apple users) processor was at 40 percent processor and 1.7 GB memory.

With the Lotus Domino 8.5.2 mail server at steady state of 4000 N8Mail users and 2000 (64-bit) Lotus Notes Traveler Windows Mobile 6 or Nokia users or 1500 Apple users or 2000 mixed-load users, the processor utilization on the Lotus Domino mail server was moderately affected.

To support more than 2000 (or number reached in our tests) active Lotus Notes Traveler users, customers need to deploy more than one Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 64-bit server. The processor utilization on the Lotus Domino mail server should be monitored to ensure that the mail server can handle the added activity from the Lotus Notes Traveler users at peak load.

Note that Lotus Notes Traveler is a memory-intensive application and it is best to deploy Lotus Domino 64-bit servers on Windows 64-bit operating systems to support large numbers of mobile device users.

Linux 64-bit operating systems

The performance measurements of the Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 (32-bit server) and the Domino 8.5.2 Mail server in a remote configuration on Linux 64-bit operating systems show that a Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2 32-bit server was able to support more than 1500 Windows Mobile users or 1500 Apple device users, or 1500 mixed users for the workloads presented in this report.

The Lotus Notes Traveler Linux 64-bit server, with four dual core processors and 8 GB memory was at approximately 40 percent processor utilization at 1500 (Windows Mobile) active users and at 1.26 GB memory usage, for 1500 Apple devices at 32 percent processor and 1.5 GM memory, and for mixed 1500 devices at 33.5 percent processor and 1.3 GB memory.

IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.3 Traveler performs the same as IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.2 Traveler performance. The same configuration were used for both IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.2 and 8.5.3 Traveler performance.

Resources

• Participate in the discussion forum.
  
  
• Read the developerWorks article, “IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 performance for IBM Lotus Notes users.”
  
  
• Read the developerWorks article, “IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 performance for iNotes users.”
  
  
• Read the developerWorks article, “IBM Lotus Notes V8 workloads: Taking performance to a new level.”
  
  
• Learn more about Lotus Notes Traveler.
  
  
• Contribute to the IBM Lotus Domino wiki.
  
  
• See the developerWorks IBM Lotus Notes and Domino product page.
  
  

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Table of contents

• Introduction
• Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2
• Lotus Domino mail server configuration and results
• Lotus Notes Traveler server 32-bit (Linux 64-bit) configuration and results
• Comparison of Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 and Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.2
• Conclusion
• Resources
• About the author
• Comments

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