Recommended NetWare Server Parameters for the NetWare POA

Some default settings on the NetWare^® server where the NetWare POA will run might be inadequate for configurations of more than 100 concurrent client/server user connections. For a discussion of how the POA interacts with the GroupWise client, see Post Office Access Mode.

If you are planning a large client/server configuration, check the NetWare server parameters where the NetWare POA will be installed to make sure they are adequate for the anticipated number of GroupWise clients. For example, in a medium-size system of 500 users in a post office, use the following settings:

Parameter	Setting
Maximum Packet Receive Buffers	2500
Minimum Packet Receive Buffers	1000
Maximum Concurrent Disk Cache Writes	200

If you are also running the NetWare MTA on the same server, see Recommended NetWare Server Parameters for the NetWare MTA.

Recommended NSS Parameters for the NetWare POA

If you run the NetWare POA on NetWare 5.1 or 6.x Novell Storage Services^TM (NSS) volumes, you can significantly improve GroupWise performance by using the following parameters and settings on the nss command in the autoexec.ncf file:

/NameCacheSize=20000

/OpenFileHashShift=15

/ClosedFileCacheSize=50000

/CacheBalance=60

The best /ClosedFileCacheSize setting for a server depends on many things, such as the amount of memory on the server, the load on the POA, and the number of other programs running on the server. For example, the 50000 setting can work well for a server that has 650 MB of memory. Experiment with various settings in order to optimize performance.

The following TID, although originally written for GroupWise 5.x and NetWare 5.x, applies to GroupWise 6.x and NetWare 6.x as well:

• TID 10065215: Resolving GroupWise Performance Issues with NSS Volumes

Estimating NetWare POA Memory Requirements

The amount of memory required for the NetWare POA is influenced by many factors, including:

• Number of client/server connections being supported
• Number of active client connections vs. idle connections
• Number of TCP handler threads
• Number of message handler threads
• Number of database maintenance threads

The table below provides approximate memory requirements for various POA activities. Actual numbers might vary somewhat from release to release, but the numbers provided do illustrate what activities require relatively more or less memory and what configuration options require more memory than others. This information can be used to produce a rough estimate of the memory required for your particular POA configuration. Always remember this basic rule when it comes to planning for memory: More is better.

POA Component	Approx. Memory	References
Agent engine (gwenn4.nlm)1	500 KB	(required)
POA (gwpoa.nlm)	320 KB	(required)
Main thread, UI, logging	500 KB	(required)
Dispatcher thread	60 KB	(required)
Message handler threads (each)2      Startup      Idle      Processing	40 KB 30 KB 2000 KB	(required for message file processing) See Adjusting the Number of POA Threads for Message File Processing. See also /threads.
TCP dispatch/monitor/      listener thread	100 KB	(required for client/server processing) See Using Client/Server Access to the Post Office.
TCP handler threads (each)2      Startup      Idle      Processing	40 KB 35 KB 2500 KB	(required for client/server processing) See Adjusting the Number of Connections for Client/Server Processing. See also /tcpthreads.
Client/server connections (each)      No message processing      Limited processing      Heavy processing	45 KB 70 KB 155 KB	(required for client/server processing) See Adjusting the Number of Connections for Client/Server Processing. See also /maxappconns and /maxphysconns.
MTP processes      Scanner/listener      Senders/receivers (each)	10 KB 5 KB	(required for TCP/IP link with MTA) See Using TCP/IP Links between the Post Office and the Domain.
QuickFinderTM thread      Building/updating indexes      Compressing/combining indexes	30 KB 3000 KB 4000 KB	(required for indexing) See Regulating Indexing. See also /qfinterval, /qfintervalinminute, /qfbaseoffset, /qfbaseoffsetinminute, and /noqf.
Nightly User Upkeep	90 KB	(recommended) See Performing Nightly User Upkeep. See also /nuuoffset and /nonuu.
Remote Address Book generation	40 KB	(optional) See Performing Nightly User Upkeep. See also /rdaboffset and /nordab.
Auto-Date events      25 events      100 events      365 events	1530 KB 2140 KB 7885 KB	(required; occasional, temporary usage)
Notify	30 KB	(required)
Admin thread      Idle      Processing	20 KB 125 KB	(required for post office database update and repair) See /noada.

¹ The Agent Engine (gwenn4.nlm) needs to be loaded only once per server, no matter how many agents (POAs, MTAs, Internet Agents, WebAccess Agents) are running on that server, as long as they are running in the same address space.

² By default, there are six message handler threads and six TCP handler threads, for a default total of 450 KB for handler threads.

The table below provides some very general memory figures for running both GroupWise agents on the same server.

Concurrent Users	Actual Memory Usage at Peak Time
100 active users (100-250 users in post office)	50 MB
250 active users (250-500 users in post office)	110 MB
500 active users (500-1000 users in post office)	125 MB
1000 active users (1000-2500 users in post office)	150 MB

Recommended Windows Parameters

If you are running the Windows POA for a post office located on a NetWare server, you might need to increase Maximum File Locks Per Connection from its default setting.

Estimating Windows POA Memory Requirements

Although the Windows POA memory requirements differ slightly from the NetWare POA, you can use the figures provided for the NetWare POA to see what POA processes are most memory intensive. See Estimating NetWare POA Memory Requirements.