PC Gen: MMTA.TXT: Mail 3.5 MMTA for Windows NT

1.1 Hosted on Windows NT Server Version 3.51

1.2 Runs as a Windows NT Service

Note: The user associated with the service must have the Windows NT "Log on as a Service" privilege. For more details, see "Configuring a Windows NT Service" in Chapter 2 of the Administrators Guide.

1.3 Services Can Be Created and Monitored Either Locally or Remotely

1. Notes for Administrators

2.1 Drive Usage When Running as a Windows NT Service

2.2 Warning regarding Windows NT File Manager and delivery to

    postoffices hosted on Novell NetWare file servers while running
    as a Windows NT service

Note: This will leave a connected drive that cannot be disconnected. The only way to clear this drive is to reboot Windows NT.

2.3 Executable and .INI Files

Note:. There is a greater reliance in this release on the EXTERNAL.INI and DISPATCH.INI files. Command-line switches are still available, but it is suggested you move all commands to the .INI file.

2.4 DrivesNovell .INI Option

2.5 Permanent Drive Mapping

NOTE: Specific drive mappings cannot be specified to either the External or Dispatch services.

2.6 Limit of External or Dispatch Services per Windows NT Computer

Note: If a service has the Single Postoffice Service option checked in the Microsoft Mail Service Manager, that service will only use one drive mapping.

2.7 Home Postoffice on NetWare Servers

2.8 Remote Service Creation of External and Dispatch Services

2.9 Remote Monitoring of the External and Dispatch Services

2.10 Monitor from a Command Line The Monitor option in the Microsoft Service Manager application is also able to be called from the command line using the following command:

Monitor [external|dispatch] <\\computer_name> <instance_name>

External|Dispatch - The type of service

\\computer_name   - Name of the Windows NT Server running the service
instance_name     - Name of the instance that should be monitored

2.11 SCHDIST.EXE Will Not Run as a Windows NT Service

1. Eicon WAN Services for Windows NT and the MMTA

Before running the MMTA to use X.25 communications, the Eicon X.25 card must be installed on the Windows NT computer running the Eicon WAN Services for Windows NT Version 3, Release 2. For more information about installing and testing these components, see the documentation that comes with the Eicon product.

The Multitasking MTA uses a series of translation files to convert the OS/2 X.25 API calls to Windows NT API calls. This process of converting APIs is known as "thunking." The X.25 thunk layer relies on 3 DLL files and the Eicon WAN services for NT service. These .DLL files are:

1. WINNT\SYSTEM32\OS2\DLL\X25.DLL

The Microsoft Mail Administrator's Guide provides information about options that are critical when setting up the Eicon board and software. For the configuration option Number Of TVCs, a value of 004 is suggested. The correct value depends on the line installed--a different value could be appropriate for your configuration.

1. Specific Windows NT Tips

4.1 Windows NT Event Logs

4.2 Notes for Banyan Administrators

4.3 Using Performance Monitor

This section discusses memory usage and which counters are effective in detecting memory bottlenecks.

4.3.1 Memory - Pages/sec

4.3.2 Memory - Available Bytes

4.3.2 Memory - Committed Bytes

When Memory - Committed bytes approaches the Memory - Commit Limit and the page file has already reached maximum page file size, there are simply no more pages available, in main memory or in the page file. The Memory - Commit Limit is the amount of virtual memory that can be committed without extending the page file. If this occurs on a server running Windows NT Server, you may experience 3 errors in the Event Log. (EVENTVWR.EXE is located in the Administrative Tools group). They are from the source: SRV.

  2020: The server was unable to allocate from the system paged pool
        because the pool was empty.

  2001: The server was unable to perform an operation due to a shortage
        of available resources.

  2016: The server was unable to allocate virtual memory.
        If this occurs, it is generally related to a memory leak in
        another process. To determine the process at fault, you can
        monitor each process's Page File bytes or Working Set.

  2019: The server was unable to allocate from the system nonpaged pool
        because the pool was empty. Nonpaged pool pages cannot be paged
        out to the paging file, but instead remain in main memory as
        long as they are allocated. By default, NonPagedPoolSize is
        dynamically calculated as follows:

        You can monitor the system's nonpaged pool allocation with the
        "Memory Pool Non Paged Bytes" counter. If there is a shortage of
        nonpaged pool, you may also see the following error on a remote
        system or even the local system:

        Not enough storage available to process this command. If this
        occurs, start looking at each process's nonpaged pool
        allocation. This is generally caused by an application
        incorrectly making system calls and using up all allocated
        nonpaged pool.

4.3.4 Adding More Memory

Paging File - % Usage - MAX * Page file size = number of bytes used

Add together the bytes used for all page files. This is the amount of memory that would need to be added to allow all of the applications to perform their operations with minimum paging. For example, if your page file is 100 MB and the % Usage MAX is 20%, then you would need 20 MB additional RAM to have a system that does minimal paging. The reason this formula only gives you an idea about how much memory to add is that a) not all page file "in use" code is accessed all of the time; and b) the formula ignores the requirements for code and mapped files not backed by the paging file. Therefore, this estimate is neither an upper bound, nor a lower bound--it is only an "indication." The truth is that there is no good way to know how much memory to add at this time. A more accurate way to measure the amount of memory an application would require is to run the application on a very large machine and measure the needs under some slight memory pressure. (There is a tool in the Windows NT Resource Kit, volume 3, Utilities, called Response Probe, that can aid in this area.)

NOTE: Adding memory without upgrading the secondary cache size sometimes degrades processor performance. This is because the secondary cache now has to map the larger memory space, usually resulting in lowered hit rates in the cache. This slows down processor-bound programs because they are scattered more widely in memory after memory has been added. (Secondary cache refers to the physical cache memory chip(s) usually located on the motherboard, as opposed to within the processor itself. In the future, processors will be built with secondary cache on the same substrate as the processor chip, or even within the processor chip itself.)