Capacity Planning

Summary

Microsoft.com team members are hard-pressed to define a formula for how much server power, software, and network bandwidth is needed to build a high-traffic Web site. Instead, the team relies on constant monitoring, worst-case planning, and powerful servers. Their experience and recommendations can be summarized in four rules of thumb:

Learn as much as you can about your audience, potential content, marketing plans, and future initiatives, and then take your best guess.
When in doubt, choose bigger and faster. You may overbuild today, but you’ll likely need the extra capacity sooner than you expect.
Once your site is in operation, watch it closely. Find out which of the three components—hardware, software (including Web applications), and network bandwidth—is lagging behind, and bring it into balance with the others. Watch for changes in content as well.
Know that nothing will stay static for long. Keep an eye on growth and usage trends, and be prepared to react (that is, to add or shift hardware, software, or network capacity) quickly.