Comparing Server Configurations for Issuing Licenses
You can configure Microsoft® Windows Media™ Rights Manager in different ways, depending on the needs of your Web site. For example, you can use just one Web server with both Windows Media Rights Manager and Microsoft® SQL Server to distribute and license your media files. Otherwise, if you have substantial traffic on your site, you can increase the number of Web servers to serve the heavy volume of traffic.
To help you determine the server configuration for Windows Media Rights Manager that best meets your needs, this article provides information about various Web server configurations that were tested with Windows Media Rights Manager and SQL Server version 7.0. The performance metrics and hardware configurations are included to show you the difference in performance for each configuration. Each section lists the computer specifications that were tested, the number of licenses that can be issued per second and per day with the respective configuration, and the percentage of CPU resources that are used on each computer. When multiple servers were used, the tests were performed using a Web farm with Microsoft® Windows NT® Load Balancing Service to route license requests to different Web servers.
Note: The tests described in this article are intended to help you evaluate configurations for issuing licenses, not to handle download requests. It is assumed that you are using an additional Web server to host your media files.
On This Page
.gif){kind=icon}
Using one single-processor server
Using two dual-processor servers
Using two quad-processor servers
Using three dual-processor servers
Comparing the hardware configurations
Additional information
Using one single-processor server
This configuration uses one single-processor server with Windows Media Rights Manager and SQL Server 7.0 installed on it.
The specifications of the computer used in this test are as follows:
One single-processor Pentium 400-megahertz (MHz) Dell workstation
megabytes (MB) of RAM
One 9-gigabyte (GB) hard disk drive
The following data shows the results of the performance test.
Licenses issued per second |
Licenses issued per day |
% CPU resources |
|---|---|---|
0.66 |
57,024 |
3.76 |
1.22 |
105,408 |
12.55 |
2.58 |
222,912 |
29.10 |
5.57 |
481,248 |
59.28 |
9.00 |
777,600 |
99.31 |
Using two dual-processor servers
This configuration uses two dual-processor servers; one with Windows Media Rights Manager installed on it, and the other with SQL Server 7.0.
The specifications of the computers used in this test are as follows:
Two dual-processor Pentium 400-MHz Compaq 5500 Xeon computers
GB of RAM
Two 9-GB hard disk drives
The following data shows the results of the performance test.
Licenses issued per second |
Licenses issued per day |
% CPU resources (Web server) |
% CPU resources (SQL Server) |
|---|---|---|---|
0.69 |
59,616 |
10.11 |
0.43 |
1.07 |
92,448 |
10.63 |
0.42 |
3.02 |
260,928 |
33.89 |
0.66 |
5.72 |
494,208 |
33.84 |
1.72 |
10.35 |
894,240 |
99.46 |
3.26 |
Using two quad-processor servers
This configuration uses two quad-processor servers; one with Windows Media Rights Manager installed on it, and the other with SQL Server 7.0.
The specifications of the computers used in this test are as follows:
Two quad-processor Pentium 400-MHz Dell 5500 computers
GB of RAM
Three 18-GB hard disk drives
The following data shows the results of the performance test.
Licenses issued per second |
Licenses issued per day |
% CPU resources (Web server) |
% CPU resources (SQL Server) |
|---|---|---|---|
1.38 |
119,232 |
5.27 |
0.21 |
3.14 |
271,296 |
14.81 |
0.26 |
5.29 |
457,056 |
12.77 |
0.67 |
4.29 |
370,656 |
13.59 |
1.86 |
9.09 |
785,376 |
49.27 |
1.99 |
12.63 |
1,091,232 |
67.99 |
2.34 |
Using three dual-processor servers
This configuration uses three dual-processor servers; two with Windows Media Rights Manager installed on them, and the third with SQL Server 7.0.
The specifications of the computers used in this test are as follows:
Three dual-processor Pentium 400-MHzCompaq 5500 Xeon computers
GB of RAM
Two 9-GB hard disk drives
The following data shows the results of the performance test.
Licenses issued per second |
Licenses issued per day |
% CPU resources (Web server 1) |
% CPU resources (Web server 2) |
% CPU resources (SQL Server) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1.22 |
105,408 |
2.51 |
8.28 |
0.31 |
2.77 |
239,328 |
4.56 |
15.92 |
0.95 |
6.08 |
525,312 |
14.70 |
15.26 |
2.21 |
9.88 |
853,632 |
33.83 |
49.03 |
3.36 |
18.80 |
1,624,320 |
98.58 |
99.91 |
5.18 |
Comparing the hardware configurations
The optimal hardware configuration tested for Windows Media Rights Manager was with three servers. With the Web servers running at maximum capacity, as many as 19 licenses can be issued per second, and 1.6 million licenses can be issued each day. The results show small increases in performance when factors such as processor speed, RAM, and hard disk space are increased, but the best improvement in overall performance is achieved by increasing the number of Web servers.
The following chart shows a visual comparison of the different hardware configurations.
.gif)
A comparison of the different hardware configurations
Additional information
To learn more about Windows Media Rights Manager, see Windows Media Rights Manager Help. Windows Media Rights Manager is available for download from the Windows Media Technologies page at the Microsoft Web site ( https://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.aspx ).
Related articles:
Packaging Media Files in Batches https://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/imedia/windowsmedia/Batchpac.asp
Detecting a Player on a Consumer's Computer https://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/imedia/windowsmedia/Clientdet.asp
Integrating Windows Media Rights Manager with Other Applications https://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/imedia/windowsmedia/Integrat.asp
Setting Up Media Files for Subscriptions and Streaming https://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/imedia/windowsmedia/Substream.asp
Distributing a License with a Media File https://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/imedia/windowsmedia/liccont.asp