[naturaldisasta]

Hi all,

After searcing for the last few hours across the site looking for issues with having outlook on the bes server, all I seem to come across is people saying it is bad, and not saying why . I have found a lot of "Outlook is installed on the BES server and this is your problem" and nothing substantial to back that up.

I have a customer, with a terminal server, with office installed, and it is also the BES server. They have around 10 blackberry users, and occasionally have synch delays of up to around 5 minutes between when mail arrives in their mailbox, and when the handheld receives it.

They have another server acting as a sql server and I am loath to install BES on there due to this server requiring critical application response for a core business app - BES is useful, however they can operate without it - if their core application has issues, then the company has issues. So in the mean time, I want to verify if the cause of the delay of handheld synching is due to the outlook install on the BES server.

Version of BES is 4.0x with latest service packs and hotfixes. I don't see many issues in the event log, except on server reboot, where it seems to take around 3 minutes to kick things off.

Their internet connection is heavily used, and this to me seems to be the main root cause of the problem - but I don't want to discount the "outlook" issue I just need to know why it is an issue, and if it is a necessary evil, what can be done to help alleviate any problems it might cause.

[udontknowjack]

Outlook uses a different mapi32 file than exchange. The exchange version better handles all multithreading that the BES does. That is why Outlook is not recommended. If it works, I wouldn't worry about it, especially with 10 devices. If BES is using Outlook's mapi32.exe file, and there are a lot of emails going to BBs, this will cause some delays because Outlooks version of the mapi can't handle simultaneous threads, like Exchanges.

[naturaldisasta]

Does outlook only run using the outlook mapi?

[autsoldnow]

Your problem is Terminal Server it requires A LOT of system resources to run, 3 to 10 users on TS requires a minimum of a Xeon 3.2Ghz, 4GB RAM, and whatever you require for space, nothing less. Since TS uses so much RAM and system resources your BES server must be timing out.

To fix this move your BES to another box, we have ours running on a clone P4 machine which I am going to move soon to our old Dell PowerEdge 850 for extra redundantcy.

Also install SQL server on your BES machine unless your SQL server is on a beefy box with on a GBit network.

To save money buy a couple clone machines; there are a lot stores were I live that sell off-lease Dell or other brand name PCs which you could turn into a temporary solution until the company can afford some real requipment.

Andrew

[CanuckBB]

A terminal server should never be used as an application server.

[naturaldisasta]

The terminal server in question is an occasional used item for users who tend to connect in after hours - black berry issues still occur when there are NO users on the TS server. This was why this server was chosen.

Spec on the TS server is 4GB ram, dual 3.2 xeon etc... its a decent box. RAM utilization is around 20% max, even with a couple of users. CPU and DISK is likewise minimal.

I think I will recommend a seperate box for the blackberry system. The network is gigabit. That will address both concerns with terminal server, and the multithreaded mapi issue.

I still shudder considering that if this is 10 users, on this sort of equipment, and this sort of mail load, at the horrors every one else must be having with an enterprise environment. With this sort of scaling, it seems that blackberry dedicated servers would need to out weigh the exchange or messaging servers 3 to 1