Replication Performance Test

Replication is the process by which the changes that are made on one domain controller are synchronized with all other domain controllers in the domain that store copies of the same information or replica.

Monitoring the replication operations on an AD server will shed light on the load generated by such operations and helps measure the ability of the AD server to process this load. The Replication Performance test does just that. In the process, the test points you to replication-related activities that could be contributing to processing delays (if any) and why. In addition, the test also promptly reports replication errors such as synchronization failures, and compels administrators to do what is necessary to ensure that no non-sync exists in the data that is replicated across the domain controllers in a forest.

Note:

This test applies only to Active Directory Servers installed on Windows 2012 or above.

Target of the test : An Active Directory or Domain Controller on Windows 2012 or above

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every Active Directory server that is being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters	Description
Test period	This indicates how often should the test be executed.
Host	The IP address of the machine where the Active Directory is installed.
Port	The port number through which the Active Directory communicates. The default port number is 389.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
DRA inbound full sync objects remaining	Indicates the number of object updates received in the current directory replication update packet that have not yet been applied to the local server..	Number
DRA inbound object updates remaining	Indicates the number of object updates received in the current directory replication update packet that have not yet been applied to the local server.	Number	The value of this measure should be low, with a higher value indicating that the hardware is incapable of adequately servicing replication (warranting a server upgrade).
Pending replication operations	Indicates the total number of replication operations on the directory that are queued for this server but not yet performed.	Number	A steady increase in the value of this measure could indicate a processing bottleneck.
Pending replication synchronizations	Indicates the number of directory synchronizations that are queued for this server but not yet processed.	Number	An unusually high value for a long duration may signify that the replication process is not being carried out at the desired rate. Forcing the replication activity may solve this problem.
Sync failures on schema mismatch	Indicates the number of synchronization requests made to neighbours that failed because their schema are not synchronized.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0.
Sync requests made	Indicates the number of synchronization requests made to neighbors.	Number
Sync requests successful	Indicates the number of synchronization requests made to neighbors that were successfully returned.	Number	Ideally, the value of the Sync requests made measure should be equal to the value of the Sync requests successful measure - meaning, all sync request made should be successful, as one/more sync failures are a cause for concern.
DRA inbound objects applied rate	Indicates the rate at which replication updates received from replication partners are applied by the local directory service. This counter excludes changes that are received but not applied (because, for example, the change has already been made). This indicates how much replication update activity is occurring on the server as a result of changes generated on other servers.	Appld/Sec	A low value may indicate one of the following less changes to the objects in the other domains this domain controller is not applying the changes to the objects at the desired rate. If the object changes are not applied at the desired rate, it may result in a loss of data integrity in the Active Directory. Forcing the replication activity may solve this problem.
DRA inbound properties applied rate	Indicates the number of properties that are updated due to the incoming property's winning the reconciliation logic that determines the final value to be replicated.	Appld/Sec	A low value may indicate one of the following less changes to the object properties in the other domains this domain controller is not applying the change to the object properties at the desired rate. If the object properties are not applied at the desired rate, it may result in a loss of data integrity in the Active Directory. Forcing the replication activity may solve this problem.
DRA inbound objects filtered rate	Indicates the number of objects received from inbound replication partners that contained no updates that needed to be applied.	Filtrd/Sec	A high value for this measure indicates that the objects are all static. This problem can be solved by increasing the replication frequency.
DRA inbound properties filtered rate	Indicates the number of property changes (per second) already seen that were received during the replication.	Filtrd/Sec	A high value for this measure indicates that the properties are all static. This problem can be solved by increasing the replication frequency in the replicated domain.
DRA inbound bytes total	Indicates the rate at which bytes were replicated in.	Total/Sec	This counter is the sum of the number of uncompressed bytes (never compressed) and the number of compressed bytes (after compression) per second.
DRA outbound properties	Indicates the number of properties sent per second.	Properties/Sec	This counter tells you whether a source server is returning objects or not. Sometimes, the server might stop working correctly and not return objects quickly or at all.
DRA outbound objects filtered rate	Indicates the number of objects per second that were determined by outbound replication to have no updates that the outbound partner did not already have.	Filtrd/Sec	A high value for this measure indicates that the objects are all static. This problem can be solved by increasing the replication frequency in the target domain.
DRA outbound bytes total	Indicates the rate at which bytes were replicated out.	Total/Sec	This counter is the sum of the number of uncompressed bytes (never compressed) per second and the number of compressed bytes (after compression) per second.