BT Pop3 Adapter Test

The Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) adapter is used to retrieve data from a server that houses POP3 mailboxes into a BizTalk Server by means of the POP3 protocol. The POP3 adapter consists of only one adapter, a receive adapter. This receive adapter controls the receive locations that use the POP3 adapter.

The POP3 receive adapter retrieves e-mail from a specified mailbox on a specified POP3 server. By default, the POP3 receive adapter applies MIME processing to the e-mail messages that it downloads and submits these messages to BizTalk Server as multipart BizTalk messages. The POP3 receive adapter can receive and process e-mail in the following formats:

  • Plain text
  • MIME encoded
  • MIME encrypted
  • MIME encoded and signed
  • MIME encrypted and signed

To monitor the session and message load on the POP3 adapter so that, overload conditions and processing bottlenecks are accurately identified, use the POP3 adapter test.

Target of the test : A BizTalk Server 2010

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each host instance on the BizTalk server being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test period

This indicates how often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which this test is to be configured.

Port

The port at which the host listens to.

Ispassive

If this parameter is set to Yes, then it means that, by default, all BizTalk servers being monitored by the eG system are the passive servers of a BizTalk cluster. No alerts will be generated if the servers are not running. Measures will be reported as "Not applicable" by the agent if the servers are not up.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Active sessions

Indicates the number of open POP3 connections that the POP3 adapter on this host instance is currently managing.

Number

This is a good indicator of the session load on the adapter.

Bytes received

Indicates the total number of bytes downloaded by the POP3 adapter on this host instance from a mail server.

Bytes

This is a good indicator of the data load on the adapter.

Bytes received rate

Indicates the rate at which bytes that the POP3 adapter on this host instance downloaded from a mail server.

Bytes/Sec

A consistent decrease in this value could indicate a processing bottleneck.

Messages received

Indicates the number of messages that the POP3 adapter on this host instance downloaded from the mail server.

Number

This is a good indicator of the load on the adapter. 

Messages received rate

Indicates the rate at which the POP3 adapter on this host instance downloaded messages from the mail server.

Msgs/Sec

A consistent decrease in this value could indicate a processing bottleneck.