Exchange Authentication Test

Authentication is the process by which a client and a server verify their identities for transmitting data. In Microsoft Exchange, authentication is used to determine whether a user or client that wants to communicate with the Exchange server is who or what it says it is.

When you install Exchange server and the Client Access server role, virtual directories are configured for several services. These include Outlook Web App, the Availability service, Unified Messaging, and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. By default, each virtual directory is configured to use an authentication method. The failure of an authentication method naturally results in denial of access to the corresponding service. This is why, when a user/client attempting to connect to Exchange to avail of a particular service complains of a delay or a denial of access, administrators should immediately check the authentication process to look for failures/latencies. The Exchange Authentication test helps with this. For every authentication method that is configured, this test tracks the authentication requests and captures latencies and rejections. This way, the test helps administrators proactively identify probable bottlenecks in authentication and the methods affected.

Target of the test : A Microsoft Exchange 2013/2016 server

 Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every authentication method configured

Configurable parameters for the test

Test period - How often should the test be executed Host - The host for which the test is to be configured. port – The port at which the host listens.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Current authentication request latency:	Indicates the latency of current authentication requests to this authentication method.	Secs	A low value is desired for this measure. Compare the value of this measure across authentication methods to know which method is the most latent.
Outstanding authentication requests:	Indicates the number of authentication requests to this method that are pending processing.	Number	A consistent increase in the value of this measure is indicative of an authentication bottleneck. Compare the value of this measure across authentication methods to know which method is taking too long to process requests.
Rejected authentication requests:	Indicates the number of rejected authentication requests to this method.	Number	The value 0 is desired for this measure. Further investigation is required if a non-zero value is reported by this measure.