OWA Internal Connectivity Test

Outlook Web App (OWA) is a browser-based email client accessible from the web. It allows you to check your email from computers that do not have an email client (such as Outlook 2010) installed. If an internal user (i.e., intranet user) complains that he/she is unable to check emails using OWA, you can run this test to figure out whether/not OWA is accessible, and if so, how long it takes to connect to OWA over the intranet. This test attempts to connect to the OWA URL from the intranet, and for every stage (a.k.a scenario) of the connection process, reports whether/not that stage completed successfully or not and the time taken for completion.  This way, the test not only reports an OWA connectivity failure/slowdown, it also points you to the exact stage at which the failure/slowdown may have occurred. This brings connectivity issues in the internal network and their probable causes to light.

Target of the test : An Exchange 2010 server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each <ClientAccessServer>/<LocalSiteNameofClientAccessServer>/ <SynchronizationStage/Scenario tested>combination.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

Indicates the IP address of the Client Access server.

Port

The port number of the client access server. By default, this is 110.

XchgExtensionShellPath

The Exchange Management Shell is a command-line management interface, built on Windows PowerShell which enables you to administer every part of Microsoft Exchange. This test uses the Exchange management shell to run scripts and collect the desired performance metrics from the Exchange server. By default, the test auto-discovers the location of the Exchange management shell and thus, automatically loads the Exchange management shell snap-in (exshell.psc1) for script execution. This is why, the XchgExtensionShellPath is set to none by default.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

OWA internal connectivity status

Indicates whether the OWA connectivity check was successful or not at this stage/scenario of the connection.

Percent

The value 0 for this measure indicates that the connectivity check failed at this stage of the interaction.  The value 100 on the other hand indicates that this stage of the interaction was cleared successfully.

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know the OWA URL that the test tried to connect to. 

Logon internal latency

Indicates the time taken for the successful completion of this stage/scenario.

Secs

A low value is desired for this measure. A high value indicates a connection bottleneck. Compare the value of this measure across descriptors to isolate the exact stage/scenario that took the maximum time to complete, and investigate further to determine why.