Chapter 9. Performance and Scalability

Performance testing combined with tuning and troubleshooting is arguably one of the most crucial parts of a BizTalk Server solution, and indeed any software solution. Writing code, with BizTalk or any development technology, is relatively straightforward. However, getting it to perform well under load and make the best use of the hardware can prove far harder. If you take away just one thing from this book, remember this: Functional testing, paired with stress and performance testing, is one aspect of any enterprise-class solution that cannot be compromised under any circumstances.

The BizTalk platform simplifies performance testing in some aspects, but the actual performance of the system depends on how the solution has been constructed and configured. I've seen many projects assume that performance would be okay and deploy straight to live with little or no testing, resulting in critical problems when the solution was placed under load.

I always try to ensure that developers understand "what things cost" and what a particular feature is doing under the covers, and therefore the likely impact on the overall performance. Having such an appreciation will set up your project for a far greater chance of success. A thorough understanding of orchestration persistence points is a classic example of this.

BizTalk Server is a very powerful product that abstracts complex functionality and techniques by exposing them through a higher-level programming ...

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