Use the Hardware page of the Exchange Model Wizard to choose the computer hardware to use. CPU choices are limited to 64-bit processors that conform to Exchange Server 2007 requirements.

Based on your hardware preferences, Capacity Planner attempts to create a scaled-up capacity model that uses CPUs in the following order:

  1. The least powerful CPU that you choose is evaluated to determine if it meets the needs of the capacity model. If it does meet the needs of the capacity model, it is used.

  2. If the least powerful CPU has insufficient capacity, the next most powerful CPU that you have chosen is evaluated. If it meets the needs of the capacity model, it is used.

  3. Otherwise, the most powerful CPU that you have chosen is evaluated. If it meets the needs of the capacity model, it is used.

If the most powerful CPU does not provide enough capacity, Capacity Planner scales-out by creating an additional server to distribute the load of the capacity model to and the steps above are repeated. This process is repeated until enough hardware resources are created to adequately meet the needs of the capacity model.

Based on your hardware choices, Capacity Planner automatically creates capacity model-specific server configurations. These server configurations appear in the Hardware Editor and cannot be deleted. However, you can edit these server configurations. For information about editing server configurations, see How to Edit a Server Hardware Configuration or a Server Role in the Model Editor.

Note
When you navigate to other pages in the Model Wizard you should do so using Back and Next buttons. Otherwise, results on the Model Summary page might not update.

The following elements appear on the Hardware page of the Exchange Model Wizard.

Select possible CPU configurations


Select at least one CPU configuration. Capacity Planner uses the CPUs you select in the capacity model. If available, you can choose Unspecified to ensure that Capacity Planner uses only the selected CPUs. You can define CPU configurations by using the Hardware Editor.
Select disk configurations for different roles


Select a disk configuration for Mailbox data disk, log disk, and the configuration to use for the Transport and Client Access disk. Capacity Planner automatically determines the number of disks needed for required server components. You can define disk configurations by using the Hardware Editor.
Back


Click to navigate to the Networks page.
Next


Click to navigate to the Application page.

See Also