application model

A collection of application components used by System Center Capacity Planner to simulate deployment of a particular computer application, such as Exchange Server 2007.

application role

A role designated by the user for the service components of a modeled application.

branch site

A site that receives services from a central site.

capacity model

The configuration of all parameters required to simulate a particular application model including full specification of all sites, network topology, servers, clients, and usage profiles used when a simulation is run.

capacity planning

The process of evaluating an application in its production environment by defining the number of requests an application can handle, based on a fixed hardware infrastructure.

central site

The main office where most server computers are located.

component

The server role or client type that can process or generate requests.

Hardware Editor

A feature in Capacity Planner to view, edit, and add computer configurations, device configurations, and thresholds.

hardware library

A collection of default and user-saved configurations of computers and devices.

Model Editor

The Capacity Planner tool that you can use to refine and validate a capacity model after you have initially identified it in the Model Wizard.

Model Wizard

The Capacity Planner wizard used to define your application model and hardware infrastructure.

modeling engine

The event-driven simulation engine use by Capacity Planner.

Simulation

The Capacity Planner process that simulates relevant operations of a modeled application, predicts usage of computer hardware and software and then produces simulation results that you can use to determine whether a capacity model meets your needs.

software contention

The effect of multiple transactions competing for the same resources.

threshold indicators

The icons on the Capacity Planner Results Summary page that indicate how hardware and network resources are utilized in a capacity model.