Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Eric Neil Lockard

Brandon T Hunt

Darren Arthur Shakib

Frank R Morrison, Iii

Michael Gallop

Jeffrey David Henshaw

Ivan Petrov Trindev

Steven P Masters

John Yun-Kuang Chen

Russell Lee Simpson, Jr

Daniel R Weisman

Matthew David Durasoff

Frank R Iii Morrison

Acquiring an interactive digital content item including a plurality of content portions includes receiving a first set of the content portions that is less than an entirety of the content portions. A partial functionality version of the interactive digital content item is presented using the first set of content portions. A second set of the content portions is received while the partial functionality version of the interactive digital content item is presented. Functionality is added to the partial functionality version of the interactive digital content item using the second set of content portions without interrupting presentation of the partial functionality version of the interactive digital content item.

Presenting digital content item with tiered functionality

In an electronic messaging system which has multiple sites, and in which each site is defined by a unique address space and has connectivity to at least one other site, messages are sent by receiving at a first site message routing information from a second site. The message routing information defines routes from the second site to one or more of the plurality of sites. The received message routing information is assimilated into previously known routing information to generate an updated accumulation of routing information. The updated accumulation of routing information is used to route messages to one or more of the plurality of sites. The updated accumulation of routing information may be replicated to still other sites in the messaging system, which in turn assimilate the information into their respective collections of known routing information. This process of receiving, assimilating and replicating may be repeated until each of the sites has substantially the same updated accumulation of routing information.

Method of automatic updating and use of routing information by

Message traffic is balanced between a plurality of alternative message routes connecting a plurality sites in an electronic messaging system by assigning a cost to each potential message route between the plurality of sites. The cost defines a desired relative frequency of usage for the corresponding message route. A weight is calculated for each potential message route based on its assigned cost of connecting one site to another site. A message route between the one site and the other site is chosen based on the collective calculated weights and a message is transmitted over the chosen message route from one site to the other site.

Load balancing between E-mail servers within a local area network

A technique for configuring a server computer using an optimizer program to achieve optimal performance of the server based on the server types supported by the server. Configuration may involve both calculating server configuration parameters and deciding where to place various files used by the server. In order to decide where to place files, the hardware and software characteristics of the server disk drives are analyzed, and a performance table is generated. The disk drive performance data is then input into a series of algorithms of varying complexity to determine the drives where database files should be stored. Information regarding server utilization, the number of host users and the number of users in the organization is received from an administrator. The administrator input is used to calculate configuration parameters. The optimizer program may automatically adjust a plurality of registry parameters, and may automatically move one or more database and log files to the appropriate disk drives. Alternately, the administrator may be prompted to authorize the changes. The optimizer program may also save the changed parameters and locations to a registry log file.

System and method for configuring a server computer for optimal

Method and system for assessing the performance of a server application that acquires performance information from the perspective of a simulated user and has significantly reduced hardware requirements. Particularly, actual user behavior is modeled so that accurate determinations can be made as to the number of users a given server application can adequately support. User behavior is modeled in a client profile that contains user parameters corresponding to the nature, timing, and frequency of user activities in operating a client that in turn corresponds to client tasks. A plurality of processes and process threads are initiated to contact a server as a plurality of simulated clients from a single client computer, each simulated client making a separate logical connection to the server. A task scheduler will schedule the simulated client tasks that are determined for each simulated user by reference to the user parameters in the client profile throughout a work day. The scheduler also introduces a random element so that the tasks simulate natural variability in user behavior. User receivable response times for the task corresponding to simulated user activity are maintained in a log file and the 95th percentile time or score for each task type is calculated. The individual task type scores may be weighted and averaged together to arrive at a weighted average response time. The weighted average response time can then be used as a threshold value to determine the total number of users a server application can adequately support.

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

Eric Neil Lockard