[Techtalk] calculating server load capability

[Hamster]

Hi,

Can anyone offer any advice on how to go about calculating what a
given server's capacity it for performing certain tasks?

I know that software like MySQL and Apache has various stress tests
that you perform, but I'm after something slightly different.

For example, given a server with a certain processor, RAM, network card
and acting as a DHCP server, is it possible to calculate any theoretical
limit as to how many DHCP requests it can handle over a given time?

If you have the scenario where a bunch of clients all get switched on
at the same time and start asking for an IP, I need some sort of
indication as to whether a specific server setup can handle in the
order of 1,000 clients, 10,000 clients, 50,000 clients etc.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions they would be gratefully
received.

Hamster.