Overview

The performance of the Microsoft Online Services Directory Synchronization Tool is dependent on the size and complexity of the customer’s Active Directory as well as the hardware that is running the directory synchronization tool.  Running the directory synchronization tool on insufficient hardware will impact the performance of the tool, resulting in increased latency or even failure to propagate on-premise data to Microsoft Office 365.

In the case of Active Directory deployments with more than 50,000 objects, Office 365 recommends that the customer deploy the directory synchronization tool with a full SQL instance (a deployment of any non-SQL Express SKU such as SQL Server Standard, Enterprise or DataCenter).  Customers with less than 50K objects may also elect to use a full SQL instance as well, however, the SQL Express installed by default with the directory synchronization tool will suffice.

Suggested Hardware

The following are suggested hardware specifications for customer reference only.  As mentioned before, performance of the directory synchronization tool is heavily influenced by hardware and the structure of the data within the customer’s Active Directory (distribution across object types, nesting of groups, etc.). 

The following hardware spxecifications are suggested for the computer running the directory synchronization tool (for less that 50,000 objects) or for the computer running the dedicated SQL Server instance when above 50,000.

Hard Disk Capacity

Various processes within the directory synchronization tool will consume hard disk space.  The disk space consumed the directory synchronization tool increases based on several factors including the size and complexity of the Active Directory that the directory synchronization tool is being synchronized from.

The Hard Disk capacities listed in the table above are estimates of the total disk space required to synchronize Active Directories of the stated sizes.

Hard Disk Configurations

By default, the directory synchronization tool will install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express edition.  The data files are stored in the same directory as the Microsoft Online Directory Sync Product files (the path specified during installation of the directory synchronization tool – usually for the 32-bit/x86 version C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Online Directory Sync).  The location of these database files is not configurable for SQL Server 2008 R2 Express edition.

The directory synchronization tool does not mandate or require a specific hard disk configuration for customers that use an existing SQL Server Instance.  However, machines with disk configurations optimized for SQL will realize better overall performance of the directory synchronization process.