Uneven Loading

Actions that cause load are not evenly distributed over time. For example, a burst of activity in the early morning, when users arrive at work and catch up on mail, may place the greatest load on a server. On the other hand, there may be lulls in activity during lunch hours, evenings, and weekends. Also, load varies over time because of individual differences in usage level and schedule.

You should consider uneven loading when you plan your organization. You can reserve server capacity for bursts of activity by setting up fewer than the maximum number of average users on a server.

The following graph illustrates the e-mail usage patterns of a typical organization: