Benchmark maximum number of TCP connections on Windows Server 2012

Question

I am wrestling with deploying an application on Windows Server 2012. The problem is that after accepting about ~2000 TCP connections it fails to accept more. And I need much more. We have 8 cores, 16 GB RAM, 3GH CPU, pretty strong box. But not capable of holding more than 2000 socket connections..

The questions:

1. if this is some kind of server OS limitation, can it be lifted?
2. could anyone recommend tools for benchmarking how many TCP connections the server is capable of?

Solution

I hate replying to questions with links however I read through this very recently and found it hugely interesting so thought you might appreciate the read:

http://www.serverframework.com/asynchronousevents/2010/12/one-million-tcp-connections.html

Charles

Comments

[PatH]

Thanks! Very useful tools indeed. I've tried it and it confirms my own tests. That server won't accept more than 2000 TCP connections. Now I need to figure out why?