Configure power plan Exchange Server

Configure the right power plan on the Exchange Server. When you install Windows Server, the standard power plan is Balanced (recommended). It’s not the best practice power plan for the Exchange Server. Microsoft recommends changing the power plan to High Performance on the Exchange Server. In this article, we will configure the High Performance power plan through PowerShell.

Check the current status of the power plan

Run PowerShell as administrator. Check the current status of the power plan on the Exchange Server.

PS C:\> Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\cimv2\power -Class win32_PowerPlan | Select-Object -Property ElementName, IsActive | Format-Table -Property * -AutoSize

ElementName      IsActive
-----------      --------
Balanced             True
High performance    False
Power saver         Fals

In the next step, we are going to configure the power plan to High Performance.

Configure power plan Exchange Server through PowerShell

Run PowerShell as administrator. Set the power plan to High Performance.

PS C:\> $p = Get-CimInstance -Name root\cimv2\power -Class win32_PowerPlan -Filter "ElementName = 'High Performance'";Invoke-CimMethod -InputObject $p -MethodName Activate

ReturnValue PSComputerName
----------- --------------
       True

If you like to save the script, download the Set-HighPerformancePowerPlan.ps1 script. Place the script in the C:\scripts\ folder on the Exchange Server. Run the script with PowerShell as administrator.

Verify power plan Exchange Server

Verify the status of the configured power plan on the Exchange Server. Both of the cmdlets will give you the same output. The first cmdlet is the expanded version. The second cmdlet is using an alias for the cmdlets and parameters.

PS C:\> Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\cimv2\power -Class win32_PowerPlan | Select-Object -Property ElementName, IsActive | Format-Table -Property * -AutoSize

ElementName      IsActive
-----------      --------
Balanced            False
High performance     True
Power saver         False

[PS] C:\>gwmi -NS root\cimv2\power -Class win32_PowerPlan | select ElementName, IsActive | ft -a

ElementName      IsActive
-----------      --------
Balanced            False
High performance     True
Power saver         False

The High Performance plan is active.

Configure power plan Exchange Server through GUI

Click on Start and click Control Panel. If you can’t find it, search for Control Panel. You can also enter the command powercfg.cpl.

From the list of displayed items under Control Panel, click on Power Options. If you do not see Power Options, type the word power in the Search Control Panel box. Click Power Options.

It will take you to select a power plan. By default, the Balanced (recommended) power plan is enabled. Choose the High Performance power plan to enable.

The High Performance plan is active.

Keep reading: Disable NIC Power Management in Exchange best practice »

Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to configure the power plan to High Performance on the Exchange Server. You can configure the power plan with PowerShell or with the GUI. It’s always good to verify the power plan after applying the changes.

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