The performance of your computer may decrease significantly when you configure your Windows Server 2003-based computer to accept SSL connections

When you configure your Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer to accept incoming Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connections, the performance of your computer may decrease significantly.

This issue occurs when the number of context handles that are stored in the hash table becomes very large.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement

You must restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 32-bit editions

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Enterprise Edition

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

The SSL context handle list is stored in a hash table as an array of linked lists. To speed up the performance of context lookups, this hotfix adds the UserContextListCount and UserContextLockCount entries to the registry in the following subkey:You can modify the values of these registry entries to increase storage space in the hash table.

The default value of the UserContextListCount is 00000100. To increase performance, increase the value of this entry to 00000101 or more.

The default value of the UserContextLockCount entry is 00000008. To increase performance, increase the value of this entry.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For additional information about the terminology that is used in this article, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: