A hacky test script to look at Sitecore startup times depending on what's in your data folder.

LicenseLocationTestScript.ps1

#
# This is pretty hacky code, for the purposes of testing some
# startup and request times. It's not recommended you take anything
# here for any important work...
#

[string]$logFile = "log.csv"

[int]$randomFileCount = 15 * 100;
[int]$randomFolderCount = 15 * 100;
[int]$testIterations = 25;

function makeRandomFilesAndFolders
{
    param(
        [string]$folderPath
    )

    for($id=0; $id -lt $randomFileCount; $id = $id + 1)
    {
        $file = $folderPath + "\\rndFile_$($id)_stuff.txt"
        $file | Out-File -FilePath $file -Encoding ascii
    }
    for($id=0; $id -lt $randomFileCount; $id = $id + 1)
    {
        $folder = $folderPath + "\\rndFolder_$($id)_stuff"
        mkdir $folder | Out-Null
    }
}

function removeRandomFilesAndFolders
{
    param(
        [string]$folderPath
    )

    del "$folderPath\\rndFile*.txt" | Out-Null
    rmdir "$folderPath\\rndFolder_*" | Out-Null
}

function Set-DataFolder
{
    param(
        [string]$folder
    )

    $patch = "<configuration xmlns:patch=""http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/""><sitecore><sc.variable name=""dataFolder""><patch:attribute name=""value"">$folder</patch:attribute></sc.variable></sitecore></configuration>"
    $patch | Out-File "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\test\Website\App_Config\Include\zzz\zz.zz.TestDataFolderOverride.config" -Encoding ascii
}

function Set-DataFolderInWebRootSibling
{
    $path = "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\test\Data"
    Set-DataFolder $path

    return $path
}

function Set-DataFolderInWebRootChild
{
    $path = "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\test\Website\Data"
    Set-DataFolder $path

    return $path
}

function Set-License
{
    param(
        [string]$location
    )
    $patch = "<configuration xmlns:patch=""http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/""><sitecore><settings><setting name=""LicenseFile"" value=""$location""/></settings></sitecore></configuration>"
    $patch | Out-File "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\test\Website\App_Config\Include\zzz\zz.zz.TestLicensePathOverride.config" -Encoding ascii
}

function Set-LicenseInDataFolder
{
    param(
        [string]$path
    )
    Set-License "$path\license.xml"
}

function Set-LicenseInChildFolder
{
    param(
        [string]$path
    )
    Set-License "$path\license\license.xml"
}

# Sibling, NoJunk, LicenseInDataFolder
function ScenarioOne
{
    Write-Host "SCENARIO 01: Sibling folder, No junk, License in data folder"
    "S01, " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
    $path = Set-DataFolderInWebRootSibling
    removeRandomFilesAndFolders $path
    Set-LicenseInDataFolder $path
}

# Sibling, Junk, LicenseInDataFolder
function ScenarioTwo
{
    Write-Host "SCENARIO 02: Sibling folder, Junk, License in data folder"
    "S02, " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
    $path = Set-DataFolderInWebRootSibling
    makeRandomFilesAndFolders $path
    Set-LicenseInDataFolder $path
}

# Sibling, NoJunk, LicenseInChildFolder
function ScenarioThree
{
    Write-Host "SCENARIO 03: Sibling folder, No junk, License in child folder"
    "S03, " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
    $path = Set-DataFolderInWebRootSibling
    removeRandomFilesAndFolders $path
    Set-LicenseInChildFolder $path
}

# Sibling, Junk, LicenseInChildFolder
function ScenarioFour
{
    Write-Host "SCENARIO 04: Sibling folder, Junk, License in child folder"
    "S04, " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
    $path = Set-DataFolderInWebRootSibling
    makeRandomFilesAndFolders $path
    Set-LicenseInChildFolder $path
}

# Child, NoJunk, LicenseInDataFolder
function ScenarioFive
{
    Write-Host "SCENARIO 05: Child folder, No junk, License in data folder"
    "S05, " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
    $path = Set-DataFolderInWebRootChild
    removeRandomFilesAndFolders $path
    Set-LicenseInDataFolder $path
}

# Child, Junk, LicenseInDataFolder
function ScenarioSix
{
    Write-Host "SCENARIO 06: Child folder, Junk, License in data folder"
    "S06, " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
    $path = Set-DataFolderInWebRootChild
    makeRandomFilesAndFolders $path
    Set-LicenseInDataFolder $path
}

# Child, NoJunk, LicenseInChildFolder
function ScenarioSeven
{
    Write-Host "SCENARIO 07: Child folder, No junk, License in child folder"
    "S07, " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
    $path = Set-DataFolderInWebRootChild
    removeRandomFilesAndFolders $path
    Set-LicenseInChildFolder $path
}

# Child, Junk, LicenseInChildFolder
function ScenarioEight
{
    Write-Host "SCENARIO 08: Child folder, Junk, License in child folder"
    "S08, " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
    $path = Set-DataFolderInWebRootChild
    makeRandomFilesAndFolders $path
    Set-LicenseInChildFolder $path
}

function cycleServer
{
    $xml = "<configuration xmlns:patch='http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/\'><sitecore></sitecore></configuration>"
    $file = "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\test\Website\App_Config\Include\\test.config"
    if( Test-Path $file )
    {
        del $file
    }
    else
    {
        $xml | Out-File -FilePath $file -Encoding ascii
    }

    [System.Threading.Thread]::Sleep(500);
}

function timeStartup
{
    $ms = 0;
    for($id=0; $id -lt $testIterations; $id = $id + 1)
    {
        Write-Host "Cycling server for iteration $id"
        cycleServer
        $tmr = [System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch]::StartNew();
        $result = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://test.local/"
        Write-Host "  Status: $($result.StatusCode) in $($tmr.ElapsedMilliseconds)"
        $tmr.Stop();
        $ms = $ms + $tmr.ElapsedMilliseconds;
        "$($tmr.ElapsedMilliseconds)," | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewLine -Encoding ascii
    }

    Write-Host " Average First Response: $($ms / $testIterations)ms" 
    "$($ms / $testIterations), " | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
}

function timeRequests
{
    $ms = 0;
    for($id=0; $id -lt $testIterations; $id = $id + 1)
    {
        #Write-Host "Requesting page for iteration $id"
        $tmr = [System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch]::StartNew();
        $result = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://test.local/"
        #Write-Host "  Status: $($result.StatusCode) in $($tmr.ElapsedMilliseconds)"
        Write-Host "#" -NoNewline
        $tmr.Stop();
        $ms = $ms + $tmr.ElapsedMilliseconds;

        "$($tmr.ElapsedMilliseconds)," | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -NoNewLine -Encoding ascii
    }

    Write-Host " Average Subsequent Response: $($ms / $testIterations)ms"
    "$($ms / $testIterations)" | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -Encoding ascii
}

cls

"Test," | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -NoNewLine -Encoding ascii
for($id=0; $id -lt $testIterations; $id = $id + 1)
{
    "Startup$id," | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -NoNewLine -Append -Encoding ascii
}
"AvgStartup," | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -NoNewLine -Append -Encoding ascii
for($id=0; $id -lt $testIterations; $id = $id + 1)
{
    "Request$id," | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -NoNewLine -Append -Encoding ascii
}
"AvgRequest" | Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append -Encoding ascii

Write-Host "Test run" 

ScenarioOne    | timeStartup | timeRequests
ScenarioTwo    | timeStartup | timeRequests
ScenarioThree  | timeStartup | timeRequests
ScenarioFour   | timeStartup | timeRequests
ScenarioFive   | timeStartup | timeRequests
ScenarioSix    | timeStartup | timeRequests
ScenarioSeven  | timeStartup | timeRequests
ScenarioEight  | timeStartup | timeRequests

Write-Host "DONE."