Deployment and Imaging Group

Hello all,

I haven't done in this in so long...I kind of forgot!

Current setup:

NS 7.5 SP1 HF2 with NBS and Task imaging and serving 2200 clients. PXE is leveraged by IP helper at the switch.

Added a Site Server with Task and Package to take load off of the NS. Now, do I still retain Task Service on the NS or remove it and have Task completely handled by the new Site Server? Should NBS be handled by this new Site Server or let the NS continue to provide that? I see agents starting to communicate with this Site Server and some still communicate to the SMP.

Also, the SMP and Site Server are in different subnets.

Hi tloenhorst, I would advise you to look at the documentation for soms best practices around sizing and scaling. Are you really experiencing load issues? In case your NS is virtual, did you already look at the effects of adding some more memory and/or additional cpu's? Is your SQL on- or off-box? Never had any issues (with the amount of endpoints you mentioned) with keeping Task on the NS, same with NBS, however this last one may be affected by the amount of deployments you do (simultaniously). With around 2200 clients a site server is nice as a package server. If you use different vlans for your endpoints you could consider moving out NBS to a site server and in case you only use pxe now, look at the automation folder for re-deployments too. My personal preference has always been to keep it as simple as possible and only go for 'extensions' if you're experiencing load issues or your network topology requires it/you would expressly benefit from it. Hope this helps..

The NS is on a physical box as well as SQL being on its own box. No issues there and have pretty much followed best practices. These are under heavy use as we image/re-image and also perform quite a few software deployments on a daily basis. We aren't really having any current scaling issues. I just want to expand for future growth that is coming.

We don't see a need for automation folders as PXE is our preferred method for machine deployments.

I wanted to add a Site Server (SS) since the NS may eventually be over loaded as we expand in the future. I don't want to get overwhelmed and then need to add a the SS in a hurry. I am also adding another SS very soon to take care of CEM clients since we have many external clients that need to be managed.

So, as it stands right now the NS has NBS and Task and the new SS has Task and Package services, but only about a third of the clients have switched over to it in the last day.

**Since my last post I see during imaging some machines in Preboot getting stuck as they PXE to the NS, but eventually connect to the SS. They seem to get lost executing tasks.

I will echo raven-zod.

Task is fine to leave on the NS. Unless you see performance issues, which I doubt if you are within recommendations, you can clone the task policy. From there, you would target the NS and change to no more than 100 connections, then target your site server(s) up to 5000 connections. Either way, your setup should be just fine.

NBS on the NS is not a huge issue unless, like raven-zod said, you are doing a lot of simultaneous images.

Just make sure you scale your Site Server if you plan on moving NBS there. If you went extremely minimal on CPU and Mem, you may want to add a bit more. The Implementation guide should help with figuring this out.

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/it-management-suite-itms-75-sp1-documentation

Thanks to you all! I appreciate the comments and suggestions. My main goal is creating something that has scalability. I feel if the NS is left as it is is could get overloaded with projected company growth. Hence, why I set up the new SS. The new SS is a VM and can be scaled with more resources as needed. It is currently spec'd out following best practices and is far from minimal so it has resources and room for growth.

My hardware and VM environments are set up well. The issue I want help with is configuration.

The NS has NBS and Task

The SS has Task and Package

Can the SS and NS both have task simultaneously with no effect on imaging and the post-boot tasks that perform Boot To, Apply Configuration, and any software deployment tasks that come after that? I ask this because I see some tasks getting lost after the image is laid down. Some machines don't get their "Boot To" task since the new SS was deployed.

Just to reinforce the comments and suggestions above with some KB article references and best practices:

Restricting task service on the Notification Server to enhance performance:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH211028

Best Practice: Managing Task Server Communications:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO48411

Please note also that one of the main changes introduced with DS 7.5 is that we are using Package Server logic to download/push images on package servers. For this reason, it is a "Best Practice" to make your first Package Server in the same location/site as the SMP.

This is described here:

DS7.5 KNOWN ISSUE: Images may be captured to, or deployed from, remote package servers instead of to the local SMP:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH215008

Marcello,

Great documents. That set of links answered my questions. I had searched and couldn't find those specifically!

 

I see that Task can't be removed on the NS...it is integral to other pieces running correctly.