Client Management Suite

We are looking at migrating from CMS & AMS 7.0 to 7.1, but are receiving some kickback from our server team regarding the Hardware Specs for the SQL and NS servers.  I am posting the following questions out to anyone who currently uses AMS and CMS 7.1:

1. How many endpoints are connected to your 7.1 NS?

2. What are the hardware specs on your SQL server?

3. What are the hardware specs on your NS?

4. Are you running CMS & AMS on the same box?

5. If CMS & AMS are on seperate servers, what are the hardware specs on your second (AMS) NS?

Have you followed the guidelines in the planning and implementation doc? http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC3464

The recommended hardware ranges begin on page 134. I've done many implementations and I always start with the vendors recommended settings. If you can get more, great. If you can get less, you will have to set the expectation the performance will not be the best.

1. This can vary. I've seen anywhere from 10-15,000 on the 'normal' high side, to less than 500. There are obviously people that go higher or lowers. SMP 7.1 has led to some pretty great improvements in this.

2. See above. I always start with at least the recommended. In the case of SQL, I try to put it off box, running RAID 10 and as much memory as I can stuff in there (minimum 64GB).  Additonal spec for SQL start on page 54.

3. Generally not recommended unless the node count is low. I try and have a separate SQL, CMS and AMS\Reporting server.

4. I try and keep all CMS\AMS servers on the same configuration. The only difference is if I'm managing multiple domains with fewer clients and\or on one branch of a hierachy (and therefore have multiple SMP servers).

Are you looking at the Planning and Implementation Guide, which mentions sizing recommendations, RAM, CPU, IOPS, etc?  This is going to be the best source of information to guide you as you size your environment.

Do you mind if I make you answer your own questions?  I'm curious what your environment looks like and what you're requesting from your server team where they're pushing back.

We have looked at the Planning and Implementation Guide, and our Infrastructure Director feels the recommended hardware is overkill, and is refusing to give us more than 2 core x 4GB RAM VMs unless we can prove out what is needed.  This is why I am asking what other companys are running.  Our environment is about 2300 endpoints.

I'm not speaking about any environment in particular, but for an environment of this size, I recommend eight cores and 16GB RAM.  Your Director is rightly trying to only hand out resources if they're justified, but you might want to point out that the recommendations in the guide are based on actual performance data from testing environments under actual load from installed solutions.  It's also been borne out by multiple customer environments, and I can tell you that it makes a difference when I'm working in a customer environment that's below the recommended guidelines.

I'd request exactly what's recommended for 1k-5k nodes: NS 8 core, 16GB RAM, fast disk; ditto SQL through I would suggest you could get by with less than 32GB, with just 24GB.

If it comes down to not getting the resources you need, then just have someone sign off on what it means for the solution, e.g. lack of responsiveness, reports will only be run after hours, intervals will be unnecessarily high for check-in, solution may be unstable, etc.  Whoever has to sign that will probably want to talk to whoever decided you should get so little hardware.  Maybe your hardware is still low after that conversation, but you'll be covered and the decision will be documented.

In regards to line 3, can you elaborate on how to configure a separate AMS\Reporting server?  As jpopik said, we have about 2300 endpoints.  I've already stood up a Reporting Notification Server that has IT Analytics and CMDB installed.  If we added AMS to it, then should we configure it as a Child or a Peer server?  Also, what types of Replication should be configured?

I also work with jpopik. We have brought up this subject numerous times and have thus far received the response that the problem is not under provisioned hardware specs, but a badly written program. It is claimed that since our SAP BW environment does not have these specs that are recommended by Symantec, then this environment does not need them either.

Thanks for the advice.

The Asset\CMDB should be the top of the food chain (Parent). Symantec doesn't really allow 'peers' in that sense, a parent server can have 1 or more children, but no 'cross flow'. If the Asset\CMDB is at the top you could use the hierarchy replication to pass everything down and up (except for events). Really it depends on what you want to accomplish.

The Planning and Implementation Guide was updated substantially for 7.1 SP1 and the entire Section 1, Chapter 3 - Planning for IT Management Suite - was reconsidered and partially rewritten based on research done both within Symantec and with feedback from real production environments (that is, customers).