Unicenter Desktop & Server Management Scaling Options - SQL -Latest Revision June 29 2006 -Read the notes pages

Unicenter Desktop & Server Management

Scaling Options - SQL

- Latest Revision June 29 2006- Read the notes pages

Domain Management:Scaling

© 2005 Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA). All trademarks, trade names, services marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

© 2005 Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA). All trademarks, trade names, services marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. 3

Gather and understand….

…installation needs and expectations before beginning, then develop the architecture to satisfy those conditions.

No hard and fast formulas….

…the intention is to illustrate the thought process and describe general principles used to make installation specific decisions.


Things have changed….

…and will continue to change with regards to performance and best practices as testing continues. Always check for the latest facts and figures.

Migration requires re-thinking….

…because limitations that applied to previous releases may not longer apply and consolidation of applications to a single system may be required.


Ask….

Understand….

Why?


Simple, small environment….

•Up to 2000 agents•Single LAN or campus•No DMZ or firewalls•No constraining service level

requirements

Main motivation for implementing DSM: Simplify and unify desktop and server management functions.



All Domain Management components may be implemented on a single, adequately sized system.

Domain Manager

MDB

System Engine

Scalability Server

2 U

Engine

System Specification:

CPU: Dual 2 GHzRAM: 2 GBDisk: 100 GB free

Workstations Reporter

DSM Explorer

Laptops



…but this installation has service level requirements that must be met.

•Ability to deliver a common software packages be distributed to all targets within 3 hours.

•Requires asset inventory to be no more than 24 hours old

• Up to 2000 agents• Single LAN or campus• No DMZ or firewalls• No constraining service level

requirements



One to two Scalability Servers are added….

Domain Manager

MDB

System Engine

Scalability Server

2 U

Engine

Added System Specification:

CPU: Single 2 GHzRAM: 2 GBDisk: 100 GB free


DSM Explorer

Laptops

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U

Why?


Simple, small environment….Expectations are more demanding then in the previous case. Common software package must be distributed to all 2,000 agents within 3 hours.

Assumption: Common software package takes 5 minutes to distribute.

Fact: Software deployment is limited by default to 25 concurrent activations from any Scalability Server.

Domain Manager

MDB

System Engine

Scalability Server

2 U

Engine


DSM Explorer

Laptops

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U



Assumption: Common software package takes 5 minutes to distribute.

Fact: Software deployment is limited by default to 25 concurrent activations from any Scalability Server.

So, 2000 distributions at 5 minutes each at 25 at a time would take 6.67 hours. The service level requirement is not more than 3 hours so three source points, minimum, are needed.

Domain Manager

MDB

System Engine

Scalability Server

2 U

Engine


DSM Explorer

Laptops

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U


Medium Environment

Recent performance enhancements and follow up testing make it necessary to reconsider best practice recommendations based on experiences with previous releases and even previous builds r11.1.

• Up to 50,000 agents• Distributed LAN/WAN• DMZs and/or firewalls• Service level requirements

Why?


Measure time required to return results of the out of the box “Basic Hardware Inventory” report at various population levels.

Results Time to complete test(s) in seconds for various agent population levels:

1 1k 2.5k 5k 10k 15k 20k 25k 30k 40k 50kRun report 3.36 6.656 26.125 61.765 62.218 96.188 131.828 40.110 48.718 57.144 60.562

Run report

0

50

100

150

1 1k 2.5k 5k 10k 15k 20k 25k 30k 40k 50k

Agents

Sec

s.

Run report

Analysis Updated binaries provided as resolution for issue 14592354 prior to testing at a population of 10,000 did improve performance significantly versus the previous build (execution was exceeding 4 minutes at a population of 15,000). However, the completion was projected to rise beyond acceptable levels in the 20,000 to 30,000 range. An updated security index designed to speed up population of the “right pane” results window applied prior to testing at a population of 25,000 improved performance statistics dramatically.


Medium Environment

Take note of the end population. The statistics were compiled while progressively adding computers, hardware and software inventory to DSM Domain with all components including the MDB (Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP4) on a single high-end server until the number of computers reached 50,000



Test Environment ArchitectureArchitecture implemented for testing: Single server hosting MDB, DSM Domain Manager, Engine and Scalability Server

`

Agent Simulator

DSM Domain Manager, EngineScalability Server And MDB

Hardware/Software SpecificationsDSM Domain Manager, Engine, Scalability Server and MDB Server:Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP1Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP4Dual Hyper-Threaded 3.19 GHz processor8 gb RAM (no more than 4GB is required)

Agent SimulatorMicrosoft Windows Server 2003 SP1Single Pentium III 993 MHz processor512 mb RAM


Medium Environment

Recommendations/Requirements to replicate performance- Apply database and binary updates (to be included in “Cut 6” of r11.1-- Reserve 4gb of memory for Microsoft SQL Server on 8GB box-- Initialize the base MDB data file size at 5gb with “Unrestricted growth” enabled-- Initialize the base MDB log file size at 2 gb with “Unrestricted growth” enabled

.



Medium Environment

Fact versus Fiction:

Although it was originally thought to be true based on results from testing with Ingres, deploying dedicated hardware for the MDB and DSM Manager (two servers) does not significantly impact performance. Single server model (MDB installed locally with DSM components) performed as well and in some cases better than the multiple server model.



Medium Environment

With previous version, sites planning to manage more that 10,000 to 12,500 nodes were invariably forced to implement an Enterprise architecture. Our results indicate that clients can now choose the less complex, less costly option of implementing a single DSM Domain (provided of course there were no other business or administrative factors that would force separation). Based on test results 25,000 to 35,000 may be viable…

. • Up to 50,000 agents• Distributed LAN/WAN• DMZs and/or firewalls• Service level requirements

…but…


Medium Environment

Limitations to what can be uncovered in simulation tests are well known. Although the test target population was set at 50,000 nodes, this does not imply that such a large single Domain would function adequately in “real world” production.

Also note that most testing so far has been focused on database access and update performance as directly related to database population….


Medium Environment

…various other scenarios have not been tested at high population levels and other break points could be unrelated to the number of managed computers alone. For example, policy groups for software deployment may cause delays at relatively low populations but very high linked procedures counts.

Test yourself, and check CA sites frequently for latest data and recommendations…


Medium Environment

More commonly, components will be distributed not only for performance and scalability reasons…

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U

System Specification:

Domain Manager/MDB

CPU: Quad 2 GHzRAM: 8 GBDisk: 200 GB

Scalability Server:CPU: Single 2 GHzRAM: 2 GBDisk: 25-50 GB free


DSM Explorer

Laptops

Domain Manager

MDB

Engine

Scalability Server

4 U


Network Challenges

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U

Domain Manager

System Engine

2 U

Engine

MDB

2 U

…but to address a variety of network topology challenges as well (more on this later).


Some basics still apply

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U

Scalability Server

1 U

Domain Manager

System Engine

2 U

Engine

MDB

2 U

Domain Managers and Engines should be electronically close to the MDB.

Scalability Servers should be electronically close to the agents

Enterprise Management: Scaling

© 2005 Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA). All trademarks, trade names, services marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.


Medium & Large Environments

Given the enhanced performance of the Domain with Microsoft SQL Server, an Enterprise model should not be considered for small environments or most medium environments unless some specialized business or administrative requirements dictate.

At this time the replication process is a potential performance obstacle and until that can be addressed properly (planned for r11.2) an Enterprise implementation requires careful consideration and a willingness to adjust architecture based upon measured results.


One server or two…

Although it was originally believed based on results from testing with Ingres that deploying dedicated hardware for the MDB and DSM Manager (two servers) would significantly improve performance the single server model (MDB installed locally with DSM components) performed as well and in some cases better than the multiple server model.

.

DSM Enterprise Manager & MDB

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP1

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP4Dual Hyper-Threaded 3.2 GHz processor

8 gb RAM


The big (really big) picture…

DGE, a project planned to build, populate and replicate five DSM Domains with 50,000 computers each in a single Enterprise of 250k was run in 2006. Many performance obstacles at the Domain level were found and have been addressed. The replication process itself currently takes a considerable amount of time but major enhancements have been architected and should be implemented in the GM of r11.2As new test results are generated, they will be posted.


Guidelines presented here were based on Stress Lab Testing.

Please understand that because many test plan items could require installation of thousands of systems and agents, a simulation tool known as “Load Tester” was employed. “Load Tester” generates the CAM messages that agents would produce at a very high, configurable rate, “bursting” them onto the network in large batches. Such test results are estimates of actual performance as client network configuration and available capacity impact predicted thruput.

DSM r11 From the Stress Lab

Documents

Unicenter Desktop & Server Management Scaling Options - SQL -Latest Revision June 29 2006 -Read the notes pages