Sun N1 System Manager 1.1 Site Preparation Guide

Site Planning

This section provides guidelines for determining your management server and switch needs. The following topics are discussed:

Management Server Considerations

Hard drive capacity and the number of provisionable servers to be managed are the primary considerations for your management server.

Hard drive capacity is affected by two factors: the number of OS distributions that are to be provisioned, and the log files generated by each N1 System Manager job. OS distributions are stored in the /var/opt directory on the management server. Allocate 3 Gbytes for each OS distribution and its associated profiles and scripts.

Sufficient disk space should also be allocated for the N1 System Manager monitoring log files, which are stored in the N1 System Manager data base. Log file size depends on how you set up monitoring and the amount of detail chosen for each log. The n1smconfig utility is used to configure logging during initial N1 System Manager configuration, and can subsequently be used after the system is in production to reconfigure logging. For further information, see Chapter 5, Monitoring Your Servers, in Sun N1 System Manager 1.1 Administration Guide.
System processing is affected by three major factors: The number of provisionable servers being managed, the types of monitoring being performed on the provisionable servers, and the number of OS provisioning tasks running on the management server.

The following table provides sizing guidelines for the management server.

Table 2–3 Management Server Hardware Sizing Guidelines


Small scale deployment: 1 to 256 provisionable servers
	Total number of processors	1 or more single core AMD Opterons 1 or more 1x1 Ghz Ultra SPARC IIIi minimum
	Total memory	4 Gbytes minimum
	Total file system space	73 Gbytes minimum
	Media	1 DVD ROM drive
	Qualified Sun Fire Models	V20z, V40z, X4100, X4200, V210, V240, V280 and V440
	Sample Configuration	Sun Fire V20z Single Processor (single core) Opteron, 4 GB RAM, 1x73 GB HDD, DVD ROM Drive
Medium scale deployment: 257 to 768 provisionable servers
	Total number of processors	2 or more single core AMD Opterons, or 1 or more dual-core AMD Opterons 2 or more 1x1 Ghz Ultra SPARC IIIi minimum
	Total memory	8 Gbytes minimum
	Total file system space	146 Gbytes minimum
	Media	1 DVD ROM drive
	Qualified Sun Fire Models	V20z, V40z, X4100, X4200, V210, V240, V280 and V440
	Sample Configuration	Sun Fire V40z Dual Processor (dual core), 8 GB RAM, 1x146 GB HDD, DVD ROM Drive
Large scale deployment: 769 to 1,024 provisionable servers
	Total number of processors	4 single-core AMD Opterons, or 2 or more dual-core AMD Opterons 4 1x1 Ghz Ultra SPARC IIIi minimum
	Total memory	16 Gbytes minimum
	Total file system space	300 Gbytes minimum
	Media	1 DVD ROM drive
	Qualified Sun Fire Models	V20z, V40z, X4100, X4200, V440
	Sample Configuration	Sun Fire V40z Dual Processor (dual core), 16 GB RAM, 1x300 GB HDD, DVD ROM Drive

Switch requirements are determined by the following factors:

Whether you have added a third 1–Gbit NIC to the management server
The number of management ports on each provisionable server

The number of provisionable servers to be connected to the switch

The V20z and V40z servers have two management ports, and subsequently can be daisy-chained. For further information, see Appendix A, Alternate Sun Fire V20z and V40z Reference Configuration.
The network topology you have chosen

The following worksheet will assist you in determining the total number of switch ports by type that you will need on your switch or switches.

Table 2–4 Switch Port Requirements Worksheet


Server Type		10/100 Ports	10/100/1000 Ports
Management Server
	10/100 Management port: 1 If you have not installed a third 1–Gbit NIC in the management server, enter 1 in the 10/100/1000 port column. If you have installed a third 1–Gbit NIC, enter 2 in the 10/100/1000 column.	Total: 1	Total: __________

Provisionable Servers
	Separate management, provisioning, and data networks: Total the number of provisionable servers and enter that number in the 10/100 column Double the number of provisionable servers and enter that number in the 10/100/1000 column. Separate management network, and combined data and provisioning networks: Total the number of provisionable servers and enter that number in the 10/100 column and in the 10/100/1000 column. Combined management, provisioning, and data networks: Total the number of provisionable servers and enter that number in the 10/100/1000 column.	Total: __________	Total: __________

10/100/100 connection for the corporate network:			Total: 1

	Total the number of ports for each column:	10/100 ports:	10/100/1000 ports:
		Total: _________	Total: _________

Use the above totals to determine your switch requirements, and then connect the servers and switches according to your site plan.