Toward the end of your planning process, use a pilot deployment to validate and improve your production deployment plans.
Create a small pilot deployment that represents the breadth of the plans you have made.
Test and monitor your pilot deployment to see whether it is meeting users’ needs.
Adjust your plans as needed.
Novell recommends that Filr components and services be deployed in the following order.
Export a remote NFS shared storage or a CIFS Share directory.
For more information, see Setting Up Remote NFS or Remote CIFS for the Filr Shared Storage Location
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.
Identify an SQL server.
For more information, see Configuring an Existing Database Server
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.
Set up two Filr Search appliances.
For more information, see Configuring and Maintaining the Search Index Appliance
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.
Set up N Filr appliances.
Ensure that you configure /vashare to point to the NFS directory that you exported in Step 1, even if you are only setting up a single appliance initially. For more information, see Installing the Filr Appliance
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.
At least 66% of the memory should be dedicated to the Java processes [heap]. More memory might be required. If memcached has been offloaded to the Filr Search appliances, or elsewhere, then it might be possible to dedicate as much as 75% of Filr appliance memory to the Java processes.
Configure Filr-clustering on each Filr appliance as outlined in Section 4.0, Setting Up a Large, Expandable (Clustered) Deployment.
For more information, see Changing Clustering Configuration Settings
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Set up the LDAP connections and synchronize users and groups.
For more information, see Synchronizing Users and Groups from an LDAP Directory
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Set up users’ My Files folders (if applicable).
For more information, see Setting Up Personal Storage
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Set up the Net Folder Servers and Net Folders.
Net Folder configurations that you make on a member of a Filr cluster are automatically propagated to all Filr appliances in the cluster.
For every volume that you want to expose through Filr, define at least one Net Folder Server by using the Admin Web Console (port 8443) and pointing to the root of the volume.
Use the target server’s IP address when specifying Net Folder servers.
DNS names cannot be used.
After creating Net Folder Servers, you create Net Folders to provide access to target subdirectories.
One Net Folder Server can host multiple Net Folders.
User access to Net Folders is based on three things:
Whether you have imported the users as Filr users
Whether you have authorized them to access the Net Folder by using the Rights tab
Their NTFS permissions or NSS trustee rights to the data on the file servers
These permissions determine the role that users have within Filr. If you have authorized Filr users to access a Net Folder (second point above), but they have no rights on the file system, they can see the Net Folder, but they can’t see any of its files and folders.
While creating Net Folders, if you have overlooked creating the required Net Folder Server, you can access the Net Folder Server creation dialog from the Net Folder creation dialog.
When you specify the path to a Net Folder, use the relative directory path from the root of the volume to where the Net Folder starts.
For more information, see Setting Up Net Folders
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Set up Home Folders.
When LDAP users are imported, if they have home directory attributes in eDirectory or Active Directory, a special-purpose Net Folder is set up that points to their home folder and is displayed as part of their My Files storage.
Home folders are only available after users have logged in at least once using the web client or a mobile client.
Home folders are managed as part of the user management functionality in the Filr Administration Utility (port 8443).
After home folders are configured and users have logged in at least once from the web or a mobile client, the home folder is shown under “My Files” in the client interface.
If required, just-in-time-synchronization (JITS) and synchronization parameters can be set on individual home folders in a similar way to other Net Folders.
For more information, see Configuring Home Folders for Display in the My Files Area
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Set up sharing.
The Net Folder Proxy User provides access to shared Net Folders on behalf of all users, including:
Those who have file system rights to access the file
Those who would otherwise have no ability to see the data
For more information, see Setting Up Sharing
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Set up desktop and mobile client deployment access.
For more information, see Configuring Mobile Device Access to the Filr Site
and Configuring the Filr Desktop Application to Access Files
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Set up email, reverse proxy, and so forth, if applicable.
Reverse Proxy This is only required if you have a load balance or a reverse proxy fronting the Filr appliances.
For more information, see Changing Reverse Proxy Configuration Settings,
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
If you use a standard DNS name to front multiple appliances, this ensures that any email-generated links include the standard DNS name rather than the individual Filr appliance host name.
Outbound Email Filr notification services require access to an outbound mail server.
For more information, see Configuring Email Integration,
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Ensure that your Filr deployment continues to provide timely and efficient servicing of user needs. As Filr usage increases, you should increase the resources devoted to Filr, including:
Additional RAM
Additional CPUs
Additional Filr appliances