Before setting up the ZfS inventory deployment, you should understand the inventory components that interact together to perform inventory functions.
ZfS Server Inventory uses the following components:
Platform-dependent scanners determine the hardware and software configurations of the inventoried servers. These scanners are located at the inventoried servers. When executed on the inventoried servers, the scanners collect the inventory information and store the scan data as .STR files. The .STR files are subsequently transferred to the Inventory server and processed.
Using the Server Inventory policy, you can configure the scan settings so you can schedule the scanning on the inventoried servers, enable a software scan, and customize software scanning. From the Inventory Service object, you can specify the location of the scan data files.
The inventory components process the scan data. The following components are Java* programs that work identically on NetWare and Windows NT/2000 Inventory servers:
The Scan Collector collects the .STR files and stores them in the scan directory (SCANDIR) at the Inventory server. The .STR files are transferred using the XML-RPC protocol.
The Selector processes the .STR files and places the files in the DBDIR and ENTMERGEDIR directories.
The Sender and the Receiver on the Inventory servers compress the .STR files and then transfer the files from the lower-level Inventory servers to the higher-level Inventory servers for roll-up of inventory information. By using the Roll-Up policy, you can configure the next level destination Inventory server for roll-up, and also schedule the roll-up time.
The Storer stores the collected inventory information (.STR files) in the Inventory database. By using the Database Location policy, you can configure the properties of the Inventory database object in ZfS and associate the database object to an Inventory server.
The Inventory database is a repository of inventory information of the inventoried servers. In ZfS, the database is a Common Information Model-based database but it is implemented in relational database management system (RDBMS) and maintained in Sybase* or Oracle*.
The management console uses ConsoleOne, the Novell single management tool for administration. This is a Java-based console that includes snap-ins for Server Inventory management operations.