The following sections will help you configure your ZfD servers:

In ZfD, the deployment of inventory in a LAN environment implies deploying the product on a single inventory site.

The following scenarios and recommendations are addressed:

In this type of configuration, there are multiple inventory servers without databases. These inventory servers are connected to a database server. This inventory deployment is illustrated in the following figure.

Follow this configuration for deploying inventory up to 10,000 workstations.

For deploying inventory on more than 10,000 workstations, attach one inventory server per 5,000 workstations, with two or three inventory servers per Inventory database.

Recommendations for Deployment in a LAN Environment

• Minimum base server configuration includes 256 MB RAM and a database cache of 64 MB. For a higher workstation range, the server configuration is 512 MB RAM and a database cache of 128 MB.
• All workstations should send the scan data to the nearest inventory server on the LAN; policies must be created based on this information. To achieve this for 10,000 workstations, two or three inventory servers per Inventory database server should be sufficient.
• When you configure the inventory scanning for workstations, we recommend staggering the inventory scanning times or scan some workstations at one time.
• The transmission of scan data from inventory servers can take several hours or even more than a day. Workstation scanning is an ongoing background process, which continues until there is data to upload without any user intervention.
• If there a large number of workstations to the same inventory server, we recommend that scanning of all workstations should not be scheduled at the same time as this will stress the NDS and the inventory server File System Services.
• When you schedule the roll-up of data in the Inventory policies, we recommend the roll-up frequency should be at least one day. If the roll-up of scan data is scheduled too frequently, for example less than one hour, there may be some performance degradation of the inventory server.
• Ensure that the time synchronization radius is set within 2 seconds.
• For all databases, the optimal database cache size requirement for the server may vary because of the server environment. Determine the database cache size that needs to be set by trying a range of cache sizes in the runtime environment. The default Sybase database cache size is 32 MB. This guide includes additional guidelines for database configurations that you can refer to.

In a WAN environment, complete the following tasks, in order, to design the inventory tree and deploy inventory:

1. List the Sites in the Enterprise

Describe the entire network of your company.

• List the various sites in your company.
• List the physical links between the various sites.
• Identify the type of links in terms of bandwidth and reliability.

The following figure illustrates the network organization of a company with servers in different locations.

The Root Server in the Inventory Tree is the highest-level server. Necessarily, an Inventory database is attached to the Root Server.

The inventory information available from the Inventory database of the Root Server will consist of all lower-level sites on the network and from the Root Server site.

Factors that you must include:

• The Root Server should be on a site that has high network bandwidth.
• A Console administrator can collect workstation inventory information from any of the sites connected on high speed links from the Root Server, or from the Root Server level site.
• A database server of suitable configuration should be provided for the inventory server. For a network with 250,000 workstations, the recommended configuration for the Root Server is 25 GB of disk space and 1 GB RAM.

Besides the database at the Root Server, you can maintain database servers at different sites.

You may want to maintain additional databases if there are sites or subtrees that are managed for inventory at different locations, and these sites are connected to the network over a slow link.

You should also determine if there are specific reasons to have a separate database for a single site or a set of sites. There may be some organization needs of your company to have the database server on different sites; as there is no product deployment need to have any other database.

NOTE:  For a majority of enterprises, there may be no need to have any other database besides the enterprise-wide single database. All site-specific reports can be generated from this database easily.

• If you decide to have additional database servers, identify the sites that need a database. Additionally, you need to examine whether the database will cater to the local site or a site with many subsites (subtree). Also, identify the sites that require data in each Inventory database.
• All the sites served by a single database should typically access this database instead of the database at the Root Server for inventory management. This reduces the load on the database at Root Server.
• Database administrators should be available for these sites.

Identify the routes for inventory data for all sites to the nearest database, and finally the route to the database on the Root Server.

To devise a route plan:

• Each route can have an intermediate server at a staging site. The Intermediate Server receives and transmits the data to the next destination. These are application-layer level routes for inventory data. There can be various network-layer level routes between two adjacent servers, which will be determined and managed by the routers in the network.
• The route answers the basic question: To which site will the inventory data travel from a particular site so that it eventually reaches the database at the Root Server, which is its final destination?
• There may be multiple routes. Choose the fastest and most reliable route. To determine the route, consider the physical network links.
• Routes identified and made operational can be changed later, although there may be some cost in terms of management and traffic generation. If there is no intermediate database involved, you can change the route by changing the NDS based policy only.
• Put Intermediate Servers on sites where the link parameters change substantially. Criteria to consider are difference in bandwidth, difference in reliability of the links, and the need for different scheduling.
• Availability of servers on the intermediate site for staging the inventory data should be considered in deciding the sites for Intermediate Servers. Provide enough disk space on these servers to store all the inventory data on the disk until the Roll-Up policy sends them to the next destination.
• Workstations should not be connected to the inventory server over a WAN because the workstation scanning should not be done across a WAN.

A single server can have different roles if it has sufficient resources. For example, an inventory server can be a Leaf Server with database. You can also designate a server as an Intermediate Server with Database, which receives inventory from the workstations and also has an Inventory database. A server can have any combination of roles.

6. Create the tree of servers for Inventory Collection of the Company

Ensure that the Inventory tree you design follow these guidelines:

• The root of the tree is the Root Server.
• Servers on each site of the tree you design represent all the sites in the company.
• At least one server per site is mandatory.
• Assuming that there are workstations to be scanned on each site, there should be an inventory server role on each site.
• Optionally, there will be databases and Intermediate Servers on different sites.

After you design the tree, you should develop an implementation plan to cover the phased deployment plan for the network.

Some guidelines for the implementation plan:

• Start the deployment from the Root Server site and connect the servers on other sites to the Root Server.
• The main criterion is the number of workstations on each site and on each server.
• Deploy the product on approximately 5,000 workstations per day.

After your implementation plan is finalized, start the actual deployment according to the plan.

Follow these steps:

1. Install the servers on the sites.
2. Create the policies applicable to workstations.
3. Create the Roll-Up policies to schedule the roll-up for each server.

Adding a Database Server in to an Existing Inventory Setup

If you have already configured the servers for inventory setup, and you need to add another database server, follow these instructions:

Possible Inventory Server Configurations for a WAN

The following sections cover these scenarios:

All inventory servers are connected to a central enterprise database server. The Leaf Servers do not have a database and Intermediate Servers are not required.

In this configuration, the Leaf Servers roll up data to the next-level Intermediate Server and finally to the Root Server. Another server at a different location is also connected to the Root Server.

In this configuration, the inventory servers are connected to the Intermediate Server over fast WAN links. The Intermediate Server also has an Inventory database and transmits the information to the Root Server. Other servers are also connected to the Root Server.

In this configuration, there are branch offices and a main office. The branch offices also store inventory information in the Intermediate Server with Database.

In this type of inventory deployment, the scanners transmit information to the servers over a WAN or dial-up connection.