Hardware & Software Configuration Overview

Transcription

1 Hardware & Software Configuration Overview Lavastorm Analytics Engine 4.6

2 Copyright THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ARE THE COPYRIGHT OF LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS DOCUMENT OR PARTS THEREOF MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF. Disclaimer No representation, warranty or understanding is made or given by this document or the information contained within it and no representation is made that the information contained in this document is complete, up to date or accurate. In no event shall Lavastorm be liable for incidental or consequential damages in connection with, or arising from its use, whether was made aware of the probability of such loss arising or not. Page 1

3 1.0 Overview The Lavastorm Analytics Engine (LAE) is comprised of two main functional components: The LAE client and the LAE server. The client software provides a graphical user interface for users to create analytic applications, while the server software actually executes these applications using any applicable data sources. The LAE is available in either Desktop or Server product packages. In the Desktop configuration, both the client and server software are resident on the user s machine, whereas a Server configuration hosts these on separate machines. This document provides information about the software requirements for deploying these packages, and provides some suggested system configurations for the software installation. Also included are some guidelines for estimating the sizing of the operating environment for the LAE, which can be used along with the baseline configurations to determine the optimal hardware configuration for a particular solution. NOTE: The scope of this document is limited to technical requirements and environment configurations only. For more information about the Lavastorm Analytics Engine functionality, please see the Lavastorm Analytics Engine Commercial Product Description or the Lavastorm Analytics Engine Technical Product Description documents. 2.0 Technical Requirements The following software components are required for the Lavastorm Analytics Engine. LAE Desktop Professional / Professional Plus Client & Server Environment Microsoft Windows (32-bit): Windows XP Professional SP3; Windows Vista; Windows 7 Microsoft Windows (64-bit): Windows 7 for x64 Database Support Oracle: 10g; 11g o Oracle SQL*NET client or applicable ODBC/JDBC driver required Teradata o Teradata instances which are 100% compatible with the CLI v2r6 interface are supported Other database platforms which provide an ODBC/JDBC driver may be supported Custom Node Programming Languages: Java 1.6; Python LAE Server Workgroup / LAE Server Enterprise Client Environment Microsoft Windows (32-bit): Windows XP Professional SP3; Windows Vista; Windows 7 Microsoft Windows (64-bit): Windows 7 for x64 Server Environment Oracle Solaris (64-bit): SPARC 9; SPARC 10 Oracle Linux: (x86; 32-bit): Unbreakable 4; Enterprise 5 Oracle Linux: (x86-64; 64-bit): Unbreakable 4; Enterprise 5 Page 2

4 Red Hat Linux (x86; 32-bit): ES4; Enterprise Linux 5; Enterprise Linux 6 Red Hat Linux (x86-64; 64-bit): ES4; Enterprise Linux 5; Enterprise Linux 6 Java Virtual Machine Oracle Java JDK 1.6 Database Support Oracle: 10g; 11g o Oracle SQL*NET client or applicable ODBC/JDBC driver required Teradata o Teradata instances which are 100% compatible with the CLI v2r6 interface are supported Other database platforms which provide an ODBC/JDBC driver may be supported Custom Node Programming Languages: Java 1.6; Python Suggested Configurations The LAE client software component is deployed on a typical desktop or laptop machine, while the LAE server component is typically deployed on server-class hardware running Oracle Solaris or Red Hat Linux operating systems. For the LAE Desktop, both client and server components are installed on the same machine, as such more processing power and storage should be available to that machine than would be necessary for a client which is connecting to a remote server. Some example suggested baseline configurations are detailed below. Other configurations can be provided if needed. Note that due to the scalable nature of the LAE Server, multiple machines or a single machine with increased computing power may be employed for larger data sets or more complex analytical processes. LAE Desktop Professional / Professional Plus (Windows/x86) Client & Server Environment Intel Core i5 or equivalent processor (Intel or AMD, dual-core, 2 GHz+) 2 GB RAM or more (1 GB per processor core) 100 GB+ free hard disk (SATA 7k RPM) LAE Server Workgroup / LAE Server Enterprise (Linux/x86) Client Environment Intel Core2Duo or equivalent processor (Intel or AMD, dual-core, 2 GHz+) 1 GB RAM 1 GB free hard disk for software installation Server Environment 2x dual-core or 1x quad-core Intel Xeon processor(s) 8 GB RAM or more (2 GB per processor core) 500 GB of high-speed hard disk (SATA II/III or SCSI equivalent, 7-10k RPM, optimally in RAID0 configuration), plus additional storage depending upon temporary data volumes Page 3

5 LAE Server Enterprise (Solaris/SPARC) [LAE Server Workgroup not supported on Solaris/SPARC] Client Environment Intel Core2Duo or equivalent processor (Intel or AMD, dual-core, 2 GHz+) 1 GB RAM 1 GB free hard disk for software installation Server Environment SPARC Enterprise M-Series Server with 1x quad-core SPARC64 VII+ processor or equivalent 4-core virtual machine within a larger machine using hard partitioning (e.g. a Solaris container within an M- series server). Note: As LAE has not been optimized for Cool Threads technology, and significant performance issues have been found with the T-series hardware, Lavastorm Analytics recommends against using T1-T4 generation hardware for a Solaris deployment. 8 GB RAM or more (2 GB per processor core) 500 GB of high-speed hard disk (SATA II/III or SCSI equivalent, 7-10k RPM, optimally in RAID0 configuration), plus additional storage depending upon temporary data volumes 4.0 Hardware Estimation Methodology Estimation of the required hardware to support any particular solutions using the LAE is extremely complex and varies tremendously in comparison to other data analytics applications. Therefore, precise specifications are difficult or even impossible to establish in advance of utilization. In thinking about how to determine the hardware required to support a given use of the LAE, it is useful to think of the LAE as a toolset that can be used to develop wildly different particular applications, much like an Oracle database can be used to support extremely different applications, or like a particular computer language compiler can be used to write a huge variety of applications. In either of those cases, there is no single answer to what hardware is appropriate for an Oracle database or developed application, and the software company providing those toolsets would need significant detailed information in order to give an intelligent answer to the question of required hardware. Accordingly, in general with LAE applications, we know that the following considerations are fundamentally what drive the required hardware: 1. Data volume the number of records which will be processed by the system 2. Data width the size of each record 3. Data sources the number and type of sources from which data will be acquired. Working with two equivalent amounts of data, with the first data being all from one source, and the second data being from multiple sources of data, can be very relevant to sizing considerations. Acquiring data from a database is different than processing flat files or custom file formats (binary, XML, etc.) 4. Analytical complexity the number of business rules, and therefore the number of LAE graphs and nodes required 5. Analytical categories the types of business rules, and therefore the type of LAE nodes required, especially sort nodes, join nodes, custom interface nodes, and data acquisition and load nodes (most especially database activities) 6. Processing parallelism - the degree of parallel processing possible, usually largely determined by the nature of the analytic task. Tasks that can be split up and are amenable to parallel processing have different hardware requirements in comparison to tasks that cannot leverage parallel processing. Page 4

6 7. Timing requirements the frequency with which processing will occur, combined with the number of simultaneous LAE graphs executed within a given time frame; daily audits typically require more hardware than monthly or quarterly audits, for example. Lavastorm uses two distinct methods for suggesting supporting hardware. The first, and preferred, method is to extrapolate to full hardware requirements based on real experience with the actual data and business rules for the LAE data analytics requiring hardware estimates. The second method, used when specific empirical data is lacking, is to estimate based on the broad category of data analytics under discussion, factoring in overall data volumes and specific data source and data target considerations, as discussed above. For the second method, Lavastorm solution architects can be engaged to assist in the estimation process, leveraging experience with analogous solutions. 5.0 Virtualization Support Lavastorm Analytics recognizes the need to support increasingly popular virtual server deployments, so beginning with LAE 4.6, Lavastorm has begun LAE certification for specific virtual configurations environments (e.g. Lavastorm Analytics Engine 4.6 running on Red Hat 6 within VMWare 5). Such certification will not likely guarantee any particular performance level, but will rather provide confidence that the software will function correctly. In the event of a problem involving the Lavastorm Analytics product, Lavastorm Analytics will troubleshoot only up to the Operating System (OS) interface. If troubleshooting indicates a problem beyond the OS interface, or the problem appears platform-oriented and cannot be clearly attributed to the Lavastorm Analytics product, the customer will be referred to the platform product vendor (i.e. the virtual server and/or hardware server vendor). If a Lavastorm Analytics product problem is already known, Lavastorm Analytics support will recommend the appropriate solution for a particular OS. If that solution does not work in the virtualized environment, the customer will be referred to the virtual server vendor for support. The onus will then be on the customer and/or the virtual server vendor to demonstrate that the Lavastorm Analytics solution also does not work in a non-virtualized environment. Once demonstrated, Lavastorm Analytics will resume support, including submitting the problem to Lavastorm Product Development for investigation if required. Page 5