OBSERVEIT DEPLOYMENT SIZING GUIDE The most important number that drives the sizing of an ObserveIT deployment is the number of Concurrent Connected Users (CCUs) you plan to monitor. This document provides practical guidance on how to size an ObserveIT deployment for 250, 500, or 1,000 CCUs. If you would like a more detailed recommendation for your particular environment, your ObserveIT sales representative will be happy to prepare sizing guidance specific to your environment and requirements. OBSERVEIT SOLUTION COMPONENTS An ObserveIT deployment is made up of the following components: Application Server Agents User activity data - Activity logs - Screen capture images (for Video replay) 1
WEB CONSOLE The provides ObserveIT s web-based user interface. Reporting, analytics, alerting, user session playback and configuration management are all performed via the. A single is deployed per ObserveIT deployment. APPLICATION SERVER The Application Server is the central aggregation point for all user activity data collected by agents. The Application Server is also responsible for getting all collected user activity data from agents into the Database. Each ObserveIT Application Server can handle up to 250 CCUs. It is important to note that the number of agents is not a critical aspect of sizing for the Application Server, it is the number of CCUs those agents are monitoring that is important. DATABASE SERVER The Database server stores all ObserveIT user activity logs, reports and configuration settings. Graphical images can either be stored inside the SQL database or in a file system. Average disk space for an eight-hour desktop working session is 0.2 GB per user. This number is composed of two parts: user activity logs (30% of the total storage) and screen images (70% of the total storage). This will be drastically reduced if a custom recorded policy is enabled that excludes applications and/or users from the recording. OBSERVEIT AGENTS The ObserveIT Agent is software that is installed on servers, desktops, laptops, terminal servers, Linux/Unix, Citrix environments, etc. to collect all user activity occurring on those systems. Agents capture screen images throughout each user session, and produce the associated user activity logs. These images and logs are sent to the Application Server in real-time. If an agent cannot connect to the Application Server due to network connectivity issues, it can be configured to temporary store user activity data in an offline cache and send it to the Application Server when it reconnects. USER ACTIVITY DATA ObserveIT user activity logs provide a complete, step-by-step history of every user action. ObserveIT automatically creates these logs for all users monitored by ObserveIT Agents. You can access user activity logs in the Web Console to search and generate reports for specific user activities across systems, within applications, etc. User activity logs are always stored in the Microsoft SQL Server. When you archive these logs, the archived sessions user activity logs will be saved in archive databases on the same SQL Server. Graphical screen images can either be stored inside the Microsoft SQL server or in a file system. When you archive these screen images, the archived sessions screen images are saved in an archive database or an archive folder 2
(depending on where the graphical images are stored), which, by default, is in the same location as the shared folder (this can be changed to a different location, if desired). ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS CONFIGURATION Network communication speed and bandwidth must be 1 GB or higher. All required communication ports will be opened as needed: Agents Application Servers: TCP port 4884 (HTTPS can be enabled if desired), this port can be customized Application Servers and s SQL Server SQL traffic: TCP port 1433, this port can be customized Application Servers and s File share SMB traffic: TCP port 445 APPLICATION SERVER/WEB CONSOLE HARDWARE Operating system: Windows Server 2008 and higher CPU: 4-8 cores RAM: 8-16 GB Hard disk: 08 GB Machine can be virtual if all performance issues are taken into consideration SQL SERVER HARDWARE FOR 250 CCUs Operating system: Windows Server 2008 and higher CPU: 4-8 cores RAM: 8-16 GB OS hard disk: 08 GB SQL logs hard disk: 100 GB Recommended that the machine is physical SQL SERVER HARDWARE FOR 500 CCUs Operating system: Windows Server 2008 and higher CPU: 6-12 cores RAM: 16-24 GB OS hard disk: 08 GB SQL logs hard disk: 100 GB Recommended that the machine is physical SQL SERVER HARDWARE FOR 1000 CCUs Operating system: Windows Server 2008 and higher CPU: 8-16 cores RAM: 24-32 GB OS hard disk: 08 GB 3
SQL logs hard disk: 100 GB Recommended that the machine is physical DEPLOYMENT SIZING Below are examples of ObserveIT deployment architectures for 250, 500, and 1,000 CCUs. If you would like a more detailed recommendation for your particular environment, your ObserveIT sales representative would be happy to prepare sizing guidance specific to your environment and requirements. STARTER DEPLOYMENT UP TO 250 CCUs 1 Application Server (2 for HA) It is recommended to use a database on a separate server from the Application Server, however, placing them on the same machine is acceptable as long as all performance parameters are taken into consideration. SQL production database disk for user-activity logs: 500 GB ultra-fast disk IOPS (for the current month). SQL production database or file system storage disk for graphical images: 1 TB ultra-fast disk IOPS (for your needs online or offline. STANDARD DEPLOYMENT 500 CCUs 2 Application Servers (3 for HA) with load balancing Database server must be on separate server from the Application Server. SQL production database disk for user-activity logs: 780 GB ultra-fast disk IOPS (for the current month). SQL production database or file system storage disk for graphical images: 2 TB ultra-fast disk IOPS (for your needs online or offline. Recommendation: The ObserveIT Application Servers should communicate with a central clustered database server running Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Edition 2008/2012 Enterprise Edition. A physical machine is recommended for the SQL Server. LARGE DEPLOYMENT 1,000 CCUs or Higher 4 Application Servers (5 for HA) with load balancing. Add one Application Server for each additional 250 CCUs 4
The database server must be on a separate, dedicated, server from the Application Server. SQL production database disk for user-activity logs: 1.5 GB ultra-fast disk IOPS (for the current month). SQL production database or file system storage disk for graphical images: 4 TB ultra-fast disk IOPS (for your needs online or offline Recommendation: The ObserveIT Application Servers should communicate with a central clustered database server running Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Edition 2008/2012 Enterprise Edition. A physical machine is recommended for the SQL Server. 5