Users Guide

Planning Your IT Assistant Installation 19
Selecting a Hardware Configuration
The hardware configuration you choose must meet or exceed the recommended configuration for
IT Assistant. Depending on your specific IT Assistant deployment and your network environment, it may
be advisable to exceed the recommended configurations for processor speed, amount of memory, and
hard-drive space. For example, you may want to exceed or choose the upper end of the recommended
configuration if you:
• Anticipate heavy managed systems alert traffic
• Have complex alert filters with configured alert actions
• Are performing frequent discovery, inventory, and status polls
• Are running Microsoft SQL Server tuned to maximum performance
The recommended minimum hardware configuration for IT Assistant is shown in Table 2-2.
NOTE: The amount of disk space needed may increase if you import numerous Update Packages.
Selecting the MSDE Default Database or SQL 2000 Server
In general, the number of systems you expect to manage and the number of alerts you expect from your
managed systems determine the database you use with IT Assistant. If you will be managing fewer than
500 systems, the SQL Server-compliant default database that ships with IT Assistant, Microsoft Data
Engine (MSDE) 2000, is most likely a suitable data repository. However, if you are going to manage
500 systems or more and/or are receiving several alerts per second, you should use Microsoft SQL
Server 2000 or later as your database. In addition, if you are performing frequent discoveries or status
polls, you may benefit by the increased performance offered by SQL Server 2000 over MSDE 2000.
NOTE: You can configure IT Assistant version 6.3 and later to use Microsoft SQL Server running on a remote,
dedicated server instead of on the IT Assistant system. See the corresponding Dell white paper titled "Remote
Microsoft SQL Server Use with IT Assistant Step-by-Step" at www.dell.com/openmanage.
Table 2-2. Recommended Minimum Hardware Configuration for IT Assistant (by Enterprise Size)
Component Small (up to 500 Managed
Systems)
Large (500 + Managed Systems)
Processor 1 processor (1.8-GHz minimum) 2 to 4 processors (800-MHz minimum)
Memory 512 MB 1-2 GB
Disk Space at least 1 GB as much as 5 GB