Specifications

Chapter 1. Installation Considerations

Read the following sections to learn more about installation requirements for Zenoss Core.

1.1. Which Installation Should You Choose?

Zenoss Core provides these categories of artifacts for a fresh deployment:

Table 1.1. Installation Types

Artifact Notes Chapters

RPM (*.rpm) Standard RPM installation. Requires a Red Hat® Enterprise

Linux® (RHEL) or Community ENTerprise Operating Sys-

tem (CentOS)-based Linux installation, and MySQL.

"Installing on RHEL or CentOS"

Appliance RPM installation on top of a minimal CentOS Linux installa-

tion.

"Installing the Virtual Appliance"

1.2. Hardware Requirements

You should meet these minimum hardware requirements for a single-server installation of Zenoss Core.

1.2.1. Deployments Up to 1000 Devices

Table 1.2. Hardware Requirements: Up to 1000 Devices

Deployment Size Memory CPU Storage

1 to 250 devices 4GB 2 cores 1x300GB, 10K RPM drive or SSD

250 to 500 devices 8GB 4 cores 1x300GB, 10K RPM drive or SSD

500 to 1000 devices 16GB 8 cores 1x300GB, 15K RPM drive or SSD

1.2.2. Deployments Over 1000 Devices

Zenoss solutions are successfully deployed at multiple sites with tens of thousands of devices. If you are planning to

monitor more than 1000 devices, or will monitor a network with complex topology, there are additional requirements

and configurations to consider.

1.2.3. Other Considerations

Zenoss Core is a highly IO-intensive application; as a result, it usually performs best when using direct attached storage.

However, an appropriately tuned SAN/NAS environment can also be used effectively with a Zenoss Core installation.

Note

Zenoss recommends that you use a hardware-based RAID 1 (mirroring) drive subsystem to protect against

data loss.

1.3. File System Configuration

Zenoss Core stores gathered performance data in individual RRD files. Performance updates are 8 bytes per data point,

which translates to a 4KB file system block update. Under such a high volume/low throughput usage pattern, journaled

file systems can be detrimental to IO performance.