HP Network Node Manager i Software Smart Plug-in Performance for Metrics/
Network Performance Server
System and Device Support Matrix

Software Version: 9.00

Introduction
Hardware and Software Requirements
Same Server Install
Dedicated Server Install
Hardware
Operating System
Web Browser
Legal Notices
 

Introduction

Hardware and Software Requirements

You can install the NPS on a dedicated system, separate from NNMi, or you can install it on the same system as NNMi. Before installing the NPS and your iSPIs. Make sure that your system meets the following minimum requirements. Note the following points:

• If you are upgrading from the version 8.13 installation of iSPI Performance for Metrics, check the hardware tables below for the latest requirements and see the HP Network Node Manager i Software Smart Plug-in Performance for Metrics Installation Guide for instructions and available upgrade paths.
• The data directory (NNMDataDir) will contain the bulk of the collected and aggregated data and as such should be on the fastest and largest disk partition. For UNIX platforms, this will be /var/opt/OV.
• The NPS stores hourly aggregated data for 70 days. In addition, it stores very fine grain, as collected, data in an archive table. The default retention period for this type of fine grain data is 14 days. Most of the required disk space for the iSPI is consumed by archive data storage. To change retention periods from the default, use the configuration utility. The maximum configurable archive retention period is 70 days. Care should be taken to monitor the disk space usage on the system after a change to this parameter. The tables below quote disk space requirements for an out of the box system as well as one with retention at the maximum.
• These hardware recommendations are a guideline only, based upon the use of the HP Network Node Manager i Software Smart Plug-in Performance for Metrics (iSPI Performance for Metrics) package. They do not take account of additional factors which may effect the sizing of your application—such as the installation of the iSPI Performance for Traffic, or additional custom collection reporting which may be configured after installation. Every installed package using NPS for reporting, and every custom collection with reporting enabled, will require additional disk and processing capacity on the NPS system.
• The NPS 9.00 does not support the application failover feature. However, you can use the NPS with an NNMi management server that has been configured for application failover. If the NNMi management server is configured for application failover, you must install the NPS on a dedicated server (and not on the NNMi management server).
• NNMi has the ability to discover topology elements such as nodes and interfaces, but not all discovered elements will have performance data collected and reported upon. The numbers quoted below relate only to performance polled elements.
• The figures in the tables below quote hardware requirements for an NPS running with a 5 minute polling frequency. The number of polled interfaces and components is stated for each scale. Example: 130k/130k means 130,000 interfaces and 130,000 component sensors simultaneously.
  • Higher polling frequencies will result in more data. So 400K interfaces at 5 minutes is equivalent to 80K interfaces at 1 minute polling frequency.
  • Custom, user-defined collections will result in additional storage requirements.
  • Adding other iSPIs to your platform, such as iSPI Performance for Quality Assurance, iSPI for IP Telephony, or iSPI for MPLS, will result in additional storage and processing requirements for the NPS.
  • Monitor disk usage and processing performance on the system on a daily basis after introducing a new custom collection or iSPI.

Same Server Install (NNMi and NPS on the same system)

The table below outlines the requirements for CPU, RAM and disk space when NNMi and the NPS are on the same system. Note that the CPU, RAM, and Disk figures represent the total requirements for the system and include the combined capacity required for NNMi and the NPS. You must ensure that this host also meets any additional criteria defined in the NNMi support matrix.

NOTE:

• When the NPS is installed on a system that hosts NNMi, the half of the system RAM will be consumed by the NPS. The figures below for RAM resources take account of the combined needs of NNMi and NPS and are especially important when running the NPS with several iSPIs providing data.
• Once installed, you can use the Managed Inventory report to see the variety of collected elements for each iSPI. For example : looking at the count of distinct Qualified Interface Names in the Interface Health Managed Inventory report will tell you how many unique interfaces have had performance data collected within the selected time period.
• While it is a supported option, it is recommended that the NPS is installed on a separate, standalone system for ‘Large’ scale environments.
• HP does not support the NPS being installed on the same server as NNMi for ‘Very Large’ scale environments.
  

Dedicated Server Install

If you plan on installing the NPS on a separate machine from NNMi then you should ensure the following criteria are met. Note that NPS sizing requirements are driven by the amount of data generated by the custom collections and iSPIs which will supply it. The references provided in this document for sizing and scalability are a guideline only and are based upon the Metrics SPI, using the number of interfaces and node components that NNMi is polling for performance data. - the total number of interfaces or components discovered by NNMi is not relevant for this system. Enabling performance polling on NNMi will have an impact on the NNMi system itself so ensure that your NNMi host meets the criteria described in the section below as well as any criteria defined within the NNMi support matrix.

iSPI Minimum System Requirements

Hardware

• Intel 64-bit (x86-64) or AMD 64-bit (AMD64)
  • Caution: Intel 32-bit (x86) hardware is not supported. Verify your computer architecture by looking at the %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE% variable or System Properties.
• Itanium Processor Family
  • Caution: IPF hardware running the Windows or Linux operating system is not supported
• VMware ESX Server 3.x or 4.0
  • Virtual environment must meet the x86-64 or AMD64 hardware requirements listed here.
• Virtual Memory/Swap Space
  • Recommend 2 times physical memory and at least 12 GB
  • Verify virtual memory via System Properties on Windows

Operating Systems

Windows

Supported Versions

• Windows Server 2003 x64 with Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2003 x64 R2 with Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008 x64 Datacenter Edition with Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008 x64 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Datacenter Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Enterprise Edition
• Windows 32-bit operating systems are not supported
• Windows operating systems on Itanium Processor Family (IPF) are not supported

NOTE:

• Anti-virus and backup software can interfere with the operation of the NPS if the software locks files while the NPS is running. Any application that locks files should be configured to exclude the NPS install and data directories (on Windows 2003, C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\HP HP BTO Software\NNMPerformanceSPI; or on Windows 2008, C:\ProgramData\HP\HP BTO Software\NNMPerformanceSPI).
• Windows 2008 includes the concept of User Access Control (UAC). Users who are part of the Administrator group may not have full Administrator privileges. All scripts and commands associated with NPS will detect and warn if the user is not elevated – they should be run with full Administrator access. To achieve this, right-click on the Command Tool icon and choose ‘Run as Administrator.’

Linux

• Red Hat Enterprise Server AS 5.3 (or newer minor version)
• Red Hat Enterprise Server ES 5.3 (or newer minor version)

NNMi and NPS Combinations

This table illustrates the combinations of operating systems which are supported with the NPS.

		NPS
		Windows	Linux
NNMi	Windows	X
	Linux	X	X
	HPUX	X	X
	Solaris	X	X

High Availability

The NPS/iSPI Performance for Metrics can run on the following high availability systems with additional configuration:

• Microsoft:
  • Microsoft Cluster Service for Windows Server 2008 or 2003
• Linux
  • Veritas Cluster Server version 5.0
  • HP Serviceguard version 11.18

Web Browser

General Web Browser Requirements

• Any Window Popup Blockers must be disabled for the browser
• Cookies must be enabled for the browser (see instructions on the console sign-in page or the NNMi Installation Guide)
• Client display should have a resolution of at least 1024x768

Web Browser Support

• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 8.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 7.0.5730.11 or higher with October 2007 or later Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer 7.
  This patch increases the number of Internet Explorer cookies from 20 to 50.
• Mozilla Firefox version 3.6 or newer minor version from a Windows or Linux client. The Firefox browser may be downloaded from www.mozilla.org/firefox
• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 is not supported
• Apple Safari is not supported

Web Browser Running on the Local Management Server System (for initial installation and configuration use)

Any supported browser (see above) when running on the management server

Integration and Coexistence with Other Products

The following products have been tested to co-exist on the same system as NPS 9.00:

• HP Network Node Manager i Advanced 9.00 Software
• HP Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Traffic 9.00 Software
• HP Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Quality Assurance 9.00 Software
• HP Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Metrics 9.00 Software

Legal Notices

©Copyright 2009-2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license.

The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

For information about third-party license agreements, see the license-agreements directory on the product installation DVD-ROM.

To view open source code, see the license-agreements/source and license-agreements/CygwinSources directories on the product installation media.

Trademark Notices

Adobe® is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Java™ is a U.S. trademark of Sun Microsystems,Inc.
Microsoft®, Windows® and Windows® XP are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
UNIX® is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

Acknowledgements

This product includes libjpeg library. This software is copyright (C) 1991-1998, Thomas G. Lane.
The Graphics Interchange Format(c) is the Copyright property of CompuServe Incorporated. GIF(sm) is a Service Mark property of CompuServe Incorporated.
This product includes libxml2 library. Copyright (C) 1998-2003 Daniel Veillard. All Rights Reserved.
This product includes libxp library. Copyright © 2001,2003 Keith Packard.