HP Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Quality Assurance Software System and Device Support Matrix

Software Version: 10.01/ December 2014

Publication Date: February 2015

For the latest additions to the system requirements and support matrix, see https://softwaresupport.hp.com/group/softwaresupport/search-result/-/facetsearch/document/KM01273066

This document provides an overview of the system requirements and supported devices for HP Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Quality Assurance Software (NNM iSPI Performance for QA) version 10.01.

You can find information about the following in this document:

Installation Notes
Hardware and Software Requirements
   Hardware
     CPU, RAM, and Disk Space Requirements / Maximum Supported Managed Environment
     Single System Managed Environment
     Global Network Managed Environment
     Network Performance Server (NPS)
     Intelligent Response Agent (iRA)
   Operating System
       Windows
       Linux
       Virtual Memory / Swap space
   Database
   High Availability
   Web Browser
   Tuning the jboss Memory Size
Internationalization and Localization
Integration with Other Products
Supported Network Devices
List of Metrics Collected by Probes from Different Devices
HP Software Support
Legal Notices

Installation Notes

The NNM iSPI Performance for QA 10.01 release is a patch release. Installation requirements, as well as instructions for installing NNM iSPI Performance for QA 10.01, are documented in the patch text file, which is available with the downloadable patch.

Note: After installing the patch, the new probe types are discovered, and device model column is populated only in the next discovery cycle. However, if you want them sooner, you must perform a rediscovery.

Hardware and Software Requirements

Before you install the NNM iSPI Performance for QA, make sure that your system meets the following minimum requirements:

Hardware

Intel 64-bit (x86-64) or AMD 64-bit (AMD64)

For Intel 64-bit (x86-64), the following Xeon processor families are recommended: Penryn, Nehalem, Westmere, and Sandy Bridge.

Virtualization

VMware ESX Server 4.0 or later minor version, ESXi 4.1 or later minor version, ESXi 5.0 or later minor version.

Virtual environment must meet the x86-64 or AMD64 hardware requirements listed here
Bridged network environment required. NAT'ed network environments are not supported

Microsoft Hyper-V R2
- Host Operating System: Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 with Service Pack 1
- Guest Operating System: Only supported for the Windows operating systems

CPU, RAM, and Disk Space Requirements / Maximum Supported Managed Environment

Single System Managed Environment

The following table shows the requirements for the single system managed environment size. These requirements are in addition to the requirements for NNMi server:

Single System Managed Environment Size							Recommended Hardware System Requirements ¹
Approximate managed environment tier	Max number of probes	Max number of QoS interfaces	Max number of iRA probes	Max number of ping latency pairs	Max number of combined probes, iRA probes, and QoS interfaces	Number of concurrent users	CPU (64-bit) x86-64 AMD64²	RAM	Recommended Java heap size (Tuning the jboss Memory Size)³	Disk space for application installation ($NnmInstallDir)⁴	Disk space for operational database (data during execution) ($NnmDataDir)⁵
Entry	5,000	2,000	1,500	1,000	5,000	2	2 CPU Cores	4 GB	3 GB	2 GB	20 GB
Medium	30,000	12,000	10,000	3,000	30,000	10	4 CPU Cores	8 GB	6 GB	2 GB	60 GB
Large	50,000	20,000	40,000	5,000	50,000	15	4 CPU Cores	12 GB	8 GB	2 GB	80 GB

Caution: Running the NNM iSPI Performance for QA in an environment with probes or QoS interfaces or iRA probes far exceeding the supported maximum limit mentioned in the table above can lead to a database deadlock. If you intend to run the NNM iSPI Performance for QA in such an environment, you must configure discovery filters before the first discovery by NNM iSPI performance for QA to bring down the number of discovered probes or QoS interfaces or iRA probes to the supported limit.

Global Network Management Environment

The following table shows the requirements for the global network management environment size. These requirements are in addition to the requirements for NNMi server:

Global Network Management Environment Size							Recommended Hardware System Requirements ¹
Approximate managed environment tier	Number of Regional Servers	Max number of probes	Max number of QoS interfaces	Max number of ping latency pairs	Max number of combined probes, iRA probes, and QoS interfaces	Number of concurrent users	CPU (64-bit) x86-64 AMD64²	RAM	Recommended Java heap size (Tuning the jboss Memory Size)³	Disk space for application installation ($NnmInstallDir)⁴	Disk space for operational database (data during execution) ($NnmDataDir)⁵
Medium	4	120,000	50,000	10,000	120,000	10	4 CPU Cores	16 GB	12 GB	2 GB	80 GB
Large	9	250,000	100,000	20,000	250,000	15	8 CPU Cores	24 GB	20 GB	2 GB	100 GB

These values are approximate and reflect levels tested by HP. The number of currently discovered QA probes is displayed in the NNM iSPI Performance for QA "Help for NNMiSPI --> System information for iSPI Performance for QA" dialog. Managed environments bigger than these are not supported without additional HP approval.

¹ Apart from the hardware system requirements of NNMi, this table specifies the additional hardware system requirements for the NNM iSPI Performance for QA product to be installed on NNMi management server.

² Minimum of 2.5GHz for x64.

³ These recommendations are based on the environment size and object counts stated in this table. Polling fewer of a given object type might use less Java heap. Polling more of a given object type might require increased Java heap size as well as HP approval. For more details, refer to Tuning the jboss Memory Size section.

⁴$NnmInstallDir is configured during installation on Windows (C:\Program Files (x86)\HP\HP BTO Software\ by default), or on Linux ( /opt/OV/).

⁵$NnmDataDir is configured during installation on Windows Server 2008 (C:\ProgramData\HP\HP BTO Software\ by default), or on Linux (/var/opt/OV/).

These recommendations only apply to the NNM iSPI Performance for QA running under the default settings. If you intend to run any of the other NNM iSPIs, you must review each iSPI support matrix before determining the hardware you need.

The following are the recommendations for the QA Probes/QoS entities:

Not more than 5% probes (of the maximum number of probes that can be configured for that managed environment tier) have a polling frequency less than or equal to 1 minute. You can associate a maximum of 500 probes to a source site and 500 probes to a destination site.
To implement QoS management, we recommend the following average object count ratio per QoS interfaces to QoS policies, classes, and actions: 1:5

Network Performance Server (NPS)

The following table shows the requirements for the Network Performance Server (NPS) for different managed environment sizes. These requirements are in addition to the requirements for the NPS for the NNM iSPI Performance for Quality Assurance or any other iSPI that is installed. This is significantly affected by the changes in the configured retention period for the data queried by different extension packs.

Managed Environment Size		Network Performance Server Minimum Hardware System Requirements ^a
Approximate managed environment tier	Max number of combined probes, iRA probes, and QoS interfaces	CPU (64-bit) x86-64 AMD64	RAM	Disk space for storing the NNM iSPI Performance for QA data in the Sybase DB (the NPS database) (<DataDir on the NPS system>)^b	Disk space required for archiving the processed data for 2 weeks (<DataDir on the NPS system >)^c
Entry - Single Station	5,000	2 CPU Cores	12 GB	500 GB	30 GB
Medium - Single Station	30,000	4 CPU Cores	16 GB	700 GB	60 GB
Large - Single Station	50,000	8 CPU Cores	32 GB	1 TB	160 GB
Medium - GNM	120,000	16 CPU Cores	64 GB	2.5 TB	600 GB
Large - GNM	250,000	32 CPU Cores	96 GB	4 TB	1 TB

The disk space specifications in the table is meant to retain the data for a maximum period of 400 days. For higher retention period, we recommend you to allot more disk space for <NPS_Data_Dir>. See the NNM iSPI Performance for QA Deployment Reference to calculate the disk space required for <NPS_Data_Dir> by NPS.

^a Apart from the hardware system requirements of NPS, this table specifies the additional hardware system requirements for the NPS system to build the NNM iSPI Performance for QA reports.

^b Allocate raw disk partition for better performance.

^c If the default data archiving period is more than 2 weeks, provision additional disk space proportionately.

Note: In large scale tier, it is recommended to use Linux operating system for NPS at GNM as ETL process is observed to be slow on Windows.

Intelligent Response Agent (iRA)

You can configure up to 2500 iRA probes for each iRA instance. The number of HTTP/HTTPS probes must not exceed 10% of the maximum supported iRA probes. You can see iRA-based probes in the Probes inventory in the Quality Assurance workspace.

The following table shows the requirements for the Intelligent Response Agent (iRA) only when it is hosted on an independent server:

Intelligent Response Agent Minimum Hardware System Requirements^d
CPU (64-bit) x86-64 AMD64	RAM
2 CPU Cores	500 MB

^d There is no additional hardware requirement for the iRA when it is hosted on a server along with NNMi, the NNM iSPI Performance for QA, and any other iSPI.

Operating System

Windows

Supported Version

Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Standard Edition with Service Pack 1
Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1
Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Datacenter Edition with Service Pack 1
Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 Datacenter Edition
Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition

Notes

Windows operating systems on Itanium Processor Family (IPF) are not supported
Windows 32-bit operating systems are not supported
Antivirus and backup software can interfere with the NNM iSPI Performance for QA operation if the 3rd party software locks files while the NNM iSPI Performance for QA is running. Any application which locks files should be configured to exclude the NNM iSPI Performance for QA's database directory (on Windows Server 2008 R2: %NnmDataDir%\databases; on Linux server: $NnmDataDir/shared/nnm/databases)
Windows Server 2008 R2 uses the concept of User Access Control (UAC). Users that are not part of the Local Administrator group might not have the full Administrator privileges that are required to successfully install the NNM iSPI Performance for QA. All of the scripts and commands shipped with the NNM iSPI Performance for QA detect and warn the user if the user does not have full Administrator privileges. For a successful NNM iSPI Performance for QA installation, install the NNM iSPI Performance for QA as a user with full Local Administrator access or disable UAC.

Linux

Supported Version

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6.4 (or later minor version)

Tip: Red Hat does not support direct upgrades from Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5.x to 6.0.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3
Oracle Linux 6.4 (Red Hat Compatible Kernel) or later minor version (High Availability is not supported)

Virtual Memory / Swap Space

Recommended size is at least one and a half times physical memory (i.e., 1.5 * RAM).
Verify and adjust the virtual memory:

Windows: Use System Properties.
Linux: To verify, use the cat /proc/meminfo | grep Swap command. To adjust, use the parted and mkswap commands.

Database

NNM iSPI Performance for QA can store its data using the embedded PostgreSQL database that is automatically installed when you install NNMi 10.01 or in the Oracle® database that NNMi uses. You must select the database that NNMi uses (PostgreSQL or Oracle) while installing the NNM iSPI Performance for QA. You cannot change the database type (PostgreSQL or Oracle) after installation.

NOTE: You cannot change from an embedded database to Oracle or back after installation.

Embedded database:

NNM iSPI Performance for QA uses the same embedded database, which NNMi initializes while installation.
The embedded database performs well for most deployments.

Oracle 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.x starting with 11.2.0.3) installed on a remote system (standalone, as well as Real Application Clusters):

It is recommended that the network connection between the NNMi management server and the database server be at least 1 Gbps.
The Oracle database user must be created with an appropriate tablespace before the NNM iSPI Performance for QA installation (see the Installation Guide).

High Availability

NNM iSPI Performance for QA can run on certain high availability systems with additional configuration. See the Deployment Reference for information about how to install and configure the NNM iSPI Performance for QA with high availability systems. The following configurations are supported on the NNM iSPI Performance for QA Supported Operating Systems:

Microsoft Windows
- Microsoft Failover Clustering for Windows Server 2008 R2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) version 6.0
  Notes
  - Some disk types require the use of the Veritas Storage Foundation (VSF) version 6.0.
  - VCS 6.0 and VSF 6.0 might require operating system patches. For specific information, see the appropriate Veritas product documentation.
  - NNM iSPI Performance for QA does not support HA clusters on SUSE Linux.

Web Browser

Supported Web Browsers Running on a Remote Client System (for operational use)

Microsoft Internet Explorer (32-bit and 64-bit) version 9 (not running in Compatibility View mode) and version 10 (not running in Compatibility View mode).
Mozilla Firefox version 31 ESR, version 24.0 ESR or later minor versions on a Windows or Linux client. The Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) browser is available from http://www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/all.html. The Firefox browser works best if new windows are opened as separate windows, not tabs. For information, see Mozilla Firefox Known Problems in the NNMi Release Notes.

Supported Web Browsers on the Local NNM iSPI Performance for QA Management Server System (for initial installation and configuration use)

Any browser supported for operational use (see above) when running on the NNM iSPI Performance for QA management server.

General Web Browser Requirements

Disable all pop-up window blockers for the browser (see instructions on the NNMi console sign-in page or Installation Guide)
Enable cookies for the browser (see instructions on the console sign-in page)
Enable JavaScript for the browser
Install Adobe Flash (for proper display of Real-Time Line Graphs and the Performance Graphs)
The resolution of the client display should be at least 1024x768
Caution: The following browsers are not supported:

Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 9 and 10 when running in a Compatibility View mode

Note: Be sure to disable Compatibility View in Internet Explorer using Tools → Compatibility View Settings (Clear all options)

Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6, version 7, and version 8
Mozilla Firefox 3.6.x through 23.x
Mozilla Firefox 25.0 and other non-ESR versions of Firefox
Apple Safari (all versions)
Opera (all versions)
Google™ Chrome (all versions)

Adobe Flash Plug-in Player

The Real-time Line Graphs (Actions → Quality Assurance → Graphs) and the Performance Graphs, require the Adobe Flash Player Plug-in version 11.2.202.285 (or later minor version) on Linux, or version 11.7.700.202 (or later minor version) on Windows. The Adobe Flash Player is available from www.adobe.com/go/getflash/.

Tuning the jboss Memory Size

During installation, the recommended default maximum memory size of the jboss application server is configured in the nms-qa.jvm.properties file to 2GB. For improved performance in larger environments, it is recommended that you can increase this value as documented in CPU, RAM, and Disk Space Requirements.

The current Maximum Attemptable Memory value (adjusted with –Xmx) is available in the NNMi console with Help → System Information for iSPI Performance for QA. It is recommended that this –Xmx value not exceed the amount of unused physical RAM. If the jboss JVM's entire virtual memory space does not fit in physical memory, the operating system thrashes as jboss randomly accesses its memory.

You can approximate the amount of unused physical RAM available to jboss as follows: From the amount of physical memory, subtract the following amounts:

Memory for the operating system: 1 - 2 GB
Memory for the nmsdbmgr process: 1 - 8 GB
Memory for any other applications, including NNMi and other iSPIs, that are running on the server

To change the jboss Maximum Java Heap Size (-Xmx) or other Java Virtual Machine parameters:

ovstop -c qajboss
Edit the nms-qa-jvm.properties file:
- Windows Server 2008: %NnmDataDir%\shared\qa\conf\nms-qa.jvm.properties
- Linux: $NnmDataDir/shared/qa/conf/nms-qa.jvm.properties
Change the Maximum Java Heap Size to the required amount. For example, a snippet of the ms-qa.jvm.properties file looks like this:# # JVM Memory parameters # –Xms: Initial Java Heap Size # –Xmx: Maximum Java Heap Size # –Xss: Java stack size (default to OS-supplied value) # –Xmx2048m –Xms1024m
Note: For Linux servers, if the Java heap size is greater than 4 GB, enable the -d64 flag. (To enable -d64 flag, uncomment #-64 flag in the nms-qa.jvm.properties file.)
ovstart -c qajboss

Integration with Other Products

The following products have additional functionality available through an NNM iSPI Performance for QA 10.01 integration:

HP Network Node Manager iSPI for MPLS Software version 10.00
HP Network Node Manager iSPI for IP Telephony Software version 10.00

Supported Network Devices

NNM iSPI Performance for QA supports the NNMi supported devices that match the following MIB specifications:

Vendor	Feature	MIBs Supported	Recommended image version
Cisco	IPSLA probes	CISCO-RTTMON-MIB	12.x or higher
Cisco	QoS	CISCO-CLASS-BASED-QOS-MIB	12.x or higher
Juniper	RPM probes without jitter metrics	DISMAN-PING-MIB JNX-RPM-MIB JNX-PING-MIB	9.x to 13.x
Juniper	RPM probes with jitter metrics^*	DISMAN-PING-MIB JNX-RPM-MIB JNX-PING-MIB	10.x to 13.x
H3C	NQA probes	DISMAN-PING-MIB
iRA	Probes	QA-PROBE-MIB (shipped with the iRA installation)
Cisco	Ping Latency Pairs	CISCO-PING-MIB

^*Jitter metrics for RPM Probes are supported only for selected models of MX and SRX device series.

This device support information is based on the latest information available to HP at the time of publication. Note that device vendors can at any time alter a device's MIB usage (for example, in newer IOS or system software versions) and invalidate the NNM iSPI Performance for QA's interpretation of that device's MIB data.

List of Metrics Collected by Probes from Different Devices

Probe Type	Device Type
Probe Type	Cisco	Juniper	H3C	iRA Node
ICMP Echo	RTT	RTT Packet Loss (%) Two-way Packet Loss	RTT	RTT
ICMP Jitter	Not Supported	RTT Jitter^a Positive Jitter Destination-to-Source Positive Jitter Source-to-Destination Negative Jitter Destination-to-Source Negative Jitter Source-to-Destination Two-way Jitter Packet Loss (%) Two-way Packet Loss	Not Supported	Not Supported
UDP Echo	RTT	RTT Packet Loss (%) Two-way Packet Loss	RTT	RTT
TCP Connect	RTT	RTT Packet Loss (%) Two-way Packet Loss	RTT	RTT
UDP	RTT Jitter Positive Jitter Destination-to-Source Positive Jitter Source-to-Destination Negative Jitter Destination-to-Source Negative Jitter Source-to-Destination Two-way Jitter Packet loss Packet Loss Source-to-Destination Packet Loss Destination-to-Source Two-way Packet Loss	RTT Jitter ^a Positive Jitter Destination-to-Source Positive Jitter Source-to-Destination Negative Jitter Destination-to-Source Negative Jitter Source-to-Destination Two-way Jitter Packet Loss (%) Two-way Packet Loss	Not Supported	RTT Jitter^b Two-way Jitter Packet Loss^b Packet Loss Source-to-Destination Packet Loss Destination-to-Source Two-way Packet Loss
VoIP	RTT Jitter Positive Jitter Destination-to-Source Positive Jitter Source-to-Destination Negative Jitter Destination-to-Source Negative Jitter Source-to-Destination Two-way Jitter Packet Loss Packet Loss Source-to-Destination Packet Loss Destination-to-Source Two-way Packet Loss Mean Opinion Score (MOS)	Not Supported	Not Supported	Not Supported
Oracle	Not Supported	Not Supported	Not Supported	RTT
HTTP	RTT RTT DNS RTT Connection RTT Operation	RTT Packet Loss (%) Two-way Packet Loss	Not Supported	RTT RTT DNS RTT Connection RTT Operation
HTTPS	Not Supported	Not Supported	Not Supported	RTT RTT DNS RTT Connection RTT Operation
DNS	RTT	Not Supported	Not Supported	RTT
DHCP	RTT	Not Supported	Not Supported	Not Supported

^aThe following metrics are collected only if one way hardware time stamp is enabled for a probe:

Positive Jitter Destination-to-Source
Positive Jitter Source-to-Destination
Negative Jitter Destination-to-Source
Negative Jitter Source-to-Destination

^b The destination iRA must be configured as a UDP responder. Other UDP responders are not supported.

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Legal Notices

Warranty

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.

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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.

Copyright Notice

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Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

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Programs delivered subject to the DOD FAR Supplement are 'commercial computer software' and use, duplication, and disclosure of the programs, including documentation, shall be subject to the licensing restrictions set forth in the applicable Oracle license agreement. Otherwise, programs delivered subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations are 'restricted computer software' and use, duplication, and disclosure of the programs, including documentation, shall be subject to the restrictions in FAR 52.227-19, Commercial Computer Software-Restricted Rights (June 1987). Oracle America, Inc., 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065.

For the full Oracle license text, see the license-agreements directory on the NNM iSPI Performance for QA product DVD.

Acknowledgements

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation. (http://www.apache.org)

This product includes software developed by the Indiana University Extreme! Lab. (http://www.extreme.indiana.edu)

This product includes software developed by The Legion of The Bouncy Castle. (http://www.bouncycastle.org)

This product contains software developed by Trantor Standard Systems Inc. (http://www.trantor.ca)