Table Of Contents
Installation Overview and Planning
Who Should Install Cisco MGC Node Manager?
Determine Your Hardware Requirements
Disk Drives and Database Storage
Installation Overview and Planning
This chapter provides the overview and planning information you need to carry out a successful installation of the Cisco Media Gateway Controller Node Manager Version 2.6(1) (Cisco MGC Node Manager). Specific procedures for installing the Cisco MGC Node Manager are provided in Chapter 2.
Note
In previous releases the Voice Services Provisioning Tool (VSPT) was packaged together and known as Cisco MGC Node Manager Provisioning Tool.
The chapter contains the following topics:
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Installation Overview
Successful network management using Cisco MGC Node Manager begins with a well-planned and carefully executed installation. Network element management involves many interdependent factors, including:
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To organize the installation process, use the "Installation Checklist" section to plan and carry out your installation. Begin by reading it over to understand the major tasks in a successful installation, and check off each task as completed.
Who Should Install Cisco MGC Node Manager?
Installing Cisco MGC Node Manager involves tasks such as setting up hard drives and checking and modifying system files, which are best performed by an experienced system administrator with good knowledge of UNIX and Solaris.
Determine Your Hardware Requirements
The hardware you need and the way you install Cisco MGC Node Manager depend on the size of the network you are managing and the amount of data you collect. This section is designed to help you determine your hardware requirements and software configuration.
Cisco EMF and Cisco MGC Node Manager each comprise server and client software:
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The Cisco EMF and Cisco MGC Node Manager software runs on a separate machine or on machines other than the Cisco MGC host. In a small network, such as a lab, server and client software might reside on a single machine (a standalone configuration). In larger networks, the software is installed on two (or more) machines, in this distributed configuration:
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In either configuration, users typically access Cisco MGC Node Manager from X terminal workstations that run the Client software through a Telnet session. In the distributed configuration, the X terminal workstations connect directly to the Presentation server to run the Client software.
The two configurations are shown in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1
Standalone and Distributed Configurations
Note
Cisco MGC Node Manager supports ten simultaneous X terminal users, depending on your processing resources, network size, and the version of Cisco EMF you are running.
Supported Configurations
These configurations are supported:
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Note
Caution
Hardware Requirements
The Cisco MGC hardware requirements for various network sizes are described in Table 1-1. In addition, except in a very small network, each operator requires an X terminal workstation.
Table 1-1 Hardware Requirements for Cisco MGC Node Manager Host Machine(s)
Configuration
1 workstation
Client Server
Client Server
Presentation server
Management server
Presentation server2
Management server
RAM (GB)
2
2
2
2
4
Swap (GB)
4
2
4
2
8
Disk drives (9 GB minimum)
43
1
4
1
4-6
CPU (MHz)
2 x 440-1.05 GB
2 x 440-1.05 GB
2 x 440-1.05 GB
4 x 1.05 GB
4 x 1.05 GB
1 Presentation and Management servers may run co-resident for medium networks when faster Sun CPUs are used or operator loads are light. Add more Presentation servers to increase the number of operators supported.
2 Additional Presentation Servers may be added to maintain good operator response time in large networks with heavy alarm traffic.
3 2 drive machines will work for smaller networks with less traffic and fewer operators. Response time to operator commands slows down as the network grows and additional operators are added.
Note
These are recommendations to aid you in planning. The total amount of disk space required depends on many factors, such as the amount of alarm and performance data collected.
Disk Drives and Database Storage
In a medium to large network, using multiple disk drives to store the databases helps alleviate I/O bottlenecks and improves software performance. If you are using multiple disk drives for database storage, or you expect to generate large database files, use raw partitions, as described in the Cisco Element Management Framework Installation and Administration Guide at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/netmgtsw/ps829/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html
If you are using cooked file partitions, installing more than one drive for database storage does not yield any performance improvements because the databases cannot span multiple partitions.
Installation Checklist
This Checklist provides a summary of all the tasks required for an initial installation of Cisco MGC Node Manager and the Provisioning Tool. Procedures for completing each task are described in the following chapters.
We recommend that you print out the Installation Checklist to guide you during installation.
Sequence matters unless otherwise noted.
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Before you begin:
Read the Release Notes, which supplement and, if different, take precedence over information here.
Determine Your Hardware Requirements, as described in this chapter.
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Task 1: Gather Installation Software and Required Information
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Task 2: Ensure That Network Devices Have the Correct Software
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Task 4: Ensure That the Sun Solaris 8 Operating System Is Installed
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Task 7: Install CiscoView 5.4. This task is required only if you want to manage Cisco SLTs or LAN switches from Cisco MGC Node Manager, which uses the CiscoView server as the management interface.
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Task 8: Install Cisco EMF 3.2 If you want to use SSH for secure communications with SSH-enabled network components, this includes installing the Cisco EMF strong cryptographic add-on.
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Task 9: Install Cisco MGC Node Manager 2.6(1) and Verify the Installation
Note
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Task 10. Install the CiscoView Security Module (If you are using CiscoView)
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Task 11: Set Up the X Terminal Workstations for Remote Access
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Task 13: Configure Network Devices to Forward Alarms. This task, required before Cisco MGC Node Manager can collect alarm information from network devices, is covered in the Cisco MGC Node Manager 2.6(1) User's Guide, Chapter 2, "Configuring Network Devices for Management."
