Getting Started Resource Center

General Guided Pilot Recommendations

1. Define in advance the critical success factors for this guided pilot. Consider which features are most valuable to your organization (Early Warnings, Problem Diagnostics, Production Reporting), and develop a test plan that incorporates and prioritizes based on these success factors.



2. When developing your guided pilot plan, scrutinize your application and determine which specific transactions you want to analyze and report on



3. Plan ahead for how you will generate transaction load during your guided pilot tests.



4. You shouldn't plan to use a desktop machine (either your own or someone else's) as an AppMetrics Manager during your guided pilot. You may however find it convenient to use your desktop as an AppMetrics Console client (see Configuration 1 diagram on the next page). Likewise, you shouldn't plan on sharing the guided pilot machines with other groups at your company during the guided pilot.

Recommended Guided Pilot Configurations

Configuration 1 - Representative of most production environments (dedicated Manager, separate Console), minimizes production impact of analysis.

• Install an AppMetrics Agent Monitor on all application servers* that will participate in the guided pilot
• Install the AppMetrics Manager on a dedicated machine for the guided pilot
• Install the AppMetrics Console on a separate server from the Manager

* Application Server = COM+ machine

Configuration 2 - Alternate configuration (dedicated Console/Manager), but still minimizes production impact

• Install an AppMetrics Agent Monitor on all application servers* that will participate in the guided pilot
• Install the AppMetrics Manager on a dedicated machine for the guided pilot (console included in that install)

* Application Server = COM+ machine

Hardware Requirements

AppMetrics has the following hardware requirements:

• Minimum Intel x86 Processor Pentium III 300MHz or higher. Intel Core 2 Duo or Quad Processor recommended.
• Minimum 10 GB free disk space, plus 4 GB additional space per monitor for archival data on AppMetrics manager machine
• Minimum 256 MB RAM, 1 GB or higher recommended

Software Requirements

1. A single dedicated AppMetrics Manager Machine with the following:



• Any of the following operating systems (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Windows XP Professional
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Server 2003
  • Windows Server 2003 R2
  • Windows Server 2008
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or 2008 (32-bit or 64-bit)
• For Help Documentation: Adobe® Acrobat® Reader^TM

2. Each managed (Agent) machine should have:
• Any of the following server operating systems (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Windows Server 2003
  • Windows Server 2003 R2
  • Windows Server 2008
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
• Ability to establish a DCOM connection to the manager machine.

Reporting Requirements

MS Excel® 2003 or higher on the AppMetrics Console machine that can connect to an AppMetrics Manager machine.

Security Requirements

AppMetrics supports several security configurations. For guided pilots, the following security requirements should be met:

1. Create a domain account for the AppMetrics Service Account. This account name will be requested during installation. This user must be configured with the following attributes:
• The logon cannot be limited to certain hours of the day.
• User must have rights to log on as batch job.
• User must have rights to log on as service.
2. During install, the logged-in user must have administrator rights to the local machine.
3. Verify the Identity Property for each COM+ application being monitored:
• If the Identity Property is set to "Interactive User" then you must ensure that any interactive user who will run the Agent and Manager machines is included in the AppMetrics Administrators local group on both the Manager and Agent machines.
• If the Identity Property is set to a specific user then you must ensure that the selected user account is included in the AppMetrics Administrators local group on both the Manager and Agent machines
4. Read and implement the steps listed in the AppMetrics InstallGuide Chapter3: Security Requirements.

Note:

• Under no circumstances should you delete or modify the Run as Service Account or its attributes during the guided pilot period.
• If you wish to make a non-manager machine a console/report viewer (your desktop machine for example), you must adhere to the same security requirements described above (i.e. log in using a user account in the AppMetrics Admins group).