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Production environments and reference clients

The power of the CM software distribution system can be increased significantly by setting up a proper production environment for it. By using the BMC Client Management - Software Distribution you can quickly upgrade thousands of managed devices across the entire enterprise. But equally you can cause trouble for many users, if your upgrade contains bugs or is incompatible with the existing operating environment. This section explains what to consider and how to do it.

In relation to IT systems, a production environment is a well defined set of hardware and software where all working parameters and operating procedures are well known, that is, documented and tested. One of the cardinal rules applying to such a production system is that changes are introduced in a carefully controlled manner whereby all applicable documentation, reports and procedures are kept up-to-date. In most cases, it also means that changes are introduced only after careful evaluation, testing and certification to ensure the change does not adversely affect other parts of the overall system.

When focusing on the managed devices of the enterprise it means that a subset of the total number of devices are considered as being production devices. Production devices are kept under strong control and their operating parameters are well known. A partial list of the operating parameters for each device include:

  • Location
  • Hardware profile
  • Software profile
  • Operating status
  • History of changes
  • Usage pattern

To test and certify changes before they are rolled out in production a small laboratory is needed. It is in this laboratory environment that the device support engineers can safely manipulate and test new software applications, upgrades and configuration changes. Equally important is the ability to customize standard software before releasing it to the users. In most medium to large networks standard software is invariably preconfigured or customized to work smoothly with the company network and servers or to comply with company templates and other basic rules.

The following topic provides more information about creating a production environment:

Creating a product environment

A production environment establishes standards and acts as a foundation for measuring and improving the service level. Without a production environment the support engineers face a monumental task and each support incident takes longer to close. User reported malfunctions often cannot be reproduced by the support staff without having to go to the actual user device and carry out the diagnosing/debugging/fixing cycle. After the event it is difficult or even impossible to tell if other devices have the same issue - waiting to surface.

The cost of establishing a production environment is saved many times over by eliminating costly mistakes, providing the means to plan ahead properly and maintaining a stable environment for the user community.

The reference device is the device on which you create a new package. In most production environments a device should be set aside for this purpose. Since a package is created from changes, the state of the device before the installation of your software is of little consequence.

The reference device should have the same operating system as the target devices on which you want to install the finished package. Most other differences between the reference device and the target are taken care of by the SmartDelta system and the intelligence that is built into the package.

 

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