Resource usage of Provision Jobs
A Provision Job establishes the necessary network resources required for a target computer to be provisioned upon reboot, then the job monitors the progress of the provisioning activity as it occurs on the target. As the target device reboots, it requests progressive instructions from TrueSight Server Automation servers and downloads boot images and operating system installation files from servers on the network. The device's boot process varies, depending on the type of target device. However, in all cases, as the target device is rebooting it requires network access to servers from which it can retrieve instructions and downloadable artifacts.
Windows and Linux provisioning
Provisioning support for Microsoft Windows and Linux devices is based on the Pre-Execution Environment (PXE) standard. When booting under the control of a provisioning job, a Windows or Linux target contacts the following:
- DHCP server, to identify a PXE server
- PXE server, for initial booting instructions
- TFTP server, from which it downloads a pre-boot kernel image (in most cases)
- Application Server, from which it retrieves the system package
- Data store, for OS installation files
Generally speaking, none of these activities impose significant computational demands on the supporting servers, but the network link between the target device and the data store server might experience substantial bandwidth usage.
Solaris provisioning
The Oracle JumpStart technology used for provisioning Solaris machines relies on three separate JumpStart functions:
- JumpStart Boot Server
- JumpStart Install Server
- JumpStart Configuration Server
These functions can be provided independently, or combined into one or two actual JumpStart servers. The boot server must be on the same network as the provisioning target. Of the three functions, the install server (the data store) bears the greatest load.
AIX provisioning
The IBM AIX Network Installation Manager (NIM) technology uses a NIM master to control the provisioning target, while installation files are served off an NFS server (resource server or data store). Typically, both of these functions are hosted on the same computer.
HP-UX provisioning
The HP-UX Ignite technology uses a single Ignite master to control the provisioning target and to provide the OS installation files.
Resource usage
The following table shows a summary of resource usage by Provision Jobs.
Application Server CPU | Network traffic | Database load | Agent |
|---|---|---|---|
Very low | Low to Application Server. | Low | Low |