Design the Final Topography

Your existing implementation of FlexNet Manager Suite might be installed on a single central server, or on a group of servers (such as a separate database server, and you may even have a separation between the web application server and the processing server). Going forward, you might consider scaling up your implementation as your estate grows. (In any case, please study the diagram below to understand terminology in this document.)

Determine whether to implement a single server or multi-server solution, based on projected scaling. Please refer to the following diagram, where each blue box represents a potentially separate server, and where all are given the names referenced throughout this document.
Note: Both the inventory server (or in smaller implementations the processing server, or the application server in a single-server implementation) and the inventory beacon(s) are expected to be members of Active Directory domains. (For test environments, consultants may see article 000017145 How to run FlexNet Manager Suite processing server on a workgroup computer.) If you implement a multi-server solution (separating the web application server, the batch server, or the inventory server), it is strongly recommended that all are members of the same Active Directory domain.
There are six different kinds of server functionality in FlexNet Manager Suite. Your implementation may merge all this functionality onto a few servers; or for very large implementations, you may need six or more separate (virtual or physical) servers. In all cases, it is important to understand the functionality of these separate components that make up a working system:
  • At least one inventory beacon, and typically more for a complex infrastructure
    Tip: An inventory beacon may be installed on the same server as the batch server (defined shortly). This allows for greater functionality in future custom business adapters, as on this inventory beacon alone business adapters may operate in "connected mode".
  • An inventory server, which can also be duplicated across multiple servers if you are gathering FlexNet inventory for many tens of thousands of devices (see below)
  • One (and only one) batch server (also known as a reconciliation server) that imports third-party inventory, integrates FlexNet inventory, incorporates business-related information, and reconciles everything to calculate your license position
    Tip: Currently MSMQ limits the hostname of the batch server to 15 characters (excluding the domain qualifier).
  • The database server (where the five underlying databases may also be split across separate database servers if required)
  • The web application server that handles presentation of the interface
  • A server for the business reporting option (powered by Cognos), where applicable.
    Tip: If the Cognos content store is installed on an SQL Server installation later than 2012, it should be run in SQL Server 2012 compatibility mode.
Tip: You can start with your FlexNet Manager Suite 2014 (or 2014 R2) server and upgrade it to the new system, where it can function as any of the servers described above (or indeed, for the combined servers as described next, if yours is a smaller implementation). Similarly, if you had a separate database server in your previous implementation, that same database server may host the new databases shown in the diagram.

All system servers require a 64-bit operating system. The database server (alone) may have a 32-bit operating system, but a 64-bit operating system is recommended.

In more moderately-sized implementations (the vast majority), a typical implementation might have a separate database server and Cognos server, and combine the remaining three central functions as a single "application server", as shown in the diagram. As scaling dictates, you can combine or separate the web application server, the batch server, and the inventory server in any combination required. The logical separation of presentation from processing need not drive hardware requirements. Scaling considerations may include the following:
  • Typically the first candidate for replication is the inventory beacon. This is often driven by network considerations as much as by simple scaling considerations.
  • If your system manages more than 50,000 devices reporting FlexNet inventory alone (ignoring for the moment inventory through other third-party tools), the inventory server should be separated onto its own device. You can expect to duplicate a separate inventory server for (roughly) every 50,000 devices reporting FlexNet inventory.
  • If you manage inventory from more than 100,000 devices, the batch server (or reconciliation server) may be separated from the web application server and installed separately.


Tip: When you implement your web application server as a separate server, you must configure one or two network shares that all servers can access to share uploaded data between them. The shared drives are identified during the installation process. For details, see Configure Network Shares for Multi-Server.
The diagram shows that:
  • FlexNet inventory (from the FlexNet Inventory Agent) is uploaded to the inventory database by the inventory server, and then separately imported to the compliance database
  • Third-party inventory imported from other tools is loaded by the batch server and stored directly in the compliance database
  • Some time-based data is copied to the data warehouse database, and reports may combine trend data from here with current data from the compliance database
  • Some data is copied to the snapshot database to improve presentation performance
  • The web interface automatically displays a mixture of data from the snapshot database and the compliance database, as appropriate; and data manually input through the web interface is written back to the compliance database
  • While Flexera Analytics can be installed on your application server, for performance reasons Flexera Analytics is best installed on a separate server (it has high memory use requirements).
    Note: All servers shown inside the data center should be within a single time zone. This is particularly important if you are using Flexera Analytics, since the Flexera Analytics Operational Dashboard combines time-based data from the database server(s) and the Cognos server.

Choose your web servers per device

Web protocols are used for data transfer within the FlexNet Manager Suite infrastructure. Two alternatives are supported, and can be mixed and matched within the infrastructure of inventory beacons and servers:

  • Microsoft IIS. Choose this alternative when any of the following apply:
    • The host server is one of your central application servers (web application server, batch server, or inventory server, or combinations as applicable). No web server is required on a stand-alone database server. When you install the recommended inventory beacon on the same device as the central batch server, that beacon also uses IIS (whereas other free-standing beacons on separate devices still have a choice).
    • When a particular inventory beacon is collecting inventory from (and passing back recommendations to) FlexNet Manager for SAP Applications, that inventory beacon must use IIS.
    • When you require Windows Authentication to allow transfer of data (for example, a parent inventory beacon might typically use Windows Authentication if it receives data from a child in your DMZ outside a firewall).
    • When you require the use of the HTTPS protocol to encrypt data transfers.
  • FlexNet self-hosted web server. Choose this alternative when none of the previous cases apply, and:
    • You want simple administration of the web server.
    • You want to minimize the installations on your inventory beacon, so that you do not need to install Microsoft IIS.
    • Anonymous access, and use of the HTTP protocol, are adequate (for example, within your secure LAN).
    Note: After installation, more information about these web server options and how to configure them is available in the online help under Inventory Beacons > Local Web Server Tab > Configuring Inventory Collection.

Placement of inventory beacons

For more information about inventory beacons, see Considerations for Inventory Beacons.

Output

Prepare a block diagram of the actual servers for your implementation. Start with the central cluster of servers, depending on the scale of your implementation.

Don't forget the inventory beacons you intend to deploy. An inventory beacon on your batch server (or processing server, or application server, depending on your scaling decisions) is an option, but not mandatory if you are migrating only from the 2014 (or 2014 R2) release. Thereafter you may choose to deploy a hierarchy of inventory beacons, ensuring that every targeted device will have access (preferably high-speed LAN access) to an inventory beacon.

Label each block in your diagram with:
  • The server type, either 'inventory beacon' or as named in the diagram above (for ease of reference in following instructions)
  • The actual server name and IP address
    Tip: Keep in mind that an underscore character is not valid in a host name referenced by a DNS. If you have a host name that includes an underscore, you may need to set up a DNS alias for the server; or else use its IP address during the installation process.
  • Which web server will be installed on each of these hosts.