Deploying System Manager in a Virtual Environment

vis|ability System Manager can be deployed as either a physical server or a virtual machine.

Virtual deployment is becoming increasingly common as organizations consolidate server infrastructure and standardize around platforms such as VMware, Hyper-V, and other enterprise virtualization environments.

For most customers, there is no requirement for System Manager to reside on dedicated physical hardware. A properly provisioned VM can provide the resources, storage, and network connectivity required to operate System Manager within the vis|ability environment.

This article provides the recommended baseline for deploying System Manager as a virtual machine.

For virtual requirements for other vis|ability components, refer to the vis|ability Client & Application Hardware Requirements article.

The System Manager must have network connectivity to the vis|ability components and services with which it communicates.

The VM should be connected to the appropriate customer-provided VLAN or network environment, with virtual network interfaces configured according to the system design.

Depending on the architecture, additional virtual NICs may be required where System Manager must communicate across multiple networks or segmented environments.

Gigabit-equivalent networking should be considered the minimum baseline.

Reliable administrative access to the System Manager VM is important during installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, and ongoing support.

The customer should provide an approved method for authorized personnel to remotely access the System Manager environment. This may be through the customer's preferred remote-access platform, VPN, jump host, remote desktop environment, or other approved method.

The specific remote-access method should follow the customer's IT and security policies.

The resources assigned to System Manager should be available when required by the application.

Where the virtualization platform supports dynamic resource allocation, resources may be scaled to accommodate changes in system size or workload. Care should be taken to avoid excessive resource contention with other VMs on the same host.

Storage should also provide appropriate performance for a production server environment rather than relying on low-performance or heavily oversubscribed storage.

Best Practice: Treat the System Manager virtual specification as the baseline for a production VM. The virtual infrastructure should provide sufficient compute, memory, storage, and network resources to maintain reliable performance as the vis|ability system grows.