Minimum system requirements for HP Web Jetadmin1 exist to ensure the HP Web Jetadmin application has adequate resources for optimal performance. This document describes general guidelines for allocating resources for virtual VMware machines hosting HP Web Jetadmin. This document is not intended as a guide for configuring VMware systems. Many types of VMware scenarios are possible and managing VMware can be done through a variety of methods. For more detailed information regarding VMware resource management see VMware support documentation online. An example of a VMware guideline that shows specific resource management details can be found here: http://www.vmware.com/support/esx15/doc/reference_resource_mgmt_esx.html 2 Other, similar documentation is available from VMware that is specific to the different VMware products and versions.

Multiple Processor Requirement and Allocating Processor Resources

HP Web Jetadmin minimum system requirements specify dual processor or multi core processor hardware. This means that the VMware system on which HP Web Jetadmin is running should support a minimum of two processors. With VMware ESX multiple processors must be allocated to the virtual machine where HP Web Jetadmin is hosted. VMware support materials discuss "proportional-share processor scheduling" as a way to load balance the overall VMware system and allocate resources to each hosted virtual machine. In essence, VMware controls are used to allocate processor shares proportionally to each of the virtual machines being hosted. The example provided below illustrates how shares are used in a VMware implementation for the purpose of allocating processor resources.

Example : In order for the virtual machine hosting HP Web Jetadmin to have an allocation of two processors, a proportional share processor setting is created thus:

VM1=2000 shares
VM2=4000 shares (virtual machine hosting HP Web Jetadmin)
VM3=2000 shares
VM4=2000 shares
VM5=4000 shares
VM6=2000 shares
________________
Total=16000 shares

In our example, the VMware ESX system has 8 processors and the setup shown is using 16000 shares to distribute a number of processors to all virtual machines. The system hosting HP Web Jetadmin (VM2) is allocated 4000 shares meaning it has a total allocation of 2 full processors. Of course if a new virtual machine was added to the mix it would get a default allocation of 1000 shares which would cause the system hosting HP Web Jetadmin to have less than 2 full processors. If such an addition were to occur, the proportional share allocation would have to be adjusted accordingly.

Minimum Memory Requirement and Allocating Memory Resources

HP Web Jetadmin 10.2 has a minimum memory (i.e. RAM or random access memory) requirement of 3GB. This is established to ensure both HP Web Jetadmin and the local version of SQL have enough memory for background tasks, client support and other operations. Memory, just like processor power, is crucial to HP Web Jetadmin operations.

VMware has an allocation mechanism that is used to ensure enough memory is provided for each virtual machine on the VMware implementation. VMware can also have functionality settings invoked that allow memory to be dynamically allocated depending on loading and conditions across the VMware implementation. The key thing to remember with HP Web Jetadmin is that VMware’s “minimum size�? setting for memory allocation should be set to 3GB or greater. VMware guarantees that a virtual machine will have at least the “minimum size�? setting allocated in memory or it won’t allow that virtual machine to start.

Given the HP Web Jetadmin requirement, memory allocation in VMware seems simple so long as the “minimum size�? setting is invoked correctly. However, setting up memory allocation and management features on a complex VMware implementation requires careful planning and consideration. VMware online support documents such as the one cited here: http://www.vmware.com/support/esx15/doc/reference_resource_mgmt_esx.html 2, provide a good deal of information about proportioning system memory to each individual virtual machine hosted. In the cited example, see topics Memory Resource Management and Sizing Memory on the Server.

Here are a few other things to consider:

• HP Web Jetadmin requires 3GB of RAM, other OS operations as well as applications running on the same host may have requirements as well
• The HP Web Jetadmin client requires 1GB of RAM above the server application requirement when the client application is run on the same host
• Implementers should consider dedicating a VMware virtual machine to HP Web Jetadmin when the software is being used for production purposes.

Other Items to Consider

Disk accessibility is critical to HP Web Jetadmin operations. HP Web Jetadmin and the SQL Server instance both need to have a great deal of disk throughput. Both services regularly issue commands to disk and performance can be inhibited by disk system bottlenecks.

The VMware ESX implementation can be configured to allocate disk resources to each virtual machine using a “modified proportional share allocation policy�? setting that gives each virtual machine a measure of throughput. While HP Web Jetadmin does not have a specification for disk throughput, it is very important to remember that both the WJA application and the SQL Server instance require high disk throughput in order for the software to perform optimally.

HP Web Jetadmin also requires regular access to all devices under management. Of course this access is attained by communicating on the network to which the virtual machine is connected. Delay in device response can also be a cause of less than optimal performance and can cause inability gather all necessary device information. The VMware support resource cited here also has instructions on how to properly design and control network filtering and ultimately network bandwidth.

Again, VMware support documentation and resources are available online and will help you manage resources on your VMware instance.

¹ This document is written in reference to versions of HP Web Jetadmin 10. These include HP Web Jetadmin 10.1, 10.2 and beyond unless otherwise noted.

² non-HP support documentation noted here may change in content and location on the Web. HP documentation may not reflect changes in this documentation or non-HP Web URLs. Documents specific to your version of VMware should also be reference to attain accurate details.