Capacity Planning: Cost and Design

7.5

Capacity Planning: Cost and Design

by Ron Herardian
©1999 Global System Services Corporation (GSS)

WHY THINGS COST TOO MUCH

Many Domino projects go over their budgets and slip away from their deadlines because capacity planning and its relationship to cost and to Domino system architecture and design are not understood by IT organizations and integrators.  Unfortunately, Lotus and even companies that provide technical capacity planning tools provide very little help in this area.

Capacity planning is not just a matter of knowing how many MB of disk per user to put in a server.  The real issues involve (1) correct methodology for capacity planning; (2) network design and cost considerations; (3) organizational and budget considerations.  Failure to take all three of these things into account will result in budget overruns, costly redesign, and project delays.

In many cases, IT puts their dollars in the wrong place: into servers instead of bandwidth, into bandwidth instead of servers, or into a large number of low-cost consultants instead of into experience and expertise.  The challenge, assuming correct project and deployment methodologies, is to determine how to allocate the budget over servers, bandwidth, and human resources (including consulting).  In general it is best to put a larger investment up front and reduce bandwidth and operational costs.

CORRECT METHODOLOGY FOR CAPACITY PLANNING

The technical methodology and the necessary modeling techniques for capacity planning are nontrivial.  It is not the case that you can use a simple measure of RAM, network speed, and disk per user.  The formulas must take account of the fact that different variables change at different rates as the number of users and system load increase.  Some of the relationships are not linear.  Each Domino system has a unique set of characteristics.  It is not the case that the same hardware specifications and system design can be used for all customs with 'n' users, unless the system is grossly over engineered.

NETWORK TOPOLOGY AND COST OF BANDWIDTH

Specifying individual servers is only part of the puzzle.  The network topology and the cost of bandwidth must be taken into consideration when specifying the number and location of servers and MTAs.  For example, it may be more cost effective over 24 months to install 12 servers instead of 4 because of the added cost of bandwidth required to support users over a WAN.  It is necessary to calculate the bandwidth requirements and to work with your network supplier to determine the costs involved in different deployment scenarios.

IT ORGANIZATION AND BUDGET

In addition to methodological considerations, network design, and bandwidth cost, factors such as administration, security, support, and internal budgeting must be mapped to the IT organization.  In most cases the system must be designed in a cost effective way to accommodate organizational considerations.  These issues can dictate many aspects of system design such as the certification hierarchy and the number of levels in it.  In other cases, the IT organization or budget need to change to allow for cost effective deployment of Domino.

GETTING GOOD ANSWERS

The best way to work through these issue is to leverage the experience of people that have successfully deployed Domino systems for many different customers.  Automatically, this rules out software resellers. They may be able to help you figure out what you need to buy but they're usually out of their league when it comes to capacity planning, system architecture, and detailed system design.

There are several things that you can ask an integrator to find our if they know what they're doing.  The best question is to ask how they determine the capacity and number of servers.  If they don't say anything about where the servers will go in the network or about what network bandwidth costs then you're probably not talking to an integrator with the right experience.

At GSS we ask for a map of the network topology showing the available bandwidth and the current average and peak utilization if known.  We also ask for the number of users per location and explore with the customer how these users break down into different groups and how they will use Notes and Domino.  If you are working with an integrator that is not asking these questions, you're probably not going to be happy with the results.

About GSS

Global System Services Corporation (GSS) is the leading provider of consulting and professional services for large-scale and distributed infrastructure systems such as email and messaging, directory services, groupware, and wireless solutions. GSS customers include Fortune 500 companies, large services providers and telecom companies, government agencies, major messaging product vendors, and innovative technology startups.

GSS provides a complementary suite of services including strategic technology consultation and competitive vendor and product analysis, product and system architecture and design, system development deployment, customization, and testing, technical support, email migration, and other IT services. GSS has been directly responsible for some of the largest global systems and solutions and counts as customers many of the largest companies in the world.

From its offices in the Silicon Valley California, GSS delivers services and solutions to customers worldwide through a network of mobile consultants and qualified GSS Affiliates. With industry certified professionals on staff, GSS is a Qualified Lotus Business Partner, a Certified Microsoft Solution Provider (MCSP), a Principal Partner in the Sun Partner Advantage program and a member of the Sun Software Partner Council, as well as a member of key industry organizations.

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©1995-2005 by Global System Services Corporation (GSS). Portions of this material are copyright ©1995-1999 by Ron Herardian