Getting Started - CommNet Server

Prerequisites

The CommNet Server communicates with all agents and coordinates operations (data collection, costing and billing, etc.) within the CommNet domain. There can only be one CommNet Server within a CommNet domain.

Review the following before installing the CommNet Server:

Quick Start

The following diagram illustrates the sequence of operations for getting started with the CommNet Server.

Where to go From Here

  1. Get familiar with the CommNet Browser. The CommNet Browser is the graphical user interface that allows you to control and manage the CommNet domain. See CommNet Browser for more information.
  2. Depending on your environment you may require additional configuration to administer the CommNet domain. The following topics provide information on these additional features:

     

    Data Collection Policy

    Data Collection Policy allows you to specify how often the CommNet Server will automatically collect data from each CommCell. By default, the system enables automatic data collection from CommCells with a standard value. The default values can be changed to suit your requirements.

    See CommNet Data Collection for more information.

    		  

    Data Protection Windows

    Data Protection and Coverage Windows allow you to precisely define the way summaries and reports will be presented for each CommCell. By default, the software is configured to provide reports and summaries for the most common data protection configurations. The default values for these windows can be changed to increase the accuracy and usefulness of summaries and reports.

    See Data Protection Window for more information.

    User Groups and Users

    A default user is created during the installation of the CommNet Server software. This user has permissions to administer all CommCells associated within the CommNet domain. It is recommended that you create the CommNet user groups and users with fewer permissions for the security of your enterprise.

    See CommNet User Administration and Security for more information.

    		  

    Alerts and Monitoring

    Alerts provide the mechanism to warn the recipients with a message, when certain conditions require immediate attention. The message can be sent to any e-mail address and/or pager.

    See CommNet Alerts and Monitoring for more information.

    Scheduling

    Scheduling reports and summaries helps to ensure that these tasks are automatically performed on a regular basis. You can create the schedules from the appropriate summary or report in CommNet Browser.

    See CommNet Scheduling for more information.

    		  

    Cost Analysis

    Storage resources costing provides the ability to determine the cost associated with hosting data based on the type of storage resources in which the data resides. To setup this feature you must define the cost categories (and the media associated with each cost category) and the billable entities, such as departments within a company.

    See CommNet Cost Analysis for more information.

    SLA

    SLA configuration allows you to specify the weight for short-term and long-term data protection coverage and the admissible SLA. Subsequently, the SLA is calculated using the specified weights and is then compared to the admissible SLA to determine whether an entity such as a Client, Agent or Subclient falls below the admissible SLA.

    See SLA for more information.

    		  

    Firewalls

    The software can be configured to communicate across firewall(s).

    See Firewall Considerations for CommNet for more information.

    Web Administration

    The CommNet Browser can be configured to run as a remote web-based application using the CommNet Server, or another computer on your network with IIS service installed and running.

    See Set Up IIS Server for Web Administration for more information.

    		  

    Clustered Environments

    The CommNet Server can be installed in a clustered environment to take advantage of the failover protection afforded to virtual servers.

    See Clustering for more information.

    Disaster Recovery
    To protect the CommNet Server database against disasters, such as computer failure, application failure, etc. it is recommended that you have a Disaster Recovery strategy in place.

    See CommNet Disaster Recovery for more information.

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