#109083 - 2003-11-27 01:02 PM
Asset Management
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AndyBell
Fresh Scripter
Registered: 2003-07-30
Posts: 13
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This questions has been covered (slightly) in various topics but I never really found one that hit the mark 100%. Basically I have a program that runs under KiX and compiles lots of information on software/hardware on a machine (~2500 machines currently) then sends this in a text file to a central location. This is parsed into a csv file then imported into access. ASP is then used to display on the web.
Anyway, I am looking at expanding this application throughout our environment and realise that copying flat files about is pretty horrible. Which leaves me with the issue of copying about files. The current file i copy is only a few lines (~1k).
My options as I see them are to either go with SQL (I can use KiX for this) or look at re-writing the script in some other language.
The questions I have are:
- Is SQL the right way to go?
- Is Kix the right way to go for a potentially global product (~10000 machines)
- Is SQL efficient in terms of bandwidth. I.e. 4 lines to text translates to small information transmittal.
I have had a look about on various sites and nothing really seemed to hit the mark. Any help would be much appreciated and I would be willing to share the work I have done.
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#109085 - 2003-11-27 04:53 PM
Re: Asset Management
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AndyBell
Fresh Scripter
Registered: 2003-07-30
Posts: 13
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The problem with flat files is that you are relying on the copies of files working compared to say talking to a central server. Advantage with central server is that you only have to make sure that one thing is working, whereas with flat files I store them on various servers and then pull them in.
The database means that it is easy to present the information via the web and all the queries are done in this.
The real problem faced is getting the information from the clients (spread across multiple sites/countries) to a central location. Information could be as little as 1k in a file so I am guessing im looking for some super efficient way to send this  .
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#109087 - 2004-01-09 11:05 AM
Re: Asset Management
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AndyBell
Fresh Scripter
Registered: 2003-07-30
Posts: 13
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For anyone that is interested I hunted about through various options :
- SQL From client to server
- Sticking with Flat Files
- And many more hairbrained schemes
And it seems that the best way is to have the option of either flat files (depending on environment) or using KiX to launch IE. This would then post information directly to the website which would be submitted into the access database.
Hopefully by its very nature it will be bandwidth friendly and the only issue left is to try and spread out the updates from ~3000 machines so they dont happen all at once.
Oh for cron (unfortunately installing a cron like program onto our build is not an option). Which leaves:
- Run at machine startup - Need users to reboot which you can never rely on
- Run at user login - Some people stay logged in all the time and you would never capture machines not used (but you would still want to know about them)
- Schedule task at some point during day - If during early morning some of our sites are physically switched off
Oh the dilemmas
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#109088 - 2004-01-09 01:11 PM
Re: Asset Management
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Radimus
Moderator
Registered: 2000-01-06
Posts: 5187
Loc: Tampa, FL
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or... make an agent (kix script running as service) that will at startup run an inventory, store as local ini file and then at random times startup + rnd(*120 minutes or whatever) upload to SQL server
your logon script can read the ini file for required info necessary details that your script needs... memory, SP, hotfixes, whatever. which whould be faster than determining it at logon runtime... the inventory processess whould be 'hidden' in the startup processes where it is expected to be slow
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#109089 - 2004-01-09 02:58 PM
Re: Asset Management
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Kdyer
KiX Supporter
Registered: 2001-01-03
Posts: 6241
Loc: Tigard, OR
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While you can write to a db, INI, etc. You have other options too. For example: Altiris, Tivoli, Mobile Automation, SMS, etc. I know these are not free, but may cover your needs.
One that has been talked about before which is pretty comprehensive, and you can run remote to put into a DB, is - Aida: http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php and is free.
HTH,
Kent
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#109091 - 2004-01-15 09:11 PM
Re: Asset Management
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AndyBell
Fresh Scripter
Registered: 2003-07-30
Posts: 13
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Its not a proper SQL server (yes I know shame on me its access ODBC) and i was told that throttling/bandwidth usage was better via HTTP handling requests than SQL server.
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#109093 - 2004-01-16 03:47 PM
Re: Asset Management
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AndyBell
Fresh Scripter
Registered: 2003-07-30
Posts: 13
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I understand that there are various ways of accomplishing the end result but when you take into account the need for:
- Ability for multiple (~ a few hundred) machines to update at same time (worst case scenario)
many
- Need to use minimum amount of WAN bandwidth
- Flexibility
Then it does limit what you can use to acheive the desired result. On looking at SQL forums the best solutions anyone had were always using IIS to handle requests due to its ability to handle concurrent connections for superior to say MYSQL.
However, because I run the kix file as a scheduled task it runs as the system account which seems to have problems with running IE. If i run the script as a user it works fine. It could well be that the IE connection wizard is running or something stupid like that so must investigate.
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#109095 - 2004-01-16 05:43 PM
Re: Asset Management
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AndyBell
Fresh Scripter
Registered: 2003-07-30
Posts: 13
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I am aware that the system account does not have access to network drives but this is all done via http. Hence, I would have thought, since it is only launching IE (system account has rights to do this) then navigating to a site using IE (its within firewall so no proxy related issues) then network rights would not come into play.
Finding exactly what the system account can/cannot do is not fun unfortunately. And debugging what is going wrong is also impossible since the ie process is never visible.
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