Capacity Planning Tool - 27th Edition (Spring 2010)

Capacity Planning Tool - 27th Edition (Spring 2010)

Enterprise system design requires a comprehensive understanding of customer business, data, applications, and technical needs. The previous 9 chapters address key system design components that impact Enterprise system design. This chapter will introduce the ESRI Capacity Planning Tool, which can be used to identify your Enterprise system design requirements and model performance and scalability of your Enterprise design. The Capacity Planning Tool provides a framework for integrating the business, data, applications, and technical architecture needs required to design, deploy, and manage successful enterprise GIS operations.

This Chapter includes a series of videos that demonstrate how the Capacity Planning Tool can be used to collect business requirements, select the right software technology, identify the proper platform solution, and model Enterprise system performance and scalability.

System Design Process
User needs must be identified before completing the system architecture design. A simple user requirements template can be used to review and collect peak user workflow requirements. GIS user workflows are best defined during a formal user needs assessment, where existing user workflows are reviewed to identify technology enhancements that will improve business operations. Roger Tomlinson provides excellent guidance for GIS planning in his ESRI Press release Thinking about GIS Third Edition, GIS Planning for Managers. A simple Enterprise System Design case study will be presented in Chapter 11 (City of Rome).

The capacity planning tool provides a framework for collecting user requirements and completing the system design. The following video provides an introduction to the system design process and an overview of the structure of the Capacity Planning Tool.

CPT Video: System Design Process

GIS Software Technology
A variety of GIS software technology patterns are available to satisfy Enterprise business operational needs. Technology patterns include a broad range of ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Server, and ArcGIS Mobile deployment options. Selecting the right technology is a critical component of the Enterprise System Design process.

The GIS Software Technology video describes how the capacity planning tool can be used to select the right software technology for each identified user workflow. This video focuses on understanding and configuring the CPT Workflow tab for an Enterprise GIS design.

CPT Video: GIS Software Technology

Software Performance
There are many key factors that impact GIS software performance and scalability. The CPT Calculator was designed to integrate capacity planning performance targets with software performance parameters defined by ESRI performance validation testing.

The Software Performance Video describes the CPT Calculator software technology selection and performance parameters that define user workflow performance targets. The result generated on the Calculator tab is transferred to the Workflow tab for use in the Enterprise system architecture design. The Calculator tab can also be used for system performance and scalability demonstrations and preliminary system architecture design analysis to evaluation a single workflow technology selection.

The video also describes the software component service times and network traffic performance factors included in the CPT Workflow tab. The Workflow tab is the software workflow performance lookup table supporting the Enterprise system design analysis. Establishing proper user workflow performance targets is a critical step in completing a valid system architecture design.

CPT Video: Software Performance

Performance Fundamentals
The Capacity Planning Tool uses fundamental system throughput and performance relationships to complete the system design. This video provides an overview of the CPT Design tab user requirements framework, demonstrates how the adjust functions are used to identify user productivity, and shows how the CPT test tab can be used to validate workflow performance compliance.

CPT Video: Performance Fundamentals

Network Communications
The CPT Calculator demonstrates display traffic contribution to user display performance and the CPT Design completes the network bandwidth suitability assessment. This video shows how the CPT Calculator shows user workflow performance over limited bandwidth connections and how the CPT Design can be used to complete an enterprise design network suitability analysis.

CPT Video: Network Communications

Product Architecture
Selected platform architecture and software install impacts system performance, availability, and scalability. This video shows how to select workflow platform architecture on the CPT Calculator tab and how to complete an enterprise level software installation and platform selection on the CPT Design tab.

CPT Video: Product Architecture

Platform Performance
Platform selection will impact user performance and system capacity. This video provides an overview of the CPT Hardware tab and identifies the methodology for physical and virtual platform selection on the CPT Calculator and CPT Design tabs.

CPT Video: Platform Performance

Concluding Remarks
Understanding peak user workflow requirements and associated supporting technology needs is fundamental to building and managing successful GIS operations. Building a GIS without understanding business requirements and what is required to satisfy peak system performance needs is high risk, and can lead to wasteful spending and poor user productivity. Knowing what you want out of the system - your business information needs and the technology required to satisfy those needs - is the formula for business success. We live in a very complicated world - and few GIS or IT managers clearly understand how these pieces (business process and technology) fit together. Technology keeps changing - and we will always be learning. What you know today can change tomorrow. The Capacity Planning Tool provides a framework to identify what you know about your business operations, and link what you know to the technology required to support to needs. An adaptive framework - simple and easy to update. A model of your environment that will provide information you need to make the right technology decisions.

Chapter 11 presents a case study (City of Rome) that demonstrates how the Capacity Planning Tool can be used to complete an integrated business needs assessment during the GIS planning process. Chapter 12 will identify how you can leverage the Capacity Planning Design to deliver and manage successful enterprise GIS operations.

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