Set Up a New Aternity Aggregation Server on a Dedicated PC

For medium or larger deployments of Aternity on-premise (more than 3000 monitored devices), you must create one or more standalone Aternity Aggregation Servers.

An Aggregation Server gathers (aggregates) the data directly from Aternity Agents on monitored devices, and passes it on to the Management Server.

Aggregation Server collects and consolidates data from monitored devices

As your deployment grows in size, add more identical Aggregation Servers (see deployment sizing for details). If you deploy more than one dedicated Aternity Aggregation Server, you must deploy a third party load balancer (LB). Then configure the Aternity Agent of all devices to point to the LB's virtual IP address. Configure the LB with persistent (sticky) sessions to ensure the Agent maintains its connection with the same server.

Deploy a third party load balancer if you have multiple Aggregation Servers

Depending on your topology choices, you can place the standalone Aggregation Server either in the DMZ or the enterprise network (see the Aternity on-premise topologies).

Before you begin

Before creating a standalone Aggregation Server, you must:

  • Complete deployment of the Aternity Database Server.

    • (Non-DBAs) Use the express database setup for small deployments up to 3000 devices.

    • (DBAs only) Use the custom database setup for larger deployments or to integrate any sized database properly into your enterprise.

  • Complete setting up the Aternity Dashboard Server and the Dashboard Gateway.

  • Complete setting up the Aternity Management Server.

  • Complete setting up the Aternity dashboard layouts.

  • (Optional) Complete setting up all your dedicated Aternity Data Warehouse Server PCs.

  • Check your PC conforms to the minimum system requirements:

    Attribute Requirement

    Hardware requirements for Aternity Aggregation Server

    Each Aggregation Server must be at least a Xeon E3 family, 2 cores at 2.4 GHz, hard disk: 30GB (min), RAM: 8GB (min)

    Operating system for Aternity Aggregation Server

    Windows Server 64 bit 2012 R2, 2012, or 2008 R2. Set the date and time formats to Control Panel > Regions > Formats > English (United States).

    You can also deploy the Aggregation Server on Linux CentOS 5.8 or Linux RedHat Fedora.

    Permissions

    Ensure you have local administrator privileges on this computer.

    As your deployment grows, you add more identical servers with the same hardware and system requirements.

Procedure

  1. Step 1 Access your standalone Aggregation Server PC.
  2. Step 2 Log in to the computer as a local administrator.

    To verify you are a local administrator on this computer, not a domain administrator, open the System control panel, select Advanced system settings > Computer Name, and confirm the Change button is active.

  3. Step 3 Download the latest version of Aternity on-premise from our website.

    The setup package is for all Aternity servers.

    Download Aternity on-premise from the website
  4. Step 4 Right-click the setup and select Run as administrator to begin.
  5. Step 5 Select Next and enter the pathname of a local, non-system drive.

    This reduces the risk of the server application competing with the operating system for disk space.

    Select the location of the Management Server files
  6. Step 6 Select Aternity Aggregation Server.

    Since this is the same tool as that used for the Management Server, select only Aternity Aggregation Server as this is a standalone server.

    Select the Aternity Aggregation Server to create a standalone server
  7. Step 7 (Single standalone server only) Secure the connection of monitored devices sending performance and device data to this Aggregation Server.
    Secure a single Aggregation Server's connection to monitored devices

    When you roll out the Aternity Agent on devices, you must also configure the Agents to send HTTPS.

    Tip

    If you are deploying multiple Aggregation Servers, there is little to be gained in securing its connection to the load balancer. To secure the devices' performance data uploads, configure HTTPS for the load balancer, NOT the Aggregation Server.

    Select whether this server receives data encrypted (HTTPS)
    Field Description
    HTTP or HTTPS

    Select HTTPS if you want any connection to this server to be via HTTPS.

    Tip

    To see the Aternity's system-wide security settings, view the security overview of all components.
    Port

    Enter the port required to receive data from the monitored devices. The default for HTTPS is 443.
    Custom keystore

    Enter the pathname of the system's keystore containing your enterprise's certificate.

    You must add your certificate to the system's Java keystore file (.jks) using Java's keytool utility (see Oracle's keytool documentation).
    Custom keystore password

    Enter the password required to access the system's keystore file.
  8. Step 8 Configure the memory allocation size of your deployment, and confirm the timezone of the Aternity servers on this computer.
    Configure the memory allocation and time zone
    Field Description
    Java Virtual Machine memory

    Configure the JVM heap size according to the values listed for the size of your deployment.

    You can tweak this value later on if required.
    Customize Timezone

    Select a time zone, only if you need to override the timezone settings of the operating system.

    Important

    The time zones of the Database Server, Dashboard Server, Management Server, and Data Warehouse Server must all be identical.
    JMS Memory Maximum

    Enter the ActiveMQ JVM heap size according to the value listed for this server for the size of your deployment.

    You can tweak this value later if required.
  9. Step 9 Review the summary, then select Next.
  10. Step 10 Define this server's connection to the Management Server.

    The Aggregation Server must pass on its output to components in the Management Server.

    Point to the Management Server
    Field Description
    Management Server Hostname / IP Address

    Enter the hostname or IP which is the listening address you defined when creating the Management Server.
    Management Server Port

    Enter the port number which it uses for HTTP or HTTPS access, defined when creating the Management Server.
    Use SSL Transport

    Select if you defined the Management Server to use secure HTTPS when accessing it.
  11. Step 11 If this is a fresh install, select A new Aggregation Server.
    Define whether this is a clean setup
  12. Step 12 Define the properties of this new standalone Aggregation Server.
    Define the properties of a new Aggregation Server
    Field Description
    Aggregation Server unique profile name

    Enter an internal name for this server, to be used by the Aternity Agent on a monitored device to specify this Aggregation Server by name.
    Device Types

    Select whether this Aggregation Server accepts connections from mobile and Windows monitored devices, or just Windows devices.
  13. Step 13 Confirm the summary and complete the setup.
  14. Step 14 Verify the deployment was successful by confirming that the Windows services shows AternityPlatform as running.