On this page:
Target audience:
CAST AI Administrators
Abbreviations used in this page:
- AAD - CAST Application Analytics Dashboard
- AED - CAST Application Engineering Dashboard
- AICP - CAST AIC Portal
- CED - CAST Engineering Dashboard
- CDP - CAST Discovery Portal
- CSS - CAST Storage Service
- CMS - CAST Management Studio.
The Term "Node" refers to a physical or virtual machine and "Instance" refers to an instance of web application.
Definitions
There are several approaches to deploy CAST AIP depending on a variety of factors. In this section, we have illustrated the common deployment scenarios taking into account the number of applications to be analyzed, the number of users accessing the data, team size, team organization, application size, frequency of analysis/snapshot generation, availability, performance and security:
| Deployment Scenario | #Team Size | Distributed Team | #Applications | #Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 1 - 10 | No | 1 - 5 | 1 - 5 |
| Medium | 1 - 40 | Yes | 1 - 20 | 1 - 20 |
| Large | 1 - 80 | Yes | 1 - 60 | 1 - 80 |
| Enterprise | 100 - 200 | Yes | 100+ | 100+ |
Notes:
- In all the deployment scenarios, it is mandatory to install at least one instance of a web application server to deploy the CAST "portals". For more information see:
- If you intend to consolidate a large number of Applications into your CAST Application Analytics Dashboard, you should consider this information before deployment: Configuring the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard for large numbers of Applications.
- Also consider the location of the Delivery folder which is required by the CAST AIC Portal and the CAST Management Studio - you can find out more about this in:
Minimum system requirements
The table below lists the minimum system configuration requirements for deploying CAST AIP in any of the scenarios listed in this page. More detailed system configuration requirements for all deployment scenarios are covered in the rest of the document.
Item | Specification |
|---|---|
Computer/processor | Dual core/Quad core or equivalent processor. Minimum speed: 2 gigahertz (GHz) or faster |
Operating System/Application Server | See Supported Platforms for more detailed information. |
Memory (RAM) | 8 GB |
Disk Space (Hard Disk Drive) | See individual scenarios below for recommendations. |
Architecture | 64-bit for all components. |
Screen resolution
The minimum screen resolutions are as follows:
Item | Specification |
|---|---|
CAST Analysis Server or Workstation | 1024 x 768 |
CAST Database Server | 1024 x 768 |
Client machine accessing:
| 1280 x 800 |
Scenario 1: Small
Description: This is the basic deployment scenario for CAST AIP, which is suited for small development teams/shops. Here we deploy all the required CAST AIP components along with the web application server (eg. Tomcat) on a single physical or virtual machine.
For a small deployment, the following infrastructure is recommended:
| CAST AIP Components | Vendor | OS/version | Platform | #CPUs | Total RAM (GB) | Minimum Hard Disk Space (GB) required | WAS Nodes/Instances | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMS, AICP, CSS, AAD, AED (and CED + CDP) | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64-bit | 2 processors X 4 cores | 8 | 240 | 1 node with 4 instances | Single node/machine to deploy all components.
Deploy Apache Tomcat v7.0.X (where X > 20) or Apache Tomcat 8/8.5. |
Scenario 2: Medium
Description:
This is a recommended deployment scenario for companies planning to analyze a small portfolio (1-20 Applications) with CAST AIP.
Here we distribute the components of the CAST AIP across three separate nodes (physical machines or virtual machines):
- The CMS is installed on one node. This is referred as the client node or the Analysis node.
- The CSS is installed on the second node. This is referred as the database node or Storage node/server.
- The third node is for deploying the web application server with four instances:
- One instance for AICP
- One instance for AAD
- One instance for AED
- One instance for the CED + CDP
For a medium deployment, the following infrastructure is recommended:
| CAST AIP Components | Vendor | OS/version | Platform | #CPUs | Total RAM (GB) | Minimum Hard Disk Space (GB) required | WAS Nodes/Instances | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMS | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64bit-VM | 2 processors X 4 cores | 8 | 100 | 1 node | This node will be used to run analysis/snapshot |
| AICP, AAD, AED (and CEP + CDP) | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64bit-VM | 2 processors X 4 cores | 8 | 100 | 1 node with 4 instances | One separate node with three instances. One instance for AIC Portal, one instance for AAD, one instance for AED. The fourth instance for CEP + CDP (depending on the license acquisition). Deploy Apache Tomcat v7.0.X (where X > 20) or Apache Tomcat 8/8.5. |
| CSS | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64-bit | 2 processors X 4 cores | 8 | 240 | 1 node | This physical node will be used only for storage purpose. |
Scenario 3: Large
Description:
This is a common deployment scenario observed in bigger organizations where the teams are distributed across different locations with a single AI Center or Development hub.
Here we plan to setup one or more client nodes, one database node and multiple nodes/instances of application server.
- The CMS is installed on all the client nodes.
- The CSS is installed on a separate/single node (physical machine).
- The web application server will be installed on multiple nodes in the following manner
- We will deploy one node of application server running only AICP. The #instances represent #teams or #AI centers.
- We will deploy one node of application server running AAD. The #instances are aligned/equal to the #instances of AICP or #teams or #sites.
- We will deploy one node of application server running AED. The #instances are aligned/equal to the #instances of AICP or #teams or #sites.
- We will install two nodes of application server running CED/CDP (assuming the license is acquired). The #instances are mainly dependent on the #applications and #users.
For a large deployment, the following infrastructure is recommended:
| CAST AIP Components | Vendor | OS/version | Platform | #CPUs | Total RAM (GB) | Minimum Hard Disk Space (GB) required | WAS Nodes/Instances | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMS | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64bit-VM | 2 processors X 4 cores | 16 | 100 | 4 nodes | Setup 4 virtual nodes with CMS that will be used to run analysis/snapshot |
| AICP, AAD, AED (and CED + CDP) | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64bit-VM | 2 processors X 4 cores | 16 | 100 | 4 nodes with 4 instances each | One to two nodes (upto 4 instances/node) for AICP, One to two nodes (upto 4 instances/node) for AED One to two nodes (upto 4 instances/node) for AED One or more nodes (upto 4 instances/node) for CED + CDP. Deploy Apache Tomcat v7.0.X (where X > 20) or Apache Tomcat 8/8.5. |
| CSS | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64-bit | 2 processors X 4 cores | 16 | 500 | 1 node | This physical node will be used only for storage purpose. |
In large deployments, you can imagine multiple use cases. Use case 1: One node/instance of AICP being used by one AI Center alone. Use case 2: Using one instance of AICP per development team (or per maintenance team or site).
You expect similar business requirements for the AAD/AED/CED
To address these use cases, we will deploy one AAD node and one AED node per AI Center (or we can setup one AAD node/one AED node per development team or maintenance team or site) depending on the business needs/usage.
For CED, we will deploy one or more nodes with several instances depending on the number of applications/users.
Scenario 4: Enterprise
Description:
The scenario will be more relevant for large enterprise companies and SI's where the number of users and applications exceed 100+. In many cases, the teams are working across different development sites with more than one AI Center and/or development hub. Also the expected frequency of analysis/snapshot generation is usually high.
Similar to large deployments, except that in this scenario we will deploy additional nodes/instances of client and application servers to handle the increased #AI centers, #teams, #sites, #applications or #users.
For an enterprise deployment, the following infrastructure is recommended:
| CAST AIP Components | Vendor | OS/version | Platform | #CPUs | Total RAM (GB) | Minimum Hard Disk Space (GB) required | WAS Nodes/Instances | Remarks |
| CMS | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64bit-VM | 2 processors X 4 cores | 32 | 200 | 6 nodes | Setup 6 virtual nodes with CMS that will be used to run analysis/snapshot |
| AICP, AAD, AED (and CED + CDP) | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64bit-VM | 2 processors X 4 cores | 32 | 200 | 6 nodes with 6 instances each | Two nodes (with multiple instances) for AICP, Two nodes (corresponding to the #AIC Portal/#sites/#teams) for CAST AAD and Two nodes (corresponding to the #AIC Portal/#sites/#teams) for CAST AED and Two nodes (6 instances/node depending on the #applications/#users) for CED + CDP. Deploy Apache Tomcat v7.0.X (where X > 20) or Apache Tomcat 8/8.5. |
| CSS | Microsoft | See Supported Platforms. | 64-bit | 2 processors X 4 cores | 32 | 1000 | 1 node | This physical node will be used only for storage purpose. The disk size may vary between 800 -1500 depending on the #applications. |
In enterprise deployments, we will realize the same use cases as large deployments except that it will be extended to more AI centers, sites, teams, applications and users. The specified enterprise configuration is appropriate when deploying for 100 to 150 applications/users. We will need to deploy additional client nodes, database nodes and application server nodes/instances to accommodate the extended/enterprise business needs. This will require to re-evaluate the existing infrastructure and upgrade the same if needed.