SIM for large audit?

[raadek]

Can anyone advise me if HP SIM would be suitable for a large audit (4,000 servers roughly, assume all ProLiants for the sake of simplicity)?

I know that SIM can do an inventory, but I have few concerns though:
- what could / could not be done agent-less?
- any hints for a mass roll-out of agents? (bear in mind that iLO status on 'client' servers is unknown at this stage)
- can SIM capture / report installed apps?
- any real life experience with similar task?

There is Altiris alternative on the table if HP SIM is not a viable way to go - but as you could imagine the cost difference is massive.

Any comments & tips more than welcome (& rewarded with points :)!

Rgds.

[Rob Buxton · Accepted solution]

You could possibly do it in stages, separation via subnet etc.

HPSIM can get information via WBEM, so it may pick up details that way. If the OS is Windows then WBEM should be there by default.

It will not pick up installed Apps. It can report on the HP agents etc.

As HPSIM is free, you try an install using an MSDE database and select a variety of servers to include in the discovery range.
Run the Data Collection task and Bi-Weekly task and then review the report results.
You can also just interrogate the MSDE database directly if you or your team know SQL.

[raadek]

Many thanks for that.

Would agent-less disovery via WBEM give me a detailed hardware configs?

By that I mean something like speeds & feeds for all major components, i.e. CPU, memory, HDDs, NICs & SCSI / RAID controllers.

Rgds.

[Rob Buxton]

I'm not sure what the difference in data would be.
I think a quick pilot may be the most effective way of determining if the effort is worth it.

[raadek]

Thanks, but unfortunately a pilot is a no go option - it's our prospect environment, not our own.