(imported topic written by olsonc5891)
We have to go through our parent company’s FW to get to the BES Server. We’ve done the eval and are now ready to go into production. I want my operators to add the console to their desktops but port 1433 is not open on the FW at this time. There are several others I could use without initiating a change request which is painfully slow. Can this port be changed?
Thanks,
Chris
(imported comment written by MattBoyd)
Hey Chris,
To eliminate firewall issues and improve console performance, I recommend putting the console on a Windows Terminal Server that sits next to the BES server (at least, from a networking perspective). The performance of the console will likely be significantly worse if you have everyone running it from their desktop.
It may also be better from a security perspective, because you can then further lock down the ports on the BES Server itself. For more information, you may want to contact your BigFix rep. Our sales engineer (perhaps they have a different title) made this recommendation and we’re really glad we listened.
(imported comment written by olsonc5891)
Thank you. That makes sense. I was wondering how the performance would affect the operators. I will recommend we do that. Can multiple users access the Console at the same time? I know we will be restricted by Terminal services licenses. Just want to know how the BES server will react. Lastly, do you recommend a dedicated server for the console?
Thanks again,
Chris
(imported comment written by MattBoyd)
olsonc58
Can multiple users access the Console at the same time? I know we will be restricted by Terminal services licenses. Just want to know how the BES server will react.
Yes, multiple users can launch the console at the same time on the same physical box. The more users, the more sluggish the console (and the Terminal Server in general) will become, but that’s to be expected.
olsonc58
Lastly, do you recommend a dedicated server for the console?
In general, yes. However, it really depends on a lot of factors, such as how many users need access to the console, how many clients you have, and what specifications your server has. If the server is fairly robust (SAS disks, a lot of RAM, and fast CPUs) and you don’t expect more than 4 or 5 users to run the console simultaneously, you may not need a dedicated box.
IMHO, users shouldn’t be running the console from the box that’s hosting the BES server unless it’s a small deployment. If you’re building with scalability in mind, I definitely recommend a dedicated box.
(imported comment written by olsonc5891)
Makes sense. There shouldn’t be any more than 2 or 3 operators on at a time. So far, we’ve only got 400 nodes that we are managing and the console has been running fine on the BES server itself. However, I’m about to train the other operators and want to be sure to do this right. In the interest of security, performance and scalability, I will try to get another server allocated to me.
Thanks again,
CO