Use-case scenario: MSP3.2.1, single MSP server, 500 sites/relay-servers connected via T1 links, 10 devices per site, provisioning a new software package.
In the above scenario what are the user’s choices for managing the load on the WAN links when the new package is pushed from the MSP to relay-server?
Can we stager the package-push to relay servers, can we put pauses in between? Can the FTP transfers from MSP to relay-servers be scheduled to run at off-hours?
thanks, afshin
3 Replies
Yes, you have several options for controlling the traffic of MSP operation. For example, you do have the ability to throttle provisioning using policy rules and conditions. Using Time conditions or AdapterTime conditions, you can "offset" the provisioning of different policies to be deployed if one or more of those conditions are met. This ensures that only a smaller subset of your policies actually get deployed at a time. Another good option for controlling the bandwidth used for contact to your Relay Servers, is the ability to set a time window that you want to allow staging or provisioning for a certain Relay Server. This can be set in Relay Server object details. So if you only want the traffic to occur during off-hours, you have that ability. Similarly, you can use the Agent30 settings to configure the client to check into the Relay Servers less often and can be based on conditions. For example, maybe you only want the client to check in when it is connected via WLAN, and not WWAN. Again, you can use a condition to control that. Understand, however, that making these kinds of changes will affect the time it takes to complete the entire provisioning process. More details about how to use these technique can be found in the MSP documentation.
thank you, this answered my question. I would like to add a second part to the question: once an FTP connection is established from the MSP Server to a RelayServer, is it possible to control the bandwidth or rate at which data is pushed to the RS? for example, can the FTP client on the MSP server be configured to send data without exeeding a rate of say, 50kbs ? as a reference, the netlimiter software offers ability to rate-control FTP upload/downloads. if we can not natively support rate-limiting, can this product be used as the FTP client on the MSP server?
Afshin; No, there is no way to throttle HOW MUCH bandwidth the MSP Server uses when communicting to a given FTP Server. And no, you cannot use a different FTP Client on the MSP Server. But... You COULD configure your network to control the QoS for FTP traffic to reduce bandwidth allocation. And if you don't want it to apply to ALL FTP traffic, you could configure MSP and the Relay Server to use non-standard ports and then apply a limited QoS for those ports.