Planning hardware infrastructure for Microsoft Dynamics Ax

Decisions about appropriate hardware can be taken considering some key factors described below:

1.       Evaluate and document the existing infrastructure

2.      Define and document the scope and quantity of different factors to be considered

3.      Determine how to structure the system.

 

Evaluate and document the existing infrastructure

Your documentation should include things like:

·         Network bandwidth available

·         Storage system (device or media stores data for later retrieval) that is being used

·         Operating system that is being used

·         Databases that are being used

·         Servers (to serve the needs of users/other-computers on a network) that are being used

·         Current process of disaster recovery (related to preparing for recovery of data critical) , availability (the degree of which the system is in operable/committable state) and scalability (is the ability to handle a growing amount of work in a capable manner)

·         Existing applications that must be integrated with Microsoft Dynamics Ax

 

Define the scope and quantity of factors for new system

 Your documentation should include things like:

·         The components and modules of Microsoft Dynamics AX that you plan to deploy (Uses of the system)

·         The number of transactions over a period of time, and the total number of transactions during peak business hours

·         The number of active/concurrent users over a period of time, and the total number of active/concurrent users during peak business hours

·         The external user access that is required

·         The web access that is required

·         The required availability

·         The projected growth rate

·         The number of sites and the number of users who connect through a wide area network (WAN)

·         Integration requirements: Do any applications have to be integrated with Microsoft Dynamics AX (and what is the workload that is generated by these applications? Are these real-time transactions, or can they be batched?)

 

Determine how to structure the system

Now, from the information from steps 1 and 2, we can start to determine how to structure the system. The following key decisions must be made:

·         Can any server components for Microsoft Dynamics AX be combined on a single computer? If server components can be combined, which components do you want to combine?

·         What is your deployment plan for high availability and scalability for Microsoft Dynamics AX components?

·         What is your backup and recovery strategy?