Novell ZENWORKS 10 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT SP3 - SYSTEM PLANNING-DEPLOYMENT-BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 10.3 30-03-2010 System Planning Manual page 41

information from managed devices quickly and efficiently. Generally speaking, delivering content
across a WAN infrastructure to multiple managed devices is not an efficient use of network
resources.
The following formula defines how to calculate the maximum amount of data that can be
transmitted to a device within a given one-hour period:
Available Bandwith (Mbps)
8
(Connected Devices)
The result of this formula provides information on the amount of data that can be transmitted to each
device within a one-hour period.
Available bandwidth in this formula is not the total link speed. Other data is transmitted over the link
within a given hour and must be taken into account, for example:
Internet traffic
File and print
Directory authentication
Line of Business applications
VOIP
In the following examples, sites with different numbers of devices and link speeds are used to
demonstrate the levels of bandwidth available to a device within a one-hour period.
Two sites have been chosen: SITE 1 (650 devices with a 100 MB link) and SITE 2 (20 devices with
a 10 MB link). For the purposes of the calculation, the formula assumes that approximately 95
percent of the available bandwidth is being used by other applications.
Based on link speeds, number of devices, and assumed available bandwidth, the formula gives the
following results for SITE1:
5 Mbps
x 3600
8
650
In a one-hour period, it is possible to transmit 3.46 MB to every device at SITE 1 if you use all of the
bandwidth available to ZENworks Configuration Management. This site, because of its size and
lack of bandwidth per device, should be considered as a candidate to host a Satellite device.
Based on link speeds, number of devices, and assumed available bandwidth, the formula gives the
following results for SITE2:
x 3600
= MB per device per hour
= 3.46 MB per device per hour
Gathering Critical Information for Design Activities 41