Database Options; Active Directory Authentication Options; Performing Capacity Planning - VMware ACE Management Server Administrator's Manual

Database Options

ACE Management Server offers the following database options:

Embedded SQLite database – The default mode of ACE Management Server works with an embedded
SQLite 3 database engine. The SQLite database engine is initialized during server installation and requires
no special configuration. The embedded database supports up to several gigabytes of data.
The SQLite database is file based and is not designed to be effectively shared across multiple processes. If
you use third‐party tools to access the database for a read operation, therefore, you cannot depend on
transactional isolation of the pending write operations of the ACE Management Server.
The embedded database is adequate for testing purposes, but VMware recommends that you use an
external database in production environments.

Supported external database – In production environments, use a supported external database as a
backing store for ACE Management Server, through ODBC connectivity. Supported external database
engines are the following:

For Windows‐based ACE Management Server, use Microsoft SQL Server (SQL Server 2000 or SQL
Server 2005) or Oracle Database 10g installed on the same system or a different Windows system

For Linux‐based ACE Management Server, use PostgreSQL 7.4 or higher installed on the same
system or a different Linux system
N If ACE Management Server is deployed in the DMZ, use an external database located inside your
OTE
corporate network behind a firewall.
Using an external database with ACE Management Server offers the following benefits:

Online backup so that you do not have to shut down ACE Management Server to back up the
database.

Enhanced security model. You can fine‐tune permissions to access sensitive data. The SQLite
database engine provides file‐system based security.

Performance fine‐tuning.

Ability to use external database management and reporting tools.

Ability to use load balancers with multiple ACE Management Server instances. You must use an
external RDBMS as the backing store, because the SQLite database is not designed to be effectively
shared across multiple processes.

Active Directory Authentication Options

Active Directory integration provides the following benefits:

Permits joining an operating system that is running an ACE instance to the domain remotely.

Provides search functions so you can quickly find a particular individual or group.

Enables you to use Active Directory Users and Groups to configure role‐based access to the features of
ACE Management Server.

Performing Capacity Planning

ACE Management Server enables you to manage ACE instances and policies in real time. The number of
clients that a single ACE Management Server can serve depends on several key factors:

Database throughput and scalability

LDAP throughput (if you are using Active Directory)

Network bandwidth available for incoming client requests
VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Planning an ACE Management Server Deployment
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