Vector AM Architecture
Vector AM uses network shares to store information and transfer data to and from users' PCs. This enables it to be installed on most LAN and WAN systems and minimizes the installation requirements and security implications for PCs that it is used to access. The standard Vector AM system contains the following components:
Clients are computers on your network that can be managed from the Vector AM Console:
Offline
Clients transfer data and receive instructions through a shared offline area located on a server. Clients
are configured to work in this mode by default because the shared Offline area reduces maintenance requirements,
presents a lower security risk to the Client computer and uses fewer network resources.
Audit
Clients are computers where the Client cannot be permanently installed, or that are not connected to a
network. The One-shot Client kit is used to transfer data to and from these Clients using a diskette.
The Client can be used with DOS, Windows, and Macintosh OS 7.5.3 or later.
The offline area is a shared directory in which Clients store their raw inventory data. Each Client has its own subdirectory within the offline area.
When the Vector AM Client runs, it automatically saves the latest raw inventory data for the PC to the offline area. From there, the data is collected, analyzed and saved to the Site database when you run a Software Inventory or Hardware Inventory operation on the Client.
The offline area is also used to relay instructions to the Client, such as when you run Distribute Software, Get User Data or Configure Client operations.
The Console provides the interface to Clients and the Site database. It enables you to retrieve data from the offline area and to run and schedule the tasks (called operations) that you want to perform on PCs across your network. You can create multiple Consoles to enable support staff to access the system simultaneously and you can also manage multiple Site databases from each Console.
Schedulers execute operations at a specified time and date. They enable you to run operations at periods of low network activity, and to automate regular tasks, such as the collection of inventory data. A Scheduler can run as a conventional application or as a Windows service. To spread your workload and minimize network traffic in segmented networks, Schedulers can be installed on any networked PCs and like the Console, can access one or more Sites.
Sites enable you to organize your Client PCs into logical and business groupings. For example, you can create a Site for each business unit, each network, each domain, or any other method of organization that suits the way you want to work. Site databases store the data collected from Clients on your network. They also contain jobs, operations, application definitions and job logs. Because multiple Consoles and Schedulers can access the a Site database, you can spread your workload across multiple PCs.
You must create a Site database before you can use Vector Asset Management. You can use a Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server (version 7 SP3 or later), or Oracle (version 8.1.5 or later) database to store your Site data. You can access a Site database from any Console. Each Site database can be used to contain data from multiple offline areas.