DPA 2020.2 System Requirements
Release date: June 4, 2020
See the following sections for minimum supported system requirements:
- DPAIM compatibility
- Port requirements
- DPA server requirements
- Repository database requirements
- Virtual environment requirements
- Web browsers
- Requirements for monitoring MySQL database instances
- Java requirements
For information about the database instances you can register for monitoring, see Database instances DPA can monitor.
DPA Integration Module (DPAIM) compatibility
If you are not monitoring PostgreSQL database instances, DPAIM 11.1 or later is fully compatible with DPA 2020.2.
If you are monitoring PostgreSQL database instances, DPAIM 2019.4 and earlier versions do not display complete information about your PostgreSQL database instances in the SolarWinds Platform. Upgrade the DPA integration module to DPAIM 2020.2 or later to display all available data from PostgreSQL instances in the SolarWinds Platform.
Port requirements
Review and open the following ports in the firewall to support communication to and from the DPA server.
No additional ports are required for DPA Central.
| Port | Protocol | Service/Process | Direction | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8124 (on premises) or 443 (cloud) |
TLS |
Windows: Ignite PI Service Linux: Java/Tomcat |
Bidirectional | Default HTTPS port for the web server. |
| 8123 (on premises) or 80 (cloud) |
TCP/HTTP |
Windows: Ignite PI Service Linux: Java/Tomcat |
Bidirectional | Default HTTP port for the web server. |
| 8127 | TCP |
Windows: Ignite PI Service Linux: Java/Tomcat |
Internal | This port is used internally by DPA. It does not need to be opened to internal or external traffic, but it needs to be available for DPA to use. |
| 443 | TLS |
Windows: Ignite PI Service Linux: Java/Tomcat |
Outbound |
(Optional) To participate in the SolarWinds Improvement Program (SWIP), allow access to (Optional) To enable online license activation or deactivation, allow access to |
| 80 | TCP/HTTP |
Windows: Ignite PI Service Linux: Java/Tomcat |
Outbound |
(Optional) To allow product updates in self-managed deployments, allow access to |
| 587 | SMTP |
Windows: Ignite PI Service Linux: Java/Tomcat |
Outbound |
(Optional) To use the default SMTP server for outgoing email from DPA, allow access to |
If you are using the DPA Integration Module to integrate DPA with the SolarWinds Platform, see the DPAIM port requirements.
Other connections to consider include the following. The ports used for these connections depend on how your organization configures the connections:
- Monitored database instances – TCP
- Repository database – TCP
- VMware (usually 443) – TCP
- LDAP – TCP
- Custom SMTP server – based on the SMTP server
- SNMP trap – UDP
DPA server requirements
You can install SolarWinds DPA on any physical or virtual Windows or Linux server that supports the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 11.
You can also launch DPA in the cloud:
- In the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace from an Amazon Machine Image (AMI).
- The AMI contains a DPA server on Linux with no repository.
- DPA uses the AWS Marketplace Metering Service to calculate charges.
- In the Azure Marketplace.
- The DPA virtual machine contains a DPA server on Windows and a built-in Microsoft SQL Server database instance configured as the DPA repository.
- Individual licenses must be purchased.
Self-managed DPA server requirements
The CPU, RAM, and disk space requirements depend on the number of database instances you plan to monitor.
If you register VMware, increase the CPU and RAM requirements by 50%.
These are estimates. They are based on testing done with an average of 2-3 active sessions per monitored instance. If you are monitoring busy instances with an average of more than 2-3 active sessions, please adjust accordingly.
| Hardware / Software | 1 - 20 Monitored DB Instances | 21 - 50 Monitored DB Instances | 51 - 100 Monitored DB Instances | 101 - 250 Monitored DB Instances* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPUs | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| RAM dedicated to DPA | 1 GB | 2 GB | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Disk space |
2 GB minimum |
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| Operating System |
|
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| Operating System Architecture | 64-bit | |||
| Character sets | To support a multibyte language, the DPA server, repository, and monitored instances must be configured with the same character set. | |||
* If you plan to monitor more than 250 database instances, consider using more than one DPA server and linking the servers together.
Requirements for an AWS DPA server
The minimum required AWS instance type for the DPA server AMI is t2.medium. Smaller instance types are not supported.
A t2.medium size instance is typically powerful enough to monitor 20 database instances. You might need a larger instance type to reliably monitor more than 20 database instances.
Requirements for an Azure DPA server
SolarWinds recommends two or more database throughput units (DTUs) per monitored database instance. See the Azure SQL Database DTU Calculator for more information.
The minimum required Azure tier is A2.
DPA repository database requirements
The repository database stores the data collected by DPA. A supported database instance must be installed on the database server.
Do not host the repository on a database instance that you plan to monitor, because this affects the performance of that instance.
Supported database versions
| Database | Edition | Version |
|---|---|---|
|
Microsoft SQL Server |
|
The latest Service Pack is supported unless otherwise noted. |
|
Azure SQL Database |
Standard Service Tier or higher | V12 |
| MySQL |
|
MySQL 8.0 is not supported for use as a DPA repository. |
|
Oracle |
|
|
Notes:
-
Although DPA will work with the Express editions of Oracle and SQL Server, SolarWinds does not officially support these editions for the repository because of the database size limits. If you need a free database for an evaluation, SolarWinds recommends using a MySQL database.
-
You can host a self-managed Oracle, SQL Server, or MySQL database on Amazon EC2 to use as your repository.
-
If you choose Azure SQL Database as your repository, SolarWinds recommends two or more database throughput units (DTU) per monitored database instance. See the Azure SQL Database DTU Calculator for more information.
-
Azure SQL Managed Instance (ASMI) is not supported as a DPA repository database.
Self-managed repository database server requirements
If you install DPA on the same server as the repository database, the server must meet these requirements in addition to the DPA server requirements. If you register VMware, increase the CPU and RAM requirements by 50%.
These are estimates. They are based on testing done with an average of 2-3 active sessions per monitored instance. If you are monitoring busy instances with an average of more than 2-3 active sessions, please adjust accordingly.
| Hardware / Software | 1 - 20 Monitored DB Instances | 21 - 50 Monitored DB Instances | 51 - 100 Monitored DB Instances | 101 - 250 Monitored DB Instances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPUs | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Database cache available for DPA | 4 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Disk space |
The amount of disk space your repository uses is determined by the number of database instances you are monitoring and the activity level of each instance:
Example: You are monitoring five low, three medium, and two high activity database instances. (5 × 1 GB) + (3 × 3 GB) + (2 × 5 GB) = 24 GB Reserve at least 24 GB to provide adequate disk space for this repository database. |
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Repository scalability depends on many things, including the database vendor and configuration, the specifications of the repository server, other activity on the repository server, and the activity levels of the monitored database instances.
Requirements for an AWS DPA repository database server
The following RDS instance types are recommended for AWS deployments.
To see the Amazon RDS database types and versions that are supported for an AWS DPA repository database, see Supported database versions.
| Hardware / Software | 1 - 20 Monitored DB Instances | 21 - 50 Monitored DB Instances | 51 - 100 Monitored DB Instances | 101 - 250 Monitored DB Instances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RDS instance type | db.m5.large | db.m5.large | db.m5.xlarge | db.m5.xlarge |
| CPUs | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Database cache available for DPA | 8 GB | 8 GB | 16 GB | 16 GB |
Required administrator credentials
You must know the following credentials for the database instance hosting your DPA repository.
| Repository database type | Credentials |
|---|---|
| SQL Server | SYSADMIN |
| Oracle | database administrator (DBA) |
| MySQL |
repository administrator Alternatively, you can:
|
| Azure SQL Database |
repository administrator Alternatively, you can:
|
Virtual environment requirements
In a virtual environment, DPA can remotely connect to the following to monitor the virtual environment that virtualized database instances are running on. The virtualized database instances must be registered separately from the virtual environment.
| Software | Version |
|---|---|
| VMware vCenter Server |
|
| VMware ESX/ESXi Host |
|
Web browsers
You can use the following browsers to access the DPA web interface:
-
Microsoft Edge
-
Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
Do not use IE compatibility view. It can cause DPA to function incorrectly.
-
Mozilla Firefox: the latest stable version
-
Google Chrome: the latest stable version
MySQL requirements
SolarWinds recommends the following settings to optimize reporting capabilities for a MySQL database instance.
MySQL Performance Schema
The Performance Schema monitors server events and collects performance data. If the Performance Schema is not enabled, DPA provides limited data. Monitoring with the Performance Schema disabled excludes the following data:
- All instrumented wait events
- All wait operations
- All file wait time, broken out by file
- All object wait time, broken out by index and table
- SQL statistics
- Performance-schema dependent alerts
The Performance Schema must be enabled at server startup. In MySQL versions 5.6.6 and later, the Performance Schema is enabled by default.
Global Instrumentation and Thread Instrumentation
Global Instrumentation and Thread Instrumentation must be enabled in the Performance Schema configuration. Disabling these instruments has the same effect as disabling the Performance Schema.
By default, DPA enables these instruments in the configuration. However, if you select the Leave As Is option for Performance Schema setup, you must verify that Global Instrumentation and Thread Instrumentation are enabled in the existing Performance Schema configuration.
show_compatibility_56 system variable
If the monitored database instance is MySQL 5.7.6 or later, SolarWinds recommends turning on the show_compatibility_56 system variable. If this variable is on, DPA can collect data for all metrics.
If this variable is off and the Performance Schema is enabled, DPA cannot collect data for the following metrics:
- Selects
- Inserts
- Updates
- Deletes
Java requirements
DPA ships with JDK 14 for Windows and Linux and installs this version of Java on the DPA server. If you are installing DPA on a supported operating system, no action is required.
For unsupported operating systems, ensure that JDK 14 is installed on the DPA server. If you need to upgrade the JDK:
- Download and install JDK 14.
-
Remove old Java information by deleting the
cat.txtandcat.endfiles from the following directory:<DPA_Home>/iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/ - At a command line, go to the DPA installation directory.
-
Enter the following command:
./startup.sh