After the design is complete and has been reviewed by VMware Professional Services or an appropriately certified VMware partner, the next phase is installing and configuring components.
With any deployment, installation and configuration of VMware Smart Assurance components are usually performed in stages. Each installed and configured segment is validated individually as described in the next phase of the deployment process. This phased approach eases troubleshooting.
Many organizations have specific procedural requirements that must be met before and during installation of new software products in their production environments. These requirements might include lab installations with performance validations and preproduction deployments. Lab configurations usually require the use of a testbed that is configured and equipped similarly to the production environment. Acceptance tests may be performed before the deployment to the production environment. After the production deployment, the lab or testbed may be used to test upgrades and, if required, patches.
Though this guide cannot cover organization-specific requirements, it does provide guidelines that might aid you in responding to these conditions.
Installing and configuring an VMware Smart Assurance deployment is covered in Chapter 10, “Deploying EMC Smarts Components.” The deployment information, including software locations and all configuration choices should be recorded in the deployment build guide. Normally, this phase is performed by the purchaser of the VMware Smart Assurance deployment and either VMware Professional Services or a partner.
