Planning the installation

Plan your installation by reviewing important information to help set up your cluster.

Requirements and permissions
When you are planning the installation, there are minimum system requirements (including software, hardware, and permission requirements) to consider for running IBM Spectrum Symphony in both evaluation and production environments.
Installation packages
Download the installation packages that you require to install IBM Spectrum Symphony. If you are entitled to the packages, download the packages from IBM Passport Advantage®. If you want to evaluate the product, download the trial packages from the evaluation site.
Workload execution modes
When you install IBM Spectrum Symphony, your choice of workload execution mode affects flexibility and security of your cluster. When you install the cluster, you must choose simplified or advanced workload execution mode (WEM). Although the requirements for using advanced WEM are more restrictive, choose advanced WEM if you can, because it is not always possible to change the cluster mode after installation.
DNS server
An IBM Spectrum Symphony installation requires a DNS server. When you do not have an external DNS server, especially in cloud environments, and IBM Spectrum Symphony is installed in advanced workload execution mode, you can use the Service Director service in IBM Spectrum Symphony as an internal DNS server (see Running IBM Spectrum Symphony without external DNS). In simplified workload execution mode, you must manually define the mapping between host name and IP address in the OS hosts file.
IBM Spectrum Symphony editions
IBM Spectrum Symphony is available in several editions. Product add-ons are optional and serve to enhance the functionality of the Standard and Advanced Editions. Use the edition that best suits your business needs.
Cluster overview and properties
Before installing IBM Spectrum Symphony, understand your hosts and decide what kind of cluster you want to create. Then, familiarize yourself with some key cluster properties.
Files within the installation packages
When installing IBM Spectrum Symphony, you typically use an .exe installation package for Windows that includes several .msi files, and a .bin installation package for Linux® and Linux on POWER® that includes several .rpm files. The installers copy all files to your host during installation.

Parent topic: Installing and configuring IBM Spectrum Symphony