Symantec Proof of Value Proposal for [Company Name]

This document describes the proposed steps to ensure a successful evaluation of the SymantecEnterprise Vault email archiving solution at [Company Name].

The Enterprise VaultFile System Archiving will be used to facilitate the archive storage, retention, and searching of a Windows-based file system.

Proof of Value Planning:

Customers have different reasons for implementing archiving solutions. The Proof of Value will be designed to show that the SymantecEnterprise Vault can solve specific problems and achieve [Company Name]’s goals.

Proof of Value Assumptions:

Before the Proof of Value begins, both parties should agree on a set of assumptions:

  1. The Proof of Value will be performed in a test lab with a non-production file server, testing with non-production data. This will allow functionality testing without any potential impact to the production infrastructure.
  2. The Microsoft domain & DNS infrastructure and file server will be configured and populated with sample data before the installation engineer arrives on-site and begins the installation.
  3. Because the testing is geared towards functionality demonstration and not performance benchmarking, only 5 to 10 folders containing sample data will be enabled for archiving by the SymantecEnterprise Vault.
  4. Because the testing is geared toward functionality demonstration, no more than 10GB of files will be archived.
  5. The archiving criteria will be configured by file extension, size, and/or age.
  6. Although the archive and index processing takes place on the Symantec application server, an Enterprise Vault File Placeholder Service (agent) will be installed on each file server that will store the placeholders/stubs. This placeholder service is necessary in order to provide transparent user access to archived files, but is unnecessary when Enterprise Vault File System Archiving is configured to simply make a “copy” of files for search purposes only.
  7. When testing Enterprise Vault File System Archiving, NTFS security will be configured and synchronized to the archive at a folder-level, not from individual file permissions.

Criteria for success

We believe the following list aptly describes the criteria for success, but this list will be refined and agreed to before the Proof of Value begins. The Proof of Value will show that:

  1. Each archive-enabled folder will only store information that falls outside of the configured archiving criteria, as well as fully-functional “placeholders” to access data that has been archived to the Enterprise Vault.
  2. The archiving process will be automatic and transparent to the end users because automatic archiving takes place at a server level with no user intervention required.
  3. The viewing of archived data will be transparent to the end users via mouse double-click.
  4. <please insert customer’s specific requirements/objectives here for feasibility validation prior to installation…>
  5. Using an advanced single-instance storage algorithm, only one copy of identical files will be archived to a given Enterprise Vault storage device.
  6. Many types of archived files (250+) are fully indexed and can by found by keyword/phrase searches, unlike traditional HSM products that do not full-text index the content.

Proof of Value Requirements

Hardware

We suggest the Proof of Value be run on the following hardware as a minimum:

1 GHz server-class machine with 2 GB RAM, and at least 60GB of available storage.

Software

The Enterprise Vault server(s) should be configured with Windows 2003 Server prior to installation. SQL Server 2000 SP3a must be provided by [Company Name], and ideally should be installed & patched before the installing engineer arrives. In a production environment it is recommended to use a dedicated SQL server rather than install SQL on an Enterprise Vault application server, but test labs can be configured either way. Outlook 2000 or 2003 (with the CDO option included during installation) must be provided by[Company Name]for the Enterprise Vault server, and may be installed on the Symantec application server either before or after the installing engineer arrives. Note: Outlook XP is not supported on the Enterprise Vault application server.

Upon arrival, the Symantec Engineer will need to install IIS, ASP.Net, and Message Queuing (without Active Directory integration).

The Vault Service account

Purpose The Vault Service account is used by Enterprise Vault processes to access the Windows server operating system. The Enterprise Vault services, which are Windows services, run under this account.

The Vault Service account is shared by all the Enterprise Vault computers in the Enterprise Vault Directory. If you are managing multiple Enterprise Vault sites, you can use the same Vault Service account for more than one Enterprise Vault site.

The Vault Service account must be a domain-based Windows security account that belongs to the local Administrators group on all Enterprise Vault computers in the Directory. The account password must not be blank. If possible, create the account so that it is in the same domain as the Enterprise Vault computers. If it is necessary for the Vault Service account and the Enterprise Vault computers to be in different domains, create the account so that it is in a domain that is trusted by the Enterprise Vault computers’ domain. During configuration, you are asked to provide the name and password of the Vault Service account.

Enterprise Vault automatically grants the Vault Service account the following advanced user rights:

• Log On As a Service

• Act As Part Of The Operating System

• Debug programs

Creating a SQL login for Enterprise Vault

The Vault Service account is also used to create and maintain its databases on the SQL server by Enterprise Vault. You must use SQL Enterprise Manager to create a SQL login for the Vault Service account, as follows:

  1. Click Start, Programs, Microsoft SQL Server, Enterprise Manager.
  2. Expand the SQL Server container.
  3. Click Security.
  4. Right-click Logins and, on the shortcut menu, click New Login.
  5. Enter or select the name of the Vault Service Account. For example, domain\vaultadministrator
  6. Check that Windows Authentication is selected and that the correct Domain for the account has been selected.
  7. Under Security Access check that Grant access is selected.
  8. On the Server Roles tab, select Database Creators.
  9. Click OK.

During the installation the Enterprise Vault Service Account needs to be part of the SQL servers ‘local administrators’ group, at least during the creation wizards that need to see the administrative shares when specifying Database and Log paths (C$, D$, E$ etc.). The local administrative permissions, in addition to the Database Creator permissions, are temporary needed (only when creating new databases).

Assigning File Server permissions

You must give the new Vault Service accountfull control access to the directories and files to be archived.

License Key

Before the Proof of Value can start, a license key is needed. The license key is specific to the machine that it will run on. [Company Name] will be provided with a small utility to run on each of the test servers. The output of that utility must be sent to nd in return a temporary license key will be sent for the server. This should be done prior to the Proof of Value beginning, but could be done on the first day of the Proof of Value if necessary.

Proof of Value Schedule

On the first day of the Proof of Value, an installation engineer will arrive at a set time and over the course of 2 days will install, configure and test the SymantecEnterprise Vault software. [Company Name] will have adequate time to privately test the software after the Symantec engineer leaves, but the entire proof of value project (and license key) will end by <END DATE>.

Validate Proof of Value Requirements (1 hour)

The first step is to ensure that the proper hardware and operating system (as listed above) are in place for the Proof of Value to begin. Also, the temporary license key will be requested from Symantec headquarters if necessary.

Install Prerequisite Software (3 hours)

  • IIS with Active Server Pages enabled
  • Message Queuing (without Active Directory integration)
  • ASP.Net
  • Outlook 2000 or 2003 (with CDO option included, which isn’t by default)
  • SQL Server 2000 SP3a (can reside on different machine)

Install the Enterprise Vault (2 hours)

  • Pre-installation tasks (service account permissions, etc)
  • Wizard-based Installation (setup.exe)
  • Apply license key

Configure (2 hours)

In this step, the SymantecEnterprise Vault configuration policies will be set to the appropriate values for the Proof of Value.

Testing (4 hours)

Once configured, the Symantec Enterprise Vault will be tested to ensure it is working properly and that the Criteria for Success are satisfied.

Information Exchange (4 hours)

At this point, the Enterprise Vault should be working properly and some time will be spent training [Company Name] on the use and administration of the Enterprise Vault.

Review and Signoff

Once all parties agree that that the Enterprise Vault is installed and working properly, the Symantec engineer will leave after ensuring that [Company Name] has all necessary contact information for project questions and follow-up.

Conference Calls

After the internal evaluation period begins, conference calls will be set up on a regular basis to review the project progress. These calls will include representatives from both Symantec and [Company Name].

Proof of Value Completion

At the end of the evaluation period, a final conference call will be scheduled to review the results of the Proof of Value. Each of the items listed in the ‘Criteria for Success’ section above will be reviewed to determine if the Proof of Value was successful.

Proof of Value Schedule