Estimating Hardware Requirements Using The Lifecycle Services Usage Profiler For Dynamics AX

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© 2014 Murray Fife, All Rights Reserved www.dynamicsaxcompanions.com

MURRAY FIFE

DYNAMICS AX 2012 TIPS & TRICKS

ESTIMATING HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS USING THE LIFECYCLE SERVICES USAGE PROFILER



ESTIMATING HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS USING THE LIFECYCLE SERVICES USAGE

PROFILER

BY MURRAY FIFE


Copyright © 2014 Murray Fife

All Rights Reserved


What You Need For This Guide

All the examples shown in this blueprint were done with the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 virtual machine image that was downloaded from the Microsoft CustomerSource or PartnerSource site. If you don't have your own installation of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you can also use the images found on the Microsoft Learning Download Center or deployed through Lifecycle Services. The following list of software from the virtual image was leveraged within this guide:

• Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3

Even though all the preceding software was used during the development and testing of the recipes in this book, they may also work on earlier versions of the software with minor tweaks and adjustments, and should also work on later versions without any changes.

Errata

Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books—maybe a mistake in the text or the code—we would be grateful if you would report this to us. By doing so, you can save other readers from frustration and help us improve subsequent versions of this book. If you find any errata, please report them by emailing [email protected].

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Piracy of copyright material on the Internet is an ongoing problem across all media. If you come across any illegal copies of our works, in any form, on the Internet, please provide us with the location address or website name immediately so that we can pursue a remedy.

Please contact us at [email protected] with a l ink to the suspected pirated material.

We appreciate your help in protecting our authors, and our ability to bring you valuable content.

Questions

You can contact us at [email protected] if you are having a problem with any aspect of the book, and we will do our best to address it.

Preface

mailto:[email protected]



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Estimating Hardware

Requirements Using The

Lifecycle Services Usage Profiler

Lifecycle Services has a nifty feature that allows you to estimate your hardware requirements based on your business process flows and also your expected transactional usage within the system. This is a great way to get the official sizing's for your Dynamics AX system directly from the source – Microsoft.

This will ensure that you don’t create a system that is either under or over powered.

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Start off by opening up your project within Lifecycle Services and clicking on the Usage Profilertile.

Estimating Hardware Requirements Using The Lifecycle

Services Usage Profiler

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When the Usage Profiler workspace is displayed, if you have existing Business Processes within your project, click on the Import from BPM tile.



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This will grab all of your existing Business Process models and integrate them in with the usage data.



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After the import is complete then you will see the areas that you will be using within the Business Process column.



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Now click on the Download Excel Template ti le and save the Excel workbook that it creates for you.



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When you open up the workbook, click on the Enable Editing button to enable the content.



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Now switch to the Deployment Details and you will see that there are a number of questions for you to answer based on your expected deployment profile.



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All you need to do is click on the dropdown and select the appropriate answer.



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Now just Answer as many of the questions as you can.



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If you imported any Business Process Models, then you will also notice that there are tabs for all of the other functional areas like Sales etc. If you want to update those details with the transaction volumes, then this will help LCS size your hardware appropriately.



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If you really want to get detailed then you can also enter in all of your organizational profiles as well within the Operating Sites tabs.

After you have updated as much as you can, just save and close the Workbook.



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Now return to Lifecycle Services and click on the Upload Completed Template ti le.



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Find the completed spreadsheet and then click on the Open button.



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Lifecycle Services will then take all of your profile data and process for a l ittle bit.



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Now you will see that the Environment Details and the Business Processes columns will be updated with different statuses. If you have questions that have not been completed, then just click on the tile.



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This will allow you to update all of the information that was on the spreadsheet on-line.



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Once you have completed as much as you can within the Usage Profile, just click on the Infrastructure Estimation tile.



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Lifecycle Services will give you a breakdown of all the hardware and configuration profiles so that you can start estimating your hardware and hosting costs.

How easy is that!



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TIP & TRICKS FOR DYNAMICS AX 2012


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The Tips & Tricks series is a compilation of all the cool things that I have found that you can do within Dynamics AX, and are also the basis for my Tips & Tricks presentations that I have been giving for the AXUG, and online. Unfortunately book page size restrictions mean that I can only fit 50 tips & tricks per book, but I will create new volumes every time I reach the 50 Tip mark. If you want to view all of the compilations then here are the links.

50 Tips & Tricks For Dynamics AX 2012http://www.amazon.com/dp/1495487776/

Another 50 Tips & Tricks for Dynamics AXhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/1497383412/

Want More Tips & Tricks

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1495487776/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1497383412/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J7AG5CG/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J7AG5CG/

http://www.amazon.com/Configuring-Production-Dynamics-Barebones-Configuration/dp/149920633X/

http://www.amazon.com/Configuring-Production-Dynamics-Barebones-Configuration/dp/149920633X/

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Murray Fife is a Microsoft Dynamics AX MVP, and Author with over 20 years of experience in the software industry.

Like most people in this industry he has paid his dues as a developer, an implementation consultant, a trainer, and now spend most of his days working with companies solving their problems with the Microsoft suite of products, specializing in the Dynamics® AX solutions.

EMAIL [email protected]

TWITTER @murrayfife

SKYPE murrayfife

AMAZON www.amazon.com/author/murrayfife

WEB www.dynamicsaxcompanions.com

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Estimating Hardware Requirements Using The Lifecycle Services Usage Profiler For Dynamics AX

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