Fortinet black logo

EMS Administration Guide

Management capacity

Management capacity

FortiClient EMS is intended for enterprise use and has the capacity to manage a large number of endpoints.

Having at least 200 GB of disk space available is recommended.

You can use FortiClient EMS with SQL Server Express, Enterprise, or Standard. When managing more than 5000 endpoints, install SQL Server Enterprise or Standard instead of SQL Server Express, which the EMS installation installs by default. Otherwise, you may experience database deadlocks. See Installing FortiClient EMS to specify SQL Server Enterprise or Standard instance. The following table summarizes which SQL Server edition to use for different numbers of managed endpoints.

Number of managed endpoints

Required SQL Server edition

Other configuration notes

Up to 5000

Express. Optionally, you can use SQL Server Enterprise or Standard.

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

5000 to 10000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

10000 to 20000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

20000 to 30000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

30000 to 40000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

40000 to 50000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

50000 to 75000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server must be installed on two different Windows Server machines.

The following are suggested host system hardware configurations for FortiClient EMS. The suggested configurations depend on the number of endpoints FortiClient EMS is managing. The following table shows the configurations when EMS and SQL Server are running on the same Windows Server machine:

Number of managed endpoints

Number of virtual CPUs

Memory (RAM) (in GB)

Suggested keep alive interval

Up to 5000

6

8

Default (60 seconds)

5000 to 10000

10

10

Default (60 seconds)

10000 to 20000

12

14

120 seconds

20000 to 30000

18

18

120 seconds

30000 to 40000

20

20

120 seconds

40000 to 50000

22

22

120 seconds

The following table shows the configurations when EMS and SQL Server are running on different Windows Server machines:

Number of managed endpoints

EMS server machine

SQL Server machine

Suggested keep alive interval

Number of virtual CPUs

Memory (RAM) (in GB)

Number of virtual CPUs

Memory (RAM) (in GB)

10000 to 20000

8

8

6

9

120 seconds

20000 to 30000

10

8

6

11

120 seconds

30000 to 40000

12

9

7

12

120 seconds

40000 to 50000

14

10

8

13

120 seconds

50000 to 75000

16

12

10

15

120 seconds

The requirements listed for managing 50000 to 75000 endpoints are considered best practice, even when managing a smaller number of endpoints.

Management capacity

FortiClient EMS is intended for enterprise use and has the capacity to manage a large number of endpoints.

Having at least 200 GB of disk space available is recommended.

You can use FortiClient EMS with SQL Server Express, Enterprise, or Standard. When managing more than 5000 endpoints, install SQL Server Enterprise or Standard instead of SQL Server Express, which the EMS installation installs by default. Otherwise, you may experience database deadlocks. See Installing FortiClient EMS to specify SQL Server Enterprise or Standard instance. The following table summarizes which SQL Server edition to use for different numbers of managed endpoints.

Number of managed endpoints

Required SQL Server edition

Other configuration notes

Up to 5000

Express. Optionally, you can use SQL Server Enterprise or Standard.

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

5000 to 10000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

10000 to 20000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

20000 to 30000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

30000 to 40000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

40000 to 50000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server can be installed on the same Windows Server machine, or two different Windows Server machines.

50000 to 75000

Enterprise or Standard

EMS and SQL Server must be installed on two different Windows Server machines.

The following are suggested host system hardware configurations for FortiClient EMS. The suggested configurations depend on the number of endpoints FortiClient EMS is managing. The following table shows the configurations when EMS and SQL Server are running on the same Windows Server machine:

Number of managed endpoints

Number of virtual CPUs

Memory (RAM) (in GB)

Suggested keep alive interval

Up to 5000

6

8

Default (60 seconds)

5000 to 10000

10

10

Default (60 seconds)

10000 to 20000

12

14

120 seconds

20000 to 30000

18

18

120 seconds

30000 to 40000

20

20

120 seconds

40000 to 50000

22

22

120 seconds

The following table shows the configurations when EMS and SQL Server are running on different Windows Server machines:

Number of managed endpoints

EMS server machine

SQL Server machine

Suggested keep alive interval

Number of virtual CPUs

Memory (RAM) (in GB)

Number of virtual CPUs

Memory (RAM) (in GB)

10000 to 20000

8

8

6

9

120 seconds

20000 to 30000

10

8

6

11

120 seconds

30000 to 40000

12

9

7

12

120 seconds

40000 to 50000

14

10

8

13

120 seconds

50000 to 75000

16

12

10

15

120 seconds

The requirements listed for managing 50000 to 75000 endpoints are considered best practice, even when managing a smaller number of endpoints.