---
title: Capacity Planning & Sizing
slug: capacity-planning-and-sizing
createdAt: 2025-06-09T20:07:59.540Z
---

Proper capacity planning ensures that your Activate environment performs reliably and scales effectively as your organisation grows.
This guide outlines the key considerations and recommendations for sizing your Activate infrastructure.

## Overview

Activate is a multi-tier platform consisting of the following core components:

- **Web Portal** – The main user interface and API endpoint.
- **Orchestrator Service** – Handles background processing, workflows, and automation.
- **SQL Database** – Stores configuration data, workflow definitions, history, and cached directory information.
- **Activate Studio** – Desktop management tool used by administrators for configuration and maintenance.
- **Activate Anywhere** – Lightweight proxy component that provides secure external access for mobile and remote users when required.

Each component can be installed on a single server for smaller environments or distributed across multiple servers for scalability and performance.

## Key Sizing Factors

The appropriate sizing for Activate depends on several factors:

| Factor                             | Description                                                                      |
| ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Number of Users**                | Total number of concurrent and total users accessing the platform.               |
| **Automation Load**                | Volume and frequency of background tasks, workflows, and provisioning jobs.      |
| **Directory Size**                 | Number of Active Directory objects synchronised (Users, Groups, Contacts, etc.). |
| **Integration Complexity**         | Number and frequency of connector operations with external systems.              |
| **Audit and Logging Requirements** | Retention period and verbosity of system logs and history tables.                |

## Recommended Starting Point

The following provides a general baseline for a typical mid-sized environment:

| Component          | Recommended Specification                                              | Notes                                          |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| **Windows Server** | Windows Server 2019 or later                                           | Virtual or physical                            |
| **vCPUs**          | 4–8                                                                    | Allocate more cores for large automation loads |
| **Memory**         | 16–32 GB RAM                                                           | Increase if connectors or cache size are high  |
| **Disk**           | 200 GB SSD                                                             | Separate data and log volumes recommended      |
| **SQL Server**     | SQL Server 2019 or later                                               | Dedicated or shared instance                   |
| **Network**        | Low latency connection between web, orchestrator, and database servers | Use same data centre or virtual network        |

## Scaling Recommendations

As usage increases, Activate can be scaled both vertically (by increasing server resources) and horizontally (by adding servers).

### Vertical Scaling

- Add more CPU and memory to the existing VM.
- Increase SQL Server IOPS and memory allocation.
- Extend disk space to accommodate log growth and caching.

### Horizontal Scaling

- Separate **Web** and **Orchestrator** roles onto dedicated VMs.
- Use a load balancer for multiple web servers to improve resilience.
- Deploy a dedicated SQL Server or SQL cluster for larger environments.
- Install **Activate Anywhere** on a separate host if supporting large numbers of external users.

## Performance and Monitoring

To ensure consistent performance:

- **Monitor system metrics** such as CPU, memory, and disk I/O.
- **Review Orchestrator job throughput** and queue times.
- **Track SQL performance** using built-in monitoring tools or your organisation’s preferred solution.
- **Archive or purge logs** regularly to maintain optimal database performance.

## Storage Considerations

- Use **fast SSD storage** for both web and database servers.
- Allocate a **separate volume** for SQL transaction logs.
- Plan for **regular backups** of the Activate database and configuration directories.

## Assistance and Review

Your Activate representative can assist with capacity assessments and provide guidance tailored to your deployment model and usage expectations.
It is recommended to review capacity annually or following any major expansion of Activate’s use within your organisation.

# These figures are intended as a starting point. Actual requirements depend on your organisation’s size and workload.