In ZENworks, Vertica is not meant to replace the existing ZENworks primary database but is supposed to work in conjunction with the existing database.
You can leverage the capabilities of Vertica when using the Dashboards feature in ZENworks. While all dashlets, with the exception of trending charts, will be displayed when connected to the existing RDBMS; to reduce any delays that you might face while querying large volumes of data in the dashlets, you can configure the Vertica database.
As Vertica stores and reads information from columns leading to faster processing speeds, the data in the dashlets will be processed and displayed much faster compared to an RDBMS database. Also, as Vertica has the ability to compress data size, it can store historical data, thereby enabling you to view historical trends related to patches and CVEs. For more information on the Dashboards feature in ZENworks, see the ZENworks Dashboard Reference guide.
Being an in-house Micro Focus product, the Vertica database is license free for up to 20 TB of data, beyond which you will have to purchase a license for Vertica.
Vertica can be configured only on an Appliance server. To configure the Vertica database, and to migrate and obtain data from Vertica, you also need the ZooKeeper and Apache Kafka components to be enabled and running at all times. When you upgrade to or install ZENworks 2020, ZooKeeper is by default enabled on the first Primary Server. Apache Kafka can be enabled on a Linux or an Appliance server using the ZMAN utility or using ZCC.