Installation Environment and Network Requirements

Newton User Guide: Installation

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Backup Information Hardware Recommendations Workstation Installation Instructions

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Installation

At Agency Systems, we strive to provide the best possible experience for our end users. This is why we test, validate, and endorse particular setup types for our application. While there are potentially many solutions, we have identified and support the environments best suited to run Newton by Agency Systems. Our application is designed to run on Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.

Installation Scenarios

Deviation from these supported setup types may result in reduced functionality or features. Please have your technician contact us to answer any questions you may have.

Supported

• Single user, single PC
• Peer-to-Peer workgroup using TCP/IP and DNS (five or less users)
• Microsoft Windows Server/Client (five or more users)
• Remote Desktop to RDP server acting as the Database server or client (Terminal Server)
• Hardware Recommendations

Not Recommended

• Running Microsoft Exchange or other database applications on the same server; competition for server resources may lead to degraded performance.

Not Supported

• Microsoft Remote Web Application - (This is not the same as Microsoft Remote Desktop.)
• Thin clients and VPN - (Thin Clients and VPN may be supported by using Microsoft Remote Desktop inside your session.)
• Network Attached Storage (NAS) - (SAN devices can work, however require local IT support.)
• External Hard Drive for database storage.

Network Requirements

Agency Systems is a network dependant application. In a typical setup the programs and data are located on a dedicated server or master workstation. This means that your network is an important piece for the performance and sustainability to run Agency Systems. Below are some key items and requirements for Agency Systems to run properly.
Local network should be gigabit ethernet. Make sure all network hardware and software allows for gigabit transmission speeds.

Verify that all workstations on the network are on the proper Workgroup or Domain

Each Windows computer belongs either to a workgroup or a domain. Typically small smaller offices use workgroups, and larger business networks operate with domains. Membership in a workgroup or domain is essential to avoiding technical problems in networking Windows computers. Whenever possible, ensure all computers on the LAN use the same workgroup/domain name.

Verify that the network type is set to Domain or Work network

If the network type is set to public there will be sharing limitations and insufficient permissions to read and write data to the database.

Make sure that you can ping the server by name

A ping test determines whether your computer can communicate with another computer over the network by name and the functionality of your DNS server. You can use a ping test to troubleshoot connectivity problems within your local network. Verify that client machines users have at least Read/Write access to the share in which Newton is installed.

Map a network drive to the shared folder on the server

Each client machine should have a network drive mapped one level higher than the Empire directory on the server. Please use the same drive letter on all machines. E.g. net use s: \\server\AsApps
Do not use forced user credentials to map the drive. The user should have Modify access or higher to the Empire directory and all sub-directories (with the possible exception of empire\attchdir\).

Configure your Firewall / Anti-Virus Software

Exclude the entire Empire directory through the mapped network drive (workstation/server), and using the local disk path (server).

Add the following database components to your global exception list:

• ntdbsmgr.exe on a machine running Pervasive PSQL Server
• w3dbsmgr.exe on a machine running Pervasive PSQL Workgroup
• mysqld.exe on a machine running MariaDB

Additionally the following ports may need to be opened for database communication:

• 3306 = MariaDB
• 3351 = PSQL Transactional Interface
• 1583 = PSQL Relational Interface
• 139 = Named Pipes

Note that opening a port opens it for all access.

Other Considerations

• Wireless networks are not recommended because of latency and dropped connections.
• Disable power saving on the NIC.
• Disable the sleep, hibernate and power down of the hard drive.
• It may be necessary to disable IPV6 on the host machine and workstations if unsupported by your network.
• On each client machine, please verify that you are logged into Windows as a local administrator in order to set up the workstation with Agency Systems. Newton can be run as a restricted user, but an admin login is necessary to install the reporting and ODBC components.
• E-mail client: To interface with your e-mail, Newton requires a current, supported desktop version of Microsoft Outlook with a default mail profile using Cached Exchange Mode.