About Networks
Enterprise supports multiple systems working together in a distributed environment connected to one or more Enterprise site servers. The best performance is achieved within a high bandwidth/low latency local area network. High latency and/or low bandwidth networks such as the satellite, internet, and VPN connections may be used, but careful consideration must be given to bandwidth and latency issues which can affect Enterprise performance.
Local Area Network (LAN)
- A Local Area Network with low latency and a shielded network connection between the kiosk computer containing the SQL server and any remote seats.
- WiFi or wireless connections are not supported as the electrical noise of the plasma cutter (and any welding going on nearby) can cause unreliable communications.
- For updates and web services support - An high speed internet connection capable of at least 10MB.
Wide Area Network (WAN)
- PypeServer may not perform acceptably over WAN through VPN connections because of communications latency (not bandwidth). The bottleneck is the round-tripping lag/cost incurred by the high number of small, incremental data fetches and stores to SQL. This problem is common in CAD-type systems and other systems that “nibble” on the server, unlike more general use such as web-browsing or online forms.
- The Enterprise Health Check tool can measure SQL latency and provide a report indicating whether the connection will provide satisfactory performance.
Internet
- The WAN constraints above also apply when using Enterprise over an Internet connection.
- Enterprise and Lyte require an internet connection for updates.
Security
Local computer
Enterprise is supported when run under standard Windows local user rights with read/write access to the following locations.
- The PypeServer folder in the user's profile path %USERPROFILE%\Documents\PypeServer
- The users local registry path \\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PypeServer
- The PypeServerAdmin and PypeServerDB databases located in the SQL Server installed on the kiosk computer.
- Enterprise installation, updates require Local Administrator user rights.
Our support team requires local administrator rights when engaged in an online support session with the user.
Network access
Enterprise is a multi-user system and each Enterprise user requires network access to the kiosk computer containing the license server, SQL server, and network file shares. Please note also that some anti-virus programs feature firewall functions that may cause operational issues. Please contact the relevant vendor for details on your anti-virus software protection.
License Server
PypeServer use the WIBU Systems “CodeMeter” licensing system and remote seats must be able to check out licenses from the kiosk license server using TCP and UDP ports 22350. An inbound firewall rule for either these ports or the License Server executable 'CodeMeter.exe'. must be configured on the kiosk computer.
SQL Server
Remote seats require access to the kiosk SQL databases and the kiosk computer's firewall must be configured to allow the incoming connections. This is done by allowing inbound access for the SQL server executables sqlserver.exe and sqlbrowser.exe, or adding inbound rules for TCP ports 135, 433, 1433, and UDP port 1434. The SQL Server and Data Transaction Coordinator services must be set to start automatically.
Troubleshooting
Enterprise HealthCheck
The Enterprise HealthCheck tool provides a detailed report of settings and configuration issues, and provides the option to reconfigure the firewall settings to a supported configuration. The tool is included with every Enterprise install.
Additional Information: Customers may contact Support for a standalone version.
Microsoft Port Query
The Microsoft Port Query tool is useful for checking which ports are are available and their status. This will probe local and remote systems and can be used to remotely verify the correct networking ports are available.
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