Technical Specification (2.5.0) - Advanced Legal · 2016-03-07 · Technical Specification Version 2.5.0 The minimum and recommended technical ... 2012 STD8 2014 STD8 Windows Server

ALB

Technical Specification

Version 2.5.0

The minimum and recommended technical

environment specifications.

REV8070316JS

Disclaimer

Advanced Legal is satisfied that the information contained in this

document is correct at the time of production. Advanced Legal does not

accept responsibility for any loss of profit, loss of data or any indirect,

special or consequential damages resulting from its use. As the software

changes continuously, it is important that you always check the current

position with Advanced Legal.

All information, text, images and layout are the exclusive property of

Advanced Legal and you are only permitted to print, copy, download or

temporarily store extracts from this document with prior permission. Any

attempt to damage this document or act in contravention of these Terms

and Conditions may lead to legal redress.

Advanced Legal is a trading name of Advanced Legal Solutions Limited

which is part of Advanced Computer Software Group Limited. Registered

in England under number 01738381 at Ditton Park, Riding Court Road,

Datchet, Berkshire, SL3 9LL.

© Advanced Legal Solutions Limited, Mar 2016. All rights reserved.

iii

Contents

PART 1: Introduction ............................................... 5

Before you begin ................................................................. 6

Revision history .................................................................. 7

PART 2: Hardware specs ......................................... 8

Server hardware, O/S and SQL requirements ......................... 9

Terminal Services hardware, O/S and software requirements . 10

Client requirements ........................................................... 11

Deployment considerations ................................................. 11

PART 3: Software specs ......................................... 13

Small Business Server (SBS) .............................................. 14

Client operating systems .................................................... 17

Microsoft Office ................................................................. 17

Outlook Exchange ............................................................. 19

Browser access ................................................................. 19

Document production ........................................................ 20

Workflow ......................................................................... 20

Word add-in ..................................................................... 20

Time Tracker .................................................................... 21

Other integration .............................................................. 21

PART 4: Server virtualisation ................................ 23

Server virtualisation technology .......................................... 24

PART 5: PI Portal requirements ............................. 26

SQL agent ........................................................................ 27

SMTP server ..................................................................... 27

System parameters ........................................................... 28

PART 6: Recommendations .................................... 29

Business continuity and backup .......................................... 29

iv

Data volumes ................................................................... 29

Remote access .................................................................. 30

Telephony integration (CTI) ................................................ 30

Printers ............................................................................ 30

Desktop scanners .............................................................. 31

Name resolution ................................................................ 31

Virus scanning .................................................................. 32

Reporting tools ................................................................. 32

Laptop usage .................................................................... 33

PART 7: Technical Survey Questionnaire ............... 34

Contact information ........................................................... 34

ALB server environment ..................................................... 34

Terminal Server environment ............................................. 36

Network ........................................................................... 38

ALB TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION 2.5.0

5

PART 1: Introduction

This document outlines the recommended environment specifications for

running ALB successfully. Its purpose is to cover the hardware and

software requirements, plus other important recommendations that you

should be aware of before implementing ALB.

IMPORTANT This document contains confidential information and

must not be disclosed in whole or in part to any third-party.

Unauthorised copying, printing, or distribution is prohibited.

In this section:

Before you begin

Revision history


6

Before you begin

ALB is continually developed and increased functionality will inevitably

lead to greater demands on hardware in terms of disk storage, processor,

and memory resources. Given that most firms write IT hardware

investments off over somewhere between 3-5 years it therefore makes

sense wherever possible to exceed these specifications.

Some specifications in this document are intended for those who wish to

re-use existing systems for ALB, and therefore may reflect items that can

no longer be purchased as new. The recommended specifications have

been built around currently available hardware and software.

For ALB database or application servers these guidelines are based on the

assumption that the supplied server is dedicated to the use of ALB and

that no other Microsoft server products/applications are installed on the

same server unless otherwise stated.

Where hardware is supplied by a third-party, assurances must be given by

them that the existing or proposed environment meets or exceeds the

expected performance of our recommended environment specification.

However, we will assist the third-party within reasonable limits in order

that they can give this assurance.

Conventions

When new versions of ALB are released it is not possible to complete full

regression test cycles on every combination of operating system platform.

Therefore a reference test platform is selected which is intended to reflect

the platforms most commonly used by our customers and is shown in

bold. A lighter degree of regression testing is carried out on certified

platforms which are shown in italics.

Supported platforms are those where Advanced Legal is not aware of any

issues in running ALB on such a platform, and will correct defects found in

these environments, but will not explicitly test using them.

CHAPTER PART 1: INTRODUCTION

7

NOTES

The operating systems and Microsoft Office versions listed in the

software specifications are the only versions currently supported

by ALB. Any product not mentioned here is not supported.

For prospective customers, please complete the Environment

Sign-off Form so that we are both clear that your environment is

suitable for a successful installation.

For more information on the hardware specifications in this

document, please contact Advanced Legal Technical Services.

Revision history

Here's a summary of the changes in this release. It shows new or revised

content in terms of usage, policy or procedure and should be reviewed.

[23.10.15] — Microsoft Office: Support for Office 2016 added.

[21.12.15] — Server operating systems: Support for Windows

2003 removed.

[21.12.15] — Client operating systems: Note updated to state XP

no longer supported.

[21.12.15] — Other integration: Updated with pdfDocs 4.2,

Exchange 2013 & 2016.

[22.12.15] — Remote access: Updated with LogMeIn support.

[08.01.16] — Hardware specs: Updated with latest specs.

[15.02.16] — Other integration: Support added for Rekoop 5.9.24.


8

PART 2: Hardware specs

In this section:

Server hardware, O/S and SQL requirements

Terminal Services hardware, O/S and software requirements

Client requirements

Deployment considerations

CHAPTER PART 2: HARDWARE SPECS

9

Server hardware, O/S and SQL

requirements

The table below details the recommended server specifications and

assumes that the server is for the sole use of ALB and related

components. It is highly recommended that modern hardware is deployed

(< 2 years) to ensure that maximum performance and benefit is achieved

from the latest version of ALB and its components.

Server

specification

<10 users <50 users <100 users >100 users

CPU:

Intel E5-

2620v3 series

or similar

1 X 2 core 1 X 4 core 1 X 8 core 2 X 8 core

RAM: 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB

Disk

subsystem:

1 X RAID1 or

1 X RAID5

1 X RAID1

(O/S)1

1 X RAID10

(data)1

1 X RAID1

(O/S)1

1 X RAID10

(data)1

1 X RAID1

(O/S)1

1 X RAID10

(data)1

SQL version

and edition

2005 STD

(SP4)3,4,5

2008 STD6

2008R2 STD7

2012 STD8

2014 STD8

2005 STD

(SP4)3,4,5

2008 STD6

2008R2 STD7

2012 STD8

2014 STD8

2005 STD

(SP4)3,4,5

2008 STD6

2008R2 STD7

2012 STD8

2014 STD8

2005 STD

(SP4)3,4,5

2008 STD6

2008R2 STD7

2012 STD8

2014 STD8

Windows

Server

version and

edition

2008 (x64)

STD9

2008R2 STD9

2012 STD

2012R2 STD

2008 (x64)

STD9

2008R2 STD9

2012 STD

2012R2 STD

2008 (x64)

STD9

2008R2 STD9

2012 STD

2012R2 STD

2008R2 Ent

2012 STD

2012R2

Microsoft

.NET

4.5 with

latest

updates

4.5 with

latest

updates

4.5 with

latest

updates

4.5 with

latest

updates


10

NOTES

(1) Recommend 10k or 15k SAS drives. (2) Recommend SAS based SSD drives for maximum throughput. (3) SQL2005 SP4 is the minimum supported version. Mainstream

support ended 2011, extended support ends April 2016. (4) Supports SQL Report Builder 1 only. (5) SQL 2005 is not compatible with Windows Server 2012. (6) Supports SQL Report Builder 1 & 2 only. (7) Supports SQL Report Builder 1, 2 & 3. (8) Supports SQL Report Builder 3 only. (9) Maximum of 32 GB RAM supported.

Terminal Services hardware, O/S

and software requirements

Server specification <15 users <30 users

CPU:

Intel E5-2620v3 series

or similar

recommended

1 X 4 core 1 X 8 core

RAM: 16GB 32GB

Disk subsystem: 1 X RAID1 1 X RAID1

Windows Server

version and edition

2008 (x64) STD1

2008R2 STD1

2012 STD

2012R2 STD

2008 (x64) STD1

2008R2 STD1

2012 STD

2012R2 STD

Free disk space

available for ALB client

install

5GB 5GB

Microsoft .NET 4.5 with latest updates 4.5 with latest updates

CHAPTER PART 2: HARDWARE SPECS

11

NOTE

(1) Maximum of 32 GB RAM supported.

Client requirements

Client PC specification

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo, i3 or i5 (or

similar)

RAM: 4GB

Network 1Gb

Display 1280x1024

Client operating system version

and edition

Windows Vista or above (32bit and

64bit supported)

Free disk space available for ALB

client install

5GB

Microsoft .NET 4.5 with latest updates

Deployment considerations

Ensure a suitable backup solution is in place capable of backing up

SQL databases and ALB related data and documents/files.

Management and monitoring of backups is a customer

responsibility unless there is a specific managed technical

agreement in place for us to do so.

Setting server hardware BIOS settings to “Maximum performance”

can increase the performance of applications running on the server.


12

When using MS HyperV, setting virtual disks to “fixed size” is

recommended for SQL servers.

To maximise performance, SQL virtual machines should not span

NUMA nodes.


13

PART 3: Software specs

ALB requires certain software to work (operating system, database) and

optionally integrates with many other business applications. In this

section we set out the supported versions of these products.

For the mandatory software, Advanced Legal's policy is to follow that of

Microsoft; when mainstream support ends we recommend that customers

upgrade to a product which is in mainstream support. When extended

support ends we will no longer support customers on that product. This

does not necessarily mean that the product will cease to function at that

date, but that we will not provide support if it does.

For other vendors' products, if a product is not listed here, then it is not

supported. By this we mean that our team are not able to help you with

queries about that third-party product.

In this section:

Small Business Server (SBS)

Client operating systems

Microsoft Office

Outlook Exchange

Browser access

Document production

Workflow

Word add-in

Time Tracker

Other integration


14

Small Business Server (SBS)

ALB is supported for use on the same server as SBS 2008 or 2011 when

running the complement of SBS application suites (Exchange, ISA etc.)

but this is only recommended for small user populations and requires

appropriate server resources to be available to host all running

applications. With SBS 2008 R2 or above Microsoft have recognised that a

split server implementation is best practice and therefore when you

purchase SBS 2008 Premium or SBS 2011 Standard Premium Add-on it

comes with a Server 2008 license for a second server to host SQL Server

based applications like ALB. The following table explains the differences

between 2008 and 2011.

SBS comparison table

SBS 2008 PREMIUM SBS 2011 STANDARD PREMIUM ADD-

ON

Server 2008 Standard Server 2008 R2 Standard

Exchange Server 2007 Standard

Edition

Exchange Server 2010 Standard

with SP1. If using Exchange

Integration, then Exchange 2010

SP2 is required as a minimum

SharePoint Services 3.0 SharePoint Foundation 2010

SQL Server 2008 Standard for

Small Business

SQL Server 2008 R2 for Small

Business

NOTE Please be aware of the RAM support limitations in certain

editions of Microsoft Windows® platforms. At the time of writing

support for more than 3.5 GB of RAM is only available in Enterprise

Editions and x64 versions of Windows® Server products.

CHAPTER PART 3: SOFTWARE SPECS

15

SQL Server Report Building

Report Builder is an end-user reporting tool in the visual style of other

Microsoft Office applications which can be downloaded free of charge from

Microsoft’s download centre. However, please note that three editions are

currently supported by Microsoft. Refer to the table below which explains

the different capabilities. Report designer users may run individual reports

within any of the tools against any database. The table below sets out the

environments in which a designer user can deploy a report for any other

users to run from the web-based Report Manager site.

NOTE SQL/ALB Express does not support report publishing.

Report Builder capabilities RB1 RB2 RB3

Works with SQL report models ✓ ✓ ✓

Works directly with SQL Tables, views and stored

procedures

✗ ✓ ✓

Publishes to SQL 2005 Report Manager site ✓ ✗ ✗

Publishes to SQL 2008 Report Manager site ✓ ✓ ✗

Publishes to SQL 2008 R2 Report Manager site ✓ ✗ ✓

SQL Installation Details

Where the SQL installation is not carried out by Advanced Legal, please

note the following are required in environments where Advanced Legal is

not performing your SQL installation:

IIS 6.0 must be installed before SQL to allow Microsoft Reporting

Services are to be used (prior to SQL 2008).

A full installation of SQL is required (for example Reporting and

Analysis services) using the built-in system account.


16

The collation of SQL should be set to

"SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS" where possible. If this is not the

case then Advanced Legal will configure the databases with the

required collation.

SQL should be installed with mixed mode security enabled.

The instance name should be set to "ALBINSTANCE".

The SQL Server GUI management tools should be installed on the

server

A separate SQL account with "sysadmin" privileges is required for

ALB. This will be set up by Advanced Legal during the installation of

the software.

In situations where SQL has already been installed and is currently in use

for other applications (such as digital dictation), then it may worth

considering installing a second instance of SQL for the use of ALB only.

One advantage of having a separate instance is the ability to carry out

maintenance of SQL without affecting other running instances. Please be

aware however that this will require additional system resources.

We will require an account with administrative rights to the server so that

a shared folder can be created to allow for subsequent software updates

by client PCs.

Microsoft Office (Server)

All ALB servers need a local copy of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel for

support and scheduled report generation. In most cases the most cost-

effective way of providing this will be by providing a Microsoft Office Basic

Edition license.

Backup Software (Server)

Where backups will be carried out locally on the server Symantec Backup

Exec is the preferred option. For servers backed up remotely a Backup

Exec Agent for Windows® Servers will be required. In the latest version

this includes Advanced Open File and Intelligent Disaster Recovery. A


17

backup agent for Microsoft SQL Server is also preferred to provide a

complete backup of the data held in SQL Server.

Client operating systems

Once the Microsoft extended period has been reached, we will no longer

support customers on these versions.

Client operating systems Microsoft support ends

VERSION MAINSTREAM EXTENDED

Windows Vista Business x86 10/04/2012 11/04/2017

Windows Vista Business x64 10/04/2012 11/04/2017

Windows 7 Pro SP1 x86 (1) 13/01/2015 14/01/2020

Windows 7 Pro SP1 x64 (1) 13/01/2015 14/01/2020

Windows 8 Pro SP1 x86 (1) 09/01/2018 10/01/2023

Windows 8 Pro SP1 x64 (1) 09/01/2018 10/01/2023

Windows 10 for Business - -

(1) Or Ultimate

NOTE Windows XP is no longer supported.

Microsoft Office

These are the versions of Microsoft Office that are supported by ALB. Once

the Microsoft extended period has been reached, we will no longer support

customers on these versions.


18

Microsoft Office Microsoft support ends

VERSION MAINSTREAM EXTENDED

Office 2007 SP3 10/04/2012 11/04/2017

Office 2010 01/06/2015 01/06/2020

Office 2013 09/01/2018 11/04/2023

Office 2016 - -

Outlook Add-In

The Outlook add-in to allow email filing installs cleanly on Windows® 7

machines. On Windows® 7 machines where Office 2007 has been

installed before the .NET framework, you must run the Microsoft

KB908002 MSI files supplied on the CD prior to installing the Outlook add-

in. Failure to do so will result in an error message "Error 1001: Unable to

get installer types". This is a known issue for Microsoft and is not related

to Advanced Legal's software.

64-Bit Office Not Supported

In line with Microsoft's own recommendation, Advanced Legal does not

support the use of 64-bit Office with ALB, even on a 64-bit operating

system. Microsoft's wording is as follows:

"If users in your organisation depend on existing extensions to Office,

such as ActiveX controls, third-party add-ins, in-house solutions built on

previous versions of Office, or 32-bit versions of programs that interface

directly with Office, we recommend that you install 32-bit Office (the

default installation) on computers that are running both 32-bit and 64-bit

supported Windows® operating systems."


19

NOTE When integrating Office with ALB, Office and ALB must

reside on the same client device (PC or Terminal Server). Cloud

based Office 365 is not supported when integrating with ALB.

Outlook Exchange

To run the Outlook Exchange integration, the following must be installed:

Visual Studio Tools (only clients using Outlook 2007)

NOTE ALB currently only integrates with Exchange 2010 SP2 or

above. It does not integrate with cloud based Exchange (Office

365).

Browser access

In order to facilitate remote working (Fee Earner Desktop) or client access

(Client Self-Service) the following must be installed:

IIS 6.0

.NET framework 4.1

Supported browsers:

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.x

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.x

Mozilla Firefox 7.x

Google Chrome 14.x

Apple Safari 5.x


20

Document production

In order to facilitate the document production, the following must be

installed/enabled:

DTC enabled

Workflow

In order to facilitate workflow, the following must be installed:

.NET 4.5 on the web server (4.5.1 for Exchange customers)

DTC enabled

IMPORTANT The Windows "Themes" service must be enabled on

sites running Case applications and/or workflow. Without this sites

are limited to the Windows Classic theme, which has limitations in

the way in which it represents the user interface of ALB. For

example, Not Set values in check boxes are displayed as grey ticks

which may lead to misinterpretation by the user.

Word add-in

In order to support the Word add-in, the following must be installed:


DTC enabled

Windows Vista with service pack 2 and update KB2962872 (which

upgrades Internet Explorer to version 9)


21

NOTES

The installer covers everything regarding the setup of the Word

add-in (i.e. the Click and File feature). However, you must make

sure that workflow is set up correctly.

ALB login details must be entered to authenticate the add-in,

but you will be prompted for this the first time the feature is

used.

Time Tracker

In order to support Time Tracker, the following must be installed:

IIS 6.0 (or above)


FED

Other integration

This table shows the other (optional) integration products supported by

ALB, which are available at an extra cost.

Integration products

PRODUCT VERSION/COMMENTS

Exchange server 2007 SP3 (1). No integration.

2010 SP1 (2). Integration requires that:

Client Access Server (Role) is installed

Unified Messaging is enabled


22

Auto-discover is enabled

Offline address book is available

2013

2016

Office web apps Not supported, as these are "online companions"

not full functional versions.

Laserform 9.7.3

BigHand 4.6

Capscan View XML

Equitrac -

Esendex View XML

Call ML 6.1

pdfDocs 4.2 (3)

Xerox -

eCopy 3 or 4

Rekoop 5.9.24

(1) Microsoft support ends 10/04/12. Extended support ends 11/04/17. (2) Microsoft support ends 13/01/15. Extended support ends 14/01/20. (3) Version 4 requires a minimum of 4.2 U3 with hot fix 47.1 (v4.2.302.4)

to correctly bundle multiple documents into a single PDF.

http://www.capscanondemand.com/capscanondemand/capscanondemand.asmx?WSDL

https://www.esendex.com/secure/messenger/soap/SendService.asmx?wsdl


23

PART 4: Server virtualisation

The specifications provided so far are based on a traditional physical

server environment, where the hardware is dedicated to our application.

However, in a virtualised environment there will usually be more than one

virtual server operating on a single physical server. This clearly means

that the physical server must be capable of running the combined load of

all the virtual servers that reside on it. This section explains the use of

this technology in connection with ALB.

In this section:

Server virtualisation technology


24

Server virtualisation technology

Virtualisation software, so far as the application is concerned, emulates a

hardware platform. If it functions correctly, virtualisation software is

invisible to the application. Since that is the case, Advanced Legal does

not test against, certify compatibility with, or expressly support any server

virtualisation software.

As you would expect, if Advanced Legal are providing a total solution in

terms of the virtualisation solution and the software application, we will

work together to achieve a resolution to any issues you have running an

Advanced Legal application in a virtualised environment. If the

virtualisation environment is provided by an external third-party then the

following application support policy applies:

Customers may, of course, elect to run Advanced Legal applications

in a virtualised environment that was not provided by Advanced

Legal. However, in this scenario Advanced Legal test issues

reported by customers with our application on physical hardware. If

Advanced Legal can reproduce the issue then it will be dealt with as

a software bug under our support agreement.

If the issue cannot be replicated on physical hardware then it is

assumed to be related to the virtualisation environment. You will

then need to examine the particular support agreements in place

between yourselves, the operating system provider (Microsoft) and

the virtualisation software provider to establish responsibility for

resolving the issue.

In addition to planning server specification carefully, taking into

account the combined load of the virtual environments that will

reside on the physical server, virtualisation invariably imposes an

overhead on the server. Advanced Legal recommends careful

consultation with your infrastructure provider to ensure that the

hardware specification is appropriate to support the combined

virtual environment load and the additional overhead of the virtual

environment itself. Some customers have reported performance

issues when running Advanced Legal applications in a virtual

CHAPTER PART 4: SERVER VIRTUALISATION

25

environment and, due to the number of variables involved in such

environments, Advanced Legal are unable to say whether this is an

issue with virtualisation per se or with any particular

implementation.

Anyone wishing to virtualise the ALB server should refer to

Microsoft's best practices for virtualising the intended servers

operating environment (in conjunction with other virtualisation

providers such as VMWare or Citrix XenServer).

Microsoft technical article "Running SQL Server 2008 in a Hyper-V

Environment: Best Practices and Performance Considerations".

Although this paper specifically refers to Microsoft Hyper-V and SQL

Server 2008, the information contained in it equally applies to other

virtualisation environments and SQL Server versions. Please refer

to http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/9/4/d948f981-926e-

40fa-a026-5bfcf076d9b9/SQL2008inHyperV2008.docx.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/9/4/d948f981-926e-40fa-a026-5bfcf076d9b9/SQL2008inHyperV2008.docx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/9/4/d948f981-926e-40fa-a026-5bfcf076d9b9/SQL2008inHyperV2008.docx


26

PART 5: PI Portal requirements

The following section summarises the environment requirements for PI

Portal integration.

In this section:

SQL agent

SMTP server

System parameters

CHAPTER PART 5: PI PORTAL REQUIREMENTS

27

SQL agent

One of the features of the PI Portal module is the ability to access the

portal at scheduled intervals to check for updates to claims. This feature

relies on SQL Agent together with a program that Advanced Legal supply

(as part of the installation) for running scheduled tasks. Please read the

following requirements and considerations:

SQL Server 2005 or 2008 are required, as they include SQL Agent.

For more information about configuring SQL Agent please refer to

Microsoft's SQL Server documentation.

The TaskScheduler Windows service must be installed on the server

in order to run certain nightly process conditions.

Our system makes use of web services referred to by the portal

provider as "the A2A (Application-To-Application) interface of the

RaPId portal". PI Portal integration therefore requires a stable

Internet connection. This is used by the PMS client software and by

the task scheduler running under control of SQL Agent; there may

be some firewall configuration needed to ensure that both can

communicate with the PI Portal web service.

It is possible for multiple large documents to be uploaded and

downloaded during some operations (both manual and scheduled).

Some consideration should be given to the speed of the connection

depending on the number of active claims and the number of users

on the system.

SMTP server

As part of the feature set offered by PI Portal integration the task

scheduler has the ability to send email updates. This makes use of an

SMTP email host server. The address of the server is configured in the

ALB database. However, there may be some configuration of permissions

needed on the server itself to allow this feature to run.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms178142(v%3dsql.90).aspx


28

This is also required for Designer Studio installations to inform the case

developer of the matters affected when a process is changed.

System parameters

In order to access the MoJ portal, there are a number of system

parameters that hold relevant information such as the URL address, site

user name and password, etc. For more information, please refer to the PI

Portal Module manual (PDF).

http://www.advanced-legal.co.uk/Resources/Documentation/ALB/WebHelp/Assets/PDFs/LCSALB-PI-Portal-Agenda-2-5-0.pdf

http://www.advanced-legal.co.uk/Resources/Documentation/ALB/WebHelp/Assets/PDFs/LCSALB-PI-Portal-Agenda-2-5-0.pdf


29

PART 6: Recommendations

At Advanced Legal we have many years' experience in helping law firms

with their technology. This section is not directly related to ALB, but

provides useful advice on managing your investment.

Business continuity and backup

All servers should be deployed with appropriate redundancy and therefore

consideration should be given to the addition of:

Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)

Redundant hard drives

Power supplies

Fans

Network cards

NOTE Although Advanced Legal is happy to give advice on backup

procedures, it is you or your third-party IT supplier's responsibility

to ensure that backups/SQL maintenance plans are configured

correctly and are monitored to ensure that they are successful.

Data volumes

With updates to software, changes in data sizes, potential increases in

document storage, and natural growth of a system it is difficult to predict

future disk space requirements. As disk space is relatively inexpensive,

additional space over and above that expected should be considered. The

addition of disk space at a later date, especially in a RAID configuration,

can be costly with regards to manpower and system downtime.


30

Remote access

Advanced Legal needs remote access to your site to download files and

allow our support department to update, maintain, and troubleshoot your

software installation. This will need to be tested well in advance of the

installation to ensure support will be available to the on-site engineers.

LogMeIn Installable Remote Control is the preferred method of access,

with RDP being an alternative.

Telephony integration (CTI)

ALB includes an option to integrate with digital telephone systems. To

take advantage of this, please check with your telephony supplier that:

A line is surfaced at each desk (the Caller Line Identification data is

usually lost when a call is transferred from reception, so the "screen

pop" feature of the integration will only work on calls to Direct

Dialling Inward numbers).

Your Private Automatic Branch Exchange supports Telephony

Application Programming Interface 2.2. Your telephone provider

may make a charge for this.

We do not support this in a hosted environment.

Printers

Essentially ALB can use any printer that comes with a Microsoft Windows

printer driver. Proper operation of ALB against a given printer is

dependent on the quality of the Windows driver that the printer vendor

supplies and therefore an error or bug in a printer driver could cause

problems using that printer with ALB. This typically applies to dot matrix

CHAPTER PART 6: RECOMMENDATIONS

31

printers, but not laser printers. In the unlikely event of such a problem

the printer vendor must be contacted to resolve the issue.

Desktop scanners

If you intend to scan documents directly into ALB, then a TWAIN driver

needs to be installed for the scanner(s) in question.

Name resolution

As with any networked application, ALB resolves server names to IP

addresses and relies on external services (such as DNS) to perform the

name resolution. Slow or incorrectly configured name resolution services

may impact ALB performance. Therefore care should be taken that name

resolution services are properly configured. Assuming that DNS is used for

name resolution services and these are being provided by Microsoft Active

Directory, then the following guidelines should be followed:

All DNS resolution should be performed by internal DNS servers

holding an active directory integrated copy of the local domain

DNS.

All systems should be a member of the active directory domain and

have their DNS records dynamically registered.

A DNS "A record" should be set up with the IP address of the server

and the name of "ALBSERVER". This is the hostname that ALB is

configured to point to by default.

Ideally, reverse lookup zones should be configured.

No system on the network should be configured to use external

DNS servers to resolve names. Such resolution should be

performed by configuring forwarders on internal DNS servers.


32

To test name resolution:

Running nslookup <pcname> from a server, where <pcname> is

the name of a PC on the network should instantaneously return the

properly resolved IP address of the PC.

Running nslookup <servername> from a PC, where

<servername> is the name of a server running on the network

should also instantaneously return the properly resolved IP address

of the server.

Virus scanning

Virus scanning is obviously a key security component on any network.

However, anti-virus software can have a large impact on application

performance depending on configuration. Whilst this is largely a matter

for individual organisations to decide in line with their security policy,

Advanced Legal have found the following configuration to provide best

performance and more than adequate protection against viruses.

Scan on disk write only

Do not scan files without extension

Only scan files that have a file extension that makes them targets

for viruses (most anti-virus software will scan all files by default)

Reporting tools

ALB runs on a Microsoft SQL database, one of the benefits is that many

third-party tools can be used to extract data and prepare reports.

Advanced Legal do not have visibility of this and cannot guarantee that

developments in the core product will not affect reports written by

customers on upgrade. Reports shipped within the core product are of

course supported by Advanced Legal.

CHAPTER PART 6: RECOMMENDATIONS

33

Laptop usage

Advanced Legal reminds customers that the Health and Safety (Display

Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 apply to laptops in regular use and

to avoid injury suggest that you:

Use a separate keyboard and mouse so the laptop can be put on a

stand and the screen opened at eye level. Alternatively, use a

docking station.

Use your laptop on a stable base where there is support for your

arms, and not on your lap.

Adopt good sitting posture with lower back support and ensure

other desk equipment is within reach.


34

PART 7: Technical Survey

Questionnaire

The purpose of this technical questionnaire is to gather relevant

information for implementing ALB within your infrastructure, potentially

reducing any technical risk to your ALB project.

Please ensure this is returned to your Advanced Legal Account Manager so

that it can be reviewed by our technical staff.

Contact information

Contact Information

Technical Contact Name:

Technical Contact E-Mail Address:

Technical Contact Telephone

Number:

ALB server environment

Below are the core server components for ALB:

SQL database – The main data storage for ALB data.

Document store – The file share location storing client and matter

correspondence created through ALB (documents, PDF’s, electronic

forms, emails)

CHAPTER PART 7: TECHNICAL SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

35

IIS server – Microsoft Internet Information, required for CSS

(Client Self Service), FED (Fee Earner Desktop) or Web Services

(for integration with 3rd party products).

Depending on user load the above components can be installed separately

on individual servers or on the same server.

Specification SQL Docs IIS

Server name

Windows Server version, edition and

service pack:

(e.g. Windows 2008R2 Standard SP1)

SQL version, edition and service pack:

(e.g. SQL 2008R2 Standard SP1)

Number of existing SQL instances:

CPU specification and quantity per server:

(e.g. 2 X Xeon E5-2620v3 2.4GHZ)

If virtual state spec and quantity of

cores allocated to the virtual machine

RAM:

If virtual state quantity of RAM

allocated to the virtual machine

Disk subsystem configuration:

(e.g. 2 X 300GB SAS RAID1 for O/S, 3

X 300GB SAS RAID5 for data)

Free disk space available

Microsoft .NET version

What other role does this server provide?

Domain Controller, other applications

Other Database Applications:

Progress/Oracle etc


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Are the servers virtualised? If yes, please

provide details of virtual machine

resource configuration below:

Please provide as much detail as possible for each virtual machine such as

memory and CPU core allocation, whether memory allocation is dynamic or

fixed, other virtual machines running on the host and also the hardware RAID

system the virtual machines reside on.

To ensure maximum performance it is recommended that a virtual machine

running SQL does not span a NUMA node.

Terminal Server environment

Specification Terminal Server

Server name(s)

Windows Server version, edition and service

pack:

(e.g. Windows 2008R2 Standard SP1)

CPU specification and quantity per server:

(e.g. 2 X Xeon E5-2620 2.0GHZ)

If virtual state spec and quantity of cores

allocated to the virtual machine

RAM:

CHAPTER PART 7: TECHNICAL SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

37

If virtual state quantity of RAM allocated

to the virtual machine

Microsoft .NET version

Free space available for the client installation:

What version of Microsoft Office is installed on

the Terminal Server(s)?

(Must be Office 2007 or above, 32bit only

(64bit is not supported for integration

with ALB))

What other applications run on the Terminal

Server(s)

(e.g. Laserforms, Adobe, Bighand or

other digital dictation)

How many concurrent users per Terminal

Server?

Do you use your Terminal Servers for

anything other than providing client

applications?

Do you currently experience any performance

issues with other applications that run on your

Terminal Servers?

If Yes, please provide details

Are the servers virtualised? If yes, please

provide details of virtual machine resource

configuration below:

Please provide further details for each virtual Terminal Server such as memory

and CPU core allocation.


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Network

Specification

What is the network speed to the desktop at

the offices where your server(s) are located?

(100Mb/sec minimum requirement)

What is the network speed for the server

backbone?

(100Mb/sec minimum requirement)

Will ALB be required at remote offices and/or

for home/mobile users?

(Terminal Services will be required if

WAN speeds are below 100Mb/sec)

Is there an active directory domain in place?

Documents

Technical Specification (2.5.0) - Advanced Legal · 2016-03-07 · Technical Specification Version 2.5.0 The minimum and recommended technical ... 2012 STD8 2014 STD8 Windows Server