v3 Upgrade Q&AGeneralQ Why is it important to upgrade from v1 to v3? A The compelling reason to upgrade is that v1 contained a .NET memory leak that degraded performance for every user during every client session. The only work around was to stop and restart the Online5 client software. V3 resolves this issue. Q Will v3 require new application server hardware and Windows software? A The only requirement new to v3 is that application servers must run Windows Server 2008. Q Will v3 require changes to the database server? A No, there are no changes to the database. However, if the database is on an application server, the Windows Server 2008 requirement applies. Q Will users be required to upgrade Windows too? A No, Escape Online 5 v3 works with Windows XP. Q How is the v3 client deployed? A We have built a client installer that can easily be distributed to users via web page or email. Q Will we still be prompted to update the client with new releases? A The v3 update process is automatic and much more transparent to the user. Users no longer have to “accept” an update. Q What is the management console? A The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) application provides you with an interface shell into which you can insert various tools (like Escape Online 5 services) called snap-ins to create custom consoles. The new MMC 3.0 provides a single dialog box that makes it much easier to create custom consoles. V3 will take advantage of this. Q Are there changes to where application files are stored? A The folder structure for the application server has changed. The files will be moved by Escape Customer Care during the transition to v3. Q What new features are in v3 only? Why? A There are a handful of features that are available in v3 ONLY. Most of the new features are exclusive because the v1 application structure does not support the ability to add these features.
Q Why are we still releasing v1 and v3 software? A We recognize that the transition to v3 will take time. During the transition we will continue to release v1 software, although some new features will be released only in v3 software, due primarily to technical constraints. It will benefit both Escape and our customers to get everyone upgraded to v3 as quickly as possible, so that is our priority. Q How many customers are currently using the v3 software? A The count is changing daily at this point. As of January, 2010, we have 43 organizations with approximately 1000 users running v3. Q When will we discontinue support of v1? A We will support v1 of Online5 as long as customers are using it. However, development will be phased out during the first half of 2010. Q How does report/attachment file replication work with v3 and server 2008? A As long as you have centralized storage setup with v3 so there is no need for file replication. Q What is centralized storage? A Escape Online includes a concept of centralized storage, set up in the configuration file so that all documents managed by Escape Online (e.g., reports, attachments, help files, etc.) can be stored in one centralized location, regardless of the number of application servers. Q Is the database schema for v1 and v3 the same? A Yes, the databases are identical. System Requirement ChangesQ Why won’t Server 2003 work with v3? A Microsoft has fundamentally changed certain functionality (gdi+) that we make widespread use of in our server services. These changes were coordinated between .Net 3.5 and Windows Server 2008, but not Windows Server 2003. We officially made the decision on Friday, February 27, 2009 and we communicated to our major customers on Monday, March 2, 2009. Q Can you run v1 with Server 2008? A Yes, all versions of Escape Online 5 run with Server 2008. Q Do you suggest we run the upgrade from Server 2003 to Server 2008? A We suggest you check with Microsoft for best practices on upgrading from 2003 to 2008. Q Will we be required to have a separate Windows 2008 active directory? A No, currently our application will not utilize 2008 active directory. Q Will installing Microsoft Windows 2008 in a Windows 2003 domain extend the 2003 active directory? A No. If the Windows 2008 server is added to the domain as a member server the Active Director Schema does not need to be extended to accommodate the enhanced Windows 2008 Domain features. Q Can we use 64bit server 2008 on the application server? A No, currently Escape Online 5 does not support the 64-bit version of Windows 2008 but we are in the process of converting our software to support it. Q Do we need or can we use 64bit server 2008 for the Database server as well? A It is not a requirement; it can be installed if so desired. Q Do we need or can we use 64bit clients? A Yes, the client workstations can be 64bit but you would need to download the 64bit version of the Crystal Report Runtime in order to run reports. You can find it here: ftp://www.escapetech.com/pub/CRRedist2008_x64.msi Q In regards to the application server we have observed that the CPU is the biggest performance constraint and adding memory does not seem to help. Would you concur? A Processing is a large part of the data collection and rendering of Online5. This is indeed the largest factor in performance with Escape Online 5 and most .NET applications. Q In regards to the database server, is the biggest performance constraint: CPU, Memory or Hard drive spindles (Data transfer rate)? A In regards to database server and Escape Online5, it is important to have adequate memory, CPU performance, and hard disk I/O. After careful monitoring of large scale implementations of Escape Online 5, it has been noted that there are large amounts of data I/O (SQL transactions)on the database server. Obviously the more spindles, the less data has to wait in queue to be processed. You can contact your hardware vendor to better determine what would best meet your needs. Q Does Escape make use of multiple CPUs/cores that are available? A It’s more that .Net makes use of multiple cores, Escape is a set of services running under .Net. Q Does having more cores allow more concurrent functions to occur at the same time? A Yes. Q Can we phase the V3 transition (can V1 and V3 app servers coexist in a system)? A Yes. Any application server can point to any SQL database regardless of connection port. |
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