Mediaocean Aura Technical Overview January 2017 Samir Sadikhov +61 (2) 9879 8200 apac_operations@mediaocean.com Contents INTRODUCTION... 2 APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW... 3 DATA LAYER...3 APPLICATION LAYER...3 PRESENTATION LAYER...3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS... 4 DATA LAYER (SQL SERVER)...4 APPLICATION LAYER (C#) AND PRESENTATION LAYER (HTML / JS)...4 MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS...4 VIRTUALISATION AND CLOUD...4 DESKTOP REQUIREMENTS...4 RECOMMENDED MINIMUM CONFIGURATION...4 MOBILE SUPPORT...5 BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY...5 MULTITENANCY...5 SINGE SIGN-ON...5 DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS... 6 INTERNAL ACCESS ONLY...6 EXTERNAL ACCESS...6 1
Introduction This document is intended to provide a broad overview of the technical aspects of Mediaocen Aura (Web Timesheet ) application. It discusses the application architecture, the hardware and software required to run the application and any deployment considerations. The primary audience of this document is the technical person responsible for the planning and implementation of a Mediaocean Aura system within an organisation. The document does not cover the features available in the product. This document contains generic recommendations. Please contact the Mediaocean Operations APAC team at: apac_operations@mediaocean.com to discuss systems specifications relevant to your environment. 2
Application Architecture Overview The Mediaocean Enterprise - Timesheet module, known as Aura, is a separate application providing operating system independent access to the Mediaocean Spectra-PF (formerly known as BCC Enterprise) database via a function-rich, web browser user interface. The Aura system has also been developed as an n-tier solution to provide the maximum flexibility in terms of deployment. The Aura application consist of three elements Presentation Layer (HTML / JS) Application Layer (C#) Data Layer (SQL Server) One of the main advantages of this architecture is its efficient use of network resources which enables the front-end application to execute directly on a remote user s web browser as opposed to requiring some form of remote desktop services. In other words, the Mediaocean Aura application can be deployed to run natively and effectively across an agency s wide-area network. Data Layer The data layer is provided by SQL Server 2012/2014 and should be configured to only allow incoming SQL connections from the approved hosts, including the Application layer. As this layer contains all of the agency s data, it is critical that it is never exposed to the internet. Application Layer Ideally this layer should not be directly accessible from the internet however it has been designed to allow for external access should this be a requirement. This layer should only access incoming requests from the presentation layer. This layer will consist of the application code. This will serve a RESTful API to expose the required data components for the Aura module and RPC functionality such as login and logout. This layer will be allowed to connect directly with the data layer. Presentation Layer This is the component that will most likely be accessible via the internet. As such, it has been designed with security in mind. This layer will consist of only HTML and JS code that is required to allow users to access the Mediaocean Aura application. This layer will communicate only with the Application Layer and will have no knowledge of the database, (connection details, structure, etc.). 3
System Requirements Data Layer (SQL Server) The Mediaocean Aura application utilizes the same database server and database as the Mediaocean Spectra-PF application. As this layer contains all of the agency s data, it is critical that it is never exposed directly to the internet. Application Layer (C#) and Presentation Layer (HTML / JS) The Mediaocean Aura application and presentation layer has been designed to deploy using several different deployment strategies (see Deployment Options section below). Minimum System Requirements CPU: 2 cores RAM: 4GB Disk Space: C-Drive: 50GB Windows Version: Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 Mediaocean Spectra-PF 7.5 or higher.net Framework 4.5 IIS 7.5+ ASP Platform Handler Virtualisation and Cloud Mediaocean applications can be installed and run in a virtualized environment as well as on Cloud Services. The most common enterprise-level virtualization products supported by Mediaocean are VMWare ESXi and Hyper-V. Deployment in Azure and AWS (Amazon Web Services) will require creation of virtual machine instances to run Mediaocean applications. Please refer to your cloud services provider for determining the performance levels that will be adequate to satisfy minimum server hardware requirements outlined in this document. Agencies that are planning to install Mediaocean applications in a virtualized environment or in the Cloud, should consider associated performance and database licensing requirements. Desktop Requirements The following recommended minimum configurations apply to the Mediaocean Aura running on the local desktop, not workstations accessing the application from a Remote Desktop Server or Citrix server. (In the latter case, keystrokes and mouse clicks are sent from the client to the server and only screen updates are sent back to the client.) Recommended Minimum Configuration A Multi-core processor 2 GB RAM 300 MB of free disk space or above Windows 7 or higher.net Framework 4.5 HTML 5 compatible Web Browser (Internet Explorer 11, Safari 8, Edge, Chrome, Firefox) 4
Mobile Support The Mediaocean Aura application now supports time entry via mobile devices. Common web browsers on Android, ios and Windows Mobile Operating Systems are supported. You will have the ability to view and enter time on a day to day basis. Backwards Compatibility The Mediaocean Aura application can coexist with the old non-web BCC Timesheet module and be run side-by-side for the same Enterprise databases. This scenario helps agencies to transition into the new Web timesheet and facilitate smooth migration without abrupt services cut-over. Please note that Mediaocean Spectra-PF version must be 7.5 or above. Multitenancy Aura supports multitenancy where only a specific database(s) will be shown depending on what URL is being used to access the application. This is handy when agency has various regions using their own databases and access the same Aura server. In this scenario, users from each region/country will be using using their specific URLs. This requires agencies to create multiple DNS records and ensuring they all point to the correct Aura server. Singe Sign-On Aura ships with a Single Sign-On (SSO) module, which provides seamless authentication and application authorization which allows you to login using your domain credentials. For SSO to work, it is essential, Aura server is configured to run under domain account which has authentication access to Agency s domain controller. 5
Deployment Options Please contact the Mediaocean Operations APAC Team at: apac_operations@mediaocean.com to discuss a deployment strategy that best suits your business operation and security requirements Internal Access Only This simple model is suitable for a site where only internal access is required. All three components of the Mediaocean Aura application (Presentation Layer, Application Layer and Data Layer) are installed on the same server. Any existing Mediaocean Spectra-PF server can be used for deploying the application. You may choose to also use a separate server for deployment, however it is not necessary. To access the application, the end-user needs to be connected to the agency s local area network. This implementation does not expose any services to the internet. By default, the application is accessible via TCP port 8080. If required, the port number can be changed manually in IIS sites bindings after installation. Mediaocean strongly recommends use of SSL for internal deployment as a primary connection method to the Mediaocean Aura. For clients who already have Mediaocean Enterprise installed, this solution does not require any additional servers. The entire solution consists of only one server. External Access This model is suitable for sites which have a requirement for Mediaocean Aura application to be accessible from the internet. There are various ways to implement this, and Mediaocean recommends a simple method for publishing Aura application using Reverse Web proxy services. Agencies may leverage from using their existing reverse proxy servers by adding an additional rule. If you do not have a device providing reverse proxy services, you can use Microsoft IIS to deploy them in your DMZ. If you need step-by-step instructions and requirements on how to deploy a reverse proxy server on your network using IIS, please request related documentation from Mediaocean. In this model, the initial installation of the timesheet server will proceed the same way as described in the Internal Access Only section. Provided that the service will be accessed externally, use of trusted SSL certificates and appropriate firewall rules is mandatory to secure communication at all layers. 6
One additional server or appliance for Reverse proxy server will be required in DMZ for proceeding with this implementation. The entire solution therefore consists of two servers. Please contact the Mediaocean Operations APAC team at: apac_operations@mediaocean.com to discuss a deployment strategy that best suits your business operation and security requirements. 7