IntraSmart
requires its users to be
equipped with a browser.
The browsers that IntraSmart
supports are Netscape Navigator
4+, Mozilla 1+, and Internet
Explorer 4+.
Browsers are designed
to "cache" data
- that is, browsers copy
files to your local hard
drive to reuse if that
page is requested again.
In general, this is a
good thing because the
user is not forced to
download files (HTML documents,
GIFs, and JPEGs) that
they have previously downloaded,
again. However, IntraSmart's
data is "live."
If a browser forces you
to view a "page"
that you have already
seen, with the same information
on it that you previously
viewed, two problems can
arise:
For this reason, we recommend
that you set your browser
to "View the Page:
Every time." This
will prevent the above
issues from occurring.
The data that you are
viewing will be the latest
in the database.
IntraSmart has two requirements
for browser settings:
We also recommend, under
certain circumstances,
that some applications
be Secure Socket Layer
(SSL) enabled, allowing
the transmission to be
encrypted. Thus, the highest
available cryptography
(generally 128 bit) is
recommended. This will
prevent bad people from
being able to intercept
your username and password,
for instance as they are
sent to the server.
Netscape
4+/Mozilla 1+ |
Internet Explorer
4.x |
Internet
Explorer 5+ |
| Windows 95 |
Windows
95 |
Windows 95 |
| Windows 98 |
Windows
98 |
Windows 98 |
| Windows NT |
Windows
NT |
Windows NT |
| Macintosh |
Macintosh |
Windows 2000 |
| Sun Solaris |
Sun
Solaris |
Windows XP |
| Linux (Red Hat
& Calderas) |
|
|
IntraSmart
has been tested in these
environments. Netscape
4+/Mozilla 1+
A final word about our
use of browser technology:
the only thing that is
being downloaded to it
is HTML and JavaScripts.
The vast majority of corporate
firewalls are enabled
to allow this sort of
data to be passed to the
user requesting the information.
IntraSmart uses JavaScripts
primarily for two purposes:
- Display characteristics
(e.g. the bulletin board
indentation when responses
are added, the days
that have items scheduled
are highlighted blue
in the calendar).
- Local processing of
data (e.g. field verification
that a user name has
been added in the employee
directory, day/month/year
navigation in the calendar).
Although IntraSmart is
written in Server-Side
Java, the product never
requires the browsers
built in Java Virtual
Machine to be invoked
within the browser. The
only thing Java and JavaScript
have in common is that
they are both programming
languages and they share
the name "Java."
In some cases IntraSmart's
applications generate
email. Therefore, though
not required, it is a
good idea to have an email
client installed. IntraSmart
generates emails that
are wholly text based
and does not incorporate
either JavaScripts or
Visual Basic Scripts (of
ILOVEYOU infamy). As a
result any sort of email
client is acceptable.
Server
Technologies
The choices
of platforms for the different
components of IntraSmart
are at the systems administrators'
total discretion. IntraSmart
has only four requirements:
- The operating system
chosen for the web server
must be able to run
Java 2 (v1.2.x or greater).
- The web server platform
chosen must be able
to run a servlet engine
(more on this later).
- The application server
platform must be Windows
NT/2000, Linux or Solaris.
- The platform you choose
to run your database
server on must be able
to support MS SQL Server
7, Oracle 8, or MySQL.
The operating system
is the choice of the administrator
and the organization the
administrator works for.
Obviously, the administrator
must feel comfortable
with the manageability
and stability of their
chosen operating system.
The main platform issue
confronting the administration
of IntraSmart is disk
utilization. IntraSmart
uses the web server as
the place to store files
uploaded to it. Thus,
expandability of the file
system over time is a
major consideration.
The web server is the
first step in processing
a browser request for
IntraSmart.
The web server has four
primary purposes in IntraSmart:
- Storage of IntraSmart
template documents
- Host for Servlet Engine
- Storage of documents
uploaded to IntraSmart
via Document Library
or Bulletin Board applications
- Storage of forms created
by the Form Generator
Mindbridge has successfully
installed IntraSmart on
the following web servers:
- Microsoft IIS (3.x,
4.x & 5.x) on NT
4 & 2000
- Apache 1.1.3 (NT 4,
Linux [RedHat and Caldera
distributions] and Solaris)
- Netscape (iPlanet)
Enterprise Server (Solaris
and NT)
The security of your
web server is of paramount
importance; thus, Mindbridge
recommends that the IntraSmart
template have directory
browsing disabled. Should
the administrator select
this option, Mindbridge
supports directories that
are encrypted via the
Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
Typically, the login
page (ismenusystem) and
the uploaded documents
(isdoclibrary/isfiles)
are the encrypted directories.
Remember the choice to
SSL enable directories
is optional, but once
the choice has been made,
for all practical purposes
it is an all or nothing
decision.
IntraSmart also employs
a servlet called SaLBBServlet.
This servlet has the following
functions:
- Act as a gateway to
the application servers
- Decide which application
server has the least
load on it and route
to the application server
with the least load
on it
