Cbe System Reqs

CBE architectural overview and system requirements

January 2013

2architectural overview example of cbe software installationThe following diagram shows the users, programs in use and the link between these for the operation of CBE.

The following terms describe the elements in the above diagram:

StudentAstudentwhoissittinginfrontofaPCrunningaliveACCAexam

ACCA ExaminerAnapplicationthatisinstalledoneachstudentworkstationthatenablesstudentstositexams

SNASecure Network Administrator;SNAenablesyoutobothmanagestudentaccesstoexamsanduploadexamresults

FileServerServerstoringquestionsandconfigurationfiles

CBEserverinstallationexamfiles,systemconfigurationfilesandstudentexamresults

Onlineadministrationsystemwebsiteusedformanagingexams,thatisaccessedviaastandardwebbrowser.

notes ThefileservermustbeusedtohosttheACCACBEserverfilesforonlyoneCBEcentre.

Theworkstationwiththeonlineadministrationsystemisusedbytheexaminationsco-ordinator/administratorto: registerstudents createaccesstokens runreportsandcheckresults. The online administration system is accessed via a web browser.

TheworkstationwiththeSNAinstallationisusedbytheexaminationsco-ordinator/administratororinvigilatorto: physicallydownloadtheaccesstokens monitorexamactivity uploadtheresultsimmediatelyaftertheexams.

ThediagramaboveshowsSNAandtheonlineadministrationsystemoperatingfromtwodifferentworkstations,however,pleasenotethatthose can operate on the same workstation providing all system requirements are met.

AsSNAonlyoperatesononePC,youmustconsiderthiswhenchoosingthelocationofthisPC,particularlyifyouholdCBEsinmorethanoneroomatyourcentre.ThePCwithSNAneedstobelocatedincloseproximitytotheexamroomstoallowfordownloadanduploadofaccesstokens,plusthemonitoringofexams,duringthesession.

DependingonhowyouwishtosetupyourCBEenvironment,theworkstationcontainingSNAcanresideintheexaminations co-ordinatorsofficeorintheexamroom.

IftheworkstationwithSNAresidesintheexaminationsco-ordinatorsoffice,thismustalwaysbeaccessiblebytheexaminations co-ordinator,administratorsorinvigilators,astheyrequiretodownloadtokensbeforetheexamsanduploadresultsaftertheexams.

TheworkstationwithSNAmustbesecureandpasswordprotected,especiallyifitresidesintheexamroom,asstudentsmustNOTbegiven access to this.

server

file server containingcbe server installation

Student

Examinationsco-ordinator/administrator/

invigilator

Examinationsco-ordinator/administrator

Workstation withACCAExaminer

Workstation withSNA

Workstation with web browser for online

administration system



Student Student

cbe centre acca hq

internet

architectural overview

3ThefollowingsystemrequirementsrelatetorunningtheCBEsystem,withSNA.

1 hardware and software requirements for workstation running sna

a Where installation image and results files are stored on the file server (as per the diagram and our recommendation), the workstation runningSNAshouldmeetthefollowingrequirements:

thelatestversionofoneofthefollowingoperatingsystems,keptup-to-datewiththelatestMicrosoftservicepacks:MicrosoftWindows2000,MicrosoftWindowsXPProfessionalEdition,MicrosoftVista(anyedition)orMicrosoftWindows7(anyedition)

Pentium4orequivalent

100MbRAMoverandaboveotherapplicationsrunningconcurrently

50MbavailableharddiskspaceabovetheminimumWindowsrequirements

1024x768,256colourvideocard

onenetworkcardoranothersingleconnectiontotheLAN(multiplenetworkcardswillcausethesoftwaretofail)

apermanentInternetconnection(oratleastwhileSecure Network Administratorisrunningandexamsarebeingheld).Itisarequirement that a broadband connection to the internet is used

wheninstallingthesoftwareyouhaveadministratorrights.InVistaorWindows7,ifUACison,youwillhavetoaskanadministratortoruntheSNAinstaller.

b WhereinstallationimageandresultsfilesarestoredonSNAworkstation(analternativesetup),theworkstationrunningSNAshouldmeet the following requirements:

thelatestversionofoneofthefollowingoperatingsystems,keptup-to-datewiththelatestMicrosoftservicepacks:MicrosoftWindows2000,MicrosoftWindowsXPProfessionalEdition,MicrosoftVista(anyedition)orMicrosoftWindows7



1GbavailableharddiskspaceabovetheminimumWindowsrequirements

1024x768,256colourvideocard

onenetworkcardoranothersingleconnectiontotheLAN(multiplenetworkcardswillcausethesoftwaretofail)

apermanentInternetconnection(oratleastwhileSecure Network Administratorisrunningandexamsarebeingheld).Itisarequirement that a broadband connection to the internet is used


2 hardware and software requirements for student workstations running ACCA Examiner

The minimum specifications for the student workstations running ACCA Examiner are as follows:

thelatestversionofoneofthefollowingoperatingsystems,andarekeptup-to-datewiththelatestMicrosoftservicepacks:MicrosoftWindows2000orMicrosoftWindowsXPProfessionalEditionorMicrosoftVista(anyedition)



250MbavailableharddiskspaceaboveminimumWindowsrequirements

1024x768,16bithighcolourvideocard

anetworkcardoranothersingleconnectiontotheLAN

printerconnectedtoallworkstationsforstudentstoprintresultsnotificationsimmediatelyaftertheirexam


exams must only be run on desktop pcs exams must not take place on laptops.

system requirements

43 hardware and software requirements for the File Server

The minimum specifications for the file server is as follows:

anetworksharewith1Gbofavailablespace.Note:AnetworksharecreatedonaWindowsworkstation(ratherthanaWindowsfileserver)doesnotallowforunlimiteduserconnections.ThisrestrictionisimposedbyMicrosoft,andhastheeffectthatonlyamaximumoffiveexamscanberunatthesametime

unlimiteduserconnectionstotheshareisrecommended

onlyMicrosoft-basednetworksmaybeused(Microsoftfileserver2000,2003or2008).

4 requirements for workstations running online administration system

ReliableInternetconnection.

5 network requirements

The minimum network requirements are as follows:

Atleast100Mbpsnetwork

ThestudentworkstationsrunningACCA Examiner,SNAandtheFile Server must all be able to communicate over a network in the same network domain

ExaminerandSNAmustbeabletocommunicateacrossthenetworkusingTCP-IPonport19284. This port must be open and availableinthenetwork.Allcommunicationbetweenworkstationsoverthisportisencrypted.Note:Intheunlikelyeventthatyoucannot use port 19284onyournetwork,ACCAmustbenotifiedwhenyousubmityourlicenceapplication

ThenetworkhastobecapableofresolvinghostnamestothecorrespondingIPaddresses

ThesharedinstallationdirectoryontheFile ServermustbeavailabletotheworkstationsrunningExaminerandSNAwithpermissionsspecified in the installation instructions which will be provided to you

TheworkstationrunningSNArequiresfast,permanentbroadbandInternetaccesswhileSNAisrunningonport443(SSL).Permanentisdefinedasafast(nondial-up)accesswhichreliablystaysopen,egbroadband(seeformulainsection6forcalculatingminimumspeed required)

whilst wireless networks can be used, exams cannot be guaranteed to run without interruptions if the wireless network is not stable (which can be the case). the exam software constantly monitors the network connection and logs any irregularities. if any interruptions occur, the exam is terminated (but can resume when the network problem has been corrected).

Theonlineadministrationprogramisaccessedviaastandardwebbrowser(preferablyMicrosoftInternetExplorerVersion7orabove.Netscape,Firefox,Opera,ChromeandSafariarealsoacceptable).Thisworkstationrequiresfast,permanentInternetaccessthroughport 443(SSL)

NotethattheworkstationrunningSNAandtheworkstationthattheonlineadministrationprogramisaccessedfrommaybethesameworkstation

Adequatefirewallandvirusprotectionmustbeinplaceandmustbeupdatedregularly

Printer.Studentsrequireprinteraccessviathenetworktoallowthemtoprintresultsnotificationsimmediatelyaftertheexams.Theresults notifications will be printed to the default printer.

PleasenotethatyouarepermittedonlyoneinstallationofACCAsSecure Network Administrator program.

InordertodownloadtheCBEsoftwarefromtheonlineadministrationsystem,youmusthaveoneofthefollowingprograms: Winzip8.0orabove;or WindowsXP,VistaorWindows7compressionfacility;or StuffitExpander9.5forWindows Winrar

6 broadband upload speed ThesoftwaredoesnotrelyontheInternetinanywaywhilestudentsareansweringexamquestions.

TheuploadspeedtotheInternetmustbeatleast2KB/secperstudentatthetimeswhen exams are started and exams are finished. To calculatetherequiredspeed(inKB/sec),usethefollowingformula:

upload speed = 2 x number of students

Example:Fivestudentsarestartingorfinishingexamssimultaneously.Uploadspeedmustbeatleast10KB/sec Example:20studentsarestartingorfinishingexamssimultaneously.Uploadspeedmustbeatleast40KB/sec.

WerecommendthatyoucheckyourInternetuploadspeedusingoneofthemanyonlineservicesforthispurposebeforeagreeingthatyour setup meets our minimum requirements.

Asanexample,a1Mbpsbroadbandconnectiontypicallyprovides1Mbit/sdownloadand125Kbit/suploadwhichequalsapproximatelyseven students.

Cbe System Reqs

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