Operating system configuration

Owned by Kiss, Mate
Dec 19, 2018
3 min read

Please read the following topic carefully before you begin Verba installation! In order to maximize your satisfaction with the Verba recording system please read the following carefully and follow the guidelines of this topic before you begin software installation.

It is important that you follow this topic when you build your Verba servers. Failure to comply with the guidelines in this topic may lead to degraded performance and eventual data loss in your Verba environment. Verba Technologies is not responsible for the security of the HW, operating system and database layers of the Verba recording system. The customer shall install and configure these in accordance with industry best practices for security.

Please follow the following guidelines during the installation of your Windows operating system.

In case you install your server from a customized Windows installer or image please try to configure the installed server according to the guidelines below.

Disk partitioning

The Verba Recording System does not require special disk partitioning, but in order to achieve the best performance and better serviceability we have some recommendations.

  • System (e.g. C:\) - Operating System and application binaries: minimum 40 Gbyte
  • Media (e.g. D:\) - Media and database files: the rest of the capacity, please use the storage calculator tool to properly size the hard disks

Regional and Language Options

Set these options to your normal local settings.

Date and Time Settings

For correct time handling please set timezone properly on all servers.

NTP-based time synchronization is strongly recommended.

It is important to note that most date/time information is stored in UTC standard time format in Verba. On the web interface these times are converted to the actual users local time zone. The following tables summarizes the time zones used by Verba s different system elements to present date information:

System elements

 

Time zone

User interfaces

Web interfaces

Time zone setting of the Verba user that logs into the web interface.

 

Configuration interfaces

Time zone setting of the computer that runs the configuration tools.

 

Log files

Local time on the computer that does writes the log.

Internal storage

SQL database (e.g. call data)

UTC time

 

Configuration data

UTC time

Network settings (during installation)

During installation just pick the "typical" settings or configure the network according to your policies. Network settings shall be reconfigured for Verba after the Windows installation is complete.

Install Critical Security Updates and disable automatic updates

After installation please use Windows Update to install the latest patch level for your Windows Server. Be sure that the automatic updates are disabled.

Update firmware and driver versions

Please consult the hardware vendors support site and verify that the following most important items are upgraded to the latest recommended version:

  • chipset driver
  • network card driver
  • the RAID controller drivers, RAID controller firmware
  • disk firmware

Since Verba is a highly disk I/O intensive application you should be extra careful with your disk I/O subsystems, such as RAID controllers and disks.

Configure graphics settings

Set screen saver to "(None)" under Control Panel / Display / Screen Saver.

It is recommended you enable hardware acceleration for your graphics driver under Control Panel / Display / Settings / Advanced / Troubleshoot. Set the "Hardware acceleration" slider to "Full".

Stop unnecessary Windows services

In order to minimize the operating system overhead on your Verba servers it is recommended to stop and set the Startup Type to Manual for certain services using services.msc tool.

On Windows Server 2003 systems, set the followings to manual startup type:

  • Application Experience Lookup Service
  • Distributed Link Tracking Client
  • Error Reporting Service
  • Help and Support
  • IPSEC Services
  • Print Spooler
  • Remote Registry
  • Wireless Configuration
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service
  • FTP Service
  • SMTP Service
  • NNTP Service

On Windows Server 2008 systems, set the followings to manual startup type:

  • Application Experience
  • Diagnostic Policy Service
  • IP Helper (if you are not using IPv6)
  • Remote Registry
  • Print Spooler
  • Windows Font Cache Service
  • Windows Remote Management

Network configuration

The following configuration in this topic should only be applied to Recording Server servers or servers where the Media Repository and Recording Server are installed together.

Step 1 Rename network interfaces

In the Network Connections window change the name of the recording interface to Recording Port, the other interface can get the name Network access. These new interface names are not used by the Verba system. Verba recording ports must be configured later on. Naming the interface will however avoid confusion in your IT team.

Step 2 Configure the "Recording" interface

If passive recording technology is used, open the properties sheet of this interface and disable Client for Microsoft Networks and File and Printer Sharing. For other recording methods, use the deafult settings.

Click Show icon in notification area when connected to show the icon to administrators.

Disable Windows Firewall

Disable Windows Firewall on the server in order to provide communication among the networked system components. If you company policy does not allow you to do this, carefully open all ports, which are required for Verba (more information: Firewall configuration).

Make sure you are reactivating your Windows Firewall after the installation with the proper port and executable exception rules.