ProjectDox Server Administration, Backing Up & Monitoring Tips

The attached document has additional information regarding the administration of the ProjectDox servers including Backing Up and Monitoring the servers for issues.

Description

The attached document overviews the tasks of System Administrator for ProjectDox breaking out these tasks into three areas:

1. Common Management Tasks
2. Less Common Management Tasks
3. Server Access Tasks

Solution

SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION

The role of system administrator and their associated tasks are wide ranging. They span from day-to-day management tasks and assistance for not only internal staff users but often expand into assistance for external customers. System Administrators are the points of contact for the application and are the relay point of issues to the Avolve Support team. It is estimated the average ProjectDox System Administrator spends 10-15 hours a week in support mode for the application. In the below sections we break out some of the more common management tasks followed by less common tasks and finally those tasks that require access to the servers.

COMMON MANAGEMENT TASKS 

• Resetting of user passwords [Admin\Users]
• Adding New Users to the application [Admin\Site Groups or Admin\Import Users or Admin\Project Templates\Groups]
• Removing/Revoking Users [Admin\Users]
• Managing updates to existing project templates:
  • Add/Remove Users from Groups tab
  • Add/Remove users from Permissions tab (SA/PA)
  • Edit/Add Groups
  • Edit/Add Permissions o Edit/Add Folders
• Troubleshooting issues within the application, workflow and file upload
  • Installation of components is a common for internal and external users
• Answering questions related to functionality of the application to staff and customers
• Sending out System-Wide notifications to alert users of updates/maintenance to site [Admin\System Wide Email]
• Coordinating System down time for enhancements
• Archiving projects from ProjectDox [Admin\Projects]
• Updating of Batch Stamp and Stamp Templates if processes change and updates required [Admin\Batch Stamp & Admin\Stamp Templates]
• Editing settings for viewing of reports [Admin\Reports]
• Edit/Add Checklist Comments for Workflow [Admin\Workflow Configurations\Review Checklist]
• Edit/Add application types for Project Creator Service [Admin\Workflow Configurations\Project Creator]

LESS COMMON MANAGEMENT TASKS

The areas below often have less time commitment as the system configuration is typically done during implementation; however if new processes are added these areas may be effected and updates to the application required. Detailed information on these features can be found in the System Administration manual.

• Project Status
• Topic Categories
• Required User Information
• Creating and Configuring New Project Templates
• Translations
• User Metadata

SERVER ACCESS TASKS 

System Administrator tasks that require access to the server environment:

• Restart the Job Processor Service. There may be times that due to the scheduled server reboot or other unforeseen issue the Job Processor Service may need to be restarted to allow the publishing of files to resume within the application.
• Management of email templates for ProjectDox and/or ProjectDox Workflow. Email templates are stored on the webserver in the ProjectDox\Custom folder and are not accessible for update through the ProjectDox application.
• Management of logo images. Images referenced in ProjectDox are stored on the webserver and referenced in ProjectDox on the Admin\Configuration\Core tab.
• Access to troubleshooting logs for ProjectDox, project creation, workflow etc., are located on the servers and provided details to issue.
  • Project Creator service does have an option for persons (admin/non-admin) to receive an email if a project fails to create with information related to the error. The more detailed error will be logged to the server.
  • If the list of persons to receive the email is desired to be updated this will require server access.
• Creation & Management of Reports. Basic settings can be controlled within the Admin area of ProjectDox to allow a report to be visible and to exclude or include a site for viewing within the application, but creation of new reports or updates to the data being retrieved for reports requires access to the Report Server (BI Studio or Report Builder) to make updates.
• Application of Updates to servers including Microsoft and ProjectDox service pack updates.
• Update of ProjectDox Job Processor drivers/loader to the Job Processor server. As new features or versions are released for Adobe, AutoCad etc. the need to have the drivers/loaders for the publishing engine updated to accommodate new functionality.
• Management of shared folders. Projects that are exported are exported to a directly on the server environment and may need projects to be cleared to save on storage base on an as needed basis.

Revised 02-18-2015

Avolve Support offers additional services for customers which are outside of the terms of the Standard Support Agreement.  The additional services of "System Tuning" and "Health Check" may be purchased separately by a customer at any time and scheduled to be performed for their installation of ProjectDox.  These services may also be incorporated into Avolve's "Premium Support" and "Named Enhanced Support" options as part of a customized Support Solution for Avolve's Products.  The tasks that are performed for each of the services are listed below.

System Tuning

• Involves evaluating the ProjectDox software configuration settings and comparing them to Avolve's installation guide for best performance
• Evaluating site content for unused / redundant records which maybe cleaned up for Projects / Users / Templates etc. 
• Review of Project Templates for configuration issues
• Review of Site Groups usage
• Review of Unpublished Files Report to determine Publishing issues

Health Check

• Evaluating the customer's current server environment and determining if server resources are appropriate for the utilization and adjusting when necessary
• Evaluation of the System Event Logs, ProjectDox System Logs and Brava System Logs looking for issues being reported that may need corrected
• Evaluating IIS web site performance and review of configuration
• Evaluating Database performance and review of SQL Server configuration including scheduled jobs and maintenance plans being performed