Synchronizing Remotely and not-Remotely
Almost all of our customers and users have a need to synchronize data while they are out of the office. Not surprisingly, this is when the ability to have current data is usually the most valuable.
If you are network savy and already know how to configure your router and firewall for remote access, then read no more… but for those of you that are curious, read on…
The first thing that you are going to need is a “Static” IP address, that is to say, an IP address that will not be changing, otherwise known as a “Dynamic” IP address. Your Internet service provider will be able to tell you what class of service it is that you have.
The reason you want a “Static” IP address is so that when you are off site you will be able to reliably access the XCN Server without having to call the office and ask what the “IP address of the day” is.
Secondly, you will need to configure your router to “port forward” ports 80 and 10001 to the “internal” (LAN) IP address of the computer on which you have installed the XCN Server. Think of it this way: the router is acting sort of like your telephone switchboard. When you are remote and want to synchronize, XC Connect will be doing so using ports 80 and 10001, very similar to that of a phone extension. The router will recognize the incoming authentication request from your remote computer and will look to transfer that incoming request to ports 80 and/or 10001. And since you probably have more than one computer attached to this router, you will need to tell it where to send the request so that it gets responded to appropriately. In this particular case it will be the IP address of the computer on which the XCN Server is installed.
Thirdly, if you have any additional firewalls, you will need to allow access through those two ports (80 and 10001). The additional firewalls may exists as a separate “Firewall” box that is on your network, or more typically as a software firewall that might exist on the server itself.
Security: Data that is transmitted on port 10001 is 128 bit encrypted, as is the data on the XCN Server. Data on port 80, which is the port used for standard web-browser access, can be encrypted should you choose to have it so. If you do, just use “https” for full SSL encryption. In most cases you can do so without having to have a signed “certificate”. In addition, access to the XCN Server requires authentication by username and password. If the XCN server does not receive the proper authentication and if the data is not formatted along the anticipated encryption rules, the connection is dropped.
So the bottom line is that Yes, you can securely create, modify, and synchronize data between all of your users, remote or not so remote. You just need to 1) have a Static IP address, 2) port forward your router, 3) modify your firewall to allow the data. And that’s it!
If you have any questions, please let us know – contact us at info@xcnetwork.com. Thanks!