Advanced Smart Control Network Configuration Scenarios

There are several ways to configure Smart Control Resource Managers. This document explains the more common configurations of SCRM to SCRM communication.  Connecting SCRMs will allow them to share client management responsibilities.

A Hierarchy Relationship makes one SCRM the Master and central license server while allowing sub servers to fully control their local clients. The difference between a Primary and Secondary SCRM is that only the Primary will facilitate licensing and product updates. This structure is most useful for organizations with remote locations.

A Helper Relationship gives all license, schedule, Energy Saver and ScreenView privileges to the Primary SCRM while allowing the Helper SCRM to control the Protection, Power and Miscellaneous commands to the client computers. This scenario is used when multiple administrators are sharing management of the same set of clients.
 

 

Peer Relationships gives all license, schedule, Energy Saver, and ScreenView privileges to the Primary SCRM of a subset while allowing a SCRM that is the Primary of a different subset to control the Protection, Power and Miscellaneous commands.These are used when administrators are sharing responsibilities over two separate subsets of machines.
 

Due to many improvements made to speed up the TCP/IP communication in Smart Control Resource Manger the service is now loading much faster. Unfortunately, we have found that in some cases when rebooting, Smart Controls running version 2.1.8 on Windows 7 our service may be loading faster that the TCP/IP connection can handle. There is a simple solution to this problem. Windows 7 Smart Controls may need to slow down the service start up type to allow for the IP address to be registered in the service. To do this open the Service Control manager and change the Centurion Smart Control service startup type from Automatic toAutomatic (Delayed Start). Changing the service to Automatic (Delayed Start) will give the machine time register its IP address before listening for clients on all subsequent reboots.

This step-by-step tutorial will assist users in getting Smart Shield and the Smart Control Resource Manager (SCRM) downloaded, installed and ready to use.

Start with the Smart Control Resource Manager
We recommend that the SCRM be installed on a machine with the following hardware and software specifications:

• Windows Server 2003/2008 or Windows 7/Vista/XP
• Windows Server 2003/2008 (for large scale enterprise level installations)
• Windows 7/Vista/XP will be adequate for environment of 500 clients or less
• Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0
• Microsoft Windows Installer 3.0
• Minimum Hardware Specifications
• 512 MB RAM
• Note: The RAM can be shared with the video card or other devices – SCRM requires that 512 MB should be devoted to the operating system. We recommend at least 2 GB of RAM
• Single Core 2 GHZ Processor
  Recommended dual core 2.8 GHZ Processor
• As the number of clients increases, so do the requirements for processing
• 100 MB Ethernet
• Wireless cards not recommended

Smart Control Resource Manager Installation Steps:

• Download the SCRM installer from
  http://www.centuriontech.com/support/login_customer_resources.php
• Be sure to download the appropriate installer for your computers
• Run the CCInstaller2.1.X.XXX.exe
• Type or paste in the license key that is given to you for SCRM
• Enter in the password that you have created for the SCRM.
  This password only applies to the SCRM.
  Used for allowing other SCRM computers to connect, as well as importing and exporting data
  If this is lost it cannot be recovered.
• This installer does require a reboot
• Port 25553
  SCRM and clients require port 25553 be available for TCP/IP communications
  Make sure all firewalls on the computers and the network allow port 25553
  If using Subnets or VLAN make sure that 25553 is allowed and if need be forwarded
• Proxy Server
  If your SCRM is behind a proxy, it may require manual licensing
  Locate the licensing option by right clicking the root node (“127.0.0.1”) in the SCRM user interface, then follow the instruction on the manual licensing tab.

Smart Shield Client Installation Steps:

• If you are using the SCRM, make sure that it is installed and running first and that you know the IP address or DNS name of that server.
• Smart Shield can be installed on Windows 7/Vista/XP Download the Smart Shield or Smart Shield Education installer from
  http://www.centuriontech.com/support login_customer_resources.php
• Be sure to download the appropriate installer for your computers
• It may be necessary to disable or allow Smart Shield in your antivirus software
• Run the SmartShield2.1.X.XXX.exe or SmartShieldEducation2.1.X.XXX.exe
• Enter in the Name or IP address of Smart Control if you are using managed licensing or the license key for stand alone
• Choose a password. Write this down and store in a safe place – it cannot be recovered. Password is lost it will require re-image of the client to remove protection
• Choose a keyboard and mouse unlock phrase
• Choose default or custom install to complete the installation
• If you receive any errors see the Trouble Shooting Section below
• Client requires a reboot in order for the disk driver and service to be loaded
• This may take a minute or two on the first reboot after install
• The client should now have the Smart Shield icon in the task bar and be showing connected in the Smart Control

Trouble Shooting:

Smart Control Resource Manager:

• Make sure that the license key has not been used to install on another server/computer.
• Make sure that the server/computer has an active internet connection.
• Check to make sure that the Centurion Smart Control service is started and set to Automatic.

Smart Shield Client:

• Is antivirus blocking/flagging ctsrgui.exe or ctsrsvc.exe?
• Allow exception in your antivirus for the following:
• ctsrsvc.exe
• ctsrgui.exe
• ctsrcmd.exe
• ctsrvnc.exe
• Do you have Fat32 partitions on the disc?
• Remove any partitions that are not NTFS
• Do you have at least 8 GB of free space on your C: drive?
• Has a previous version of Smart Shield been installed?
• Download and run the application at this link 
  http://www.centuriontech.com/tools/removeclient.zip
• Has a previous version of another Centurion product been installed?
• Download and run the script at this link
  http://www.centuriontech.com/support/downloads/scripts/Remove_CornerStone_or_DriveShield.bat

Still Have Questions?
Email: support@centuriontech.com
Phone: 1-800-224-7977

Centurion Technical support has recently received reports of Smart Shield client machines with Windows XP that have services that are slow to load. Technical Support diligently went to work in our lab evaluating this report. Initial tests of the report did not produce slow loading of Smart Shield. Eventually we were able to reproduce this issue in our lab with some regularity. It was discovered that after installing a fresh Windows XP with all of the current Windows Updates, the machines started displaying the reported slow Windows service loading. This slow loading issue was not discovered sooner, because not all machines are slow to load. As part of the debugging process we also found that the event log showed a system error. The error was the following:

After researching the error, we found that this issue is fairly common when Windows XP machines execute software that involves disk protection or monitoring like Smart Shield or antivirus. Microsoft released a hot fix to correct this issue. Running the executable from the link below on the Smart Shield client machine while unprotected will restore automatic service start up speed. For further assistance please contact our technical support team, we are always happy to talk to our customers!

Please refer to the Microsoft article for additional details on this issue.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888402

Below is the direct link to the hot fix. Microsoft warns against using this fix unless you find the above error in your event log!

http://hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows%20XP/sp3/Fix141412/2600/free/209635_ENU_i386_zip.exe

Centurion R&D

Hello All!

This is Centurion Technologies’ Technical Support, giving you a brief update on what’s going on in our department.

Our primary goal lately has been to keep warm as we’re having an exceptionally cold and snowy winter in St. Louis.  Recently we launched a new website and have been working out the kinks and tweaking things since then.  Also we are continuing to develop new scripts for use with our Remote Execute as well as updating some of our existing ones.  To access our script library gohere to our customer download area and take a look.  Feel free to let us know if you have any suggestions as how to improve existing scripts, have a need for a specific script, or if you have a script that you would like to share with us.  If so, please let us know by either calling us at 888-265-6055 or by emailing us at support@centuriontech.com.

Thank you for reading and let’s hope for a warm March!!