Landro Enterprise Edition Support
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Landro Enterprise Edition Installation Guide
This guide will outline the steps for installing your Landro Enterprise Edition system.
Note: previous versions of this document specified that Windows Server 2003 could be used
as the operating system for a Landro server. However, we have seen recent service pack builds
of Server 2003 that encountered kernel faults using the Landro device driver required for encoder
servers. Due to these changes in Windows itself, we can no longer support Landro on Windows Server
2003.
The first step in setting up your Landro Enterprise Edition system is simply making sure that you
have all of the pieces you will need during the installation process.
Landro Enterprise Components
The specific components you purchase from Landro are determined during the sales process.
This consists primarily of licenses for the Landro Enterprise Edition software
to function in various roles on various computers.
Additionally, each encoder license is accompanied by an encoder card
to capture analog video and audio as high quality digital files.Computers
The particular computers involved in the Landro Enterprise Edition system are also determined
during the sales process.
However, it is important to make sure that the computers meet our specifications for their
various roles, as follows:
Central Server
This computer is the central manager of the Landro system, and holds the database
of all program and play information for the videos managed by Landro.
You will want a high-reliability system running under Windows XP Professional.
We recommend a gigabit Ethernet connection.
Any plan to back up the program and play data must interact with this system.Encoder Server
Each encoder server holds one or two encoder cards for capturing video and audio.
You will want a fast computer running under Windows XP Professional,
but it cannot be an "x64" version.
The computer must have an unused 5 volt PCI slot (not PCI Express) for each encoder card.
We require a gigabit Ethernet connection.Media Server
Each media server stores the digital video files managed by Landro.
You will want a high-reliability system running under Windows XP Professional,
with plenty of disk space (as Landro video files, on average, require about 2 gigabytes per hour).
We require a gigabit Ethernet connection.
Any plan to back up the video files must interact with this system.Client PC
Each computer that will be used for viewing and/or recording video in Landro should be running
Windows XP. (Some Landro functions do not work properly under Windows Vista).
This should be a reasonably fast computer with a good video adapter that supports 3D graphics
and gaming.
(The "dxdiag" utility with DirectX lets you evaluate the quality of the video
display on a computer.)
We recommend a gigabit Ethernet connection.
Along with the computers and their peripherals (screens, keyboards, mice), you will want to ensure
that you have uninterruptable power supplies ("UPS") for the servers and network hardware.
If the servers will be located in a central location, you will probably want an equipment rack for
mounting the servers.
In a racked configuration, we strongly recommend a "KVM switch" for letting a
single monitor and keyboard switch easily between servers as needed for maintenance or support.
Network Equipment
The high performance of the Landro Enterprise Edition system depends upon a fast and isolated
network infrastructure.
This typically consists of:
- a gigabit Ethernet switch, serving all of the Landro servers and client PCs
- the necessary cabling (Category 5e or Category 6)
- a firewall linking the Landro network to your Wide Area Network and the Internet.
There needs to be Internet access from the Landro computers to facilitate installation, updates and support.
Depending upon the bandwidth needs, this could be a very inexpensive "cable modem router".
The goal is simply to keep unrelated network traffic, and security risks, outside of Landro's world.
- a means of remote access to allow Landro support personnel (and presumably your own
support staff) to log into the Landro servers.
This is typically through Remote Desktop tunnelled through the firewall, often using VPN.
Audio / Video Equipment
You will of course need some A/V equipment in order for Landro to have anything to record:
- cameras for the session rooms.
These can simply be fixed-position cameras, or controllable pan-tilt-zoom models.
If you have purchased Landro camera control, you will want to equip your rooms with Sony EVI-D100 cameras.
Landro accepts standard NTSC composite video.
- microphone systems.
The type of microphones and the necessary amplification depend upon the layout and acoustics of your rooms.
Landro accepts consumer-grade unbalanced line-level stereo audio.
- the necessary cabling.
The video cables need to end at the Landro with male RCA plugs.
The audio cables need to end at the Landro with 3.5mm stereo plugs.
If you purchased Landro camera control, you will also need to provide serial cabling from the D100 cameras
to a serial port on the encoder server; see our camera wiring diagrams
and our encoder connection diagrams for details.
The next step in setting up your Landro Enterprise Edition system is configuring each of the Landro servers.
Windows Setup on All Servers
All of the Landro servers need a few basic configuration choices for the Windows operating system.
- Establish a default, automatic local user login with administrative rights.
If you are finalizing Windows on a new PC, you are prompted to create such a user by the operating system,
or you can add one later.
Windows needs to boot up automatically into this user account, not start with the user login screen.
This is a local user, not part of any domain.
By default we set up our servers with a user name of "Landro" and a password of "Landro".
You may want to provide a secure user and password; however, if you do, we will need to know what you chose
in order to access the systems remotely.
- Provide the server with a fixed IP address and other network parameters as necessary.
(DHCP reserved addresses are not acceptable.)
The server should be configured as part of a workgroup (we typically choose "Landro"), not a domain.
- Configure the server to allow Remote Desktop access.
- In Windows Firewall, allow echo requests ("ICMP Settings" on the Advanced tab).
This makes networking issues easier to debug.
- Turn off Windows Automatic Updates.
Make sure that there is no anti-virus software or other automatic update services installed on the server.
(Automatic system changes or restarts can unexpectedly end live recording sessions.)
- Give each server a meaningful name.
For the central server, we suggest a name like LANDRO-MYSCHOOL (the Landro users see this name when they use the
play analyzer software).
For an encoder server, we suggest a name like LANDRO-ROOM409 indicating the location of the camera(s).
- Tip: switching between consoles in a rack using a KVM, or between Remote Desktop sessions, can become
confusing.
A good idea is to create a bitmap for the server's desktop background (in Windows Paint, for example) that
shows the computer name, its IP address and its role(s) (including room names for encoders).
Make the bitmap for your screen's default resolution (such as 1024x768).
Place the text on the right side of the bitmap so the desktop icons won't obscure it.
In Display Properties, Desktop tab, select the bitmap and choose "Stretch" for the position.
Central Server
Follow these steps for the computer that will be the Landro central server:
- Install SQL Server.
This may be the full Microsoft SQL Server 2005, or it may be the free
SQL Server Express.
(The full license includes additional features for management and backups, but these features
are not needed for Landro to operate.)
You should also install the SQL Server Management Studio.
- Install the Landro server software.
The latest version of the server setup may be found on our Downloads page.
- Initialize the local database.
The software installation placed a SQL script, and a sample batch file, on your desktop.
Examine the batch file for the steps to perform to initialize the database.
(The batch file will not necessarily run as is, due to differences in install paths and directories.)
Encoder Servers
Follow these steps for each computer that will be a Landro encoder server:
- Install the Landro server software.
The latest version of the server setup may be found on our Downloads page.
- Install the PCI cards.
When the computer is powered back on, verify in Device Manager that there are no errors.
"Iris PCI" should appear under "Sound, video and game controllers".
Media Servers
For each computer that will be a Landro encoder server, install the Landro server software.
The latest version of the server setup may be found on our Downloads page.
Once each server has been configured, and each server or client PC has been installed in the room or rack
where it will be used, the next step is to set up network communications between the computers.
You need to ensure that each computer (server and client PC) on the Landro network is able to resolve
the name of each server (that is, convert a name to its IP address and vice versa).
The easiest way to test this is with the "ping" command, such as: ping landro-myschool
Since the Landro computers are isolated on their own network, you will need to set up some sort of mechanism
for the name resolution, such as DNS and WINS services on a server, or NetBIOS over TCP, or use of an lmhosts file.
In any event, if some computer(s) can't ping every server by name, your job is not yet done.
Make sure that the firewall connecting the Landro network to your WAN allows servers and client PCs to access
the Internet, and other WAN resources as needed for your facility.
In order for Landro to support your systems, you will need to set up a way for us to use Remote Desktop to log
into the Landro servers from the Internet.
This requires that you set up some access through the firewall that connects the Landro network to your WAN, and
may require some VPN setup as well (depending upon your WAN and security policies).
Once the servers are all running, the next step is to set up the audio and video equipment that will allow
Landro to record live sessions.
The basic tasks are:
- Install the cameras and microphones in the rooms where they are needed.
Tip: If the encoder servers are in a central location, it is helpful during setup to place a paper
"sign" in view of each camera that identifies the room it is in, so that it is easy to tell which
signal is which back at the servers.
- Install the cables connecting the cameras and microphones to the encoder servers.
- Test the audio/video connections on the encoder servers.
Each encoder server has a "Landro Server Test" program installed, which tests the proper functioning
of the encoder cards (and also camera control, if you purchased this option).
Run the Server Test, and for each encoder card installed, run the "video capture" test, verifying
that you see the correct video for the room you expect.
Once all the pieces are installed and running, it is time for some basic setup of your Landro system.
Most of the steps in this section involve use of the Landro Administrator tool.
This is already installed on your servers; you can also install it on any PC on the same network,
from our Downloads page.
You may want to refer to the Admin tool manual for further details.
Note that by default after installation, you can log into the Admin tool or Landro using the user
name landro_default and password landro.
(You will want to change the password or remove this account before your system goes live.)
The major administration steps are:
- Install your server licenses.
At present, this step can only be performed by Landro staff through remote access into your central server.
If you have not yet been assigned any Landro team member(s) to assist your installation process, please
contact support@landro.com to have the licenses installed.
- Add each server to the central device list.
On the central server, run the Admin tool.
With the left pane selection at the top item, click the "Add Devices" button on the right.
Enter the computer name of each encoder server or media server, one at a time.
This establishes a connection between the servers.
(On the screen of an ecoder server or media server, the display should now show "connected" and the
IP address of the central server.)
Exit the admin tool.
- Authorize each Landro computer.
On the central server, run the Admin tool.
With the left pane selection at the top item, click the "Manage Licenses" button on the right.
This displays a list of every function that is licensed for your Landro system, with a blank cell to the
right of each function.
You simply enter the computer name of the computer authorized for each function.
For example, if you purchased two encoder licenses, you will see two spaces for encoders; double-click each
one and choose or type the computer name that will use that license.
For the analysis licenses, eneter the names of the client PCs that will be using Landro.
(If you purchased the Live Analysis option, enter the client PCs there as well as for analysis.)
Exit the admin tool.
- Enable the individual cameras and media drives.
On the central server, run the Admin tool.
The left pane should now include each encoder server and media server.
For each of these servers, expand that node to see the encoder cards within encoder servers, and the
hard drives within the media servers.
Click each one in turn, and then check the "Enabled" checkbox on the right for each.
(However, if a hard drive is displayed for a media server that you don't want to use for
storing video, do not enable it.)
Exit the admin tool.
- Name each camera.
On the central server, run the Admin tool.
In the left pane, expand each encoder server and select each encoder card.
On the right, there is a space to provide a name for that camera.
Name each appropriately for the room where it is located; these names are how the users of the Landro
system choose what to record.
- Create your database.
In the Admin tool, select the top item in the left pane.
On the right, click the "Add a Database" button.
You will need to provide a name for your database (such as "Counseling" or "Training").
- Create some users.
In the Admin tool, select the top item in the left pane.
On the right, click the "Manage Users" button.
This displays a list of all users; by default, a "landro_default" user is already installed.
You can add new users as well as edit or delete existing users from this list.
(Details of user settings and permissions will be included in your training; for now, you are simply creating
one or more user(s) with which to test the system.)
At this point, you should be ready to set up the client PCs to use Landro.
The process is simple:
- Install the Play Analyzer software.
The latest software can be found on our Downloads page.
You may also want to refer to our User's Guide for this software.
- Start the software.
You are presented with a login screen that asks you for a user name and password (which you created in the
Admin tool, above), the name of the central server (this should appear in the pick list already), and the
name of the database you want to use (this should also appear in the pick list, once you have selected the
central server).
Provide this information and connect.
If you are not able to connect, something isn't set up correctly yet.
- Try live analysis, if the PC is authorized for it.
You should be able to choose an encoder and both watch and hear what is happening in that room.
(If this is your first connection using the software, you may want to adjust volume levels for your
microphone equipment at this time.)
...And That's It!
Your system should now be ready to use, and you can now schedule your user training.
If you have not yet been assigned any Landro team member(s) for your training, please contact
support@landro.com to schedule this.
Some Notes for IT
Since this document was probably read by your IT or computer support staff, this is probably a good
place to add a few notes for supporting Landro.
- Caution using Remote Desktop for the Landro servers:
The Landro server application runs in the context of the automatic login user.
When you connect with Remote Desktop, you need to log in with the same user ID, and you will gain
control of the same session.
When leaving your Remote Desktop session, do not log off!
You need to disconnect instead; otherwise, the Landro server will shut down and
be unavailable to the network until another login occurs.
- If you need to shut down a Landro server for any maintenance task, check the screen
on that computer.
Its display will tell you whether there are open encoder sessions or file connections.
If either is present, shutting down will interrupt somebody.
- The Play Analyzer software doesn't work properly through Remote Desktop.
The Play Analyzer uses Windows DirectShow technology direct to the video adapter of the computer,
which is not supported in a Remote Desktop connection.
You will see several errors trying to log in through Remote Desktop; this is normal.
More information for IT staffs can be found in a separate document,
What IT Needs to Know about Landro Enterprise.
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