Network Setup Tutorial
This Tutorial will help you step by step set up Studiometry to network between multiple computers.

1. Selecting your server computer
2. Setting up your server
3. Connecting computers to your server
4. Syncing Data between computers
5. Troubleshooting
6. Additional Information

(link: How many licenses do we need?)

Section 1. Selecting your server computer

The server machine on your Studiometry network will be used as a central database for all other machines to send and receive data with. The server can be any computer that can run Studiometry and connect to your network. A few criterion for selecting a server include:
a. Constant connection to your network is very important. You'll want your server to always be available for clients that are attempting to connect and sync data.
b. Amount of physical memory (RAM) is fairly important. Studiometry runs several processes on the server when syncing between computers, and could use a moderate amount of RAM depending on the size of your Studiometry database.
c. Operating system is fairly important. If you are running an older operating system (Mac OS 10.3, older versions of Windows) you may encounter issues after running Studiometry for long periods of time.

The ideal server would have a constant connection to your network with at least 512mb of RAM and the most recent OS available.

The server machine will run Studiometry exactly the same as other machines, and still allow users to log in and edit information. The only difference is that the server will be running more processes in the background when information is being synchronized.


Section 2. Setting up your server

Once you've selected which machine will be your server, you will need to turn on the server features. While in Studiometry, go to the Preferences Window > Network options. Select "This Computer as Server" and Studiometry will automatically start and set up your server. You now have a Studiometry server running!

The "Require Password" checkbox allows you to deny connections based on user input on the client machines. If you have Multiple Employees turned on in the Employees section of the preferences window, Studiometry will require an Employee's short name and password to log in. If you are not using multiple employees, Studiometry will require the Global Password set in the General section of the Preferences window.

To allow definite access for all client machines, you should now open ports 9090 and 4465 on your firewall by doing the following:
Mac: Go to System Preferences > Sharing > Firewall. Click "New..." and select "Other" from Port Name. Enter the port number 4465 into TCP port and 9090 into UDP port. Enter your description and press OK.
Windows: Click Here for information on opening firewall ports on Windows


Section 3. Connecting computers to your server

Now that your server is activated, you can start connecting clients and syncing data. To set up a machine to connect to your server:
1. Open Studiometry and navigate to the Preferences Window > Networking section.
2. Click the "Always Connect To Server" radio button.
3. Either type in the server's IP address, or click the down arrow next to the address field to see a pop up list of available local servers. A server will only be displayed in the menu if it is on the same Local Area Network.
4. Click Connect Now. If this is a machine's first time connecting with a specific server, you'll have the option of performing a "Clean Sync". This will remove all data and information from the client machine, and duplicate the server machine's database directly onto the client machine.

If Studiometry remains at the "Connecting to Server" stage for more than 5 seconds, this most likely means it will not connect. Perhaps the address has been entered incorrectly, you still need to open firewall ports 9090 and 4465 on the server machine or client machine, or you are not connected to your network. To open firewall ports:
Mac: Go to System Preferences > Sharing > Firewall. Click "New..." and select "Other" from Port Name. Enter the port number 4465 into TCP port and 9090 into UDP port. Enter your description and press OK.
Windows: Click Here for information on opening firewall ports on Windows

If you've tried all of this and still cannot connect, see the Troubleshooting section.


Section 4. Syncing Data between computers

When a client machine initially connects to a server, the client will send all of its updated information to the server, and then receive any newer information from the server. If a Contact, for example, has been edited on the server and on a client machine, the one with the most recent modification date will be copied to both machines. This holds true for all data types.

When connected to the server, the syncing of information is automatic and immediate in most cases. The only time data will not be immediately sent is when editing a Project or Client text field in the main window. Studiometry delays data from being sent for 8 seconds from the last keystroke to prevent extreme lag caused by users typing into the field.

If data does not seem to be syncing correctly, first check to make sure you are connected to a server. Use Window Menu > Status Window to bring up the Studiometry status window. This will show server connection status or, if you're on a server, the list of connected client machines. If you are connected and information seems incorrect, use the Network Menu > Sync Now command. This will force Studiometry to send all data from your machine into the network to be checked by the server and broadcasted onto all machines. Using the Sync Now menu item on a server will broadcast all information to all client machines, which will be more processor intensive than the client machine's Sync Now function.


Section 5. Troubleshooting

Issue
Solution
1. Stuck at "Connecting to Server"
Make sure your computer is connected to the same network as your Server machine. Try loading any web page in your browser to see if you are connected to the internet.

Make sure your server computer is up and running, and has not crashed or stalled. Make sure your server computer's network connection is working correctly.

If your server is on a LAN, double check the address entered into Preferences Window > Networking > Address.
If your server is located across the Internet, make sure ports 9090 and 4465 are open on all machines. To open firewall ports:
Mac: Go to System Preferences > Sharing > Firewall. Click "New..." and select "Other" from Port Name. Enter the port number 4465 into TCP port and 9090 into UDP port. Enter your description and press OK.
Windows: Click Here for information on opening firewall ports on Windows

Make sure your machine and your Server are running the same version of Studiometry. You can check which version you're running in the About Studiometry window or by checking the actual Studiometry application file.

2. Log in failed
If your server has multiple employees turned on and requires a password, you will need to log in with an Employee's short name and password. These are both set while editing the employee.

If you've created an employee on your client machine while not connected to the network, you will not be able to log in as that employee until is has been synced to the server.

3. Data does not sync immediately
First check to make sure you are connected to a server. Use the Window Menu > Status Window to bring up Studiometry status window.

If you are connected and information seems incorrect, use the Network Menu > Sync Now command. This will force Studiometry to send all data from your machine into the network to be checked by the server and broadcasted onto all machines. Using the Sync Now menu item on a server will broadcast all information to all client machines, which will be more processor intensive than the client machine's Sync Now function.

If data still will not sync correctly, try restarting the client and/or server machine and reconnecting.

Make sure your machine and your Server are running the same version of Studiometry. You can check which version you're running in the About Studiometry window or by checking the actual Studiometry application file.




Section 6. Additional Information

This section gives detailed about the inner workings of how Studiometry decides and calculates which data to keep while syncing the network situation. Studiometry decides what data to copy to other machines based on modification dates saved while editing information. The following are all synced based on modification dates:

Projects
    > Project specs will be merged, where any specs of the same name on the newer Project will take precedence over specs on the older Project
    > Project planning information will be taken only from the newer project, and will not be merged
Contacts
    > Contact logs will be merged, where any logs with the same ID on the newer Contact will take precedence over logs on the older Contact
To Do's
Payments
Clients
Invoices
Reports
Debt/Credits,
Employees

The following lists of categories will be merged on sync:
- Client Categories
- Project Statuses
- Project Categories
- Debt/Credit Categories
- Tax Settings
- Contact Log Types
- Currencies
- Invoice Templates
- Report Templates

Additional settings that will be synced only from the Server machines to Client machines:
- Preferences Window > Billing > Payment Terms
- Preferences Window > Billing > Tax ID Number
- Preferences Window > Billing > Round Hours to...
- Preferences Window > Billing > Always round up
- Preferences Window > Display > Color Clients By
- Preferences Window > Display > Color Projects By
- Preferences Window > Employees > Use Multiple Employees
- Preferences Window > Employees > Use Passwords
- Preferences Window > Employees > When Studiometry Launches...
- Preferences Window > General > Encrypt Save Data
- Preferences Window > ID Numbering > Invoice ID Behavior
- Preferneces Window > Networking > Serve Project Files
- Preferences Window > Taxes > Keep all Debt/Credits updated with default Tax types

The information in Preferences Window > My Info can be copied from the Server machine to a client machine by clicking the "Get Info From Server" button.


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