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Connecting to the Digital Signage Cloud
The Comvox Digital Signage network cloud is comprised of network servers and routers which are hosted at multiple central data centers. The hosted servers provide all services to your Digital Signage network. This type of service is often referred to as SaaS (software as a s service). The services include authentication, streaming of media files and database services. In order for the Media Player to join this cloud, you must first register the Media Player. Next you will need to ensure that the Media Player can transmit ingress and egress data from and to the digital signage cloud.
The following sections will cover requirements for proper operation and transmission of your Media Player within the SaaS model.
Digital Signage networks
When a Media Player PC boots up, the Signage Player is configured to automatically start. On the 1st boot up you will be prompted to enter your login email and password. These will be the same email and password you use to login to the Signage Studio. Once you provide this information, the Media Player will be associated with your account. After proper authentication is completed, the Media Player will be allowed to join your digital signage network. Once successfully registered, the Signage Player will prompt you to select the campaign and output that you would like to connect to. The campaign and output can be modified at a later time through the Signage Studio “Stations”.
Broadband
The Media Player relies on a broadband connection to download all of the campaign’s data. This includes RSA authentication, XML configuration and media files. It also uses the broadband to access external data sources such as RSS, video podcasts and other data. It is vital to a successful integration of a digital signage solution that you provide a fast reliable internet connection. It should be noted that the Signage Player will work with almost any type of connection; the Signage Player uses internal caching and retry mechanisms to ensure smooth playback at all times.
The Signage Player will not be affected when internet connection is down given that all resources had an opportunity to cache locally. The Signage Player may also be rebooted when no connection exists; in such scenarios, the Signage Player will roll back to the last good known campaign. However, access to a fast broadband connection will allow for rapid download of content, smoother transitions into new content and more reliable remote control functionality.
Security
The Signage Player uses an elaborate authentication scheme to validate against the Digital Signage servers. Once fully authenticated, the Signage Player will be allowed to join the Digital Signage cloud. The Signage Player uses 128 bit private and public keys. It is powered by RSA ciphering cryptography to ensure maximum security. All tokens used are validated on the server side before they are allowed to pass through. The Signage Player stores the authenticated password locally within the local file system as an encrypted key. If you plan on moving the Media Player or possibly shipping it to an offsite location, consider first unregistering the Signage Player. Unregistering the Signage Player will remove it from the Digital Signage cloud as well as remove all locally saved passwords.
Firewall
The Signage Player communicates with the hosted servers over TCP/IP. The protocol uses http (as well as RSA public / private keys over standard http) and raw sockets. In order to ensure proper operation the Signage Player must be allowed to communicate with the hosted servers within the Digital Signage network. The Media Player does not include an internal firewall and so no special configuration is required. However, if your local area or corporate network does have a firewall, you will need to ensure proper rules exist within your firewall to allow traffic originating from the Media Player to pass through.
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