|
Connecting to the Digital Signage Cloud
The Digital Signage network cloud is comprised of network servers and routers which are hosted at 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.
2.2Registering into the Digital Signage networks
When a Media Player boots up, the SignagePlayer 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 SignageStudio. 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 SignagePlayer 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 SignageStudio “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 SignagePlayer will work with almost any type of connection; the SignagePlayer uses internal caching and retry mechanisms to ensure smooth playback at all times.
The SignagePlayer will not be affected when internet connection is down given that all resources had an opportunity to cache locally. The SignagePlayer may also be rebooted when no connection exists; in such scenarios the SignagePlayer will roll back to the last good known campaign. However, a fast broadband connection will allow for rapid download of content, smoother transitions into new content and more reliable remote control functionality.
Security
The SignagePlayer uses an elaborate authentication scheme to validate against the Digital Signage servers. Once fully authenticated, the SignagePlayer will be allowed to join the Digital Signage cloud. The SignagePlayer 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 SignagePlayer 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 SignagePlayer. Unregistering the SignagePlayer will remove it from the Digital Signage cloud as well as remove all locally saved passwords.
Firewall
The SignagePlayer 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 SignagePlayer 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.
The following are conditions which must exist on your network’s firewall:
1.Source: Media Player IP address
Destination:
master DOT signage DOT me,
business DOT signage DOT me,
neptune DOT signage DOT me,
Protocol: HTTP
Port: 80
2.Source: Media Player IP address
Destination:
master DOT signage DOT me,
business DOT signage DOT me,
neptune DOT signage DOT me,
Protocol: HTTP
Port: 336
* Note that opening port 336 on your firewall does not compromise in any way the security of your local area network. Allowing trusted traffic originating from within the LAN onto a specific destination is common practice. It does not induce any potential security breach. This is acceptable and standard procedure in internet security models.
|
