1. IT Best Practices for Sage Timberline Office (STO)
October 14, 2011

2. Introductions
Chris Elekonich Professional Services Manager Rod Hatley Technical Services Manager – Atlantic Division

3. About Aktion Partnering with Customers for Growth and Profitability
Founded in 1979
Over 4,000 Customers in the Midwest , Mid- Atlantic and Southeast
Profitable, Stable Growth
90+ Employees
5 Office Locations – Maumee, OH (HQ), Columbus, OH, Charlotte, NC, Indianapolis, IN, Aurora, IL
Complete IT Services Including Network Infrastructure, Custom Applications, Application Hosting

4. Industries of Expertise
Architects and Engineers
Professional Service Businesses and Organizations
Construction and Real Estate
Supply Chain
Not for Profit

5. Network Engineering 15 Network Engineers
12 States in the Midwest and Atlantic Coast
Remote Support – 80%
Managed Services
Hosting
Remote Monitoring and System Admin

6. Network Engineering Network Assessments
Security Assessments and Vulnerability Testing
Virtualization
Disaster Recovery and High Availability
“Break Fix”

7. Software Engineering Custom Programming
Integration to other applications and Excel and Word
Aktion Authored Applications
ePayStub, eTimeCard
Productivity Enhancing Programs
.NET, C#, Java, Python, etc…
MS SQL, MySQL

8. Our Partners

9. Rod Hatley IT Services Manager

10. Agenda Optimizing the STO System and Data
Optimizing the Network for STO
Remote Access to STO
Backup Strategies STO
Managing STO day-to-day

11. Optimizing STO System Data Optimization Clear STO log periodically
Move Transactions to History
Fun File Doctor to compress data (run at server)
Clear STO log periodically
v9.5 and v9.6 must upgrade to v9.7 to do this
Log can be cleared in v9.7 and higher

12. IT Issues that impact STO
Antivirus scanning
Internet Name Resolution
Network Communications
Server disk I/O
Server RAM Utilization

13. Antivirus Necessary Evil, we need antivirus solutions
Real-Time scanner of antivirus should be reviewed, default is to scan all files
Real-Time scanner should NOT be set to scan all files.
Sage recommends excluding many folders in KB116381
Aktion recommends setting antivirus to scan only specific files types that can have a virus, not all files.

14. Name Resolution Problems
STO uses Internet Name Resolution to find your server.
DNS problems can have a performance impact on running STO
All workstations should use the server’s Active Directory integrated DNS server, not public DNS server.

15. Network Problems
10 Mb network will transfer (Copy / Paste) a files at 1 MB per second.
Duplex mismatch issues can seriously degrade the network when the network gets busy.
Managed Switches will show CRC Errors or truncated packets in the log.
Problems can be address by not using auto settings for duplex on the switch and / or network adapters (typically only done if a problem is found)

16. Disk Queue Problems

17. Sources of Disk Problems
Fragmentation. Use standard Windows tool to defragment the drive. Run it periodically after hours when no one is on the system.
Out of date disk drivers
Physical disk problems
Out of date hardware or over utilized system

18. Server RAM Utilization
32 bit OS can only address 4 GB RAM
Memory Hogs:
MS Exchange Server
MS SQL Server
STO Document Management

19. Remote Access Must use remote desktop product like
Citrix XenApp Server
Microsoft Remote Desktop Server (Terminal Server)
Other remote desktop products will probably work (LogMeIn, GoToMyPC), but are not supported by Sage.
Running STO over a WAN / VPN WAN is NOT supported when STO server is remote from where the STO client is installed on the workstation

20. Citrix / RDP Server Tweaks
Install as you would any application on a Citrix / Terminal Server (via Install Mode)
Set the Pervasive Workgroup.SQL Service to use a domain account that has access to STO data
Use Pervasive Control Center (PCC) to disable Cache under MicroKernal Router.
Fixes issues with files left open in PVSW when users are done
Will show proper username of connected users in Pervasive Monitor
Apply security settings per STO KB244

21. Threats to your data Natural disasters Intentional damage
Fire, Flood, Tornado, Lightning, etc.
Intentional damage
Malicious user or hacker deletes, modifies or removes data
Unintentional damage
Service disruption, system issues, software upgrade / change issues

22. Backup Routines
Daily Full Backup with capacity for multiple restore points over the past several weeks.
On the fly backups. STO has a backup tool, but it only backs up data. Need to use 3rd party backup tool to backup everything.
Periodic backup for historical purposes (quarter end / year end)

23. Ten Tape Rotation
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thu tapes used each of these respective days.
Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Month 1, Month 2, Month 3 used on Friday nights in rotation.
W1, W2, W3, M1
W1, W2, W3, M2
W1, W2, W3, M3

24. Example Schedule For Friday’s Tape
Date
Tape
April 1st
WEEK 1
June 10th
WEEK 3
April 8th
WEEK 2
June 17th
MONTH 3
April 15th
June 24th
April 22nd
MONTH 1
July 3rd
April 29th
July 8th
WEEK3
May 6th
July 15th
May 13th
July 22nd
May 20th
MONTH 2
July 29th
May 27th
August 5th
June 3rd
WEEK2
August 12th

25. STO Backup Goals Full Backup every day Multiple Restore Points
Off-Site Storage

26. Managing STO day to day Upgrades and Updates
Locked files in Accounting
Ghost Users in Estimating License Manager
ODBC on 64 bit systems

27. STO Upgrades vs. Updates
Physical media which will arrive via UPS (CD/DVD)
Typically has changes to features / capabilities
Takes more time to complete and system requirements may change
Updates
Distributed via a download link in alert from Sage
Patches / changes for your currently installed (CD) version. Commonly these changes are for Payroll or other tax reporting reasons. There can be updates for other reasons.
Quicker to install and typically no system requirement changes
Full System Backup before doing Upgrade or Updates
Launch full application (not Sage Desktop) and Help -> About to find version.

28. STO Updates
Not all updates apply to all clients. Read the alert to see if the update is worth the effort for your specific installation.
Updates are cumulative. Update 3 has all the previous fixes / enhancements included in Update 1 and Update 2.
New workstation setup will have NO update.
Recommend putting the currently used update in the WININST folder for easy reference in the future.
Server and all workstations must use the same update.

29. Version Problems
If the server is running a different version of the software from the workstation, you will get a TS 6102 Error.
Check the version at the server or other workstations to see what version and update they are using.

30. Find CD Version and Update

31. Locked Files in Accounting
Periodically, exclusive access to data is desired
Installing upgrades / updates
Closing Month / Year
Running File Doctor
Run Pervasive Monitor at the server console
Start  Run  W3MONV75
Use as tool to gracefully get users out of STO

32. Pervasive Monitor

33. Ghost Users in Estimating
Occurs with Estimating License Manager on server, not with security device connected to workstations.
Have all users exit Estimating
At the server use Windows Services management tool to restart the Sentinel RMS License Manager service.

34. ODBC on 64 Bit Systems x86 = 32 bit x64 = 64 bit
Timberline ODBC is 32 bit only. 64 bit systems have both 32 and 64 bit ODBC tools installed. Menu will only show 64 bit versions.
Stick with 32 bit MS Office 2010.
32 bit ODBC Administrator
Start  Run 
ODBCAD32
C:\windows\sysWOW64\odbcad32.exe

35. 64 vs. 32 bit ODBC Admin
64 bit 32 bit

36. Questions

37. Contact Us Rod Hatley – rhatley@aktion.com
Chris Elekonich –
Or reach out to your Account Representative, Application Consultant or Network Engineer

38. Thank you for attending.