1. Georgia Milestones Assessment System
Central Office Service Device Training
May 30, 2018

2. Introductions GaDOE Sandy Greene, Ed.D., Director, Assessment
Joe Blessing, Assessment Specialist
Robert McLeod, Ed.D., Assessment Specialist
Chris Shealy, Director, Technology Services
DRC
Anu Tummala, Program Management
Dirk Austin, Support Engineering
Evan Gedlinske, Program Management
Michelle Gronemeyer, Program Management
Missy Shealy, Program Management
Phil Peterson, Customer Care
Stuart Bowlus, Program Management 2

3. Goals for Training
Create common understanding of the Central Office Service (COS) Service Device functionality and how it will replace the TSM for 2018/2019 testing.
Provide detailed training and resources for implementation of the COS Service Device
Understand the reason for the recommendation of not using response caching
Discuss the timeline in which these changes will occur
Share best practices for online testing 3

4. Timeline for Implementation
Date Available
Availability
Thursday, June 21, 2018
COS Service Device installers available on eDIRECT Downloads page
Saturday, July 21, 2018
DRC INSIGHT Secure Browsers (for specific operating systems) will be released
Monday, August 6, 2018
Conversion from TSM to COS Service Device should be completed by EOC Fall Mid-Month Testing 4

5. Overview of Central Office Services5

6. Overview of Central Office Services6

7. Overview of Central Office Services
COS is a powerful, integrated solution that enables easy installation, configuration, and management of the online testing environment from a central location
COS includes two major components:
COS-Device Toolkit (COS-DTK) Interface
Configuration User Interface replaced stand-alone Device Toolkit
Enhanced integration into eDIRECT portal for improved security and usability
COS Service Devices
Content Management and Content Hosting services that replace TSM
Service device software is installed locally on one or more dedicated devices at testing sites 7

8. Overview of Central Office Services
Central Office Services Service Devices (COS Service Device) replace the content caching feature currently found in the Testing Site Manager (TSM) software. These features in the COS Service Device are called Content Management and Content Hosting.
Content Management (CM) is the service that manages the download of test content to each site.
Content Hosting (CH) is the service that provides content to student testing devices. 8

9. Testing Site Manager (TSM)9

10. TSM Interface 10

11. COS-DTK Dashboard 11

12. Benefits of COS Service Devices
Creating separate features, referred to as Content Management and Content Hosting, allows for additional flexibility.
Download only the content appropriate for a specific testing site.
Download content once for use by multiple COS Service Devices.
More testing devices supported per service device without manipulating settings on machine
500 testing devices per TSM
950 testing devices per COS Service Device
All configuration and management of COS Service Devices completed in the COS-DTK page in eDIRECT
Ability to manage multiple testing programs on a single device.
Can support Georgia Milestones and WIDA ACCESS on the same device
Supports silent installations. 12

13. COS Service Device Pilot Recap
Numbers of COS Service Devices utilized in Spring 2018
Number of COS Service Devices
All DRC clients: 934
Across Georgia: 34
Number of test sign ins utilizing a COS Service Device
All DRC clients: 988,956
Across Georgia: 203,914
Experience summary
No major issues discovered during pilot
Issue of content download retry logic in 2 cases
Remembering to indicate TTS and VSL in Content Management
Minor updates from the pilot are being incorporated into the June release
Including the issue with the content download retry logic 13

14. COS Service Device Pilot Recap
The COS Pilot Districts provided the following feedback:
Reminder to Ensure Chrome Machines are Updated
Reminder to Limit Extraneous Usage of Bandwidth During Testing
Requested a Quick-start Guide for Problem Solving Before Calling DRC or the GaDOE 14

15. Response Caching Discussion15

16. TSM Response Caching Response caching
Allows students to continue testing if Internet connection fails on test client
Generally responses are sent to DRC upon navigation from item to item or every 45 second, whichever is soonest
Response caching will store student responses temporarily
During Testing
Monitor TSM for stored student responses
TSM will attempt to transmit every 15 minutes but responses can also be manually transmitted
After Testing
At the end of each day and testing window, confirm there are no stored responses on the TSM 16

17. TSM Response Caching Benefits of Response Caching
Response Caching allows students to continue testing if the student’s testing device loses connectivity to DRC, but still has connectivity to the Testing Site Manager (TSM). In this event, student responses are routed to the TSM until connectivity to DRC is restored.
Sites with less reliable and available Internet connections benefit from having Response Caching in place.
Limitations of Response Caching
Response Caching does not assist if there is a loss of local network connectivity between the student’s testing devices and the TSM — for example, if the testing devices loses its wireless connection.
Local network connectivity is where most testing sites experience issues. 17

18. TSM Response Caching
Optional 18

19. TSM Response Caching
To ensure test integrity, all responses must be tracked during the test session. Response Caching adds a layer of complexity to this process. Once a test session is started with Response Caching enabled:
A test session must remain associated with the same TSM until the test session is completed and each testing device is configured to a specific TSM, therefore, any testing device the student uses to resume the test must be associated with the same TSM on which the session was started.
Resuming a test session after an interruption (whether planned or unplanned) requires additional steps, including ensuring all cached responses for the student’s test on the TSM are sent to DRC. 19

20. TSM Response Caching
If a test session needs to be resumed on a different testing device/TSM combination:
To address the risk of possible response loss, test administrators must verify all responses on the original TSM have been cleared and sent to DRC.
DRC Customer Service assistance is needed to update the test session to allow it to continue on a different TSM (clear of Active Flags)
Response Caching TSMs can not be load balanced. 20

21. TSM Response Caching
Recommendation: Use Response Caching only in sites where Bandwidth is questionable, there is unreliable Wide Area Network (WAN), and/or Internet connectivity.
This recommendation is based on the following:
Streamlines the student experience when re-entering a test session
Test sessions can be resumed from any configured testing device
Students can continue testing without requiring the clearing of responses from TSM and resetting Active Flags
Removes dependency between test session and TSM
Internet reliability and availability have greatly improved in recent years
Over the last three testing years, for response types that can leverage response caching, less than .5% of them have benefited from response caching 21

22. Installation of COS Service Device22

23. Installation of COS Service Device
Configure Service Ports
On this window you specify the base port
After you specify the base port, COS Service Device automatically selects the next two consecutively numbered ports.
You usually can use the default port values of 55222, 55223, and 23

24. Installation of COS Service Device
Test Service Ports
After you select your ports, click Test to verify that the ports selected are available on the device, then click OK and Next (or Cancel to exit the installation). 24

25. Installation of COS Service Device
Complete the Wizard and eDIRECT is launched
Two things now occur at the same time: The Completing the Central Office Wizard window appears and the DRC INSIGHT Portal screens are launched.
Important: From the Completing the Central Office Wizard window highlight and copy and save the URL that displays — you can use it to resume the process at this point (if necessary) without re- installing the COS Service Device. 25

26. Create a COS Configuration26

27. Create a COS Configuration
After you have installed a COS Service Device, you must create an initial configuration referencing the COS Service Device to associate it with your testing devices. This section describes how to create the initial COS association. DRC provides a wizard to help you with this process. 
When you finish installing the COS Service Device, if you are not signed in to the DRC INSIGHT Portal (eDIRECT), you must sign in. If you are already signed in to eDIRECT, see next page. 27

28. Create a COS Configuration
After you finish installing the COS Service Device, if you are signed in to the eDIRECT (DRC INSIGHT Portal), the End User License Agreement for DRC Software window displays. Read the agreement, check the I Agree checkbox, and click Accept (you must accept the agreement to continue). 28

29. Create a COS Configuration
When the configuration wizard displays, you can name the COS Service Device to help you identify it in the COS-DTK dashboard. The name displays anytime you view the device in COS-DTK. If you do not name the COS Service Device, only the Device ID, generated by DRC, displays. 29

30. Create a COS Configuration or Use Existing30

31. Create a COS Configuration
Enter a name for the configuration that will help you identify it easily.  This can be the same or different than the name of the device that was defined in a previous step.
To enable automatic DRC INSIGHT secure browser software updates, select Enable Auto Update. 
When you select Enable Auto Update, DRC updates the DRC INSIGHT secure browser software automatically. 
To specify an HTTP proxy host server, move the Proxy Host toggle to Yes and enter the server name (or IP address) and port number (separated by a colon), followed by a forward slash (/), in the Proxy Path field. 
When you are ready, click Next.  31

32. Create a COS Configuration32

33. Create a COS Configuration
When the Locations page appears, select Georgia from the Testing Program drop‑down menu. Then, start typing a district name, school name, or site code in the Site filter. When you locate the district or school name to which you want to register the configuration and its associated COS Service Devices and testing devices, click Add Location. 33

34. Create a COS Configuration
To specify a TSM for response caching, toggle the TSM Response Caching option to Yes. In the field below, enter or paste the TSM Server Domain Name, prefixed with and followed by a colon, the port number, and a forward slash (/). (Keep in mind the additional discussion on response caching presented previously in this session.) 34

35. Create a COS Configuration
You can set Content Management to Yes or No.
Note: Each COS configuration must have at least one service device that has Content Management set to Yes. 35

36. Create a COS Configuration
If you select Yes, the test content for the selected administrations and accommodations will be downloaded automatically to your COS device.
Note: The default is all available administrations and accommodations. If you need to save space on the device, de- select unneeded administrations and accommodations.
After you make your selections, click Next. 36

37. Create a COS Configuration
On the Content Hosting page, Verify that Content Hosting is set to Yes.
Note: With Content Management set to Yes, the current COS service device appears as the first content source. 37

38. Create a COS Configuration
For the initial release of COS, do not attempt to add content sources. In a future release of COS, when Content Management is fully enabled, you will be able to use Add Content Source to specify a fallback content source. If content is not available from the first source, COS will check the fallback source.
Click Complete. 38

39. Re-Configuration of an Existing Configuration39

40. Re-Configuration an Existing Configuration40

41. Re-Configuration of an Existing Configuration
When you reach step 1 of the Configuration Wizard
Select Use an existing configuration? 41

42. Re-Configuration of an Existing Configuration
The wizard changes to a two-step process.
In step 2 of the two-step process,
Choose the configuration that you want to migrate from a content caching TSM to a COS service device and
Click Complete and Continue. 42

43. Re-Configuration of an Existing Configuration
When you have finished using the Configuration Wizard, navigate to the Locations page of the configuration.
For the Georgia location,
Set TSM Content Caching to No
Click Update Configuration 43

44. Re-Configuration of an Existing Configuration
Navigate to the Content Management page
Set Content Management to Yes
Verify that the necessary administrations and accommodations are selected (select any that need to be selected)
Click Update Configuration 44

45. Re-Configuration of an Existing Configuration
Navigate to the Content Hosting page
Set Content Hosting to Yes
Click Update Configuration 45

46. New Installation of DRC INSIGHT and Associate it with a COS Configuration (same two options that has been used with the TSM) 46

47. New Installation of DRC INSIGHT47

48. Deploy New COS Configuration to DRC INSIGHT
You are able to assign a new COS configuration to new testing devices in two ways
Manually assign the Org ID
Distribute the deployment configuration file to the testing devices
These same methods have been used with the TSM 48

49. Manual Assignment of Configuration to Testing Device49

50. Manually Assignment of Configuration50

51. Manual Assignment of Configuration
Install INSIGHT on the device
Because it is not yet registered with COS, the Configuration Not Found screen displays when you start INSIGHT.
Click Assign Device to ORG Unit
Click Add after you have added the ORG Unit ID
Click Register 51

52. Manual Assignment of Configuration
Verify the connection to the COS
Login to an existing Test Session or Online Tools Training OR
Start the System Readiness Check
Launch DRC INSIGHT
Click on the blue check mark in the lower-left corner
Enter Access Code 7745
Content Caching TSM Connection should display green if everything is setup correctly
Content Caching TSM Versions should display green if everything is setup correctly 52

53. Manual Assignment of Configuration53

54. Deployment of Configuration (Org ID)54

55. Deployment of Configuration (Org ID)55

56. Deployment of Configuration (Org ID)
Distributing the new configuration file
Navigate to the Deployment tab
Select Create Deployment Configuration
Click Save
Distribute file to testing devices (see Technical User Guide Volume IV: DRC INSIGHT) 56

57. Existing Installation of DRC INSIGHT and Associate it with a COS Configuration (same two options that has been used with the TSM) 57

58. Association of Configuration to Existing DRC INSIGHT58

59. Association of Configuration to Existing DRC INSIGHT
You are able to assign a new COS configuration to testing devices in two ways
Moving existing student testing devices to the new configuration
Distributing the deployment configuration file to the testing devices
To Move Devices to the new configuration, navigate to the Testing Devices tab 59

60. Association of Configuration to Existing DRC INSIGHT
Select the testing devices that you wish to move
Click Actions
Click Move Devices
Enter Org Unit ID for the new configuration
Click Move 60

61. Association of Configuration to Existing DRC INSIGHT
For Deployment of Configuration file, see slides above 61

62. OPTIONAL: Load Balancing62

63. Load Balancing Content Hosting63

64. Load Balancing Content Hosting
Prerequisites to creating a load-balanced pool of COS Service Devices
You must have already installed and configured your load balancing hardware and software – this is external to the DRC INSIGHT system
You must know the IP address of your load balancer
You must know how to “point” the load balancer to each COS Service Device in the load-balanced pool
You must have a shared network location for test content, know the network share path to the location, and all of the COS Service Devices in the load‑balanced pool must have access to the shared location.
This path must be available from every Content Hosting device in the load‑balanced pool.
This path overrides the default COS Service Device installation path (or a different path that you specified during installation). 64

65. Load Balancing Content Hosting
Steps to utilize a load balancer can be found in the Technical User Guide, Volume III 65

66. Load Balancing Software Based
Software based load balancing - This method allows round robin persistent client connections based on the total count of COS Service Devices setup in the COS DTK Configuration. 66

67. Load Balancing Software Based
Steps to create a pool of COS Service Device and utilize the round robin distribution of Testing Devices can be found in the Technical User Guide, Volume III 67

68. Summary of Deployment Options68

69. COS Service Device 69

70. Multiple COS Service Devices70

71. COS Service Devices Behind a Hardware Load Balancer71

72. COS Service Devices with TSM for Response Caching72

73. Best Practices for Online Testing73

74. Wireless Considerations
If the site is using wireless connectivity, complete a wireless site survey to assess sufficient wireless coverage in testing areas. The areas to review in this survey include:
Device Density
Review the number of devices connecting to a single access point.
You must account for devices that students, proctors, and teachers have connected (e.g., smartphones, laptops, and tablets).
Radio Frequency Interference
Review whether other devices might cause interference.
Many technologies operating at the same frequency as an access point can cause interference.
Wireless access points sharing the same channel may interfere with each other. 74

75. Wireless Considerations
Connection Consistency
Consider things that may interrupt the connection between the testing device and the access point. Review whether there are objects obstructing the line of sight between testing devices and access points that could interrupt the connection.
2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz Bands
Assess whether the site’s wireless network is using either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands appropriately.
The 5 GHz connection can transmit higher amounts of data with better speeds.
The 2.4 GHz connection is better for transmitting data over longer ranges and through walls and other solid objects.
After this survey, is the site’s wireless capacity adequate to support online testing? 75

76. Network Considerations
Connection and bandwidth requirements are greatest at the beginning of the test when the student is logging in to the test and the test engine and test content are being downloaded to the testing device. This process requires a connection from the testing device to DRC. 
Are the firewall and filters on the computer network configurable to allow communication with the online servers and can the necessary URLs be whitelisted? (listing of URLs is found in Volume I of the Technical User Guide)
Will you be able to influence other uses of the network during testing? For example, limiting the amount of high-bandwidth activities such as downloading and watching videos. The use of personal devices can have a dramatic impact on your network utilization and bandwidth. 76

77. Network Considerations
Review the district and school network capacity (LAN, WAN) to administer online testing. Verify that there is available capacity for the number of students taking the test at the same time. Take into account competing network bandwidth and other traffic in the building at the time of testing.
Estimated available bandwidth needed from testing client to COS Service Device
Up to 25 Concurrent Testers: 50 Mb
26–150 Concurrent Testers: 100 Mb
151–275 Concurrent Testers: 200 Mb
Consider using traffic shaping to give DRC INSIGHT testing traffic priority over other network traffic 77

78. Resources
Presentation: EOG/EOC Post-Assessment Central Office Services Training
Webinar Recording: EOG/EOC Post-Assessment Central Office Services Training
Technical User Guide Volume I – V with COS (eDIRECT)
System Requirements (with COS)
Capacity Estimator 78

79. For Further Information
For further information, please feel free to contact:
DRC Georgia Customer Care
Hours of Operation: 7 am – 8 pm EST
Phone: (866) 79