Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

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ForrestGumpDDS
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Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by ForrestGumpDDS » Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:19 pm

Hello everyone,
I'm starting a new office, hopefully it'll be open in 3-4 months so it's time for me to start making decisions on hardware and OD setup. i'm lucky to have my friend helping me with ideas on network setup and hardware options. Here's a list of some technical questions that my friend gave to me. I guess some of them are just for me to decide, but some of them I do not know what to tell him. I'll post everything with my answers (where apply) and hope you guys can chime in with ideas or suggestions.
  1. Server machine. How much space for data? How fast should CPU be, what's a minimal requirements and suggested size of memory? He suggests I should use linux on server side, it is only going to host MySQL initially, maybe some services (like VPN and proxy servers) later. I am absolutely comfortable with managing linux box, but need to know if linux based installations receive the same level of support or not. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that OD program itself is not needed on server machine, only a database, which is mysql. Right?
  2. MySQL - what is the version I am looking to install?
  3. NAS. What's recommended? Externalized backup or archive?
Thanks for taking a look at it. Hope to hear some suggestions.

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jordansparks
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by jordansparks » Sun Nov 13, 2011 10:17 pm

1. Linux server installations can't receive the same level of support because our remote connection software doesn't work and we don't have the resources to figure out alternatives. It's very handy to have OD itself on the server machine for troubleshooting.
2. Since you will be using a Windows server (right?), you will install the version of MySQL that we post as part of our Trial. As such, you will be guaranteed to have the same version of MySQL and the same settings as the rest of us, simplifying your life.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

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drtech
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by drtech » Mon Nov 14, 2011 1:45 pm

As Jordan said, if you want easy, use windows...if you want more power and better backup, use linux.

If you are comfortable running linux and don't need server support, then I would by all means recommend using it. I have been running Ubuntu for years now and love it (besides a few hurdles of getting mySQL 5.0 to run earlier this year!) The main advantages I see in using linux are 1) Stability and reliability, you hardly ever have to restart it 2)Awesome Rsync backup both local and offsite (THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST PART OF A LINUX SYSTEM) & 3) No cost initially or CAL's 4) can setup low cost backup system that is almost ready to switch over to in case of hardware failure on your main server and it is already rsync'ed with all your current data! (no waiting to copy over your latest files for the day, etc)

I have mine rsyncing data to two separate backup linux server boxes every five minutes (on files system for scan, x-rays, & documents) and every hour (on MySQL dump) so I am never out of much data. I then use a RAID 6 Thecus 5 disk array NAS system as my VAULT for backup that gets everything rsynced to it every hour as well.

The best part about a linux server is the secure SSH rsync offsite backup. For the ultimate in data protection and readiness, I have another server box at home that gets an Rsync of the nightly SQL dump (using AutoMySQLBackup) Then I have another system setup at home where I have everything securly Rsync every night at midnight for offsite protection. What more could you want?

Here are some of my helps on my website
http://www.smilecouple.org/category/computers
David Fuchs
Dentist - Springfield, MO
Smile Dental http://www.887-smile.com

ForrestGumpDDS
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by ForrestGumpDDS » Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:57 pm

jordansparks wrote:1. Linux server installations can't receive the same level of support because our remote connection software doesn't work and we don't have the resources to figure out alternatives. It's very handy to have OD itself on the server machine for troubleshooting.
2. Since you will be using a Windows server (right?), you will install the version of MySQL that we post as part of our Trial. As such, you will be guaranteed to have the same version of MySQL and the same settings as the rest of us, simplifying your life.
Thank you, Jordan.
1. I just want to make certain I understand what is that you support. Are we talking about support for opendental or you also support MySQL as well (if it came from trial installer)? What if this is configured as admin computer with OD and remotely connected MySQL? If I have a problem with mySQL then who is going to support it in case I have a. Windows server, b. Linux server.
2. Decision about platform depends on above answers for me. So I am in a process of figuring it out.

ForrestGumpDDS
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by ForrestGumpDDS » Mon Nov 14, 2011 7:21 pm

drtech wrote:As Jordan said, if you want easy, use windows...if you want more power and better backup, use linux.

If you are comfortable running linux and don't need server support, then I would by all means recommend using it. I have been running Ubuntu for years now and love it (besides a few hurdles of getting mySQL 5.0 to run earlier this year!) The main advantages I see in using linux are 1) Stability and reliability, you hardly ever have to restart it 2)Awesome Rsync backup both local and offsite (THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST PART OF A LINUX SYSTEM) & 3) No cost initially or CAL's 4) can setup low cost backup system that is almost ready to switch over to in case of hardware failure on your main server and it is already rsync'ed with all your current data! (no waiting to copy over your latest files for the day, etc)

I have mine rsyncing data to two separate backup linux server boxes every five minutes (on files system for scan, x-rays, & documents) and every hour (on MySQL dump) so I am never out of much data. I then use a RAID 6 Thecus 5 disk array NAS system as my VAULT for backup that gets everything rsynced to it every hour as well.

The best part about a linux server is the secure SSH rsync offsite backup. For the ultimate in data protection and readiness, I have another server box at home that gets an Rsync of the nightly SQL dump (using AutoMySQLBackup) Then I have another system setup at home where I have everything securly Rsync every night at midnight for offsite protection. What more could you want?

Here are some of my helps on my website
http://www.smilecouple.org/category/computers
I am excited with idea of having a linux server setup for database use. It is my luck that you came across this topic, drtech, since you have experience with IT part and with usage of OD itself. My I use your help in case my friend and I run out of ideas?

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drtech
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by drtech » Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:33 am

Yes, I am happy to help anytime I can.

And as far as I know Jordan and his team will give you the same support for OD for anyone on a linux server as a windows server, just not MySQL...but the issue is every once in a while we find there is a bug with OD server communicating with a Linux MySQL (almost always capitalization issue) and is quickly fixed in early beta since I test beta in production in my office soon after each release. So this is really a minor issue.
David Fuchs
Dentist - Springfield, MO
Smile Dental http://www.887-smile.com

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jordansparks
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by jordansparks » Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:36 am

The capitalization issue can be solved easily. You can add a server variable to your my.ini file (or whatever you guys call it in Linux) to treat tables as case sensitive. So then that behavior would be the same on both platforms. But we also work very hard on capitalization within the source code just in case you use the defualt Linux settings.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

ForrestGumpDDS
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by ForrestGumpDDS » Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:19 pm

Thank you for your answers, Jordan and drtech.
OK, let me recap.
OD - supported by OD team. Installed on Windows machines.
MySQL - support has to be through MySQL team, regardless of platform it is hosted. Right now it is planned by my friend to have an admin computer with Win7+OD and remotely connected server linux+mysql.
Possibility of bug happening time to time that affects capitalization module and has a predictable and simple fix, but might repeat time to time.
Am I missing something?

what about hardware requirements. What size should I look for storage on server? I am planning to use Dexis or Eva for xray and camera pictures acquisition.
Processor, memory, 64 bit?

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jordansparks
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by jordansparks » Wed Nov 16, 2011 9:16 am

No, we support MySQL when it's installed on Windows.

As long as you have less than about 30 workstations, the server specs are not that important. For harddrive, images will probably take less than 10 gig for a while, but you will need a huge hard drive or two to make proper backups of everything.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

ForrestGumpDDS
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Re: Technical q.'s on setting up a new office with OD

Post by ForrestGumpDDS » Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:40 pm

Thank you, guys.
We are debating now.

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