As a Novell Filr site administrator, ensure that your system meets Filr system requirements, so that your Filr site can be set up successfully. After your Filr site is set up, you must also ensure that users’ browsers and office applications meet Filr user requirements, so that they can access the Filr site successfully.
For the latest system requirements details, see the Novell Filr 1.0 Readme.
One of the following software virtualization platforms:
VMware
NOTE:The following recommendations can improve the performance of your VMware environment:
Install VMware Tools on the host server
Upgrade the virtual machine version to the latest that your infrastructure can support
One of the following VMware host servers for hosting the Filr appliance:
ESXi 5.5.x with the latest update
ESXi 5.1.x with the latest update
ESXi 5.0 with the latest update
ESX 4.1.x and ESXi 4.1.x with the latest update
For the most up-to-date compatibility matrix of supported VMware host servers, refer to the VMware Compatibility Guide that is provided by VMware.
To generate the correct chart from the VMware Compatibility Guide:
Ensure that is selected in the field.
In the field, select , then in the field, select .
Click , then look at the 64-bit line of the provided table.
The versions of ESX and ESXi that are listed in the Supported Releases column of this row are compatible with Filr 1.0.
A VMware vSphere client 4.x or VMware vSphere client 5.x for accessing the host server and appliance for initial configuration.
Not all versions of the vSphere client are compatible with versions of VMware ESX and ESXi. For a complete matrix of compatibility, refer to the VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes that are provided by VMware.
VMware vMotion is supported when running Filr on VMware ESXi 5.1.x or 5.5.x with the latest updates.
Xen
SLES 11 SP2, 64-bit
SLES 11 SP3, 64-bit
Hyper-V
Windows 2012 Server (as a Role)
Windows 2008 R2 Server (as a Role)
Hyper-V Server 2012 (standalone)
Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 (standalone)
Memory Requirements:
Small Installation (Filr Appliance): 12 GB of memory and 4 CPUs. 8 GB of memory should be dedicated to the Java heap.
A small installation requires more resources than a large installation for the Filr appliance, because in a small installation the database and the search index are also running on the Filr appliance.
Large Installation:
Filr Appliance: 8 GB of memory and 2 CPUs. At least half of the memory should be dedicated to the Java heap.
Database Appliance: 4 GB of memory and 2 CPUs. (More memory is required if there are more than 1,000 users on the system.)
Search Index Appliance: 4 GB of memory and 2 CPUs. (More memory is required if there are more than 1,000 users on the system.) About three quarters of the memory should be dedicated to the Java heap.
(Conditional) When configuring Filr to use an existing MySQL database rather than the database appliance (as described in Section 2.2.3, Configuring an Existing MySQL Database), Filr supports MySQL 5.0.96 through 5.5.x.
IMPORTANT:Filr cannot be used with MySQL 5.6 and later.
Storage requirements. For a list of storage requirements for each appliance, as well as information about the types of content in each storage location, see Section 1.3.2, Filr Storage Requirements.
A workstation (Windows, Mac, or Linux) capable of running one of the supported browsers.
Mozilla Firefox 9, Mozilla Firefox 10, Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 for configuring and managing the appliance after the initial setup.
IP address information for assigning to the Filr appliance, including:
Static IP address
Network mask
Gateway IP address
DNS host name associated with the IP address
IP address of a DNS server
IP address or DNS name of the same NTP server that your target OES servers use (optional)
If using VMware, Novell recommends setting up NTP in accordance with the VMware best practices guidelines.
Any combination of the following file servers (You can configure Net Folders in Filr to access files on these file servers. File servers are not required when you use Filr for files in the My Files area):
One or more Windows 2003 R2 or Windows 2008 R2 file servers with one or more Windows Shares as data targets for the Filr virtual appliance
One or more OES 2 SP3 or OES 11 or later file servers with one or more NSS volumes as data targets for the Filr virtual appliance
One or more NetWare 6.5.8 and later file servers with one or more NSS volumes as data targets for the Filr virtual appliance (must be using eDirectory 8.8 as the directory service)
File Storage (Net Folders can access files that are being stored through any of the following storage methods):
Network Attached Storage (NAS) with NetApp, EMC, and other Microsoft Active Directory joined NAS devices that support the CIFS and SMB version 1 protocols.
Storage Area Network (SAN)
A directory service: (Not mandatory for simple testing)
Linux: Novell eDirectory 8.8 or later, plus the latest Support Pack
For information about eDirectory, see the Novell eDirectory 8.8 Documentation Web site.
Windows: Microsoft Active Directory, plus the latest Service Pack, or Novell eDirectory 8.8 or later, plus the latest Support Pack
For information about Active Directory, see Windows Server 2003 Active Directory or Windows Server 2008 Active Directory.
NOTE:eDirectory running on a Windows file server that contains Windows file shares is not supported.
The tables in this section outline the storage requirements for the various appliances, as well as the kinds of information that is stored. The storage requirements vary depending on the size of your Filr installation:
Clustered Installation: All information in the following tables apply to a clustered installation.
Large Installation: All information in the following tables apply to a large installation except:
All storage recommendations and functions listed under Shared Storage (/vashare) apply instead to Hard Disk 2 (/vastorage), in Table 1-1.
Small Installation: Only Table 1-1 applies to a small installation. All information in Table 1-1 applies to a small installation except:
All storage recommendations and functions listed under Shared Storage (/vashare) apply instead to Hard Disk 2 (/vastorage).
Table 1-1 Filr Appliance Storage
|
Boot Partition (Hard Disk 1) |
VMware/Xen/Hyper-V Hard Disk (Hard Disk 2 - /vastorage) |
Shared Storage (/vashare) |
|---|---|---|
|
Recommended Storage: 40 GB of disk space This is the default amount of disk space. If your Filr appliance is running out of disk space, you can increase the disk space by following the steps in Section C.0, Increasing the Disk Space of the Filr Boot Partition. You cannot increase the amount of disk space when using Xen. Function: Stores log files Because log files are continually growing and can consume large amounts of disk space, the Filr administrator should regularly delete old log files. |
In a non-clustered installation (includes a small installation, where all components are running as a single appliance, and a large installation with only one Filr appliance) all storage recommendations and functions listed under Shared Storage (/vashare) are included in Hard Disk 2 (/vastorage). Recommended Storage: 25 GB of disk space Function: Stores the following types of files:
|
Shared storage is used only in a clustered environment where you have deployed multiple Filr appliances. In a non-clustered installation (includes a small installation, where all components are running as a single appliance, and a large installation with only one Filr appliance) all storage recommendations and functions listed under Shared Storage (/vashare) are included in Hard Disk 2 (/vastorage). Recommended Storage: Disk space must be equal to the size of all files that you anticipate users will add to their Personal Storage (My Files area), plus adequate space to account for the storing of HTML renderings and text extractions. IMPORTANT:HTML renderings and text extractions have a significant impact on the amount of storage required for a file. For more information about how these factors affect storage, see the IMPORTANT note following this table. Function: Stores the following types of files:
|
IMPORTANT:HTML renderings and text extractions have a significant impact on the amount of storage required per file for the Filr appliance. In a small installation, index files and database files also have an impact on the amount of storage required per file for the Filr appliance.
HTML Renderings: Each time a user renders a file as HTML (either by clicking on the file from the Web interface, by clicking from the Web interface, or by tapping on a file from the mobile app), that rendering occupies additional disk space.
HTML renderings for files in both Personal Storage and files in Net Folders are stored in the /vashare directory in a clustered environment and in the /vastorage directory in a non-clustered environment.
Only one HTML rendering can exist for a single document. If a user views a file as HTML and a rendering already exists, a second rendering is not created.
The amount of space the HTML rendering occupies differs depending on the type of file that is rendered:
Office file renderings (such as Microsoft Office and OpenOffice) require the same amount of disk space as the original file (For example, a 1 MB file requires an additional 1 MB of disk space for the HTML rendering).
PDF renderings require approximately 10 times the amount of disk space as the original file (For example, a 1 MB file requires an additional 10 MB of disk space for the HTML rendering).
PowerPoint renderings require approximately 3 times the amount of disk space as the original file (For example, a 1 MB file requires an additional 3 MB of disk space for the HTML rendering).
If HTML renderings are consuming more than 10 GB of disk space on your system, you can delete all HTML renderings by restarting the Filr appliance. (For information about how to restart the Filr appliance, change any configuration option, then click , as described in Section 4.0, Configuring and Maintaining the Filr Appliance.)
Text Extractions: When a file is added to Filr (either to Personal Storage or to a Net Folder), text from the file is extracted and added to the search index to be used for searching. By default, each text-extracted file is truncated to 1.1 MB.
Index Files: (Applies only to a small installation) In a large or clustered installation, index files are stored in the Lucene search index appliance.
Database Files: (Applies only to a small installation) In a large installation or clustered installation, database files are stored in the MySQL database appliance.
IMPORTANT:When using NFS Unix mount-points or NAS mount-points for the VMware hard disk (Hard Disk 2 - /vastorage), be aware of the way in which Linux-based systems consume inodes. To learn more about inodes and proper allocation based on the potential number of files that are created on the file system, see section The File System in Reality, in the The Linux Documentation Project.
Table 1-2 Search Index Appliance Storage
|
Boot Partition (Hard Disk 1) |
VMware/Xen/Hyper-V Hard Disk (Hard Disk 2 - /vastorage) |
|---|---|
|
Recommended Storage: 25 GB of disk space Function: Stores log files Because log files are continually growing and can consume large amounts of disk space, the Filr administrator should regularly delete old log files. |
Recommended Storage: 10 GB of disk space, plus: Allocate 11 KB of disk space per file when indexing is enabled for Net Folders. Lucene optimizes and reclaims unneeded disk space after initial synchronization. Allocate 5 KB of disk space per file if indexing is not enabled for Net Folders. For more information about file indexing, see Function: Stores the following types of files:
|
Table 1-3 MySQL Database Appliance Storage
|
Boot Partition (Hard Disk 1) |
VMware/Xen/Hyper-V Hard Disk (Hard Disk 2 - /vastorage) |
|---|---|
|
Recommended Storage: 25 GB of disk space Function: Stores log files Log files are automatically deleted after they consume 1GB of disk space. You can delete log files before they reach the 1 GB threshold, as described in Section 6.2, Maintaining the MySQL Database Appliance. |
Recommended Storage: 25 GB of disk space, plus: Allocate 30 KB per file when indexing is enabled for Net Folders. Allocate 20 KB per file when indexing is not enabled for Net Folders. For more information about file indexing, see Allocate 10 KB per user. Function: Stores the following types of files:
|
Web browser (for accessing Filr through a browser on your user workstation):
Linux: Mozilla Firefox 3 or later; Google Chrome (latest version)
Windows: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or later (must not have the Google Chrome Frame plug-in installed); Mozilla Firefox 3 or later; Google Chrome (latest version)
Mac: Safari 4 or later; Mozilla Firefox 3 or later
Office applications (for editing documents on your workstation, as described in Editing Files with Edit-in-Place
in the Novell Filr 1.0.1 Web Application User Guide):
Linux: OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice 3.1.1 or later
Windows: Microsoft Office 2007 or later; OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice 3.1.1 or later
Mac: OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice 3.1.1 or later
NOTE:OpenOffice and LibreOffice are used synonymously throughout the Novell Filr documentation. Functionality and issues that apply to OpenOffice also apply to LibreOffice.
The Novell Filr mobile app is supported on the following mobile devices:
iOS (the native application is available in the Apple App Store)
Android (the native application is available in the Google Play App Store and in the Amazon Appstore for Android)
BlackBerry PlayBook and Z10 (the native application is available in the BlackBerry World app store)
For more information about the Filr mobile app, see the Novell Filr Mobile App Quick Start.
The Filr desktop application is supported on the following client operating systems:
Windows XP and later.
Mac OS X 10.7 and later.
For more information about the Filr desktop application, see the Novell Filr Desktop Application for Windows Quick Start or Novell Filr Desktop Application for Mac Quick Start.
In Novell Filr, file viewing capabilities are provided by Oracle Outside In viewer technology. See Oracle Outside In Technology 8.3 Supported Formats
for a list of the supported file formats. See Oracle Outside In Technology
for background information about the Oracle viewer technology included in Filr.
The file viewers also support data indexing by the search index.
Filr supports the following file systems on Linux: ext3, btrfs, and xfs.