MyVoIPSpeed Server Manual

Introduction

Getting Started

The main MyVoIPSpeed Server panel below appears when the applications is started. This panel provides important information for running MyVoIPSpeed Server, including links and options to configure the server preferences and help information.

When you first start MyVoIPSpeed Server there are a few important preferences to be configured for optimal running of the application. These are listed below.

Configuring the Web Server

This documentation section is designed as a getting started guide and only references those options you should need to ensure MyVoIPSpeed Server will run. Some of the more advanced options such as Running as a Windows Service are covered in the Advanced Usage section. You do not need a license key to run MyVoIPSpeed in trial mode (15 days), to enter a purchased license refer the license key application process below.

MyVoIPSpeed Server contains a built-in, self-contained web server to provide a quick and easy implementation without the need to use more complex web server applications such as IIS and Apache. However Apache and IIS are also supported.

Configuration of the web server simply involves selecting the desired IP address and port you wish to use plus some additional security options. This is done by clicking the Server Options link at the bottom of the MyVoIPSpeed Server panel.

NOTE: When you have configured the server you should see a blue link (as shown above) 'click here to view your server'. Clicking this link is a quick way to launch a browser to test that the MyVoIPSpeed Server is functioning correctly. If you have configured your server and you do not see the link click the Start server option in the lower left corner of the MyVoIPSpeed application panel.

IP Address/Port: Select the IP Address and Port number desired using the drop list box provided (top).
Recommended: You should always use port 80 for web server HTTP applications, as ports other than 80 may be blocked by firewalls which will prevent the user from accessing the server. If the server has more than one IP address it is always advisable to select one rather than using the default setting of any/all.

Port not available: Only check this if you want MyVoIPSpeed Server to automatically allocate a port if the port you have selected is not free.
Recommended: Unchecked, otherwise a port other than port 80 may be allocated.

Throttle Delay: Checking the throttle delay box enables an automated resource management process that ensures MyVoIPSpeed maintains a comfortable workload.
Recommended: The average test time can vary but is normally around 20 seconds. Decide on how many concurrent speed tests you require and set the delay value to (average test time/concurrent tests)x1000.

Security requirements

Set up reporting / Admin accounts: It is advisable to set an access username and password for both reporting and admin users. This is done by clicking the blue link "set up reporting / admin accounts" (see dialog below).

Enable Reporting Account. You must check the Enable Reporting check box to enable reporting.
Recommended: Checked, if this is not checked then test reporting is disabled and no database reports are available.

Username and Password: Enter the desired username and password or leave blank.
Recommended: Leave blank if you want any and all users to have access to the MyVoIPSpeed reports. Enter a value if you want users to enter a usercode/password to review reports.

Allow IP Address/DNS names: Check this option if you would like report users to see the testing IP addresses and domain names.
Recommended: If MyVoIPSpeed is provided as a public service it is advisable to uncheck this option for security reasons as this restricts the visibility to users’ private IP addresses.

Enable Admin Account. You must check the Enable Admin check box to enable Admin reporting, which includes resource and usage reports to better manage MyVoIPSpeed, as well as database reporting.
Recommended: Checked, if this is not checked then Admin reporting is disabled and no usage reports are available.
Username and Password: Enter the desired username and password or leave blank.
Recommended: Enter a value if you want to restrict server admin reports to a limited number of users.

Allow IP Address/DNS names: Check this option if you would like admin users to see the testing IP addresses and domain names.
Recommended: Checked, this option as it allows server administration people to see all the data.

OK/Cancel: Clicking the OK button saves any changes made. Clicking CANCEL discards any changes made.

Running MyVoIPSpeed Server on an IIS/Apache Server

Best Practices

MyVoIPSpeed Server is a self contained Web Server which negates the need to use a commercial web server such as IIS or Apache. However it is expected that well established web sites will have the mandatory requirement to serve MyVoIPSpeed from existing IIS and/or Apache web servers. In other words the MyVoIPSpeed web pages are served directly from an IIS or Apache server and not from the MyVoIPSpeed server.

The MyVoIPSpeed Sever supports the indirect deployment model where the IIS/Apache server is responsible for serving the MyVoIPSpeed to the requesting user at the front end and MyVoIPSpeed Server is responsible for the application at the backend. To conform to the security model that governs applications running on a desktop in this way the MyVoIPSpeed applet must use the standard HTML 'codebase' options on the IIS/Apache server. For security reasons MyVoIPSpeed server has to be configured to allow front-end servers permission to access and serve the MyVoIPSpeed applet. If permission is not granted MyVoIPSpeed Server will decline the request and the applet will not function.

Once you have setup and deployed the web pages you want to serve MyVoIPSpeed on you must then add the necessary codebase options the applet definitions on any and all pages hosted by IIS and/or apache.

NOTE: A problem with IIS often causes it to grab port 80 on all IP addresses, not just the ones assigned to websites. For information on how to resolve this, see Microsoft support, info for IISv6, info for IISv5.

Hosting MyVoIPSpeed Applet (Standalone)

All MyVoIPSpeed editions require the support of the MyVoIPSpeed Server. This is necessary because the VoIP test requires the MyVoIPSpeed Server to conduct the simulation. However, if the MyVoIPSpeed applet is deployed without the VoIP simulation configured then the MyVoIPSpeed applet can be run standalone without the need for the MyVoIPSpeed Server. In this mode the MyVoIPSpeed applet is restricted to initiating HTTP tests only as there is no server component available to manage the socket connection. This is test is more of an application level speed test than a socket level speed test and is accurate only up to 10mb. Please review speed test results FAQ. Note, when running MyVoIPSpeed without the support of the MyVoIPSpeed Server the following files need to be copied from the installed MyVoIPSpeed Server www directory to the web server directory where the web page is hosted:

- data.bin
- speedkey.bin
- upload.bin
- <webpage title>.html
- myspeed.bin
- voip.jar

MyVoIPSpeed Professional and MyVoIPSpeed NOC editions also support the HTTP model in conjunction with the VoIP simulation and allow the MyVoIPSpeed applet to be deployed as documented above.

Best Practice

MyVoIPSpeed Professional and NOC Editions support the additional ability to invoke an HTTP test while still using the MyVoIPSpeed Server. This provides the added advantage of recording the test results into the MyVoIPSpeed Server database, which allows the data to be compared with other MyVoIPSpeed test results including socket versus HTTP.

Setting the NOC Edition Password

Set up NOC RTA password. This additional security option appears in the MyVoIPSpeed preferences Dialog if you are running a MyVoIPSpeed Server NOC Edition.

The Remote Testing Agent (RTA) provides the means to support automated speed testing from a number of predefined remote locations which are unattended i.e continual on an interval basis (See RTA Agent). The RTA password is needed by the RTA for secure authentication when connecting to the MyVoIPSpeed server. If authentication fails no speed test is accepted by the server.

Recommended: Change the NOC RTA password to a value other than the default of "hello".

Advanced Usage

Running as a Windows Service

To configure MyVoIPSpeed Server to run automatically if the server computer is rebooted requires that MyVoIPSpeed run as a Windows Service.

Running as a Windows service simply requires the install button to be clicked as shown in the Server Setup dialog. Once the service is installed the button is changed to uninstall.

When installed as a Windows service MyVoIPSpeed Server is configured as listed below. If you want to change these settings then you must use the Windows Services control panel.

Name: Visualware MyVoIPSpeed Server
Description: MyVoIPSpeed ISP connection and voice-over-IP simulation software
Startup: Automatic
Logon: Local System
Interact with Desktop: Yes

Uninstalling
It is important when uninstalling MyVoIPSpeed Server to uninstall the service beforehand. Simply click the 'Uninstall' button in the 'Windows Service' section of the 'Preferences' dialog box. Once you have done this MyVoIPSpeed will not be running as a service and can now be uninstalled.

Note: If MyVoIPSpeed has been uninstalled without the service being uninstalled first, MyVoIPSpeed will continue to run when the machine is rebooted. When this happens, reinstall MyVoIPSpeed server exactly as it was installed before. Now follow the instructions above to unisntall the service, then unisntall the product.

Connection Testing Options

Socket connection configuration: Professional and NOC Edition ONLY

MyVoIPSpeed Server can run speed tests in two distinct modes. Socket and HTTP. Socket mode is provided as one of the additional features of the MyVoIPSpeed Server Professional and NOC Editions. Socket mode allows MyVoIPSpeed Server to operate a test at the fastest possible speed the hardware/software can support using a raw socket-to-socket connection. This is the most accurate method for measuring the maximum speed a connection can handle.

Allow Socket-to-socket: Check this option if you want to enable accurate socket speed testing and select the TCP port number to use for both upload and download. If the port is unavailable for a specific test because of firewall or other similar restrictions then MyVoIPSpeed Server will automatically fail-over to doing an HTTP speed test. Assuming Port 80 is being used for HTTP this is highly unlikely to fail.
Recommended: Check box and leave default port number setting of 20000 and 20001 respectively.

UDP configuration for VoIP simulation

MyVoIPSpeed Server conducts an actual VoIP simulation to measure the jitter and the packet loss (packets dropped) including packet discards (packets that arrive too late). Packet loss (discards and dropped) will severely affect the quality of a VoIP call. MyVoIPSpeed Server will measure packets dropped both upload and separately as download however this requires MyVoIPSpeed Server to communicate using UDP which in turn requires a UDP port to be configured.

Allow VoIP Simulations: Check this option if you want to enable VoIP simulations to measure Jitter and packet loss.
Recommended: Check this option and use the default port number setting 200000.

Entering a License Key

There are two ways to enter a license key into MyVoIPSpeed Server.

The first is to manually add the text from the speedkey.bin file (sent to you on registration of your domain). To do this start MyVoIPSpeed Server and locate the following section of the main GUI

Click on the 'Enter Key' link to bring up the screen below

Now open the speedkey.bin file and copy and paste everything exactly as it appears into the dialog box shown above. Once this has been done click on the 'Ok' button. The key will then be verified and, if correct, accepted.

The second way to register MyVoIPSpeed Server is to simply put the speedkey.bin file into the 'www' folder in the MyVoIPSpeed Server root directory. Then click the 'refresh' link in the top right hand corner of the first screenshot in this section and the product will register

NOC Edition Security

MyVoIPSpeed Server NOC Edition supports the use of a Remote Testing Agent (RTA) to support unattended automated VoIP, Speed and Quality testing. The Remote Testing Agent (RTA) provides the means to support automated speed testing from a number of predefined remote locations which operate on a continual interval basis.

For security reasons MyVoIPSpeed Server will only allow authorized RTAs to access and use the server to conduct tests. This security option is available in the 'Server Options' preferences dialog ("Set up NOC RTA Password') as shown below.

NOTE: This additional security option appears in the MyVoIPSpeed preferences dialog only if you are running a MyVoIPSpeed Server NOC Edition.

Clicking 'Set up NOC RTA Password' displays the NOC RTA Password dialog. If the default password is configured ('hello') it is shown in red.

Best Practices

IMPORTANT: To prevent non-authorized RTA agents testing against your server it is important that you change the default password of 'hello' to a stronger password. It is recommended that you use 8 or more alphanumeric characters although MyVoIPSpeed Server does not enforce this rule.

Setup Applet Codebase Options

To run MyVoIPSpeed connection tests from your own web server such as Apache, you will need to enable the codebase option and then insert it in the HTML of the MyVoIPSpeed web page. The codebase option allows you to serve the MyVoIPSpeed test applet from a web server other than the MyVoIPSpeed web server, even from a different system from where MyVoIPSpeed Server is installed. (See implementation options.)

STEP 1

The first step in this process is to open the Server Options dialog and select the Codebasing tab. Then add the IP address or domain name used to access the front end server. For example, if the URL is http://voiptest.mydomain.com/voiptest.html you would need to add voiptest.mydomain.com as an authorized site.

To add a permitted domain type the domain name required and click Add. Note the standard MyVoIPSpeed license supports only one codebase domain to be used. If you have added more than one domain the first domain is the one that will be allowed. If you want to upgrade a license to serve MyVoIPSpeed from additional domains please contact us.

STEP 2

Modify the HTML code of the voiptest.html web page to add a codebase option in the APPLET tags, as shown below. Once the page has been modified copy it to your webserver.

<applet name="myvoipspeed" code="myspeed.class" archive="voip.jar" width=600 height=400 codebase=http://myvoipspeedserver:port></applet>

In the above HTML, myvoipspeedserver is the domain (such as www.visualware.com) or IP address of your MyVoIPSpeed Server. If MyVoIPSpeed Server is using port 80 (recommended, see note below), it is not necessary to indicate the port number.

Once the codebase option is declared in the server preferences and enabled in the web page, you should be able to view the VoIP test applet on your web server by going to http://<yourserver>/voiptest.html.

IMPORTANT: The codebase URL declared in the myspeed.ini file must always match the IP address and/or domain name used to access the Apache/IIS web page, otherwise a ‘not authorized’ error is generated. If the MyVoIPSpeed Server and the front-end IIS/Apache web server are on the same physical computer it is advisable to allocate at least 2 IP addresses to that computer server so each web server (IIS/Apache or MySpeed) can use the default port 80. Otherwise, one of the server engines will be forced to use a port other than 80 which may cause firewall access issues for users that block the allocated port number.

The VoIP/speed test is always conducted from the server where the MyVoIPSpeed applet is served, not from where the web page is served. This is important because using the codebase option allows you to configure the installation so the front-end web servers (Apache or IIS) are not responsible for conducting the actual speed tests themselves; instead the codebase redirects the traffic to a designated back-end server(s).

MyVoIPSpeed Server Control Panel

Control Panel View

The MyVoIPSpeed Server Control Panel is provided only as an example page to provide ideas on how you can configure and present the MyVoIPSpeed service to your users.

Main Menu
The Main Menu provides access to the three core components namely 'New speed test', 'Database reporting' and 'administration reporting' these are documented below.

New Speed Test - Serves the MyVoIPSpeed applet and allows the user to initiate a speed test
Database reporting - Serves the Report Selection page and allows the user to search and report on previously conducted speed tests. Some predefined reports are provided:
Administration - Serves the MyVoIPSpeed administrators menu to report on resource and resource usage.
Last Hour - Reports a list of speed tests performed in the last hour
Last Day - Reports a list of speed tests performed in the last day
Last 30 days - Reports a list of speed tests performed in the last 30 days
Advanced Log Search- Take you to the database reporting view where you can specify your own criteria for a search.
Perform new test - Takes you to the MyVoIPSpeed Applet page so the user can perform a test
Administration - Take you to the Server Administration Menu (requires admin username and password if configured)

Perform a New Test

A number of example configurations for MyVoIPSpeed server are provided in the default example page. Furthermore MyVoIPSpeed Server provides a number of powerful JavaScript features that allow the user to have considerable control over how the applet performs and interacts when doing a test.

The options at the top (1 thru 6) are different types of test you can do and are explained below:

Continuous - Professional and NOC Editions only. Selecting this option will initiate a continuous test. The test will restart 10 seconds after the current test has finished and keep doing so until 5 tests have been completed. The results of the 5 tests are display as a table on the web page and all data is recorded to the reporting database and can be viewed in the reporting section.

Email Results - Selecting this option will display an 'email results' link on the web page. This provides the means email the results of the test to your service provider or system administrator depending on the reasons for doing the test. Clicking the 'email results' link will initiate the default email client and open a new email message window. At this point you can add and extra wording as explanation to the result information.
Session ID - Professional and NOC Editions only. Selecting this example option allows the user to enter a session ID (a name or something unique to identify the test). The test when complete will be tagged with this session ID. When you view the reports this session ID will appear to easily identify specific groups of tests. The session ID can also be used as a search parameter. NOTE: The session ID feature can be used to set a session ID that the user cannot change. This is useful when the session ID is allocated by a user log-on process and works well with the Auto Start (see below) option to automate testing without user interaction but still being able to record the user identification.
Branding - Professional and NOC Editions only. Selecting this option shows an example of how the MyVoIPSpeed applet can be customized and branded to provide an new look and feel.
Scripting - Selecting this option will demonstrate the use of the JavaScript feature. The demonstration uses the JavaScript call to display the results of the test in an HTML table on the web page for the user to read. This is a very powerful feature which allows the user to interact with the results to derive value beyond the simple test numbers. For example you can calculate the time it would take to transfer a file and describe that in a language that makes sense to the user.
Auto Start - Professional and NOC Editions only. Selecting this option demonstrates the ability to make the MyVoIPSpeed test start automatically, i.e. does not require the user to click a 'start test' button.

Connection Test

MyVoIPSpeed Server accomplishes the test process as two distinct phases.

The first undertakes the VoIP test which measures jitter and lost packets, including packets dropped and discarded packets. These measures are significant when assessing the quality of the Internet connection for VoIP calls or other latency sensitive applications like video and multimedia applications such as online conferencing.

Phase two measures bandwidth throughput speed for both upload and download. These results can be compared between service providers and utilized to underwrite service level performance and quality. Connection quality is a crucial element in managing applications such as VoIP and conferencing.

Phase 1

Phase one is the VoIP test. Click the start button to begin the test. Once started you will see a screen as below, when it has finished it will move onto phase 2 automatically.

The initial view shows the VoIP stats. The left side shows the average jitter on the current connection, the right side shows the packet loss as a percentage for the connection. The graph is shaded from green (good) down to red (bad) for easy analysis.

Phase 2

Phase two undertakes a bandwidth throughput speed test for both upload and download. Once this has finished it will produce the Summary and Advanced tabs.

This tab shows the upload and download speed for the current connection. It is displayed on a sloping graph as shown above, the green to red shading indicates good to bad speed.

Results

The colored circles on the left indicate if the data is good or bad for a VoIP connection. The first two ‘lights’ tell you if the download and upload speed is good enough to support VoIP. The third light indicates the Quality of Service. The next light indicates your connections jitter and the last light indicates the packet loss. The description at each stage will explain if the connection can support VoIP and if problems will likely be encountered.

The next Advanced tab is only available in Professional and NOC Editions.

This tab gives a run down of all results, like download/upload speed, QoS. Other information includes Jitter (ms) and packet loss from your machine to the server and from the server to your machine. It also gives the Server ID # for the test.

Database Reports

Reporting Options

MyVoIPSpeed Server Professional and NOC Editions support a test results database. This provides the network and customer support groups access to the VoIP, Speed and Quality results both in summary and detail form. This data is stored in a database and is made available for selection, review and reporting in a several ways to provide flexibility of the data views. Choosing any of the predefined report types in the main server view presents the user with the standard report selection page as shown below:

The first section is the Search Parameters combined with the output choices. This panel allows the user to select:

What data
• is extracted based on a start-time and an end-time
• is selected based on filters namely IP (IP address), DNS (Domain name assigned to IP address) and SID (session ID) recorded for the speed test

What format
• is used for output of the selected data

What field elements
• are included in the report body

1. What Data

From - Simply choose the date and time range you want to search between (Note the time is time zone neutral)

IP - Enter a particular IP for the report selection (Supports the use of wild carding with the * character). This is the IP address that initiated the test. Note: If the security option to suppress the IP address is used then the IP address is not available for reporting. This security option can defined for Reporting and Administrative users separately.

DNS - Enter the DNS name for report selection (Supports the use of wild carding with the * character). This is the name of the workstation or server that initiated the test.

SID - Enter the particular session ID for the report selection (Supports the use of wild carding with the * character). The session ID is available only in the Professional and NOC editions and provides the means to assign user defined data to the test. For the NOC edition this is normally used for identifying the location of the automated Remote Testing Agent (RTA)

2. What format

Table / Graph - Selecting this option will report the results in table or graph format
Spreadsheet / Text - Selecting either Spreadsheet or Text provides the means to export the MyVoIPSpeed report data for use in an external application such as Microsoft Excel

3. What Field elements
The second section defines what field elements are required to be included in the report, simply check or uncheck and click 'search' to run the report selection. Note these options are not available for the graph selection. The graph legend allows the user to select or deselect what is included in the graph.

Database Search Examples

Table View

Below is an example of a table of results when using the search feature. Note the IP address filter is using the generic * to match all IP addresses starting with 192.168. The use of the matching * can be used on all the filter options. The table is self explanatory in that it lays all the data out from all the tests that have occurred for the selection the parameters you have used. You can view the detail log for each test by clicking the Detail id number link at the end of each row.

Graph View

Below is an example of a report where the output type has been switched from Table to Graph. Note that Display fields selection is disabled for selection when you choose the graph output, the graph view allows you to quickly enable or disable the individual graph elements (lines) by clicking the legend colors on the right hand side. In the example below the plotting of Round Trip Time has been disabled.

The vertical red line shown below is the automatic scope tool, this line moves as you scroll the mouse from left to right. The light blue box slightly to the right of the red vertical line display the graph measures for the point where the red line is shown. Clicking the left mouse button allows the plot data time window to be scrolled also. This is useful for graphs that contain a wide range of data over a long period of time. The vertical scope tool can be disabled if not required by clicking the hide option in the blue legend panel.

Data Export Example

Selecting either of the output types Spreadsheet or Text provides the means to export selected MyVoIPSpeed Server data into an external application such as a spreadsheet or report document. Selecting Spreadsheet will allow the selection of save or open depending on whether you want to have a spread sheet view within the MyVoIPSpeed report as shown below, or open the spreadsheet application as a separate window. Selecting the Text option provides the data as a simple tab delimited file in a text window for the user to cut/paste/print as required.