IT-guidelines

AutoCal for Windows users

AutoCal for Windows has been around for many years. This software suite consist of a Windows application with a local database. We understand that your current system contains valuable data that you don’t want to lose. We created a service to import all your existing data into your new AutoCal+ system. All we need is a Access version (.mdb) of your database. Running on sqlserver of mysql? Use the database conversion tool to convert to Access. Interested in our import service? Please contact us.

Software architecture
General

AutoCal+ is a cloud based solution and will have a web application as user interface. The application can be accessed and operated via a webbrowser. The browsers below are supported:

  • Edge
  • Internet explorer 11+
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera

To be able to actually calibrate, communication with peripheral equipment is necessary. A local Windows service will be installed that is used to communicate with COM or USB ports. For calibration on an Apple device, Windows Parallels needs to be installed.

Cloud platform

The AutoCal+ platform is multi tenant, meaning that multiple customers use the same application. Within the application, it is guaranteed at the data level that every customer will only see their own data, this is provided within the development framework.

A micro-services architecture is used within the platform, which effectively separates the responsibilities of various component and guarantees the scalability and stability of the platform. The platform can only be accessed via an HTTPS connection.

Local service

Systems that will perform calibration, named “workbenches”, require a local service. This service is required to communicate with local equipment and takes care of the calibration logic. System that don’t perform any calibration do not require a local service.

The local service is connected via an HTTPS websocket connection (port 443). This connection is secured with a security key (JWT) that is automatically agreed upon when registering the Windows service within the platform. After registration, the service communicates independently with the platform without user intervention.

The local service is installed as a Windows service and will be started on system boot. The service has limited rights to communicate with peripherals which is required for RS232, USB, etc. Furthermore, this service has a small local database to temporarily store measurement data and calibrations.

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Because the traffic runs via an HTTPS connection, the use of proxy servers is not an obstacle to use.

Hosting

The AutoCal+ platform runs on the Google Cloud infrastructure. The application and data will be housed in the Google data center in Eemshaven. The data is therefore safe in the Netherlands and falls under Dutch legislation. The infrastructure meets the following safety standards:

  • ISO27001, Broad standard for information security
  • ISO27017, Specific standard for information security in the cloud
  • ISO27018, Specific standard for information security of person data in public clouds

A backup of the database is made every night for disaster recovery. The retention is the last 7 days and in addition 1x per month for the last 12 months.

Personal data

AutoCal+ mainly stores calibration and instrument related information. However, in order to allow people to calibrate, user accounts are required. For each user, limited information is stored in the system. First name, last name and e-mail address are required for each user.

Company information is required for the license agreement. This information requires company details only.

Updates
Cloud platform

The AutoCal+ web environment will be updated regularly. Every customer uses the latest version of the application. During updates, the platform will temporarily be unavailable. All major updates will be announced prior to the update via e-mail.

Local service

The local service will notify the user if a new version is available. An update will auto complete itself once started. If the local service is outdated of incompatible with the latest version of the web interface, the execution of calibrations will be disabled.