Hosted Databases And VPN Access
Contents
Hosted Database Access
Advisors Assistant now has a hosted option through which Client Marketing Systems, Inc. provides and maintains the database server on the Internet. The server is located in a secure data center.
Access to the hosted database is done through secure encrypted web services, a technology for sending data over the internet. All an advisor needs is Internet access and our station CD installed on their computer.
Investment Downloads
During investment downloads, the data is retrieved from your clearing firm, such as TD Ameritrade, DST, Pershing, etc., and then compressed and sent up to your hosted database where it is processed.
Both your download and upload speed affects the total time for the download. We recommend at least 1 mbs up and down speed for this process. The process will run fine at slower speeds, but the process will just take longer.
When you measure speed, note that a lower case "b" means bits per second and an upper case "B" means bytes per second. Most providers give you bits (bps) per second because they can tell you a number that is 8 times higher than Bps. There are 8 bits in a byte. File sizes are measured in Bytes, so a one Megabyte file will take about 8+ seconds to upload on a 1 Mbps connection.
Processing time depends on the amount of data. If you are processing for several advisors and doing a week, it will take longer than one advisor when you process every day.
For more information about testing Internet speed, click HERE.
VPN Access
A VPN is a Virtual Private Network. Most VPN's are created by your router/firewall in your office. A firewall with VPN capabilities is not expensive and is very stable and secure. VPN's also have a component on the remote computer, such as your laptop or home computer or computer in another office. That component talks to your firewall and creates the "VPN".
A VPN just extends your office network through an encrypted connection from your office to your remote computer. It's just like you were in the office, but slower because the speed over the internet is slower than the office network.
Remote Access
If you use a VPN to connect to Advisors Assistant on your server, or are using our Web Hosted system, you are using REMOTE ACCESS. (This is different from "Remote Computing" which uses Terminal Server, Go To My PC, etc.)
There is no real minimum Internet speed required for remote access. If you have a very slow speed connection (dialup) you would wait while screens populate. With a broadband connection, even a slower broadband connection, you may or may not notice a short delay while data is retrieved to populate a screen.
While it is not an absolute requirement, most remote access users will prefer some type of broadband connection.
Speed Considerations And What Affects It
Your speed of operation using remote access will depend on several factors. A discussion of these factors follows.
Internet Speed
A local network inside your office (LAN) typically runs at 1 GB. That speed is 1,000 mega bits per second (Mbs) or 1,000,000,000 bits per second. A typical Internet broadband connection will vary from 500,000 bits per second to 5 Mbs or 5,000,000 bits per second. Some go to 10 Mbs or 20 Mbs. A dialup connection will typically run at 40,000 bits per second.
A 1.3 Mbs broadband Internet connection is 1/10th of 1% as fast as a typical office network.
Advisors Assistant is designed so that Internet speed is not much of a factor when navigating among the screens and clients. This is because only data goes over the internet between the database and your remote computer. At 1.3 Mbs, it's hardly noticeable when moving from one client to another. At 5 Mbs it's undetectable.
However, Internet speed does have an impact when it becomes necessary to move large amounts of data from the database to the remote user. This is just a fact of life because the size of the data is bigger and the speed of the data coming to your remote computer is slower when compared to your office network.
To measure your Internet speed, click HERE.
Number of Computers Connected
Your Internet connection is shared by everyone in your office. The connection is typically used for:
•Email send and receive
•Email Attachments
•Receiving files
•Sending Files
•Browsing The Web
There is typically only 1 Internet connection being used, so if the Advisors Assistant traffic is being shared by several computers, and these computers are doing other Internet functions, the speed for each of the computers will often be slower than the speed of the connection.
Size of Report Being Run
When a report is run on Advisors Assistant, the following takes place.
1.Using the Selection Criteria, Advisors Assistant selects the data for the report job. If you are running a Selection Report or an Investment Report, the system does not know which report you want until you choose it from the Report Menu. Therefore it sends the station a short list of key fields representing all the data selected. The actual data, such as the name and address, is not sent initially. This list is a very small amount of data and is sent in just a few seconds, even at Internet Speed. Then your report menu is displayed.
2.Once you choose a report or export, Advisors Assistant knows which data the report requires, and then begins to send that data from the database to your remote computer.
This is where the Internet speed comes into sharp focus. If you are running a report for 100 clients it will take about 100 times as long as the same report for 1 client because all of the data required for that report is sent to the remote station. A typical report for 100 clients may take 5 or 10 seconds on your fast office network. The same report can take 5 minutes over the Internet.
3.If investments are selected, the server checks each account to be sure it is calculated through the Calculated To Date displayed on the investment screens. Some calculations may be made before the data is sent to the user's computer. This is done regardless of the type of access.
4.After the remote computer receives the data, it renders (creates) the report. This is far more efficient for your office than sending the entire report from the server because all of the processor time used to render the report is spread among the remote computers and only the data for the report is being sent.
Type of Report Being Run
Some reports only use client demographics (name, address, flex fields, etc.) Other reports may include insurance and/or investments. Client Detail Reports include most of the data stored for the client, including Notes, Links, Investments and Insurance.
If you run a name and address report for 100 clients using remote access, it will run much faster than a Client Detail Report run for 100 clients because of the volume of data required to be sent for the report from the database.
Remote Computer's Memory
When the report is rendered (#4 above), it is created in your computer's memory. The amount of memory you have will impact the speed of rendering the report because when Windows runs out of memory, it AUTOMATICALLY begins to use your hard drive to simulate memory. This is called using "Virtual Memory."
Your hard disk is more than a hundred times SLOWER than regular memory because of the moving parts. If, all of a sudden, the report rendering starts going very slow, you are probably using Virtual Memory. It doesn't matter whether you are using the Internet or your local network, when you start using Virtual Memory, any process will slow drastically. This will typically happen when you run reports of more than 500+ pages, depending on the amount of memory in your computer.
When you are rendering a large number of reports, and the process becomes very slow, and your hard drive light is blinking furiously, you may be using Virtual Memory. You can tell for sure by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del and selecting Task Manager. Then select the performance tab. The memory statistics will tell you how much free memory you have.
The solution is to stay out of Virtual Memory on any application, including Advisors Assistant.
How To Mitigate Slow Internet Speeds
Here are some things you can do to make your reports take less time when working over the Internet..
Divide Your Reports Based On Name Ranges
When using Remote Access, the best way to run faster is to limit the number of clients included in the report. Each report criteria contains a client name range. If you know you have 800 clients, and you want to run individual reports for each client, try dividing the run into 5 or 6 jobs based on clients' alphabetical ranges.
For Example, Select clients from last name AA to DZ as one selection. Check how many names are selected at the top of the Report Menu Screen and modify the selection if necessary. For the next job, pick EA to JZ and so on.
Remember, if you don't have much memory, you won't want to run as many clients at the same time.
While the first set of reports is printing from the Windows Print Queue, you can start the second set of selections and rendering.
Close Programs Not Being Used
Outlook, Excel, and Word can use lots of memory. If you are not using them and you are running a report on a large number of clients, close those programs so that more memory is available for the report rendering process.
Add Memory (Speeds Up Everything On Your Computer!)
Putting the maximum amount of memory into your computer is the CHEAPEST way to save time and money. EVERY program will run faster. If you have less than the maximum memory, investigate adding more.
Right Clicking on My Computer (or Computer in Vista) from the Start Menu and clicking on Properties will tell you how much memory you have.
Go to www.crucial.com and look up your computer model. This web site will tell you how much memory your computer will hold. You will need to open your computer case to see how many slots you have free. If you have no slots open, but only have half the maximum memory, buy new memory. Replacing all the memory in a computer can cost less than $100. Just adding memory will usually cost less than $50.
Your payback in time saved on all programs, local or internet, will begin immediately after adding memory. You'll be able to run faster and keep more programs open without the long waits switching between programs.
Adding memory to your computer, other than some laptops, is no big deal. If you can check your oil, you can check and add memory. You probably have a friend that has done it. You don't need to call the Geek Squad to add a little memory. Don't forget to blow the dust out of your computer while you have the case open!
You can test your Internet speed from various sections of the country at http://www.speedtest.net and you can read more about broadband speeds. This site will keep a history of your tests, but you do have to establish a free account with a login..
See Also