CentreStack Quick Start Guide¶
Contents:
Getting Started¶
Introduction¶
Welcome to the CentreStack Quick Start Guide. This guide describes on a high level how you can use CentreStack to provide a managed file sync and share solution for your internal employees and customers.
The goal is to provide your customers and internal employees an easy-to-use and secure-under-control way to access file servers from remote locations and mobile devices.
Three Deployment Modes¶
To get started, the first question is where and how to deploy CentreStack. Does CentreStack need to be next to the file server, in a data center or just use the Cloud version from CentreStack itself?
There are three basic ways to deploy the CentreStack solution:
- On-Premise Self-Hosted
- Data-Center MSP-Hosted
- Cloud SaaS-Hosted
On-Premise Self-Hosted¶
For the on-premise self-hosted Centrestack, the CentreStack server is directly installed in the company network. On one-hand, it is facing the Internet with port 443 (HTTPS) like any web server does; and on the other-hand, it is connecting to company internal network and IT infrastructures such as File Servers and Active Directory. CentreStack server normally sits in the DMZ or behind a firewall to be protected against un-authorized outside access.
The business objective is giving mobile and remote access to file servers without the need of a VPN. It is more productive than traditional VPN by greatly reducing the number of VPN support tickets for internal enterprise IT department or for the managed service provider.
For this deployment mode, check “On-Premise Self-Hosted” Quick Start
Data-Center MSP-Hosted¶
If you are a managed service provider that manages hundreds or thousands of end points across multiple clients, it is a good option that you setup your CentreStack server in a data center.
There are a couple advantages of setting the CentreStack server up in a data center.
- The data center is closer to the Internet backbone than a business office is, thus it has faster Internet speed.
- Setting it up in a central location and in a multi-tenant fashion, it is easier to manage as compared to a one-centrestack-instance-per-client setup.
For this deployment mode, check “Data-Center MSP-Hosted” Quick Start
Cloud SaaS-Hosted¶
Similar to Data-Center MSP-Hosted, CentreStack has a Cloud version that is readily hosted.
This works well for managed service providers who have smaller clients here and there. Because of the smaller number of total clients, the Data-Center MSP-Hosted overhead is relatively high. MSPs can use the Cloud version since it is readily deployed and ready to use.
For this deployment mode, check “Cloud SaaS-Hosted” Quick Start
What’s Next¶
You will need a CentreStack partner account to start with, regardless of which deployment mode(s) you will use. Step #1 will always be going to the centrestack.com and to register. When you are on the CentreStack web site, you can follow any “Free Trial” link to start.
Once you are done registering, you will be in the partner portal where you can download the software, setup hosted trial and etc.
Note
This quick start guide is written against CentreStack version 9.6.5507.41405
“On-Premise Self-Hosted” Quick Start¶
Introduction¶
To deploy an on-premise self-hosted centrestack, the CentreStack server is directly installed in the company network. On one-hand, it is facing the Internet with port 443 (HTTPS) like any web server does; and on the other-hand, it is connecting to company internal network and IT infrastructures such as File Servers and Active Directory. The CentreStack server normally sits in the DMZ or behind a firewall to protect against un-authorized outside access.
The business objective is giving mobile and remote access to file servers without the need of a VPN. It is more productive than traditional VPN by greatly reducing the number of VPN support tickets for internal enterprise IT department or for the managed service provider.
See also :
Preparation¶
The CentreStack server is a web server, passing file and folder access between remote client agents to backend file servers. Here is a list of items to prepare ahead of time.
- a dedicated Windows Server machine:
- Operating System (2022 / 2019 / 2016)
- 4G - 8G memory
- Dual core or more cores (vCPU or CPU)
- 100G hard drive space.
- a SSL certificate (for production)
- a DNS name (for production)
Since you can turn a test (POC) environment directly into a production environment, you can start with requirement #1 for test and POC (proof of concept) environment and later acquire SSL certificate and DNS name.
Note
Sometimes, CentreStack can be installed directly on the File Server itself if the goal is to reduce the number of servers. Even though we recommend using a dedicated clean Windows Server, as long as the existing file server doesn’t have IIS/Default-Web-Site conflict, nor SQL Express conflict, the CentreStack server can be installed on the file server.
Download & Installation¶
After you decide and have acquired the Windows Server to install the CentreStack software, you can go to the partner portal and download the software.
The Installer will install everything from beginning to end.
Please reference the following two guides for more information:
“Data-Center MSP-Hosted” Quick Start¶
Introduction¶
If you are a managed service provider who manages hundreds or thousands of end points across multiple clients, it is a good option that you setup CentreStack server in a data center.
There are a couple advantages of setting the CentreStack server up in a data center:
- The data center is closer to the Internet backbone than a business office is, thus it has faster Internet speed.
- Setting it up in a central location and in a multi-tenant fashion is easier to manage as compared to a one-centrestack-instance-per-client setup.
Preparation¶
The preparation step is very similar to the On-Premise Self-Hosted version of CentreStack.
When it comes to choosing a data center, you have several options:
- a local data center you already use for hosting
- Amazon EC2 data center
- Azure Compute data center
- Any other data center that provides Windows Server
The CentreStack server is a web server, passing file and folder access between remote client agents to backend file servers. Here are a list of items to prepare ahead of time:
- a dedicated Windows Server machine:
- Operating System (2022 / 2019 / 2016)
- 4G - 8G memory
- Dual core or more cores (vCPU or CPU)
- 100G hard drive space.
- a SSL certificate (for production)
- a DNS name (for production)
Since you can turn a test (POC) environment directly into a production environment, you can start with requirement #1 for test and POC (proof of concept) environment and later acquire SSL certificate and DNS name.
Note
In Amazon EC2 or Azure Compute, you will need to find the virtual machine images that are similar to the specificication.
Download & Install¶
After you decide and have acquired the Windows Server (Usually a virtual machine in a data center) to install the CentreStack software, you can go to the partner portal and download the software.
The Installer will install everything from begin to end.
Please reference the following two guides for more information:
“Cloud SaaS-Hosted” Quick Start¶
Introduction¶
Similar to a Data-Center MSP-Hosted environment, CentreStack has a Cloud version that is readily hosted.
This works well for managed service providers who have smaller clients here and there. Because of the smaller number of total clients, the Data-Center MSP-Hosted overhead is relatively high. MSPs can use the Cloud version since it is readily deployed and ready to use.
Preparation¶
Since you don’t need to prepare the CentreStack server installation any more (it is hosted by CentreStack.com), all that you need to do is create hosted tenants. A tenant, based on business requirement, is mapped to
- a client of yours
- a company
- an organization in a bigger company
Create Tenant¶
You can create tenants directly from the Hosted-CentreStack.
Please reference Server Agent User Guide for File Server Migration:
FAQ¶
Frequently Asked Question about CentreStack
General¶
What is CentreStack?¶
CentreStack is Gladinet’s enterprise product. It was called Gladinet Cloud Enterprise in the past. With more and more enterprise companies using the product and shift the company focus into the enterprise solutions, the name CentreStack was chosen to represent the product instead of extending the name from Gladinet.
“CentreStack” packages all of the file sync and share access infrastructure into a package that an Enterprise/MSP can install on-premise, or inside a DMZ to have full control and security protection, with optional native Active Directory integration. You can set any storage (or your own file servers) as the default cloud storage and provide it to your customers.
What can I do with CentreStack?¶
CentreStack Server can be installed on-premise, close to where your storage is. It provide web browser, mobile app, desktop client and different device access methods. There are many ways you will find CentreStack useful. For example, if you have file server storage or SAN storage and want to provide modern cloud-storage-like file sync & share and collaboration interface around it, you can do so.
What problem does CentreStack solve?¶
The biggest problem that CentreStack solve is the data leakage problem the business customers are facing. CIO wants data protection and maintain regulation compliancy while the end users love the simplicity of dropbox and other online service. The solution is to give a dropbox-like solution to the hands of CIO so he can use his own storage services. On one hand, data is stored in a storage service that is secure and meet regulatory compliance. On the other hand, the employees as end users continue to enjoy the convenience the cloud storage solution provides.
How can I get started?¶
CentreStack is a free download with 90-day trial built in. You can click on the free trial link on the CentreStack page to get started. You can also contact enterprise@gladinet.com to get started.
Technical¶
What is the best way to try CentreStack features?¶
The easiest way is to sign up the 14-day Team Edition from www.gladinet.com. Gladinet is hosting the same CentreStack on gladinet.com so you can see the all the end user facing features. The sign up process is 3-5 minutes so it is very quick.
The best way is still to leverage the 90-day free trial for the CentreStack itself directly. Just find a clean Windows 2012 R2 machine and download the 7MB installer and in about 20 minutes, the CentreStack will be up and running.
Usually we recommend you try both. After you are familiar with the features, you can download the CentreStack package and install it yourself. You can compare the self-hosted CentreStack side by side with the Gladinet Cloud (on gladinet.com) and see how it works in your own self-hosted environment.
Can I brand CentreStack into my (company) name?¶
Yes. CentreStack comes with White Labeled web portal and desktop client so it covers most of the branding options. If you need further branding of the iOS app and Android app, full branding option is also available too with the help from Gladinet consulting to customize it for Apple App Store and Google Play store.
What Server OS can be used to install CentreStack?¶
We recommend Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 2012 R2. Any Edition from Web Edition to Data Center Edition will work. If you have both 2008 and 2012 servers, we recommend server 2012 R2 to start with.
Where can I deploy CentreStack?¶
Wherever you can install a Windows Server 2008/2012 R2, you can install CentreStack Server on it. We recommend you install it in a Virtual Machine environment, which makes upgrade and scale out to multiple node easy. Most of the CentreStack customer install the solution inside their own data center and inside VMware environment.
How scalable is CentreStack?¶
CentreStack can be a farm of server nodes, each supporting up to 1000 concurrent users (or 5000 named users) when the server configuration is equivalent to an Amazon EC2 medium instance. If you need to support 10,000 users, you can have 10 CentreStack nodes in your farm. You can use CentreStack’s built-in load balance or you can use a load balancer in the front.
Can I use my own storage with CentreStack?¶
Yes. You can use your own File Server storage, SAN storage, private cloud storage or even public storage.
Can I use Active Directory with CentreStack?¶
Yes. You can connect your Active Directory to CentreStack.
What is the difference between the two package options?¶
CentreStack comes with two package options you can decide at installation time, one for single tenant and one for service provider. The single tenant package is best fit for a single company that has one single Active Directory forest. The service provider package is best for a service provider that needs to serve different companies.
Licensing¶
How is CentreStack Licensed?¶
CentreStack is licensed by the number of users. It has two licensing model. One is monthly recurring and the other is one time perpetual. Contact enterprise@gladinet.com for more details.
Security¶
Could you explain the security aspects of CentreStack?¶
First, it is securing the data infrastructure. CentreStack allows you to self-install and self-deploy the solution. You can fully control where the solution is hosted and where the data is hosted. You control the physical safety and security of your data and the hosting infrastructure.
Second, it is secure during data transition. You will enable SSL and HTTPS and that will be the only data passage data flows from point A to point B.
Third, it is data-at-rest encryption you can enable and turn on by each team/tenant. Each team/tenant can hold a key to a AES256 encryption algorithm, securing your data on a file-by-file basis.