Connectivity Requirements - General Information & FAQ

Introduction

Rubix vending solutions require an internet connection. The purpose of this connection is to provide the vending machines with access to synchronise data with our central cloud database, download product images and provide necessary updates to the machines operating system, user interface software, security and support tools. 

Customers can also access usage reports and other operational data as well as manage user access to their vending machine(s) by using the Rubix VMI portal. This can be accessed using any computer with a web browser and internet connection.

The vending machines are configured to connect via standard ethernet cables to either a local area network on a customer site or cellular mobile access point (which in some cases, can be provided by Rubix). 

For machines connecting to customer networks, the following information may be useful in the configuration of network and security appliances; 

For maximum functionality, it is highly recommended that vending machines be configured to resolve all public DNS names and permitted general Internet access (i.e. to any/all Internet hosts).

Rubix vending software and associated services may also be subject to periodic public IP address changes that cannot always be announced ahead of time. For these reasons, it is also recommended that any firewall and/or web content filtering systems be configured to permit access to our services via fully qualified domain names (FQDN/DNS hostnames) rather than IP address. 

Having said that, from a security point-of-view this should not really be necessary – the software's only ever initiate outgoing data connections through a firewall, so it is sufficient to simply block all incoming connections on your firewall and only allow outgoing connections on the ports specified in this below table 

Below are the resources that should be available to each machine to ensure an optimal service is delivered:

Connectivity FAQ's

*The following is applicable as a result of a typical implementation

How do you know if my network is suitable for connection?

Rubix machines are configured to connect via standard Ethernet cables to your site’s local area network, with all traffic being initiated from the local machine. Rubix provides an easy-to-use “Connectivity Checker.” This utility may be used to measure the bandwidth and speed of your connection to the remote server during the pre-implementation process. It can also be used to assess any future connectivity related issues . If you or your vending machines are unable to access our vending web services, your Project Coordinator or local Rubix representative will assist with troubleshooting and remediation.

How is the machine data synchronised to the server/database?

Configuration data is synchronized to the local machine upon start-up, and thereafter every 60 minutes. This includes user data, images, stock configurations and other information that may have changed. Transactional data is synchronized at the end of each user session which is triggered by the user logging out. This ensures that the remote database has the most recent information regarding its inventory stock levels.

Are there any alternatives to connect ?

We can also supply connectivity via cellular networking (4G/LTE) however this is dependent on the region supporting. A full survey of the environment where the machine(s) are to be situated will be required and may be subject to additional costs. Please discuss this option with your Rubix VMI contact if you think this might be the right solution

How do IP addresses work with Rubix vending machines ?

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is used by default to assign IP addresses to our machines. Static IP addresses can be used and are available on request by talking to your project co-ordinator.

Can your vending machines support proxy services ?

Rubix vending applications are not natively “Proxy Aware”. If your network uses a proxy server for Internet access, your IT team will need to provide an authentication mechanism or, if necessary, bypass the proxy for the URL’s listed later on in this document.

Can custom hostnames be assigned to the vending machine?

Although we prefer not to deviate from the standard configuration unless absolutely necessary, in certain circumstances the machine PC host/NetBIOS name and IP configuration may be configured as per your network requirements and device naming conventions, provided that the name doesn’t conflict with others connected to the service e.g. duplication of another machine name. Please discuss this with your Rubix contact if this is a requirement. 

What are the typical bandwidth requirements that my network can expect to see during normal operation and how often will they be ?

Initial start-up of a machine will typically result in the downloading of 8-10MB of images and other metadata (per PC). Thereafter the ongoing data usage will be dependent upon the number of transactions processed, but for most customers is less than 1-2MB per day. 

Other activities that have an impact on bandwidth can include; 

• ATR (Vending User Interface Software): For stability and consistency, we choose to update this software only when necessary, such as to address bugs or benefit from new features. Typically this occurs every couple of years and will be announced ahead of time. These updates are conducted remotely and there is no requirement for the customer to do anything. These updates are typically between 200-300 mb each. 

• Windows updates: Since Windows 10, updates have been cumulative. This means that each new update contains all previously released materials, included within the update. Although this method ensures previous updates are not missed however, it can be bandwidth intensive at times and for certain data connections that are sensitive to the amount of data being transferred,  such as cellular. Our machines run on Windows 10 Long Term Service Channel (LTSC) x64: This operating system focuses on providing stability and consistency over the long term with no feature releases over the products 10 year lifecycle. Important security and quality fixes to the OS and programming frameworks such as .NET are still installed however, during a monthly cumulative update. This is currently about 300mb per month
  
  To help address this, Windows 10 carries a ‘Delivery optimisation’ feature to assist with the additional data downloads that come as part of cumulative updates. This feature should be enabled on all of our W10 machines and when active, it attempts to download updates from other machines on the same network. This means a group of machines could share the same update materials, reducing the need for all machines to download separately from the internet. Delivery optimisation would not work on mobile connected machines unless they share a connection however, as they cannot ‘see each other’ as they are not visible to each other / on the same network. 

• EDR: Each EDR client will download updates at least daily. These updates are typically less than 1-2 mb per day. 

• Remote support: From time to time, remote support may be required, for example if you experience an problem or require some training. In most cases issues can be resolved remotely. The bandwidth requirements can vary depending on what is being done, for example transferring files to the machine. A typical 10 minute session will involve about 10 mb of data to be downloaded and 1-2mb data uploaded. 
  
  
  To discuss anything in this document, please reach out to your Rubix contact