Forskningsnettet - FskNet : Danish NREN
Institutions currently using Adobe Connect:
8 universities in Denmark
17 other higher education and research institutions
Currently active users:
7300 user accounts with meeting host status
80 concurrent users per month (average peak load)
41.700 meeting hours a year
Adobe Connect license and installation
170 concurrent users license
2 server cluster
Load balancing and fail over
No shared storage: instead SAN-storage discs mapped directly to each local content-folders
HW/OS setup
Brand: HP Proliant, BL 460c Server blade (2 servers)
CPUs: 2 x Intel Xeon x5355 Quad Core 2,66 GHz (8 CPUs)
RAM: 2 x 2 GByte 333 MHz
Ethernet: 1 GB/s
MS Windows 2003 x64 standard Edition
Integration / Development
Federated access via [www.wayf.dk|http://www.wayf.dk/wayfweb/frontpage.html] established, based on SimpleSAML.
Federated login via [https://connect.forskningsnettet.dk|https://connect.forskningsnettet.dk]. Login supports federated login, as well as non-federated login.
Federated login sets up user accounts automatically, and automatically creates the users first meeting room.
We plan to support LMS-integration, supporting systems such as Blackboard, Moodle, Its Learning, Dokeos, and others
Forskningsnettet Contacts
Thorkild Jensen
thorkild.jensen@uni-c.dk
+4535878967
+4523639824
List of feature requests and bug reports in working progress
Bugs version 8.1.2 (reported to Adobe) - priority listed
Windows 7 Add-in 9.4.80: Audio functions react slowly and can stall meeting room
Connect-addin does not detect audio devices correctly
Playback of recordings stutter, and audio is out of synch, when using speex codec
Enhanced Audio on Ubuntu cannot be used
Cannot activate: "Allow for distribution of local copies of recordings to end users" (Connect Central: Administration > Compliance and Control > Recordings and Notice).
Login page does not allow browsers to remember the password (autocomplete = no)
Adobe Connect Mac Add-in chrashes when sharing applications and windows
Slow handling of whiteboard writing on Win 7
Mismatch of keyboard characters sets between Windows/Mac/Linux when screen sharing
The webcam video feed sometimes stutters on the Mac platform (1 fps)
Not able to install the Connect 8.1 add-in on Ubuntu version 11.04
We cannot open meeting rooms in Adobe Connect version 8.1 on Ubuntu, in flash player via firefox.
Ubuntu add-in still uses a lot of CPU
Strange frame overlays when setting up a new meeting via Google Chrome on Mac
Feature requests version 8.1.2 (reported to Adobe) Priority listed
Improving and simplifying audio performance and configuration
- 1. Disable the "Right click anywhere... > Setting" options. Give access to these options under Main menu > Meeting > Preferences. Some of these options may not be important or relevant. I.e we do not understand why it is important that the users have to accept sending audio/video to the server. This is not normal for other systems, and it confuses some users, as the small window for accepting this can be hidden.
- 2. Put the Audio Setup Wizard under Main menu > speaker icon AND Main menu > microphone icon. Next, make the Audio Setup Wizard window pop up automatically when Presenters and Hosts enter the meeting room. It is always a good idea to test audio before starting a meeting.
- 3. Reduce the Audio Setup Wizard to three windows in stead of 6 windows today. The welcome screen is not necessary. Make it possible to select audio device and test audio out, and set volume, in the same windows. Make it possible to select recording device and make test recording, and set recording volume, in the same window. Third window would be used for the silence test and general settings info.
- 4. Under Main menu > speaker icon: make it possible to select audio out device.
- 5. Under Main menu > microphone icon: make it possible to select recording device.
- 6. Under Main menu > camera icon: make it possible to select camera device.
- 7. Remove the Main menu > Audio option for Hosts. Enable single speaker mode, can be put under Meeting > Preferences, and the Enable audio for participants can be put under the main menu > microphone option, just like Enable Webcams for participants, is put under the webcam icon.
- 8. Consider using the speex codec as default and as the only codec. We understand, and also experience ourselves, that it gives the best VoIP. The extra CPU requirements are small in our testing (5%), and that can be balanced out by using a different video resolution as default. Making the speex codec default would remove the option under Enhanced Audio and simplify the user interface. Only very few users know what this option should be used for today. As we understand it, speex codec is supported in flash as well.
- 9. Consider removing some of the options under Enhanced Audio. I.e. it is difficult for us to see a difference between Fast and Best Audio, performance-wise. And is it really necessary to have both the Full duplex option and the full duplex headphones option?
- 10. Dynamic registration/update of new or removed audio (i.e. USB) devices in the Audio Setup Wizard interface. Often people play with their audio devices, when they run the Audio Setup Wizard, and they don't understand they need to restart the Wizard to get access to new devices, they have just plugged in.
Easy activation of camera and microphone
- It should be easier be activate camera and microphone. Today three clicks are needed to activate the camera. One click should be enough.
Video landscape support (This has disappeared in version 8)
Global configuration of meeting room preferences such as audio codec and video resolution used
Option to remove meetings from My Meetings under Adobe Connect Central
Bugs version 8.0.0 (reported to Adobe)
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The video is stuttering with only 1-2 fps when activated in the add-in on Ubuntu
When activating the advanced audio setting in Connect-addin on Ubuntu, the audio is muted
Stepping away does not turn off the microphone
Connect add-in crashes on Mac, when server restarts
Feature requests version 8.0.0 (reported to Adobe)
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Reason: This would solve maybe 50% of all support issues, and would make it very quick and easy to setup sound before a meeting. (Feature request submitted: 22.3.10: version 7.5 : ER number is 2587211)
1c. Audio: Better echo cancellation on Mac and Linux platforms
Reason: Good echo cancellation is so important in video and web conferencing.
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5. Support for more file formats in Share Pod via direct upload to, and conversion on, the server
Reason: People need more flexibility and direct upload and conversion of file types such as Word, Excel, various picture formats, Open Office format, etc.
6. Built in QoS test of users internet connection
Reason: The present test only measures the connection speed and not the quality of the connection (i.e. jitter). The quality of the connection is very important
7. Warning if user machine hits 90-100% CPU, and advice to pause or deactivate the video.
Reason: Next to sound configuration, we find that proper CPU resources on the client machine is the biggest hurdle to high quality audio, video and screen sharing in meetings. Users should know when they have a CPU problem. The quickest way to solve the problem is often to pause the video.
8. Subadministrator rights assigned to specific groups (admin interface)
Reason: Our users are assigned to a group for each institution and we would like to assign local administrator right to a person, or a number of individuals, from that group.
9. Better text editing features in Note Pod
Reason: The Note Pod is a fantastic collaboration tool. We would like to see an undo and redo function (if you delete text today, it is gone for good), and the ability for each a person to edit each a paragraph at the same time (as in Google Docs text editor).
10. Better control of the Connect add-in installation process. I would like to control and manually specify the minimum version requirement of the Connect add-in, and to control the actual version installed, when the user is prompted to install the add-in. Today this is not possible, as version control is hard coded into a SWF-file.
Reason: The newest version of the add-in is typically the most stabile version. Next, unstable versions of the add-in may exist, that you as an administrator would the users to avoid installing. This is important to the general quality experienced by the users. (Feature request submitted: 24.3.10: version 7.5)
11. Better whiteboard/annotation tools: ability to remember your configuration settings. Better standard settings: i.e. no fill-colors in circles and squares. Better Text-tool (Selection of text is not shown. Pasting text into a text box does not constrain to a page, and extend beyond the page margin etc.).
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Issues/Bugs version 7.0 (not tested in version 7.5)
1. http > https redirect only works for login to the applications server and not for login to the meetings
2. You are allowed to setup a meeting room with a URL that contains a dot (.), but you will get an error
3. If you make a recording public, and next make it private again, you cannot access the recording. Administrators can rectify the problem by making it public and private again.
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