Web service

Since DiscusWare software is an application that is installed onto an existing web server, it is assumed that you have already configured this web server and all other network equipment (firewalls, load balancers, etc.) to allow desired individuals to access the services. Neither Discus Freeware nor Discus Professional require any special inbound access firewall rules beyond the basic ability to access the web server on the appropriate port(s).

MySQL database

If your Discus board is going to connect to a MySQL database running on a separate server, any firewall between the web server and the MySQL database server must allow for this. Typically MySQL runs on port 3306/tcp.

E-mail ports

If you have configured your Discus board to send e-mail notification via an SMTP server, any firewall between the web server and the mail server must allow for this. Typically the SMTP service runs on port 25/tcp. It is furthermore assumed that you have set up appropriate firewall rules so that your mail server can actually send out mail to the recipients.

If you have configured your Discus board to check a POP3 mailbox for the reply by e-mail function, any firewall between the web server and the POP3 server must allow for this. Typically the POP3 service runs on port 110/tcp.

Collaborative Spam Signature System

The collaborative spam signature system is a network client that connects to a central server, comparing the signature of a message against other message signatures that have appeared on the sites of other customers. This client speaks HTTP and requires that the web server is able to contact:

spamsig.discusware.com (80/tcp:HTTP) ¹

Version Manager

The Version Manager interface is a network client that checks to see if a board is running the currently available version of Discus, and can also communicate status messages. This client speaks HTTP and requires that the web server is able to contact:

versionserver.discusware.com (80/tcp:HTTP) ¹

Notes

¹ Support for connecting through an HTTP proxy (anonymous or authenticated) is available for all HTTP-based communication. Please see the administration instructions for details.

The Version Manager interface is a network client that checks to see if a board is running the currently available version of Discus, and can also communicate status messages. This client sends and receives a short string of plain text (this could be considered a proprietary protocol). The client is configured to contact:

www.discusware.com (1897/tcp:proprietary) ¹