Which hardware? A Server stack? Security?

Server hardware specification?

Best practice is a dedicated LIMS server running Debian or Ubuntu on expandable hardware. Quad core i7, 16GB RAM, 2 * 248 GB SSD in RAID

We recommend dedicated hardware for the LIMS server - this avoids conflict betweens systems for RAM and processor cycles, and even more so between systems administrators

Thin browser only bench top PCs

Low spec laptops running Ubuntu and Chrome, also using shared browsable folders to share documents. That improves efficiency by a lot

Any good barcode printers?

Standard desktop Zebra printer, networked if If you want to print from multiple locations

Be sure to select a standard size label. Else you have to have custom ones cut and that can be expensive. Bika's label size is 48 x 18 mm and anything slightly larger will do. Consider vinyl labels for wet samples and the labels not to smudge

Barcode scanners?

Barcode scanners you'll need a minimum of one at reception, and one each at every instrument capable of reading a USB input device (keyboard, mouse normally). This will improve TAT and accuracy by a lot. Look no further than Zebra's Symbol series, use to be Motorola's, industrial quality. Another to buy off the Internet without hesitation

They do Presentation (Blink) mode scanning, it submits a barcode when it sees one. Mounting the scanner at say the instrument, the user has both hands free to handle samples with

Production server stack

Bika runs like a train on secure and robust industry proven Linux. Debian and Ubuntu are the most popular

Though singular Bika/Senaite installations are good for prototyping and evaluation, maybe for production purposes in a small lab, it won't cut it on bigger volumes and more concurrent users

Industrial grade Bika LIMS production server installations include the equivalent of

• Plone, Zope Enterprise Objects
• Bika/Senaite LIMS and add-ons
• Varnish cache proxy and application accelerator
• nginX load balancing web server
• Firewall, ssl, https access and security certificate
• Mail server integration
• DNS
• Back-up and Restore procedures 

Production  and  Training instances

We recommend installing both Production and Test/Training servers

The Training server is used for acceptance testing, and thereafter as e-learning sandbox for users to uninhibitedly test real life scenarios without fear of interrupting production

Security

Bika / Senaite data is stored in the Zope Object Database, ZODB, immune to SQL inserts, very secure and only accessible using a secure local connection

The server should use a minimum of 2 disks mirrored in RAID. Should the first fail, the 2nd takes over and an alert posted to the sysadmins

The database should be backed up twice a day to a second server - in case of complete server trauma, at most half a day's work will have to be recaptured

It is worth noting that Open Source systems are by definition more secure and better tested than closed source software. It offers further security in that should the vendor fail, the source code is up to date in an open repository on Github and can be re-installed

Data security

The LIMS server stack is behind an industrial strength Unix firewall

Based on the Public Key Infrastructure, PKI, Bika is only accessible through:

• An encrypted web front-end on the HTTPS protocol, the Secure version of HTTP, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol

• Using the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol for technicians accessing the server back end, it uses cryptography to authenticate and encrypt connections

The LIMS sites in Bika implementations are digitally certified as authentic using the Secure Sockets Layer, at Certification Authority Letsencrypt, co-founded by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, and researchers from the University of Michigan

LIMS Certificates are available to users on the site’s lock icon next to its address, clicking Secure  and then Certificate is valid