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Intranet sites

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AnalyzerNX Intranet Edition is a navigation solution dedicated to internal or private sites and network sites. It is a management tool which can be used by your company as a whole.

When measuring Intranets (which may be limited due to the lack of Internet access), the standard AT Internet safe mode (no direct connection between the client site and our server) also has a secure working environment, with a data collection server located in the company, and then a secure transfer of user data to our servers.

The orange zone represents the company’s internal network which the Intranet is located in. This network is generally cut off from the Internet so that no access is possible via the Internet.

The green frame represents an internal network which is partially accessible via the Internet.

ΠThe Internet user requests access to an Intranet page.

 The Intranet server sends back the content of the page (text, images, etc,) and the Intranet tag.

Ž The Intranet tag is executed on the Intranet user's work station by retrieving certain information at the same time.

 The Intranet user requests an image on the Intranet collection server by adding all of the collected information as parameters.

 The Intranet collection server saves the request in a log file and sends back an image of 1 pixel by 1 pixel.

‘ The collection server sends the logs generated on the ftp server, which can be accessed externally.

’ The AT Internet calculation server makes a request for logs to be retrieved as ftp files.

“ The ftp accepts and sends the log files.

Data collection occurs on the internal network where there is no possibility of external communication. Using this procedure means that you can disable access from the Internet, the entire network is therefore safe from external access.

When the data collection process is complete, the collection server sends this data (in the form of hourly log files) to the FTP server, and not vice-versa. Step n°6 shows that there is a flow leaving the internal network and not entering it.

The FTP server is located in a "web" zone with the same level of security as the web servers which host the sites. We can nevertheless limit ftp access to this server so that only our server may request information from it (filter on IP by the AT Internet server).

Technical Implementation

Step 1: Creating an account/client configuration (AT Internet)

• Creation of a specific log dedicated to receiving data: a specific site ID is attributed to the Intranet during the implementation of the process with the client.

• Creation of account and site: an area which is dedicated to receiving data and a robot for recovering information is implemented.

• Sending documents related to technical implementation

• The following documents are sent to the client’s IT department to allow for technical implementation:

• utils/code iso pays.xls

• utils/aide_configuration_Apache.txt

• utils/aide_configuration_IIS.txt

• utils/spacer.gif

Step 2: Implementing the tags

To have a better understanding of the Intranet tag, you need to first of all be able to understand the “normal” web tag.

Here is a reminder of the standard code to be used in a tag:

The “standard” tag is made up of a section which declares JavaScript variables and a call to a local file (xtcore.js ). The local file makes the call to the hit on an external web address (xiti.com).

The same process is applied for the Intranet, except that it is not possible to make a call to a remote server (xiti.com). It is therefore necessary to declare new variables and call another local file, the xtcore.js. This file is available on the NX interface by selecting the "First party cookie" option:

Example of the Intranet tag:

You can see that the xtsd variable becomes xtsdi and that it refers to your own Intranet domain.

Otherwise, if geolocation is not possible on the Intranet, 2 variables can be used. This allows you to enter information on the Intranet user’s country and region.

Finally, if it is not possible to identify a visitor by using an AT Internet external cookie, it is then necessary to enter information in another variable (xtidc) to differentiate between different Intranet users.

Important

An Intranet user’s ID must be provided for the duration of their visit (to all pages). If the xtidc variable is provided, then this ID will be stored in a cookie to be used on pages where it would not be provided (a tagging default). If there is no data specified in this variable, the ID stored in the cookie is used. If there is no ID in the tag nor in the cookie, a unique ID is generated. It is strongly advised to enter the xtidc variable on all of the Intranet pages to ensure that the analyses are more reliable.

In the case where no information is provided, a first-party cookie is used. In other words a unique ID is generated for the Intranet user, and is stored in a cookie on the domain which is contained in the xtdm variable (in the xtcore.js file). This domain must therefore be the same throughout the entire Intranet (the sub-domains are automatically analysed if the syntax “.intranet.net" is respected during the declaration of the cookie domain).

What happens if the same visit is considered twice (2 visitors)
If an Intranet user reaches a page without the xtidc, an ID is created and is then attributed to the user. If the same Intranet user continues their visit on a page with a populated xtidc, a new ID will be attributed. Our analyses do not consider the 2 visits as being from the same Intranet user, and divides the visit into 2 distinct visits.

Step 3: Implementing data collection and log management

Log files

Log files are hourly files (one per hour during the day) and must adhere to a format so that they can be processed. They are processed by the same servers which are used to process the standard files which are managed by our collectors and must therefore be formatted according to the same model. The format of the logs relates both to name and content.

Log files must only contain hits which relate to tag calls. In the example given, this means that only the lines relating to the file "/spacer.gif" are measured. In this case, the server is dedicated to the collection of Intranet logs, and it is necessary to extract all of the data (correctly formatted) on an hourly basis. If the collection server also processes other data, it will be necessary to filter on the appropriate file "/spacer.gif". In this second case, it may be useful to provide a label which can be found easily in the logs, for example, "/intranet_hit.xiti".

Configuring the logs

The files are stored on the collection server, and because of this we strongly recommend that you modify the configuration of the log data storage (if necessary). In doing so it will be possible to:

• configure log files which are specific to the tag (hour by hour according to the type of server and the frequency of rotation of logs)

• format the chain expected on each of the lines of hits

• avoid post collection data processing, which is costly to develop and maintain

Examples of Apache and IIS server configurations are given in the documentation:

• utils/aide_configuration_Apache.txt

• utils/aide_configuration_IIS.txt

• Rules for naming log files to be supplied

• The name of the log file must follow the following pattern:

• exAAMMJJHH.log       (zipped into exAAMMJJHH.zip)

• with

• AA: year

• MM: month

• JJ: day

• HH: time

• The registration pattern must be as follows (separator = space):

• Hour

• IP

• Image

• Parameters_of _the image (query string provided by our tag (with the idclient, the idcountry, etc.))

• Navigator/OS

• url_of_the_page_loaded

Which gives the following if we take the example of the previous tag example:

Specific to IIS:

Certain IIS servers may generate logs which are noticeably different with regard to their internal configuration (cannot be modified by a user).  The “IP user” column may appear in 4^th position instead of the expected 2nd position. With IIS it is only possible to select the columns to be measured, without being able to specify the order in which they appear. It is not possible to deliver the logs according to the format expected AT Internet. In this case, you will obtain a line as shown in the example below, the 2nd type of format for logs is measured in this case:

Example: IIS format 2

Step 4: File transfers between the client and AT Internet

There are 3 main methods of file transfer:

• FTP IN: the client places their files on an FTP server hosted by AT Internet

• FTP OUT: the client places their files on its FTP server and AT Internet downloads them

• Transfer by form (alternative solution if no FTP flow is possible)

If you do not want to or cannot use the FTP flow, you will be able to send the files to our servers by using an automatic form.

Here is an example of a page with a form:

The login and password will be sent to you. The transfer cannot take place without this information.

Transfer

The files sent to us will be zipped without encryption according to the pattern specified in the section “Rules for naming log files”.

The files from the previous day are recovered at 5am (GMT +1) in the following chronological order:

• At 5am (GMT +1), the file 00 from the previous day is recovered

• Slightly later, file 01 and finally,

• File 23

After this time, all files from the previous day must be made available by the client. Those which are not available will not be processed.

Important

Any manual withdrawal of a file or of a specific day will be subject to invoice.

It is strongly recommended that the hourly log files be made available to us every hour.

Example of an empty hourly log:

The client must generate a file in the hourly log format with the word “empty” in it. It will therefore be taken into account, without generating a warning of the possible deposit of a defective file.

The transfers are subject to a definitive validation based on one test day by a designated member of staff at AT Internet. From this date, an automated process can be implemented.

Variable definition table

The list of variables contained in the Intranet tag is given below:

www.atinternet.com/support
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