Redbrick is a local, network installed product that uses Microsoft SQL server.

The server can either be a network server or a high spec PC (using a PC is not recommended for anything other than very small firms) and should be on the same Local Area Network (LAN). Wide Area Networks (WAN’s) and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are not supported for remote connections. For Organisations that require Redbrick to run across multiple sites, Redbrick recommends either our own managed cloud or one of the other mentioned enterprise solutions, such as Microsoft RDS, Citrix XenApp, Azure Remote Desktop, AWS AppStream 2.0, or a comparable hosting option.

Redbrick recommends against suspending the network card on machine sleep. Suspending the card with Redbrick running can cause unexpected errors for users when they wake their machine, this is because processes can in some cases run before the card is fully enabled.

Below are the minimum system requirements for Redbrick to run effectively.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide generic advice on what specs any given firm should run, as all environments are different, but we are happy to work with your chosen IT company or internal IT team to find a suitable solution.

The requirements set out below are those below which Redbrick simply will not run.

However, this is not the same as a recommended spec.  Meeting the minimum spec will not necessarily provide the best possible user experience, so we always suggest speaking to us about your individual circumstances.

If you are unclear about any of the below requirements please speak to us, or your IT provider, before committing to purchase. We shall not be held responsible (nor issue any refunds) for poor performance due to the below specifications not being met.

(Please note some of these versions are no longer supported by Microsoft. Redbrick will run on these versions however your system is likely to be compromised from a security perspective if you are running unsupported software.)

Important:

We recommend you regularly check your software and ensure you are running current and supported software. This is something your IT provider should be happy to assist with.

When testing the suitability of an environment for any software a few key principals apply.

1. Test the products you are going to use in your environment with your IT provider to ensure appropriate performance, scalability and interoperability with other products in your environment.
   Redbrick are very happy to assist any client with reasonable proof-of-concept testing here, pre and post live to ensure our client(s) are getting the most from our product.
2. Plan for growth. Just because your system meets your requirements today, it does not mean that in a years’ time, if you have added users or increased your throughput or changed user behaviours that this remains the case.
3. Continuous review. Like the legal matters you work on it is important that you (or your IT provider) undertake continuous conscious reviews of your hardware and your environment to ensure continued suitability for the software running on it.
4. End user experience will be commensurate with the environment, resources and effort put into the setup and maintenance.

SQL Version

Redbrick does not necessarily need paid versions of SQL. Some clients will (and do) run happily on SQL Server express instances, however many will not. This will depend on multiple factors:

1. Size of the firm
2. Usage of the product
3. Number of concurrent connections
4. Load and specs of / on the server

Typically, small firms will be able to run an express instance of SQL and larger firms will require a paid professional licenced SQL instance, however there is no one size fits all.

Redbrick can run side by side on an existing SQL instance if you have one already for another product. Although, we would advise checking with that provider also for compatibility and spare capacity.

Microsoft recommends against running your SQL database on the same physical machine as your Exchange server.

Network

TCP ports 1433 and 1434 open inbound and outbound to 91.220.118.38 and port 80 outbound.

Important Other

To send SMS messages from Redbrick Practice Management, we will require details of your static IP address so that we can add a firewall exception on our server.

The Netgear ProSafe range of routers can still block RPM data from being synchronised even with ports 80 and 1433 open, and so are not suitable for use with RPM.

Advanced Features:

When using Redbrick PM there are some advanced features that have additional pre-requisites.

SMTP

Redbrick PM allows you to store one SMTP account in your system. Users will be able to utilise this to perform quick actions “behind the scenes” such as emailing all parties (for example Client/Agent/Other Sides Lawyer) to confirm completion, without having to send each one individually. As all users will use this email address for these automated processes, it is worth considering its name, and whether you’ll accept replies. Most firms will go for something like donotreply@ conveyancing@ info@ updates@

This email address could also be used to send reports to internal members of staff, chasers to the otherside, or chasers direct to your client.

The Information required is;

• Server
• Username
• Password
• From Email Address
• Use SSL (Y/N)
• Port

To allow SMTP relay you may need your IT provider to setup 365 SMTP relay for IP – for this you will need a static IP address.

Scheduled Jobs

Excel/CSV/Word Reports can be created on a schedule and saved in a network location. This is run by a service called “Redbrick DB Manager”, usually installed on your SQL server. In order to use this feature, the user that DB Manager runs as, must have read/write access to that location. Redbrick recommends that you create a specific domain user for this service to run as, rather than running it as the local system account, which is the default, but might only grant access to shared folders on the server itself.

Emailing Reports

The reports mentioned above can also be emailed internally or externally (such as an update report to introducers).

In order to utilise scheduled emails, you must have SMTP set up in your system, as well as the permissions mentioned in Scheduled Jobs.

Emailing merged content

In order to schedule automatic emails which contain case info, (such as chasers to the otherside, or quote chasers to your client), the user that the “Redbrick DB Manager” service runs as must have access to a licensed, 32-bit version of Microsoft Office. Some firms choose to install this on their SQL server, and some prefer to move the Redbrick DB Manager service to a different machine.