Kodak Remote Support System - RSS VPN

RSS Background

The Kodak Remote Support System (RSS) is an infrastructure for connecting to and supporting Kodak customers’ equipment. RSS provides connectivity management, diagnostic tools, per-site equipment information, automated support tasks, and basic support management features. Kodak has used RSS to provide remote support since 2000. As technologies and Kodak products evolve, the RSS adapts to meet these changing needs.

For further information about Kodak RSS, contact a service representative at your regional Response/Support Center at the number listed at the end of this bulletin.

Kodak RSS VPN Connectivity

RSS VPN is the latest secure broadband connectivity method to be added to Kodak RSS. It is the primary technology used for making remote connections. RSS VPN connectivity is a centrally-managed VPN solution dedicated for Kodak RSS use. RSS VPN is capable of establishing direct peer-to-peer authenticated and encrypted tunnels by automatically bypassing network address translations (NAT) and stateful firewall devices on the route between trusted peers. The result is a low-latency virtual network requiring few or no configuration changes to an existing network infrastructure. Additionally, RSS VPN is capable of establishing TCP relayed tunnels when the low-latency network requirements cannot be met. Kodak RSS VPN utilizes a third-party mediation service that is powered by LogMeIn® Hamachi. The service is managed by Kodak RSS; only RSS Client peers that Kodak has registered are deemed to be trusted and may communicate via the RSS Connector.

The RSS VPN connectivity solution includes three main components: Kodak RSS Client Software, Kodak RSS Connector, and Kodak RSS Server.

RSS Client Software is installed on customer servers and workstations. Its purpose is to communicate online status and availability to the RSS Connector, and to establish a secure tunnel with the RSS Server.

RSS Connector tracks the RSS Client peers' locations (server and workstations running RSS Client Software) and provides the mediation services required for establishing direct peer-to-peer VPN tunnels between the RSS Client Software and the RSS Server. In rare cases where a direct peer-to-peer tunnel cannot be established, the RSS Connector is used to relay tunnels between the RSS Server and RSS Client Software.

RSS Server is the software that service representatives around the world use to establish remote connections to supportable equipment. The RSS Server controls the management of VPN tunnels through a secure connection to the RSS Connector.

How these components work together to provide a secure broadband connection?

When the Kodak RSS Client Software is enabled on a peer, it establishes a connection to the RSS Connector, using the proprietary LogMeIn Hamachi Client Control protocol to authenticate and communicate its online status. Using RSS Server, a service representative must initiate a remote support connection to the RSS Client peer. At this point, the RSS Server communicates to the RSS Connector that the RSS Server and the RSS Client peer are to be joined in a secure trust relationship. Only then does the RSS Server and RSS Client build a secure encrypted (AES 256 bit) and authenticated VPN tunnel.

RSS VPN Requirements

System requirements: Kodak RSS Client Software is supported on the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP Professional, Windows 7 Professional, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit), Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10, Windows Server 2016. The system must have a default gateway configured under the TCP/IP networking properties.

Network requirements: The RSS Client peer must be on a network segment that has access to the public Internet. If the network uses a proxy server to access the Internet, RSS VPN traffic must be configured to bypass the proxy. This may require additional firewall rules and/or proxy configuration settings.

Firewall requirements: The majority of firewalls do not require configuration changes for RSS VPN to operate. However, firewall configurations that explicitly block certain outbound ports require the services (protocols) that are described next to be permitted through the firewall.

For customers with more stringent security environments, explicit firewall rules may be configured to only allow RSS Client peer VPN traffic to and from the worldwide RSS Servers and the RSS Connector (see the following table).

• Client Control Protocol is responsible for three things: client/server communication, login, and NAT discovery. The protocol consists of four static ports (1 TCP, 3 UDP) and a range of UDP ports (see the following table). The RSS Client peers must have access to the RSS Connector’s ports using this protocol. An exception to the above port requirement is the ‘non low-latency’ TCP relayed configuration which uses a single TCP port (see the following table).

• Transport Protocol is responsible for securely tunneling traffic between an RSS Client peer and the RSS Server. The transport protocol may be Transport—Direct (Client peer to RSS Server), or Transport— Relay (Client peer through RSS Connector to RSS Server). Direct tunnels use a static port at the RSS Server and Relay tunnels use a static port at RSS Connector. RSS Client peers must have access to the static UDP ports of the RSS Connector and all worldwide RSS Servers. An exception to the above port description is the ‘non low-latency’ TCP relayed configuration which uses a single TCP port.

  #	Source	Destination	Port	Protocol	Protocol Name
  1	RSS Client Host	RSS Connector 1 74.201.74.32	6504 16504 36504 46504-46604	TCP UDP UDP UDP	Client Control Protocol
  2	RSS Client Host	RSS Connector 2 74.201.74.34	26504	UDP	Client Control Protocol
  3	RSS Client Host	RSS Servers 155.50.2.20 155.50.2.21 155.50.2.22	6504	UDP	Transport-Direct
  4	RSS Client Host	RSS Connector 1 74.201.74.32	6504	UDP	Transport-Relay
  5	RSS Client Host	RSS ServiceNet 155.50.32.199	6504	TCP	ServiceNet

  For more information about the technologies and security that are used in the above protocols from LogMeIn Hamachi, go to https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/security.asp.

Download, Install, and Register RSS Client Software

You can download the RSS Client Software from https://ecentral.kodak.com/RSS and install it on Kodak supportable server and workstations systems that meet the requirements in this bulletin. After installing RSS Client Software, contact a service representative to complete the registration process and test RSS VPN.

If you have additional questions or concerns contact your local support resource: