The BICbox is a product developed by Puur-IT / Beeincontrol. It is a VPN router which ensures a secure connection. Because of its 3G/4G backup, it can automatically switch whenever the normal WAN connection drops to ensure it stays online.
- It is always online
- Secure connection – Using a VPN to our cloud based concentrators
- Log in remotely to the networking using the VPN
For this project I was responsible for a number of things
Database management
Several databases are used to store the client configurations. These configurations are automatically fetched by the BICbox and can update settings on the BICbox itself.
Patch development, testing and implementation
Whenever a bug occurs with one or several clients, a patch has to be developed to resolve this. Using a development environment I have developed and tested patches which were then implemented to solve the bugs.
Configuration development, testing and implementation
After a number of patches, a new version of the BICbox configuration is created which includes all previous patches. This is again tested in the development environment.
Development of a new, improved hardware platform + OS
Because our old hardware platform was discontinued, a new platform was needed. Together with a colleague we were responsible for testing this new platform and implement and find ways to implement it in our existing infrastructure.
Development of a web-portal
A web portal was required to provide as a service to customers. Using this portal customers are able to see the status of their BICbox(es) and the status of the 3g/wifi/lan interfaces.
This portal includes an admin area in which we can add new boxes, concentrators, users and groups.
Development of easy staging
New BICboxes have to be staged, receiving their OS and configuration. To speed up this process, I have created a method of using a Raspberry Pi to be able to quickly perform these operations.
Local to cloud-based
By switching our infrastructure from a local to a cloud-based solution, we have improved stability and reliability of the management system. This meant that a lot of scripts and configurations had to be changed to support the change from local to cloud. It was my responsibility to ensure that this change went smooth.