See all the things you can do with groov EPIC in our new video series.

Did you know that there are 12 front-page menu buttons on groov EPIC? What power does each unlock? 

groov customers say that the simple blue menu of groov Manage is very deceiving given its power, flexibility, and granular control over the many programs and functions that each groov EPIC can run.

Today you can see the first of a new 12-part video series on the groov Manage menu. Over the next 12 weeks we'll feature 12 videos and blog some specifics of each menu option—and the power that lies beneath. Be sure to subscribe to this blog in the top right corner of this page so you'll be notified when we release the next video in the series.

Let's get started with groov Manage: Accounts.

Accounts

When you first boot up your groov device, you must create an account. Not just any account, but THE administrator account. This is worth a pause right here. Think about this for a moment. You can’t flip any groov device over and look for the default username or password printed on a label, and you can’t Google the device name or manufacturer and find its default or "hidden" admin/password combination. Simply put, there are no default credentials, so you can stop looking <grin>.

So back to your first account….

Be sure to remember it! If you forget it, you will have to reset the groov device back to factory defaults with a straightened paper clip.

Also, be sure to make it a strong user/password combination. groov Manager doesn't limit the complexity or length of the password. TIP: Longer passwords are better than 8-character "complex" ones.

Opto 22 takes a "security first" approach, and as such we looked to the latest NIST guidelines. The guidelines we followed can be found here: NIST Special Publication 800-63B. 

It's a bit of a read, so the core part can be found here: New NIST guidelines banish periodic password changes • Graham Cluley.

Once you have created (and fully memorized) your first admin account, don’t stop there. groov Manage allows for quite granular permissions. The best practice is to not make every user a full admin. Only give each user the permissions they actually require for their job. For example, in the case of a remote API (application programming interface) computer user, lock them down to just having API access.

If you have an LDAP server (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) running on your network, you can configure each groov device to use that. This is an amazingly powerful way to let users use their Windows domain credentials to log into any groov device. If the user changes departments or jobs, any IT or HR changes to that user's account on this central server become automatic on all groovs as well.

I'm sure you all know how your bank will log you out from inactivity. Well, groov is no different. You can set your user timeout via the groov Manage Accounts menu.

The flexibility of account management is just the first step and the start of the groov Manage menu.

Would you like a sneak peek at the entire 12-video series? Well, good news. We've combined all 12 groov Manage videos into one 18-minute version if you want to watch the complete overview in one viewing. But remember, over the next several weeks we'll take a deeper dive into each segment.

Cheers mate.

-Ben