White Paper

// uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

Version 1.0
24-Sep-2014

Version 5.x

Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)

Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
Versioning
Versioning Version Date Author(s) Reviewer(s)

Sebastian Husnik, Peter Lange, Adam Johnson,

1.0 24-Sep-2014 André Mess
Stephen Jobs

WP Name uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

Knowledge Base MOMKB-788

File Name White Paper - uniFLOW Hardware Scoping - V1.0.pdf

Technologies
uniFLOW, RPS, SPS
concerned

Short Summary This document should be utilized in order to scope/plan the uniFLOW infrastructure
within the customer environment.
These recommendations should act as guidelines and are subject to change in case of new
uniFLOW software/hardware releases.
Document Version Topic(s) Changes
changes

Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)

Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without the
written permission of NT-ware Systemprogrammierung GmbH.
Company and product names mentioned herein are registered or unregistered trademarks of their respective
companies. Mention of third-party products is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement
nor a recommendation. NT-ware assumes no responsibility with regard to the performance or use of these products.
Also, NT-ware makes no claim to these trademarks. Any use of trademarks, logo, service marks, trade names, and
product names is prohibited without the written permission of the respective owners.
Adlib Software of Adlib Software; Adobe®, Adobe® Reader, Acrobat®, Distiller®, PostScript® and products of the
CREATIVE SUITE(S) of Adobe Systems Incorporated; Apple®, the Apple® logo, Mac®, Mac OS®, Macintosh®, iPhone®,
iPad® and AirPrint® of Apple Inc.; Box of Box Inc.; Blackboard Transact™ of Blackboard Inc.; CANON, imageRUNNER,
imageRUNNER ADVANCE, MEAP, CPCA, AMS, iW AMS, iW Desktop, iSend, iW SAM of Canon Inc.; CBORD CS Gold® of
the CBORD Group Inc.; Crystal Reports of Business Objects SA, as of July 1, 2008: BusinessObjects of SAP; Dropbox of
Dropbox Inc.; eCopy™, eCopy ShareScan®, and eCopy ScanStation® of Nuance Communications, Inc.; Evernote® of
Evernote Corporation; FileNet® of IBM Corporation; Foxit®SDK and Foxit® Reader of Foxit Corporation; Google Docs of
Google Inc.; Google Cloud Print™ is a trademark of Google Inc., Helix™ Production Workflow is a trademark of
NT-ware Systemprogrammierung GmbH; Hewlett Packard, HP, LaserJet, and PCL of Hewlett-Packard Company; iOS® of
Cisco Technology Inc.; I.R.I.S. Group s.a.; JAWS pdf courier™ are trademarks of Global Graphics SA.; Microsoft®,
Windows®, Windows Vista®, Windows 7®, Internet Explorer®, Internet Information Services, Microsoft® Word,
Microsoft® Excel, OneDrive, SQL Server® of Microsoft Corporation; Neevia Document Converter ProTM of Neevia
Technology; NetWare, Novell®, Novell eDirectory® of Novell Inc.; OpenOffice.org™ of Oracle Corporation; PAS™ of
Equitrac Corporation; PosterJet of Eisfeld Datentechnik GmbH & Co. KG; Red Titan EscapeE of Red Titan Limited;
NETAPHOR®, SiteAudit™ are trademarks of NETAPHOR SOFTWARE Inc.; Therefore™ of Therefore; UNIX® of The Open
Group; uniFLOW®, uniFLOW®, uniFLOW Serverless Secure Printing®, MIND®, microMIND®, and MiCard® are registered
trademarks of NT-ware Systemprogrammierung GmbH; pcProx®, AIR ID® are registered trademarks of RFIdeas
Inc.Readers; CASI-RUSCO® is registered trademark of ID Card Group; Radio Key® is registered trademark of Secura Key;
GProx™ II is unregistered trademark of Guardall; HID® ProxHID is registered trademark of HID Global Corporation;
Indala® is registered trademark of Motorola; ioProx™ is unregistered trademark of Kantech.
All other trademarks, trade names, product names, service marks are property of their respective owners and are
hereby acknowledged.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, NT-ware assumes no responsibility for
errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained in this document or from the use
of programs and source code that may accompany it. NT-ware does not assume any responsibility or liability for any
malfunctions or loss of data caused by the combination of at least of one NT-ware product and the used operation
system and/or third-party products. In no event shall NT-ware be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this document.
In addition, this manual provides links to the sites of affiliated or independent companies and certain other
businesses. NT-ware is not responsible for examining or evaluating, and NT-ware does not warrant the offerings of,
any of these businesses or individuals or the content of their websites. NT-ware does not assume any responsibility or
liability for the actions, product, and content of all these and any other third parties. You should carefully review their
privacy statements and other conditions of use.

PLEASE NOTE: Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry of your Windows operating system incorrectly.
These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. We strongly recommend to always back up the
registry of your Windows operating system before applying changes to it, just in case you do something wrong.
NT-ware does not assume any responsibility or liability for any impact on the operating system after changing the
Registry. You understand and accept that you use this information and modify the registry of your Windows operating
system at your own risk.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014, Bad Iburg (Germany)

Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)

Symbols
Text Styles
Text that appears in this style is used for screen text that appears in the uniFLOW user interface and on
user interface controls.
Text that appears in this style is used for User entries on screen, text that the user actually has to type in.
Text that appears in this style is used for hyperlinks to an external web page, or internal links to other pages
of this manual.
Text that appears in this style is used for code examples: XML code, variables or
regular expressions.

Pictograms

Important note: Information that is crucial for the correct functioning of the uniFLOW
software.

External manual: Pointer to additional manuals for third party hardware or third party
software.

Region Specific Feature: In case some features of uniFLOW are not universally
available, this icon will indicate it.

Link to an external reference within the WWW.

Detailed explanation of configuration settings or operational procedures.

Screenshots and diagrams

This manual contains screenshots of the software, diagrams explaining relations and pictures of products.
All visuals are up-to-date at the time of writing. However, please note, that these visuals are subject to
change.

Copyright and Contact

©1998-2014 NT-ware Systemprogrammierung GmbH.
In case of errors or improvement suggestions please contact documentation@nt-ware.com.

Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)

White Paper Contents

Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1

2 Disclaimer .................................................................................................. 1

3 uniFLOW Server / Remote Print Server / Scan Processing Server ................ 2

3.1 Hardware specifications ................................................................................................ 2
3.2 Printing/Copying ........................................................................................................... 3
3.3 uniFLOW Client ............................................................................................................. 3
3.4 SQL Server .................................................................................................................... 4
3.5 Scanning ....................................................................................................................... 6
3.5.1 Benchmark Test................................................................................................................................... 6
3.5.2 Scan Processing Server Sizing.............................................................................................................. 8

I
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

1 Introduction
Intention of this document:
This document should be utilized in order to scope/plan the uniFLOW infrastructure
within the customer environment.
These recommendations should act as guidelines and are subject to change in case of
new uniFLOW software/hardware releases.

2 Disclaimer
This guide offers an approximation of the hardware resources required to deploy
uniFLOW at your customer. Hardware sizing depends on many factors like the
complexity of the solution and the project requirements. This guide helps you to find
out what the hardware needs for your uniFLOW solutions are and/or to find an upper
and lower estimate for the hardware requirements.
Please be aware that benchmark and test results are taken within the NT-ware
in-house environment. Results in customer “live” environments may vary and show
different results.
Scanning tests are based on the I.R.I.S. engine IDRS 14.
If use cases are not covered within this document please get in touch with the NT-ware
Project Team via ITS (MOMPS Area) in order to receive further assistance regarding
hardware sizing recommendations.

1
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

3 uniFLOW Server / Remote Print Server / Scan

Processing Server

3.1 Hardware specifications

Please find the hardware specifications for the matrix used below. We have only listed
the main server hardware components which were relevant for the benchmark tests.
Gold
CPU: Octa-Core CPU with 3.33 GHz
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Hard Disk: 2 TB
Silver
CPU: Quad-Core CPU with 3.33 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Hard Disk: 1 TB
Bronze
CPU: Dual-Core CPU with 3.33 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Hard Disk: 500 GB

2
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

3.2 Printing/Copying
Maximum amount of devices per server depending on uniFLOW features utilized

Feature Details Maximum amount of devices per Server

Accounting only “Accounting only” 1000 800 600

Spoolfile accounting

Log Reading (CPCA, SNMP)

Secure Print Secure Printing / “Follow me” 250 250 <250

Login Application, MEAP,
Embedded Clients or microMIND.

Rule Based Routing, Rule Based

Config.

In environments where Remote Print Servers (RPS) are in use, NT-ware recommends to
utilize the main uniFLOW Server as “Application Server” only and to have all printers
connected/monitored by Remote Print Servers (RPS). This, on the one hand, makes it
easier to scale and maintain the uniFLOW environment and on the other hand
removes the dependency on the uniFLOW database (SQL Server) as the RPS can work
independent of the uniFLOW Server.

3.3 uniFLOW Client

The amount of uniFLOW Clients connected via UDP (default) is not a concern. The
amount of connected uniFLOW clients via TCP can be a limiting factor though and
should be discussed with
NT-ware Project Team / Support Department.

3
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

3.4 SQL Server

Depending on the uniFLOW configuration and requirements of the customer the
database can be installed on a (local) SQL Express or on a standalone SQL Server.
NT-ware recommends installing the database on a dedicated SQL Server in case a ‘full’
SQL Server is required for the customer.

The numbers provided in the following table can be utilized as a guideline in order to
calculate the usage.

DB table record Data Index Comment

count size size
(MB) (MB)
Events_T 10.000 2 0,5 -
ServiceUsage_T 200.000 540 150 (100.000 print jobs) "Statistic
Database Format" - "uniFLOW
Standard"
ServiceUsage_T 200.000 55 150 (100.000 print jobs) "Statistic
Database Format" - "Standard
(optimized for size)"
CostSavings_T 100.000 23 30 (100.000 print jobs)
ServiceConsumer_T 10.000 19 8 Please check the uniFLOW Standard
user/group/cost center configuration
ConsumerIdentities_T 45.000 29 10 Please check the uniFLOW Standard
user /group/cost center
configuration

Please keep in mind that the “Database Format” “Standard (optimized for size)” is only
affecting the ServiceUsage_T table. Please check the uniFLOW User Manual for further
information.

uniFLOW can be installed with a “free of charge” Microsoft SQL Express Server. In
some cases a full SQL Server is required though. NT-ware recommends to install a full
SQL Server on a separate server.
For the “free of charge option” uniFLOW utilizes MS SQL 2008 R2 Express. This
database server is limited to the following maximums:
 1 CPU
 1 GB RAM (limited to 384 MB by uniFLOW installer)
 10 GB Database size

4
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

If these limitations are not suitable for the planned uniFLOW installation then a full MS
SQL Server is required.
Having a full SQL Server running on the same server as uniFLOW is not recommended
by NT-ware due to the following reasons:
 The SQL Server is very resource hungry and will take a huge amount of CPU
time.
 I/O load is quite high depending on what is utilized within uniFLOW.
 The memory footprint can be very large depending on configuration.

If a full SQL Server is already in place the uniFLOW database can be implemented
within the standard instance or within a new instance.
If implemented as a new SQL instance you will have the following advantages:
 Memory can be specifically allocated to this instance (performance).
 Specific configuration settings can be done e.g. security on user management
(security/maintenance).
 the SQL instance will run on its own port so firewall rules can be set (security).

General pros regarding a full SQL Server:

 Troubleshooting will be easier as e.g. the SQL Server Management Studio
provides additional tools like the SQL Profiler.
 Backup procedures can be scheduled easily.
 Having a split between application and database server is a common set up for
all server based applications (not required though).
 No real database size limitation (compared to SQL Express).
 A full SQL Server can be clustered to ensure High-Availability.

General cons regarding a full SQL Server:

 The network load will be higher as data needs to be transferred between
uniFLOW application and SQL Server.
 If the network connection breaks down the uniFLOW server will not be
available till the database connection has been re-established.
 SQL Server needs to be licensed separately.
 SQL Server requires additional hardware.

5
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
 White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

3.5 Scanning

3.5.1 Benchmark Test

NT-ware recommends installing the uniFLOW Scan Processing Server (SPS) on a
dedicated server (if possible) to process scans made on Canon MFPs. This makes the
solution easier to scale and removes load from the uniFLOW Server / RPS.
The ‘test document’ which has been utilized for the following scenarios is a 20 page
document which contains small images, text, high resolution pictures, tables, and
graphs.

Benchmark Test on scanning

Scan Settings Processing details Hardware Benchmark

Color Mode: Color Document processing 6000 pages /h 3300 pages /h 1600 pages /h
PDF 1.7 conversion (Parallel)
IHQC Level 3 compression
Time to process one 78 seconds 78 seconds 78 seconds
OCR (English)
test document
300 DPI

Color Mode: Grey scale Document processing 7000 pages /h 4000 pages /h 2100 pages /h
PDF 1.7 conversion (Parallel)
IHQC Level 3 compression
Time to process one 62 seconds 62 seconds 62 seconds
OCR (English) test document
300 DPI

Color Mode: Color Document processing 21000 pages /h 19000 pages /h 10000 pages /h
(Parallel)
PDF A conversion
No compression Time to process one 12 seconds 12 seconds 12 seconds
No OCR test document
300 DPI

In order to equip the server with hardware that fits the needs of the customers
workflows the table above shows benchmark results from low, medium and high
resource consuming scenarios.
The storage into different systems - like SharePoint, Scan to E-Mail, Therefore, etc. - is
not relevant for these tests and hardware scoping of the Scan Processing Server.

6
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
 White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

Please be aware that parallel processing of multiple documents on server systems

which are equipped with multi-core CPUs is faster compared to processing of single
documents with the same amount of pages.
Please see an example below:

Single versus parallel processing of document(s) on multi-core CPU server systems

Total pages to process Document details Processing time to finish job

8 Documents w/ 20 78 seconds 156 seconds 312 seconds

160 pages pages

1 Document w/ 160 624 seconds 624 seconds 624 seconds

pages

Processing of eight documents containing 20 pages each (160 pages in total) will be
faster due to the parallel processing than one document containing 160 pages.

7
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
 White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

3.5.2 Scan Processing Server Sizing

The numbers provided within the following table(s) will help you to determine the
necessary server hardware for the customer requirements. This is especially important
in environments where scan jobs need to be processed quickly / the storage of scan
jobs is time critical.
Please be aware that “Advanced Scanning” is resource hungry with regards to CPU and
RAM consumption, especially when conversion or compression is in use.

Devices per Server, based on processing time in seconds and device utilization

Maximum processing time to finish job*

90 s 180 s 300 s
Device
utilization**

10% 92 MFP 46 MFP 23 MFP 184 MFP 92 MFP 46 MFP 250 MFP 153 MFP 76 MFP
25% 36 MFP 18 MFP 9 MFP 73 MFP 36 MFP 18 MFP 123 MFP 61 MFP 30 MFP
50% 18 MFP 9 MFP 4 MFP 36 MFP 18 MFP 9 MFP 61 MFP 30 MFP 15 MFP
75% 12 MFP 6 MFP 3 MFP 24 MFP 12 MFP 6 MFP 41 MFP 20 MFP 10 MFP

*”Max processing time to finish job” is the time to finish the processing of one scan job. We are
taking the highest resource consuming scenario of the “Benchmark Test” into account utilizing
the “Standard Document”.

**”Device Utilization” is representing the parallel/simultaneously utilized MFPs at the customer

in order to perform scanning.

Example:
Customer requirements:
 Jobs shall be processed within 3 Minutes
(180 seconds) after the job has been
scanned.
 Device utilization within the company will
be about 25%.

The “Gold” server can serve 73 MFPs in order

to fulfill the customer requirements. 36 MFP
can be connected to a “Silver” and 18 MFP on a
“Bronze“ server.

8
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)
White Paper uniFLOW Hardware Scoping

Processing time in seconds, based on total devices and utilization

Devices per Server*

10 MFP 30 MFP 60 MFP
Device
utilization **

10% 78 s 78 s 78 s 78 s 78 s 117 s 78 s 117 s 234 s

25% 78 s 78 s 98 s 78 s 146 s 293 s 146 s 293 s 585 s
50% 78 s 98 s 195 s 146 s 293 s 585 s 293 s 585 s 1170 s
75% 78 s 146 s 293 s 219 s 439 s 878 s 439 s 878 s 1755 s
*”Devices per Server” is representing the amount of MEAP enabled MFPs per Server available
for scanning.

**”Device Utilization” is representing the parallel/simultaneously utilized MFPs at the customer

in order to perform scanning.

Example:
Customer requirements:
 The customer has 30 devices .
 Device utilization is at approx. 50% .

This leads to 15 parallel scanning requests on

the Scan Processing Server. These 15 requests –
of scanning the “test document” - will be
processed in 146 seconds on the “Gold”, 293
seconds on the “Silver” and 585 seconds on the “Bronze” server.

9
Confidentiality: Internal + Partner (R3P)