Product: OpenText eDOCS DM/RM

Version: 10.x
Task/Topic: Deployment
Audience: Administrators, Decision Makers
Platform: Windows 7, Windows 8
Document ID: 590018
Updated: July 17, 2015

Best Practices
eDOCS DM System Hardware and
Software
Charles Liem, Senior Technical Analyst
Contents
System Hardware ........................................................................................................ 3 
I. SQL Server .......................................................................................................... 3 
II. The DM Server ................................................................................................... 3 
A .Failover and Load Balancing Server Clusters....................................... 3 
III. The DM Index Server ........................................................................................ 4 
IV. The DM Web Server .......................................................................................... 4 
Software and Existing Applications .......................................................................... 5 
Third-Party Software Updates ................................................................................ 5 
About OpenText .......................................................................................................... 6 

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System Hardware
The release notes accompanying the OpenText™ eDOCS DM software list the
minimum hardware requirements for eDOCS DM. However, having proper
equipment is key to optimize performance. In particular, the computers selected for
the SQL server, DM Server, and DM Web Server should be quad-processor,
enterprise-grade machines, with and a minimum of 4 GB RAM.

I. SQL Server
SQL server operations are processor and RAM-intensive, so we strongly recommend
that the server be dedicated to SQL. It should not be running any other third-party
applications or services, including those associated with eDOCS DM. For example,
don’t run the DM Server software on the SQL server machine.

II. The DM Server

The DM Server should be considered a mission critical tier-one component of your
eDOCS environment its main functions are:
• Brokering transactions between end-user workstations the SQL server, document
server, and the indexer.
• Full-text indexing—the creation of indexes and the handling of user searches
against indexes.
Good connectivity and low latency between the SQL server, DM Server, and
Document Server is crucial to optimize performance. If latency is unavoidable, a
content cache server should be implemented
Best practice dictates a DM Server should be dedicated solely to its chosen role in
the environment, and resources should not be allocated to running unrelated
services. For example, a DM server should not be both a logon server for brokering
user transactions and be a full-text indexer server. These tasks should be separated
amongst different servers for increased performance to ultimately enhance the end-
user experience

A .Failover and Load Balancing Server Clusters

You may choose to connect multiple DM Servers in a failover and load balancing
(FOLB) cluster. This improves performance of the DM Server by spreading the
processing load over the cluster. The DM Server configuration should be exactly the
same on all machines in the FOLB cluster, and all FOLB servers must have equal
processors and RAM.
Failover options include failover alone, or failover with load balancing. If failover with
load balancing is implemented, the round-robin method of load balancing is
preferable for most sites. The CPU utilization method obtains the processor utilization
just prior to code being executed to select the server for processing. If the server is
busy at that exact instant, even if only for a millisecond, this transaction is passed to
the next server in the cluster, even if the first server becomes free immediately.

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Ultimately the round-robin option is the recommended configuration because it more
evenly distributes the requests and end-user transactions,
We have found that the FOLB polling option Poll Failed Servers (with the 60-second
interval) can reduce network traffic from user workstations.

III. The DM Index Server

The DM Index Server handles full-text indexing, which involves both the creation of
indexes and the handling of user searches against indexes. Indexing is one of the
most processor-intensive activities of document management; we recommend that
you dedicate a separate DM Server to this function. The index server should be
equipped with the same resources required for a DM Server that handles user
transactions.
Multiple copies of a single library’s index can be maintained on a single indexing
server to share the load of user search requests and to provide backup when an
index is offline for maintenance.
Index servers should not be members of an FOLB cluster of DM Servers handling
user transactions. Multiple index servers can be associated in an FOLB cluster, so
long as all servers in the cluster are dedicated index servers. You may configure two
FOLB clusters in tandem: one cluster of user-transaction servers and the other
cluster of dedicated index servers.

IV. The DM Web Server

The DM Web Server supports DM Consumer Webtop and Classic Webtop users who
are accessing eDOCS DM through a browser. As the DM Web Server is a key
component in the eDOCS DM architecture, it should be comparable to your SQL
server and DM Server(s), an enterprise-grade machine with quad processors and a
minimum of 4 GB RAM.

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Software and Existing Applications
eDOCS DM interfaces and integrates with a number of other third-party applications
and services running in your environment. The state of these applications and
services can have an effect on eDOCS DM performance and the quality of the overall
end-user experience.

Third-Party Software Updates

It is recommended that all servers and user workstations be updated with the latest
operating-system service packs and the latest patches for all other applicable
software. This also includes hardware related software and patches such as device
drivers and BIOS updates
eDOCS DM releases are tested with the latest releases of updates and patches of
all DM version specific supported operating systems available at the time of the
release. However, in some cases, a particular update may not be compatible with
certain components in your DM environment; we encourage you to maintain an
isolated test environment to work with third-party updates and patches.

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 About OpenText
OpenText is the world’s largest independent provider of Enterprise Content
Management (ECM) software. The Company's solutions manage information for all
types of business, compliance and industry requirements in the world's largest
companies, government agencies and professional service firms. OpenText supports
approximately 46,000 customers and millions of users in 114 countries and 12
languages. For more information about OpenText, visit www.opentext.com.

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