Important issues in interoperating environments

Before you set up an interoperating environment, consider these issues.

• Software

  All interoperating systems must be at the same InfoPrint Manager software level. Older versions of InfoPrint Manager will not work with newer versions of InfoPrint when interoperating.

• Backups

  You should always backup your systems before making any major configuration changes. Follow the recommendations found in RICOH InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Getting Started about which file systems should be backed up.

• How many servers can be interoperated?

  In theory, you can interoperate as many servers as you would like, however, the performance of the servers will depend upon the primary server hardware. For best performance, use the most powerful system that you have available for the primary server.

• Which system should contain the namespace?

  The namespace does not contain large volumes of data (so it does not have to reside on the system with the most disk space) and it does not move a lot of data across the network. However, because all of the other servers will rely on the namespace server, it must be available and reliable. Put the namespace on the system that has the most availability (always running), most reliability (does not have to be rebooted often), and is the most powerful. The namespace must be located on an AIX or a Linux system.

• How can I share the namespace across servers?

  There are two methods to share the namespace from the primary server, which depends on what operating system the secondary server is. You can do that using Network File Sharing (NFS) when the secondary server is located on the AIX or Linux operating system, or Samba when the secondary system is a Windows operating system. When NFS is used, the exported namespace filesystem by the primary system is mounted by secondary server using the hostname. Samba is used to export namespaces from the primary AIX or Linux server to a Windows secondary server. It is also used for the additional /ipdata sharing required by Submit Express job preflight.

  Primary vs. Secondary server platform	Namespace Share Method	Namespace Share User	ipdata Share User	/ipdata Share User
  AIX (primary) - AIX (secondary)	NFS	ipm1 (UID must match)	NFS	ipm1 (UID must match)
  AIX (primary) - Linux (secondary)	NFS	ipm1 (UID must match)	NFS	ipm1 (UID must match)
  Linux (primary) - AIX (secondary)	NFS	ipm1 (UID must match)	NFS	ipm1 (UID must match)
  Linux (primary) - Linux (secondary)	NFS	ipm1 (UID must match)	NFS	ipm1 (UID must match)
  AIX (primary) - Windows (secondary)	Samba	ipm1	Samba	ipm1
  Linux (primary) - Windows (secondary)	Samba	ipm1	Samba	ipm1
  Windows (primary) - Windows (secondary)	Windows Share	Windows Domain User	Windows Share	ipm1

  Important: Interoperating multiple InfoPrint Manager Windows servers is supported only when running under Windows Domain controlled environments.
• InfoPrint Manager Security

  All of the information that InfoPrint Manager Security uses to protect your printing system (groups and Access Control Lists (ACLs)) is stored in the namespace. When you share the namespace, the groups and ACLs that you set on the namespace server apply to all of the servers; the groups and ACLs that you set on the other servers before they joined the common namespace disappear. As a result, you should wait until you have the interoperating environment set up before you set up any security on the systems.

  Note: If the Pull Print Feature is installed on one of the servers that share the namespace, you have to recreate the groups and the ACL used by these features.