Considerations for virtual and cloud environments

When configuring this type of system, the operating system prerequisites, memory and file system requirements still apply. Three other network configuration items are important:

• The hostname assigned to the RICOH ProcessDirector instance cannot change when the server is restarted. If this value changes over a restart, you will have a short grace period to update your license keys before the system stops running.
• If you are printing across an externally hosted or distributed network, you may need substantial network bandwidth to keep high-speed printers running at rated speed over long distances. Contact Ricoh Software Support for help with configuring your network capacity.

  If you are printing to AFP printers, you can use a secondary server to receive and buffer print jobs so that data transmission to the printers can keep up with high print speeds. After installing the secondary server, set these properties on the AFP printer:

  • Printer server: The secondary server name
  • Copy to secondary server: Yes
  • Destination directory on secondary server: The location on the secondary server file system where you want RICOH ProcessDirector to write print files.

• Securing data across your network and from cloud platforms to printers on the ground is your responsibility. Use of virtual private networks (VPNs) sometimes introduces performance degradation in file transfer. Involve your network and security administrators when planning to host RICOH ProcessDirector in these environments.