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Load Sharing
Load sharing between FaxPress servers provides a way for a FaxPress to share its outbound fax loads. Load sharing is designed to allow one FaxPress to virtually have more phone lines than it physically has. In networks that have two or more FaxPress servers, this is accomplished by having a pair of FaxPress servers configured to loadshare by configuring one as a slave and the other the master.
FaxPress servers can be configured to load share with FaxPress Premier servers. For details, see a FaxPress Premier Administrator Guide.
You can configure a FaxPress server as a slave to only one master; a master unit can have up to two slave units.
Castelle recommends upgrading to a FaxPress Plus-based unit (Premier, Enterprise or Enterprise Redundant) if the total number of lines exceeds eight (8). The FaxPress Plus line of products provides enhanced load sharing capabilities when configured to load share with other FaxPress Plus-based servers. For more information, visit the Castelle web site.
Load Sharing Requirements
Note the following general load sharing requirements:
| ■ | FaxPress servers must be running the same version of FaxPress server software. |
| ■ | FaxPress servers must be configured to support the same network operating system. |
| ■ | The master file server should have at least a Pentium II processor. |
| ■ | Both FaxPress servers must be installed on the same network sharable hard drive in the same context and/or with the same shareable name. The master FaxPress user account must permit multiple simultaneous logins—as many as there are slaves plus the total number of slave fax lines. |
| ■ | Both FaxPress servers must be connected to the same network segment (they must not be separated by routers or bridges). |
| ■ | Both FaxPress servers must use the same Ethernet frametype. |
NDS Requirement
| ■ | When installing on an NDS fileserver, install FaxPress under NDS, not in Bindery mode. |
NT Requirements
| ■ | Both FaxPress servers must be on the same segment as the NT file server. |
| ■ | Both FaxPress servers must be installed in the same directory with the same sharable name. |
| ■ | Both FaxPress servers must be running FaxPress server software version 4.02 or later. |
Configuring Load Sharing
To setup load sharing, follow these steps:
| 1. | Log in as supervisor to the FaxPress server you’d like to set as the slave. |
| 2. | In FaxPress, right-click on the FaxPress server name or serial number, and select Properties. |
| 3. | Select the Advanced Functions tab. |
| 4. | Scroll down and expand the Enable Support For branch, and select the Load Sharing option to bring up the Master server's serial no # field. Enter the serial number of the FaxPress server you’d like to specify as the master; the FaxPress unit you’re currently logged into becomes that master unit's slave unit. |
Benefits of Load Sharing
If you have more than one FaxPress server and you send a large amount of faxes per day, Load Sharing could be beneficial to your environment. You still can use your FaxPress servers independently. When Load Sharing is enabled, during idle time the slave FaxPress unit will contact the master FaxPress unit to see if there are any pending outgoing faxes. If so, the slave unit will process those faxes, if necessary.
If a master and slave FaxPress server each has four lines, then when the slave is idle, the master has access to eight lines instead of just four. The relationship between master and slave(s) is reciprocal, meaning that both units can be a slave for one another.
In a load sharing environment that processes a large quantity of short faxes (i.e., faxes 1 to 2 pages in length), your slave unit(s) may be idle for extended periods of time.
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FaxPress WebHelp
Last Updated: 9/12/2007
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