Enterprise supports multiple systems working together in a distributed environment connected to one or more Enterprise site servers where the best performance is achieved within a high bandwidth/low latency local area network. High latency and/or low bandwidth networks such as the satellite, internet, and VPN connections may be used, but careful consideration must be given to bandwidth and latency issues which can affect Enterprise performance.
Bandwidth
Network bandwidth is a measurement indicating the maximum capacity of a wired or wireless communications link to transmit data over a network connection in a given amount of time. Typically, bandwidth is represented in the number of bits, kilobits, megabits or gigabits that can be transmitted in 1 second.
Latency
Network latency is the time it takes for a data packet to go from one place to another. It measures the delay between when the user takes action and the moment a reply arrives from the server. Network latency is affected by the distance, speed, and processing of the data transmission. Network latency is an important factor in the user experience quality of an application or a network.
Recommendations
Local Area Network (LAN)
- A Local Area Network with low latency and a shielded network connection between the kiosk computer containing the SQL server and any remote seats.
- WiFi or wireless connections are not supported as the electrical noise of the plasma cutter (and any welding going on nearby) can cause unreliable communications.
- For updates and web services support - An internet connection capable of 10MB.
Wide Area Network (WAN)
- A cable or fiber connection capable of at least 100MB per second throughput. A DSL connection may be usable but is not recommended.
- A latency of less than 10ms is strongly recommended.
- For updates and web services support only - An internet connection capable of 10MB.
SQL Server
SQL Server must be hosted on a system sized to meet the networking, storage, and query processing requirements of the client application. Enterprise communicates with SQL using OLEDB drivers and does not cache any data locally where it might be invalidated by other users who are also updating the database. Enterprise may execute many SQL queries during an importing or nesting operation that can generate longer wait times when used across a low bandwidth and/or high latency connection. While performance may be moderately affected the operations are transactional and will either complete or be rolled back if the network connection times out.
Troubleshooting
The Enterprise HealthCheck tool provides a SQL Latency check that will execute a synthetic nesting workflow and report on the times for each phase of the process with a pass/fail result.
Note that if this check fails, Enterprise is still functional but performance will be degraded.
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