Technical Recommendations and Limitations

Technical Recommendations and Limitations

In this Article you will find some general recommendations on the use of the Networked Department Feature Pack.


Profiling in Networked Department  

The Ergosoft ColorGPS has no limitations, when it is used in Networked Department. However, “Print and Measure” with built-in measuring devices is currently only supported by the local workstation.


System Recommendations and Limitations

Hardware and Software
  1. Windows 10 Professional on all computers.
  2. Virtual machines are not supported.
  3. Recommended PC starting configurations: 500 GB + SSD, 4 cores CPU and 8 GB of RAM.
  4. Network drive available for Shared Storage folder and production files (recommended).
  5. Dedicated computers free from other tasks or applications that could compromise stability.
  6. Ethernet connections with Gigabit.
  7. Printer name versus IP address: Often no fixed IP addresses are assigned for security reasons, so it is better to use the printer name instead.
  8. Please make sure that – besides the Networked Department dongle – no other “local” dongle is plugged to any of the Networked Department workstations, as this might interfere with the Networked Department licensing.
  9. Having a backup dongle in stock might be useful to ensure production in case of a hardware issue.

Network
  1. Use static IP address for every computer and printer (recommended).
  2. Machines must be within the same work group or domain.
  3. Network profile should be private (default).
  4. Ensure that all the necessary machines are reachable in the network.
  5. Enable network discovery.
  6. Shared Storage and/or USB dongle: Fast network access and fast responding time are required.
  7. Enable public folder sharing. Required when the Shared Storage folder is hosted by a computer on the network instead of a shared network storage.
  8. VPN is not supported.

Installer
All Networked Department workstations must use the same build version. The combination of 64-bit and 32-bit installers however is possible.


General Recommendations
For bigger production sites with a lot of active printers, we recommend going for two Networked Department, meaning to have two Master stations, divide the Clients into two departments and assign them to the Master stations.


Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issue, please check the following list:
  1. Do all the Networked Department workstations have the same software version installed?
  2. Are the necessary licenses available?
  3. Is the dongle connected correctly?
  4. Is the configuration of the computers in the network correct?
  5. Is the Shared Storage folder mapped with read/write access across all machines?
  6. Did you start the Master PC (Communication Utility) before starting the Client PC(s)?