Understanding the department model

The department model represents an organization with the following needs:

• Between 50 and 75 Meridian vault users, excluding Meridian Explorer repository users, which can be many more.
• A single site.
• Add-on modules such as the Meridian Asset Management Module, Publisher, and Global Collaboration Framework may be required.
• Minor to moderate customization is implemented.
• Oracle or SQL Server is the organization’s standard DBMS.
• An existing suitable web server is available

A typical configuration to meet the needs of a department would look similar to the following figure.

In this configuration, Meridian uses existing DBMS and web servers, and all remaining components are installed on a single dedicated application server.

Configuration of the Meridian application server should include the following items.

• The maximum cache size of each vault should be 1 GB or less unless the High Performance Option is enabled. The combined sizes of all vault database caches plus user session memory must not exceed the amount of application virtual memory provided by the operating system. The cache size for each vault should be set to 100 MB if the High Performance Option is enabled.
• High Performance Option is recommended when the combined size of all vault database caches plus user session memory exceeds the amount of application virtual memory provided by the operating system. This requires more than 4 GB of RAM, which requires specific versions of Windows Server. We recommend a 64-bit edition of Windows Server.
• Windows Server /3GB and /userva switches enabled if more than 75 users.
• If multiple vaults are accessed frequently, the CopyDLL option enabled for each vault.
• A separate database server should be used only if there is a minimum 1 Gbps (fiber optic preferred) and very reliable connection to the Meridian application server. Otherwise, the application and database should be hosted on the same computer and 64-bit editions of Windows and Meridian installed.