I. Introduction | |
| Internet/intranet imaging (i3) is centered on the use of robust open standards to distribute all of your information, including access to databases and image archives. | Compared to traditional client-server solutions, i3 offers dramatic advantages in compatibility, purchase price, support costs, and enterprise-wide integration! Intranet is very rapidly becoming the mainstream systems architecture. |
Click each block in this diagram. |
i3 communicates between each of its blocks using the well established software standards that have made the internet work for decades. This means you can buy the blocks from different vendors. Or you can build some of the blocks yourself. The interfaces are well-published, highly robust industry standards (including TCP/IP, http, ftp, cgi).
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III. i3 Server |
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The i3 server is the heart of the i3 architecture. It consists of three main components that work together. The web (http) server communicates with the network. It in turn communicates using cgi or acgi protocol with any number of additional programs on the server. Most important for imaging is the Image Server. In addition, a database server and terminal server are a frequent and important part of the i3 solution for many Acordex customers. |
IV. Why Intranet? | |
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The intranet architecture is so compelling that essentially all of the Fortune 200
companies are now implementing an intranet. This isn't just for international corporations
distributing document images world-wide. The same standards that make the Internet work are
increasingly being used to make intranets inside large and small organizations.
Acordex supports the implementation of the "Full Service Intranet." We believe that Internet/Intranet Imaging (i3) is doing the same thing to proprietary imaging frameworks that the Internet has done to proprietary e-mail and groupware products - it is replacing them. The Acordex i3 architecture is the future. There are five reasons why we believe this: |
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V. Implement an i3 Solution | |
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There are many choices for filling in the blocks of the i3 architecture. For example, document images in our
Internet web site demo are scanned on a Macintosh computer, served from a UNIX computer, and typically viewed by a Windows computer.
This is completely seamless. No layer knows or cares that the next layer is a different operating system. 1. Capture Acordex Safekeep i3 Scan Stations provide document capture. For very high volume, or remote office document capture, Safekeep supports multiple scan stations contributing to a single archive. These can be connected via any TCP/IP network, including dial-up modem, DSL, ISDN, 56K frame, cable, T1, T3, 10/100baseT or fiber. For off-site requirements, Portable Safekeep will travel and set up in minutes. Acordex scan stations upload images to a server using ftp or http. If none of these solutions meet your needs, we can provide custom scan stations to your specifications. It is also easy to interface other scan stations to Acordex i3. The scan station simply uses "http put" to send TIFF images to a cgi at the server. 2. Serve Acordex OpenWeb Server provides http web serving. It includes very fast built-in c-code cgi functions that can manage extremely large (thousands of gigabytes) disk drive arrays. OpenWeb works closely with OpenWeb HSM to provide advanced features like on-the-fly oldest document purging during uploads, image printing and faxing at the server, highly optimized file management for extremely large on-line archives, and automatic management of backup and primary image storage media. Other web servers and ftp servers can also be used with Acordex scan and retrieval software. Some of the advanced functions listed above may not be available with other servers.
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3. Retrieve
ViewTIFF for Java is a Java program to view document images in your web browser. It works with any web browser that supports Java, including Linux, Macintosh, UNIX, and Windows. Accel ViewTIFF for Macintosh and Windows is an accelerated plug-in. It provides exceptionally fast decompression, zoom, pan and scale-to-grey. Your database can be used to find images. Acordex JTerm will interface to ViewTIFF from databases or programs originally written for text-terminals. Web-enabling technologies from most DBMS software (including SQL Server, Oracle, Progress, FileMaker, Access and many others) can be used to connect your database to ViewTIFF image retrieval. For very high volume, production imaging users, Acordex also offers a very fast dedicated Safekeep i3 Retrieve Station. Safekeep supports i3 using ftp and http protocols. It takes advantage of very high resolution monitors (for example 120 dpi) and can display a full page image from an intranet server in less than a tenth of a second! 4. Store Safekeep manages the automatic production of off-line media. Safekeep supports the use of many types of media. Most of our customers are currently using DVDs. All images are copied twice: once to back-up disks that are stored off-site and a second time to primary disks that are kept in the office. Multiple primary disks can be copied for image distribution. |
VI. The Next Step | |
| Contact Acordex and talk to us about your goals. We will carefully listen to your current situation, your goals and your budget constraints. | We will then propose a configuration of an imaging solution tailored to meet your needs. Even a modest investment can produce a very powerful i3 solution for your organization. |
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