Document Conversion Service supports client-server conversion using DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model).

This scenario would be commonly used when running a web service that converts files running on one computer with Document Conversion Service running on another computer. When the web server needs to convert a file it will "talk" to the computer that the conversion service is running on and tell it to convert the files. This is referred to as a client-server relationship where the web server is the client and the computer running Document Conversion Service is the server.

Another example of this is when the Document Conversion Service is running on a server and a small application to convert files is installed on each user's machine. This keeps all the heavy work of document conversion on the server and not on the user's machine. In this case each user's machine is the client.

Typical Client-Server Configurations

When setting up client-server conversion, you will need to know if your computers are running on a domain, on a workgroup, or a mix of the two.

The most common usage scenarios are explained below.

•The simplest setup is when both the clients and the server running Document Conversion Service are on the same domain. In this case, nothing needs to be done to allow conversion.

•If the server is on a domain, and the client is a local user, a matching local account with the same user name and password must be created on the server.

•If the server is on a workgroup, a matching local account with the same user name and password as will need to exist on both the client and the server computer.

Best Practices

For remote, or client-server conversion, Document Conversion Service is first installed on the computer that will be performing the conversions, then an additional setup component, the Document Conversion Service Client Redistributable is installed on the client machines to allow the client machines to talk to the server. The client redistributable is included in the Document Conversion Service install.

Document Conversion Service is initially installed so that all authenticated users are able to communicate in client -server conversion. This is done during installation by creating a local group, Document Conversion Service Users and adding the Authenticated Users group as a member of the local group. Permissions on the required Document Conversion Service components and folders are all set using the Document Conversion Service Users group to allow client-server conversion to work out of the box with little or no additional configuration needed.

The client install also creates the Document Conversion Service Users local group and adds the Authenticated Users group to it's member list, as well as setting permissions on any required components and folders using this group.

For situations where you only want certain users to be able to perform remote conversion, you can edit the members list of the Document Conversion Service Users group on the server and the client to remove the Authenticated Users group and add your desired users, or an existing group of users you may already have set up.

When setting up Document Conversion Service for client-server communication, we also recommend the following best practices below.

•You will need to have access to an account with Administrative rights to run Document Conversion Service on the server and the permissions to add local accounts and groups on the server machine and to modify a group's membership.

•When installing Document Conversion Service and Document Conversion Service Client Redistributable, let the setups create the local administrative account, DCSAdmin, with the same user name and password on both the server and any clients.