ABBYY Recognition Server - 2.0 Administrator’s Guide
ABBYY
Recognition Server
2.0
ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 System Administrator’s Guide
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................... 4
Architecture.................................................................................... 5
Main Components..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Server Manager....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Processing Station ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Verification Station ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Remote Administration Console.............................................................................................................................. 5
COMbased API....................................................................................................................................................... 6
Web Service............................................................................................................................................................. 6
Workflows and Jobs................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Interaction of Components and Load Balancing............................................................................................................................................................... 6
Handling Documents.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Scalability......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Fault Tolerance............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Integration Tools........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
XML tickets .............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Open API................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Installation ..................................................................................... 9
System Requirements.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Installing ABBYY Recognition Server Components...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Selecting program components............................................................................................................................. 11
Selecting a user account........................................................................................................................................ 11
Specifying the path to the Server Manager.............................................................................................................13
Installing ABBYY Recognition Server Components via the Command Line............................................................................................... 13
Installing ABBYY Recognition Server using Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS)............................................................ 14
An example of deploying ABBYY Recognition Server using SMS............................................................................ 14
Manual Registration of the SharePoint Connection Library.................................................................................................................................... 18
Installing the Hardware Key Drivers......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Protection Technology and License Activation ................................ 19
License Activation................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
How is activation carried out?.............................................................................................................................. 19
Activation methods................................................................................................................................................ 19
Administering ............................................................................... 20
Getting Started.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20
To recognize a document...................................................................................................................................... 20
How to Register a New Server....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20
How to Register a New Processing Station .......................................................................................................................................................................... 21
How to Create a New Workflow................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21
How to Configure Email Settings.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 21
How to Configure Verification...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Using the Verification Station in a workgroup network.........................................................................................23
How to Configure Publishing Documents to a SharePoint Server...................................................................................................................... 23
How to Transfer Recognition Server Settings to another Server ......................................................................................................................... 24
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ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 System Administrator’s Guide
Managing Licenses ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 24
Managing User Accounts...................................................................................................................................................................................................................25
Connection Settings....................................................................... 26
Connection protocols ............................................................................................................................................ 26
Restarting services under a user account.............................................................................................................. 26
Running ABBYY Recognition Server on a computer without a network connection............................................. 27
Troubleshooting ........................................................................... 28
The Server Manager fails to establish a connection with the Processing Station installed on a different computer
.............................................................................................................................................................................. 28
The Server Manager fails to establish a connection with the Verification Station or the Remote Administration
Console installed on a different computer ............................................................................................................28
No connection with the external FTP server ......................................................................................................... 28
The workflow does not start with the following error message: “Some of the working folders are inaccessible”... 28
When processing images, a “Disk space is too low” warning appears on the computer where the Server Manager
is running.............................................................................................................................................................. 29
How to retrieve an image document that is being processed by ABBYY Recognition Server................................. 29
Digits in brackets are appended to the names of output files............................................................................... 29
The Verification Station hangs at startup.............................................................................................................. 29
Technical Support ......................................................................... 30
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ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 System Administrator’s Guide
Introduction
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a technology that enables you to convert scanned or photographed images of
printed documents into machineeditable and searchable text.
ABBYY Recognition Server is a robust and powerful serverbased solution for automating optical character recognition
and PDF conversion of medium and high volumes of documents.
Recognition Server can be used both as a turnkey outofthebox solution and as an integral part of document capture
systems, document sorting systems and backend applications.
ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 provides:
• High quality recognition and conversion of documents in more than 190 languages
Awardwinning ABBYY OCR technology delivers unprecedented recognition accuracy for any kind of printed
documents.
• Unattended serverbased operation
The whole document conversion process is performed in unattended mode on the server, and administered
centrally.
• Fault tolerance
Designed as a highly robust solution, Recognition Server ensures the ongoing system stability and data safety.
• Unprecedented scalability
With its ability to use the resources of additional computers and CPUs during processing, Recognition Server
has no speed limitations and can convert virtually any volume of documents within the required timeframe.
There is no need for complex system configuration – it takes just a few minutes to extend the processing
power by plugging additional stations to the system.
• Flexible integration tools
Integration with scanners, MFPs, imaging applications and backend systems has never been easier. Recognition
Server can communicate with other systems in a number of ways: via “watched” folders, email, XML files or
Open API.
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ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 System Administrator’s Guide
Architecture
Main Components
ABBYY Recognition Server consists of 6 components: Server Manager, Processing Station, Verification Station, Remote
Administration Console, COMbased API, and Web Service.
Server Manager
This is the main component. It works as a Windows service, manages licenses and all processing options, forms and
manages the job queue, distributes the jobs among Processing Stations and Verification Stations, and delivers the output
documents after processing. It also coordinates the work of other components (Processing Stations and Verification
Stations) and interacts with the Remote Administration Console and the API. The Server Manager does not perform
recognition, this task is performed by Processing Stations.
ABBYY Recognition Server will not function without the Server Manager. To run the Server Manager, you need an
activated and nonexpired license. See the Protection Technology and License Activation section for details.
Processing Station
This component is a Windows service that directly performs recognition. It processes files received from the Server
Manager.
The Recognition Server allows you to connect several Processing Stations to one Server Manager in order to increase the
processing speed and maximize the throughput. The Server Manager will evenly distribute the workload among the
CPUs of the Processing Stations.
Verification Station
This is a client station which allows you to proofread the recognition results. The Verification Station automatically
receives the recognized pages that must be verified from the Server Manager. You can connect several Verification
Stations to one Server Manager to speed up the verification process.
Remote Administration Console
This is a Microsoft® Management Console (MMC) snapin that provides a common administration interface for
configuration and monitoring Recognition Server.
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ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 System Administrator’s Guide
COMbased API
This API allows you to integrate Recognition Server with other applications in the local area network. The COMbased
API component should be installed on the computer on which the client application will run. It can also be distributed
together with the client application. See more information about the distribution of the COMbased API in the Open API
Help file.
Web Service
This component provides a Web Service API for integrating the Recognition Server with remote applications over the
HTTP protocol.
All the Recognition Server components can be installed on the same or on different computers in the local area network.
Workflows and Jobs
A workflow is a set of processing parameters that are to be applied to image files. Recognition Server can handle several
workflows with different parameters. Each workflow corresponds to a unique input source (a folder or a mailbox). All
the images that appear in the source folder/mailbox are processed using the parameters of the corresponding workflow.
A job is a processing unit. A job contains an image (or a set of images) and its processing parameters. A job is created
when Recognition Server imports images for processing. Usually a job contains one image file and inherits the processing
parameters of the workflow in which it was created. However, with the help of the API or XML tickets it is possible to
create a job that will contain several image files and will have parameters different from the workflow settings. (See the
Integration Tools section for more information.)
Interaction of Components and Load Balancing
When image files are submitted to ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0, the Server Manager creates jobs for them and queues
them for processing. The first job in the queue will be sent to the first available Processing Station for processing. If there
are several Processing Stations in the system, the Server Manager will evenly distribute the jobs from the queue among
these Processing Stations.
A Processing Station can run several OCR processes (their number can be adjusted in the Remote Administration
Console). For optimal performance, the recommended number of processes for a station is N+1, where N is the number
of CPU cores on the station. Usually each OCR process gets one file at a time. For example, if a Processing Station runs
two OCR processes, it will recognize two files in parallel (they can belong to the same job or to different jobs). However,
if the file has many pages (e.g. several dozen) and there are no more than 5 jobs waiting in the queue, the big file will be
split into several chunks, and the chunks will be sent to different OCR processes, in order to get the work done faster.
When the Processing Station has finished processing the file, it returns the recognized file to the Server Manager and is
assigned the next job from the queue.
If verification is turned on in the workflow settings, pages that require verification will be queued for verification after
recognition. If there are Verification Stations connected, the Server Manager will route the queued pages to those
stations. Each Verification Station gets one page at a time. If no Verification Stations are currently connected, or the users
logged on the stations are not permitted to verify pages from this workflow, the pages will wait in the queue with
“Queued for verification” status. They will not be exported until they are verified.
After all the pages from the document are recognized and (if necessary) verified, the Server Manager will deliver the
output document to the destination specified in the job settings.
If document separation is enabled in the workflow settings, the pages in the job queue will be rearranged into
documents before export according to the separation rule. In this case, each job shown in the Job Log will correspond to
one output document and will list all the files that form the output document.
If several workflows are set up, ABBYY Recognition Server will process jobs from all the workflows simultaneously,
within the single queue. The jobs will be arranged in the queue according to their creation time and priorities.
Handling Documents
When image documents get in the Input Folder or mailbox, they are imported by the Server Manager and transferred to
the Images subfolder of the ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 temporary folder. The path to the Server Manager temporary
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ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 System Administrator’s Guide
folder can be viewed and changed in the Recognition Server Properties dialog box of the Remote Administration
Console.
The image files are kept In the Images subfolder of the Server Manager temporary folder throughout the entire
conversion process. The Processing Stations and Verification Stations receive copies of those images for processing. This
ensures that no files are lost in case an error occurs during the recognition or verification.
When the recognition and verification are completed, the output files are handed back to the Server Manager and
queued for publishing. After the output file is published to the Output Folder, the image copy is removed from the Server
Manager temporary folder.
Note: To reduce network traffic, create the Input and the Output Folders of the workflow on the same computer on
which the Server Manager is installed.
Scalability
One Server Manager can manage dozens of Processing Stations connected to it and effectively distribute the workload
among them. This makes the whole system highly scalable to meet highvolume processing demands. By connecting
multiple Processing Stations, you can increase the processing speed up to several hundred pages per minute.
Note: The picture shows the speed increase as measured in ABBYY’s internal tests. System performance may vary
depending on the complexity and quality of the images, the hardware of the server and the stations, and the network
configuration.
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ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 System Administrator’s Guide
Fault Tolerance
As ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 runs completely unattended, it has a number of fault tolerance features that ensure
robustness of the system:
• The system starts automatically at Windows startup. For example, in the case of a temporary power loss, ABBYY
Recognition Server will be up and running automatically after the PC is rebooted.
• Documents are processed so that no data are lost in the case of a system failure. All the images that were being
processed when the failure occurred will stay in the queue and will be processed again after the system is
restarted.
• The Server Manager periodically checks to make sure that the Processing Stations are running and are available.
If a Processing Station is temporarily down for some reason, the Server Manager will reestablish connection
with it after it becomes operational. No administrator’s involvement is required to reconnect a Processing
Station.
If a Processing Station or Verification Station experiences a failure while processing a document, the document will be
automatically rerouted to another available station. If no station is available at the moment, the image will remain in the
queue and wait for the first available station.
Integration Tools
XML tickets
ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 provides a convenient way to customize job settings via socalled XML tickets. An XML
ticket is an XML file that contains a set of processing parameters for the job. The parameters set in the XML ticket
override the workflow settings. If an XML ticket accompanies one or several input files, these files will be processed using
the parameters set in the ticket. XML tickets can be used to define almost all job parameters, such as priority, recognition
languages, output formats, output file name and path, etc.
XML tickets can be created either manually (in a text editor) or programmatically, via the Open API.
XML tickets can be used for integration of ABBYY Recognition Server with frontend systems and devices (for example,
the processing options that the user sets on the scanner panel can be transferred to ABBYY Recognition Server in an
XML ticket).
Open API
ABBYY Recognition Server provides two types of Open API for integration with external systems: a COMbased API and a
Web Services API. Both APIs provide the following functionality:
• submitting images for processing
• creating and submitting XML tickets for processing
• getting notifications about the job completion and information about the job results
The COMbased API uses RPC technology and can be used for integration with other systems in the local area network.
The Web Services API enables communication with remote systems via HTTP, and therefore allows for remote
integration over the Internet.
See more information about the Open API and the XML tickets in the Open API Help file.
Note: You can use the Open API and XML tickets only if you have the Open API addon module enabled in your ABBYY
Recognition Server 2.0 license.
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ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 System Administrator’s Guide
Installation
ABBYY Recognition Server 2.0 includes a specialized installation program that automates the setup process. To insure
proper installation, always use the ABBYY Recognition Server CDROM for installation. The installation program allows
you to install ABBYY Recognition Server components on one computer or on several different computers.
System Requirements
Server Manager
• PC with Intel® Pentium®/Celeron®/Xeon™/Core™, AMD K6/Athlon™/Duron™/Sempron™/Opteron™ or
compatible processor with a minimum clock speed of 500 MHz
• Operating system: Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008, Windows Vista®, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP,
Windows 2000
• Memory: 128 MB RAM
• Hard disk space: 15 MB for installation and 100 MB for program operation*
• The account under which the server is running must have read/write permissions to the following registry
branches:
o HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
o HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ABBYY
o HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ABBYY
• Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 or later is required for saving files to Microsoft SharePoint Server.
• Microsoft Outlook 2000 or later is required for processing and sending email messages
Processing Station
• PC with Intel® Pentium®/Celeron®/Xeon™/Core™, AMD K6/Athlon™/Duron™/Sempron™/Opteron™ or
compatible processor with a minimum clock speed of 500 MHz
• Operating system: Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008, Windows Vista®, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP,
Windows 2000
• Memory: 128 MB RAM plus an additional 100 MB for each recognition process
• Hard disk space: 230 MB for installation and 100 MB for program operation*
Verification Station
• PC with Intel® Pentium®/Celeron®/Xeon™/Core™, AMD K6/Athlon™/Duron™/Sempron™/Opteron™ or
other compatible processor with a clock speed of 500 MHz or higher
• Operating system: Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008, Windows Vista®, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP,
Windows 2000 (for localized interfaces, corresponding language support is required)
• Memory: 128 MB RAM
• Hard disk space: 250 MB for installation and 100 MB for program operation*
Remote Administration Console
• PC with Intel® Pentium®/Celeron®/Xeon™/Core™, AMD K6/Athlon™/Duron™/Sempron™/Opteron™ or
compatible processor with a minimum clock speed of 200 MHz
• Operating system: Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008, Windows Vista®, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP,
Windows 2000
• Memory: 128 MB RAM
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