Large lab setup

In this article we are going to introduce best large setups recommendations for the customers running 3Shape Dental System to create the most optimal setup for the lab. The main idea is to optimize and implement the impact on the productivity and performance to have a well-functioning, stable and fast lab setup. 

Overview of Dental System installations: Standalone & Client-Server

How to perform Standalone installation

Standalone - this installation is ideal if you want to run all 3Shape Dental System applications on one computer (i.e. the scanner-PC). The software and orders data are stored locally on the computer. The Standalone installation is recommended if the software is only going to be used on a single computer within the site.

How to perform Client-Server installation

Client-Server(Multiple PC) installation gives you the powerful and productive option of running multiple PCs in a network and smoothly sharing orders and files. The multiple PC installation enables one or more operators to create order, scan and design in parallel. 
 
The Multiple PC installation consists of one Server PC and one or more Client PCs in the same network. All software and the order database are stored locally on the Server PC with the drives mapped as network drives so they can be seen by the client PCs. The Client PCs simply link to the software and order database on the Server computer.

In case of Server Install, a separate Client installer intended for client PCs will appear on the desktop of your PC after the process of installation is completed.

Possible Client-Server setups

The Windows operating system allows to connect maximum 20 client computers to be connected to the server. Dental System cannot exceed this maximum amount. 

Client-Server installation has several varieties to create a setup:  

1.  Single server solution with all client PCs connected to this server

 1 Server – 1 Database – 1 Material File

2.  Multiple servers with a limited amount of client PCs connected to the Server PC.

For such setup, different workflows can be split up into multiple servers as shown on the picture below. In this case, each server will have its own database & material file used for the specific workflow and the data will be stored separately on the dedicated server. 

 Multiple Servers – Multiple Databases – Multiple Material Files

Additional information: 

• possible to use either the local dongle or a network PC with the running 3Shape Dongle Service;
• possible to choose either the default database on the local PC or a remote MSSQL server. For the remote MSSQL server you must specify the location of the server and enter the user name and password;
• subscriptions are directly shared between all PCs in the network, e.g. a single CAD subscription can be used on any Client PC
• server can be both a physical server or a virtual server;
• when using a physical server, there is a 20 client-connection cap;

How to install Dental System server-client setup with more than 20 client stations

Some customers with big production or educational setups (dental schools, universities) may need to setup a server-client installation of Dental System with more than 20 client stations. However standard Windows operating system only allows 20 connections as utmost to any given PC as previously mentioned. 

Options to install more than 20 PCs in a server-client setup:

1. Installing Windows Server OS on a server PC and connecting the rest of the PCs (running on standard Windows versions) as the clients: 

3Shape Dental System has not been officially verified to be supported on Windows Server, therefore if choosing this option, a PC with Windows Server is recommended to be used for server installation (software and database) only, while the actual usage of the software (scanning and design) will be on the client stations. 

2. Splitting server-client installations:

For such setup there should be a separate PC with Dental Manager database only (no Dental System software installed) and several PCs acting as Dental System servers and pointing to the PC with the database. The client stations can be subsequently connected to either of the DS server installations. Below scheme shows an example of such setup:

Server database & multidongles

3Shape Dental System supports both local and remote SQL database connections. 
However, the recommended setup is to have the database installed locally on the server for optimal performance.

SQL Server Configuration Manager:

On the database server it is important that both the “SQL Server (THREESHAPEDENTAL)” and the “SQL Server Browser” services are running. This can be handled from the “SQL Server Configuration Manager” application installed with the SQL Server:

To communicate over the network, the TCP/IP protocol must be enabled for the SQL Server. This is done in the “SQL Server Configuration Manager” by selecting the “SQL Server network Configuration” option and double clicking the “TCP/IP” option to enable it:

Multidongles:

Multidongles (or multiple dongles) is when several dongles at one time are used on one PC. These dongles can have different or same licenses. The client points will be summarized according to the licenses.

Here are some tips on multidongles usage:

1. Multidongles are used in terms of Server installations. All dongles should be attached to one server PC. The client PCs have to be in the same network with server computer.
2. If one dongle has 1 client point for Dental Manager and the other dongle has 3 client points for Dental Manager, it total there will be 3 client points and that means that Dental Manager can be started on 4 PCs at one time. 
3. There can be up to 200 dongles attached to server.
4. The number of saves & seats (client points) on dongles for each license can be checked on the dongle status page http://localhost:27027.

Pre-installation requirements for standalone & client-server setup 

It is crucial to meet the pre-installation requirements in order to create a smooth, well-functioning setup and to avoid issues in the future.

Performance-wise hardware recommendations can be addressed for each component of the system separately:

• Server PC - Hard Drive speed and network bandwidth are important for the server and database operation performance.
• Client PCs - The amount of RAM and Video memory is important for scanning and design performance. 
• Network - Ethernet-based network. 

Here are the recommended system requirements for both server and client PCs: 

1. Operating System: Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) / Windows 11 Pro (64-bit)
2. Memory (RAM): 32GB (or 64GB for simultaneous scanning and modeling of large cases)
3. Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce or NVIDIA Quadro
4. Storage Media: 250GB SSD, 500GB SSD or 1TB SSD (if used as a stand-alone system or a server with the order folder)
5. Available HDD / SSD Space: Minimum of 20GB of free disk space
6. Processor: Intel Core i5 Gen 12 or higher / Intel Core i7 Gen 10 or higher
7. Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080 / 1920 x 1200
8. Network: Internet connection / Separate ethernet connector for the scanner

What folders are shared during Dental System Server installation

Please use the link below to know more about the sharing and setting permissions for Dental System components: 

• https://support.3shape.com/products-dental-system-how-to/what-folders-are-shared-during-dental-system-server-installation?from_search=143751606

Dental System Firewall rules & ports

Please use the link below to know more about the Firewall rules & ports for 3Shape Dental System: 

• https://support.3shape.com/products-dental-system-how-to/how-to-set-up-the-correct-3shape-dental-system-firewall-rules?from_search=143751780