--- title: "Efficient distributed polling process" canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/distributed-polling/" md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/distributed-polling.md" last_updated: "2026-06-09T10:25:14.364Z" description: "Learn how to set up distributed polling jobs for optimal document processing and load balancing between servers." --- # Optimizing load balancing with distributed polling The distributed polling step is used to provide a method of distributing processing load between a number of servers. The Distributed Polling job copies a number of files based on the **Limit** step property from a shared location to a local folder. The local folder serves as an input file for another job to process.![Distributed Polling](@/assets/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/image48.png) This step can be used to implement load balancing in Document Automation Server (DAS). Multiple DAS servers can point to one input folder, as a result, the files will be shared across several servers and the processing will be more optimized. The next section will work us through setting up a Distributed Polling job. ## Job Setup Before we start setting up the jobs, make sure you perform the steps below. - Open `“C:\Aquaforest\Autobahn DX\config\Autobahn.config”` and change the value of “inputdelay” to 30.![Change Value of InputDelay](@/assets/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/image49.png) - Make sure the DAS service is configured to run as a user with enough privileges to access all the shared locations. - Restart the DAS service The effectiveness of the distribution of the documents from the central location to the local servers as well as the OCR will depend on the schedule intervals of the job below, the "Limit" step property of the Distributed Polling Job, and the “inputdelay”. You may need to use trial and error to get the optimum settings. Do not set the two jobs to run at the same time, because the first job needs to run at least once for the second job to have any input files to process. To set up a distributed polling job on a DAS Server you will have to create two jobs: 1. **Distributed Polling Job**: To copy the files from a shared folder to a local folder. 2. **Autobahn Job**: This job will process the files that were copied from the Job above, for example, the **Destination Folder** of the first job will serve as the **Source Folder** of this job. ### Distributed polling job The **Distributed Polling** **Job** will copy files from the central shared location to the local computer’s input location to be processed by an **Autobahn Job**. - After copying the files to the local location (b) - They will be deleted from the central location (a).![Copying Files from Source to Destination](@/assets/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/image50.png) 1. The central shared location containing all the input files. 2. The folder to where the files will be copied to. 3. **Do not** use work folders. 4. Set the scheduler to run every x number of seconds/minutes. This must be different from the 1(e). | Screen Field | Description | | ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Autobahn Job ID** | The Job ID of the Job that will be processing your input files. **Note**: The Source Folder of this job will be the **Destination Folder** of the **Distributed Polling Job**. | | **Limit** | The maximum number of files to be copied to the shared location per run. | | **Extensions** | Enter the file extensions you want us to copy separated by a comma. For example, “.pdf,.tif,.tiff” | | **Process Sub Folder** | Select true if you want to copy subfolders. **Note**: If this is set to true, then “Process Sub-folders” needs to be ticked in the OCR job. | | **Debug** | Select true if you want to see more debug output. | ### Autobahn job In this section we will show you how to set up an **Autobahn Job** to process the files that were copied from the **Distributed Polling Job**. 1. Set the source folder to a local location on the server. 2. The destination folder can either be local to the server or a shared location. 3. Set “Input Files” to either “Delete Input Files” or “Move to Archive after Processing”. 4. Make a note of the job ID. This is used in the **Distributed Polling** step. 5. Set the scheduler to run every x number of seconds/minutes.![Set up DAS Job to Process Copied Files](@/assets/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/image51.png) --- ## Related pages - [Comprehensive guide to document automation servers](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/acknowledgments.md) - [Essential configuration files for Document Automation Server](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/autobahn-dx-configuration-files.md) - [Explore document automation server directories](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/autobahn-dx-directories.md) - [Efficiently execute jobs with the DAS .NET API](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/autobahn-dx-net-api.md) - [Split and rename PDF files using barcode detection](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/barcode-support.md) - [Streamline your document processing jobs](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/autobahn-dx-quick-start.md) - [Managing Windows file name length in DAS](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/file-name-length.md) - [Streamline PDF management with advanced automation](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/dascontentextraction-kingfisher-job-step.md) - [Enhance document processing with the .NET SDK](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/gdpicture-additional-steps.md) - [Enhanced cloud OCR capabilities for text recognition](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/cloud-ocr.md) - [Streamline your document conversion processes](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion.md) - [Essential document automation server installation guide](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/installation-and-licensing.md) - [Optimize OCR with advanced preprocessing options](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/ocr-properties-file-and-the-advanced-pre-processing-option.md) - [Extract key-value pairs from PDFs to JSON](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/pdf-recognition-to-json-job-step.md) - [Automate document processing with custom scripts](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/scripting-custom-steps.md) - [Streamline document automation with XML job definitions](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/job-definition-xml-files.md) - [Enhance document processing with multicore support](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/multicore-support.md) - [Effortlessly convert files to PDF with ToPDF](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/topdf-bcl-easypdf.md) - [Upgrade Document Automation Server](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/release-notes.md) - [Streamline document processing with automation](/guides/document-automation-server/document-conversion/product-overview-and-concepts.md)