maximum tag read rate that the Premises Server could handle was around five tags per second. Thus, the rate at which tag data reaches the Premises Server (P in) cannot exceed five times per second in order to uphold the end-to-end system response time of two seconds. 9.2 Premises Server performance The Premises Server and back-end processing domains consume the most time during end-to-end message transmission. As a result, this segment of message flow has the highest impact on system performance. Thus, optimizing these legs of the trip is of utmost concern. While the back-end system is largely dependent on the RFID user's existing enterprise infrastructure, some measures can be taken to optimize Premises Server performance. This section shows you how. 9.2.1 Running SMF as a service By default, SMF runs as a service. If SMF is being run from the command line for any reason, it will degrade Premises Server performance, especially if the ConsoleLog bundle is running. For this reason, it is recommended that SMF always be run as a service, unless it is absolutely necessary to run it from a command prompt for testing or debugging purposes.