Hardware & System Requirements for the 2006 Editions Of

Hardware & System Requirements for the 2006 editions of

PROFITstar®, PROFITability®, Profitstar Suite™, and PROFITstar® Portfolio

Date created:May 15, 2006

Last updated:May 26, 2006

Intended audience:End users, with some advanced material for IT professionals

This document is available in electronic form at:

Summary

Documented below are the minimum, as well as some recommended, requirements for running PROFITstar®, PROFITability®, Profitstar Suite™, and PROFITstar® Portfolio. References to “PROFITstar” in this document are meant to include any or all of these inter-related products.

Certain requirements may vary, based upon the size and complexity of your institution. For purposes of these guidelines, a typical institution is defined as one with fewer than 10 organizational breakouts, while a large institution is one with 10 or more breakouts.

As explained in our architectural improvements white paper ( some PROFITstar components run on a Windows server, and other components run on client workstations. The client and server components work together to give PROFITstar robust multi-user capabilities.

This document contains one set of requirements for the PROFITstar server components, and another separate set of requirements for the client components. Server requirements are documented beginning on page 1, while the client requirements can be found on page 5.

Requirements for PROFITstar’s server components

PROFITstar depends on the Advantage Database Server (ADS), as well as some utility programs that we call “Profitstar server-side tools.” It is possible to install ADS and the server-side tools on:

A “true” server machine
A non-server machine that is commonly accessible to multiple users
A single user’s own machine

As previously noted, the requirements for the server components are different from the requirements for the client components. When the server service and the client software are both installed on the same machine (for example, at a site where there is only one user), the higher of the two sets of requirements will apply.

CPU: / Typical institution: 1 GHz, Pentium 4 equivalent.
Large institution: 2 GHz, Pentium 4 equivalent.
Recommended:
Typical institution: 2+ GHz, Pentium 4 equivalent.
Large institution: 3+ GHz, Pentium 4 equivalent.
RAM: / Typical institution: 512+ MB.
Large institution: 1+ GB.
Hard Disk Space: / Program Files – 10 MB.
Database – Approximately 20 MB per organizational unit (branch, cost center, etc.).
Recommended:
3+ GB free for the use of PROFITstar, and its related software products.
When the data is hosted on a server or server-like machine and accessed by multiple users, serial ATA or RAID solutions should be considered for optimal performance and reliability.
CD/DVD Drive: / 24X or better.
Display Settings: / 800 by 600 pixels or higher.
16, 24, or 32 bit color quality.
Network Protocol: / TCP/IP (UDP support is required).
Network Interface Card: / Network adapter capable of 100 Mbps data transfer rate.
Recommended:
Network adapter capable of 1000+ Mbps data transfer rate.
Multiple network adapters “teamed” to increase data throughput or configured in a failover setup to increase data availability.
Operating System: / In most multi-user environments, we recommend the server be running under one of the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server (SP3)
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server
In single-user or limited multi-user environments, we recommend:
Microsoft Windows 2000 (SP3)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional (SP1 or later)
Microsoft Windows 2003
Non-Windows operating systems like Novell Netware are not supported.
Installation Permissions: / The person installing the database server service must have “Administrator” rights.
Required Server-Side Permissions: / The Share and Security permissions for all PROFITstar users, as well as the local System account, must be set to Full Control for the root data directory (C:\PSData by default) and the nested subdirectories (PS, PA, Common, and PMData). In order to grant these permissions, IT personnel must be physically present at the PC on which the Advantage Database service and the data reside.
If these permissions are not granted and a user attempts to perform a task for which these permissions are required, a message will be displayed, explaining that the user has insufficient rights to perform the requested action.
Antivirus Settings: / It is recommended that certain data files for PROFITstar programs be excluded from virus scans. More detail, including a list of the data files to exclude, can be found at
Firewall Settings: / If a firewall is used to protect the server or server-like machine, it must be configured to allow incoming connections on port 6262, using the UDP protocol. This port is used by the Advantage Database Server (ADS) service to satisfy client requests for data in the database used by PROFITstar and its related software products.

Requirements for PROFITstar’s client components

Operating System: / Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional (SP4 or later).
Microsoft Windows XP Professional (SP1 or later).
Microsoft Windows 2003.
Other Required Software: / Microsoft® Internet Explorer® version 5.5 (SP2 or later).
Recommended:
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 (SP1 or later).
Note: An active connection to the Internet is recommended, but not required. However, a recent version of the WININET.DLL file must exist on each PC running PROFITstar. This file is installed during the Microsoft Internet Explorer setup.
CPU: / Typical institution: 1 GHz, Pentium 4 equivalent.
Large institution: 2 GHz, Pentium 4 equivalent.
Recommended:
Typical institution: 2+ GHz, Pentium 4 equivalent.
Large institution: 3+ GHz, Pentium 4 equivalent.
RAM: / Typical institution: 512+ MB.
Large institution: 1+ GB.
Hard Disk Space: / Program Files – 55 MB.
Temporary Work Space – Approximately 100 MB of free disk space for temporary operations.
Note: When the server service and the client software are both installed on the same machine (such as at a site where there is only one user), the higher of the two sets of requirements will apply.
CD/DVD Drive: / 24X or better.
Display Settings: / 800 by 600 pixels or higher.
Small fonts. (Large fonts are not supported.)
16, 24, or 32 bit color quality.
Network Protocol: / TCP/IP (UDP support is required).
Network Interface Card: / Network adapter capable of 100 Mbps data transfer rate.
Recommended:
Network adapter capable of 1000+ Mbps data transfer rate.
Multiple network adapters “teamed” to increase data throughput or configured in a failover setup to increase data availability.
Installation Permissions: / The person installing PROFITstar must have “Administrator” rights.
Required User Permissions: / Root Data Directory
The Share and Security permissions for all PROFITstar users, as well as the local System account, must be set to Full Control for the root data directory (C:\PSData by default) and the nested subdirectories (PS, PA, Common, and PMData). In order to grant these permissions, IT personnel must be physically present at the PC on which the Advantage Database service and the data reside.
If these permissions are not granted and a user attempts to perform a task for which these permissions are required, a message will be displayed, explaining that the user has insufficient rights to perform the requested action.
PS.INI File
On each computer used to access PROFITstar, users must have Modify rights to the folder in which the PS.ini file is stored. For a Profitstar Suite client, the default location for this file is: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Profitstar\PS Suite\2006.
Antivirus Settings: / It is recommended that certain data files for PROFITstar be excluded from virus scans. More detail, including a list of the data files to exclude, can be found at

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