Microsoft® Business Solutions for Analytics–FRx® System Requirements and Installation Guidelines
Copyright ® 2004 FRx Software Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Table of Contents Overview ........................................................................................... 3 Performance Considerations ................................................................. 4 Installation Environment Recommendations ............................................ 4 FRx Desktop .................................................................................... 4 FRx Professional or Enterprise ............................................................ 5 Client Workstation Requirements........................................................... 6 Web Client Workstation Requirements.................................................... 6 Database Server Requirements ............................................................. 7 Application Server Requirements ........................................................... 7 Web Server Requirements .................................................................... 8 Terminal Services................................................................................ 9 International Support ........................................................................ 10
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 2
Overview This document defines the recommended system requirements, along with environment considerations for Microsoft® Business Solutions for Analytics–FRx®. This document is meant to be inclusive of the many types of installations that can be performed along with the hardware and software requirements for each. The two types of installation most commonly performed with FRx are Local Client and Network Client (also know as Client-Server). Selection for the type of installation performed should be based on organizational needs and FRx reseller direction. FRx is comprised of several modules. Module availability will vary depending on the general ledger you have implemented. A brief description of each module is included so that you can better understand the recommendations that follow. FRx® Report Designer allows users to create, launch, view, distribute and manage financial reports from the desktop. FRx® Report Launcher allows users to select pre-designed reports, specify output options and then generate the report on demand. FRx® DrillDown Viewer™ allows users to view completed reports, email reports and drill down from summary to transaction level detail. FRx® Report Server allows users to automate the production of reports that need to be run and distributed on a regular basis and offload the processing of reports to a server. The Report Server can be enhanced by using four engines that can run and distribute multiple reports at once. FRx® Report Manager is a powerful management tool used to create, review, print and distribute a group of documents in one convenient report book. FRx® WebPort allows users to publish both FRx and non-FRx reports to the Web (i.e. Word documents and Excel files).
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 3
Performance Considerations Additional applications, databases or network traffic can affect the performance of FRx Software products. Please consult with your organization’s IT department to ensure necessary environments are established to support optimal performance of FRx Software products for your environment.
Installation Environment Recommendations The installation environment recommendation for FRx Software products is a multi-server architecture. In most cases two servers can be used. The Application Server and the Web Server can be combined on the same server. However a second, separate server should host the Database Management Server software.
FRx Desktop The following table describes the recommended guidelines and requirements for installing and using FRx Desktop. Installation Environment Guidelines Client Workstation Report Designer
√
Report Launcher
√
DrillDown Viewer
√
Web Client Workstation
Database Server
Application Server
Web Server
These applications can be purchased independent of FRx Professional and Enterprise, and used as add-on modules to FRx Desktop. Installation Environment Guidelines Client Workstation Report Manager
Web Client Workstation
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 4
Application Server
Web Server
√ √
Report Server WebPort
Database Server
√
√
FRx Professional or Enterprise The following table describes the recommended guidelines and requirements for installing and using FRx Professional or Enterprise. Installation Environment Guidelines Client Workstation
Web Client Workstation
Database Server
Report Designer Client
√
Report Launcher
√
DrillDown Viewer
√
1
√ √
Report Server WebPort
√
Note1: The Report Manager is an add-on module for FRx Professional users.
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 5
Web Server
√
Report Designer
Report Manager
Application Server
√
Client Workstation Requirements Item
Requirement
Processor
•
500 MHz or higher recommended
RAM
•
256 MB required
•
2 GB+ available space recommended
Hard Disk
Hard drive size requirements will vary based on the analysis performed, and the number and size of reports being stored for viewing in the DrillDown Viewer or local OLAP cubes. Operating System Mail Services
•
Microsoft® Windows XP Professional (SP1) recommended
•
Windows 2000 Professional (SP4) acceptable
•
Microsoft® Outlook 2003 or Outlook XP recommended
•
Outlook 2000 acceptable
•
MAPI compliant e-mail client acceptable
Help Documentation
•
Adobe® Reader® v6.0 or later required (http://www.adobe.com)
Internet
•
Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0
Productivity
•
Microsoft® Office Standard Edition 2003 or Office Standard Edition XP recommended
•
Office Standard Edition 2000 acceptable
Data Access
•
Microsoft® Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.8
OLAP Cube Output
•
Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Analysis Services Client recommended
•
SQL Server™ 7.0 OLAP Client acceptable
Web Client Workstation Requirements Item
Requirement
Processor
•
500 MHz or higher recommended
RAM
•
64 MB required
•
100+ MB available space acceptable
Hard Disk
Hard drive size requirements will vary based on the analysis performed. However, very minimal requirements are outlined for the Web Client Operating System
•
Windows XP Professional (SP1) recommended
•
Windows 2000 Professional (SP4) acceptable
Help Documentation
•
Adobe Reader v6.0 or later required (http://www.adobe.com)
Internet
•
Internet Explorer 6.0
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 6
Database Server Requirements Item
Requirement
Processor
•
Dual Processor 1 GHz or higher recommended
RAM
•
1 GB recommended
Hard Disk
•
10+ GB available space recommended
5 GB may be sufficient. However, specific disk requirements vary widely and must be planned for based on the volume of data to be created, stored and analyzed. These recommendations are only initial configuration guidelines. Operating System Database Data Access OLAP Cube Output
•
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition recommended
•
Windows 2000 Server (SP4) acceptable
•
SQL Server™ 2000 (SP3) recommended
•
SQL Server™ 7.0 (SP4) acceptable
•
MDAC 2.8
•
SQL Server™ 2000 Analysis Services recommended
•
SQL Server™ 7.0 OLAP Services acceptable
Application Server Requirements Item
Requirement
Processor
•
1 GHz or higher recommended
RAM
•
512 MB or higher recommended
Hard Disk
•
10+ GB available space recommended
5 GB may be sufficient. However, specific disk requirements vary widely and must be planned for based on the volume of data to be analyzed. These recommendations are initial configuration guidelines. Operating System Mail Services
•
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, with Internet Information Services recommended
•
Windows 2000 Server (SP4), with Internet Information Services acceptable
•
Outlook 2003 or Outlook XP recommended
•
Outlook 2000 acceptable
•
MAPI compliant e-mail client acceptable
Internet
•
Internet Explorer 6.0
Productivity
•
Office Professional Edition 2003 or Office Professional Edition XP recommended
•
Office Professional Edition 2000 acceptable
•
MDAC 2.8
Data Access OLAP Output
•
SQL Server™ 2000 Analysis Services Client recommended
•
SQL Server™ 7.0 OLAP Services Client acceptable
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 7
Web Server Requirements Item
Requirement
Processor
•
1 GHz or higher recommended
RAM
•
512 MB or higher recommended
•
10+ GB available space recommended
Hard Disk
5 GB may be sufficient. However, specific disk requirements vary widely and must be planned for based on the volume of data to be analyzed. These recommendations are initial configuration guidelines. Operating System Mail Services
•
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, with Internet Information Services recommended
•
Windows 2000 Server (SP4), with Internet Information Services acceptable
•
Outlook 2003 or Outlook XP recommended
•
Outlook 2000 acceptable
•
MAPI compliant e-mail client acceptable
Internet
•
Internet Explorer 6.0
Productivity
•
Office Standard Edition 2003 or Office Standard Edition XP recommended
•
Office Standard Edition 2000 acceptable
Print Support Services
•
BCL easyPDF® 3.10.021
Data Access
•
MDAC 2.8
OLAP Output
•
SQL Server™ 2000 Analysis Services Client recommended
•
SQL Server™ 7.0 OLAP Services Client acceptable
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 8
Terminal Services FRx can also be installed and used on Terminal Services (with or without Citrix® MetaFrame). In this setup, the Terminal Server may be used in place of the client workstation and Web client workstation. Report Server is strongly recommended when using Terminal Services due to the high processor and memory requirements for generating reports. The GL database, Report Server and WebPort should be located on one or more separate servers. Please note that Terminal Services (with or without Citrix MetaFrame) is the only supported environment for running FRx applications on a wide-area network (WAN).
Item Processor
Requirement •
Dual 1 GHz or higher recommended
RAM
•
1GB+ available memory recommended
Hard Disk
•
20+ GB available storage recommended
10 GB may be sufficient. However, specific disk requirements vary widely and must be planned for based on the volume of data to be analyzed. These recommendations are initial configuration guidelines. Operating System
•
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition (Application Mode) recommended
•
Windows 2000 Server (SP4) with Terminal Services (Application mode) acceptable
Citrix MetaFrame (optional)
•
Citrix MetaFrame XP (any edition is acceptable)
Mail Services
•
Outlook 2003 or Outlook XP recommended
•
Outlook 2000 acceptable
•
MAPI compliant e-mail client acceptable
Internet
•
Internet Explorer 6.0
Help Documentation
•
Adobe Reader v6.0 or later required (http://www.adobe.com)
Productivity
•
Office Professional Edition 2003 or Office Professional Edition XP recommended
•
Office Professional Edition 2000 acceptable
Data Access
•
MDAC 2.8
OLAP Output
•
SQL Server™ 2000 Analysis Services Client recommended
•
SQL Server™ 7.0 OLAP Services Client acceptable
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 9
International Support FRx is translated and certified for international use2. In addition to standard English (U.S.) certification, translated versions of FRx will be tested and certified using the following settings: Operating System Windows XP Professional
Regional Settings French (France) Spanish (Spain) English (UK)
Windows Server 2003
French (France) Spanish (Spain) English (UK)
FRx Language •
English
•
French
•
English
•
Spanish
•
English
•
English
•
French
•
English
•
Spanish
•
English
Note2 – Check with your salesperson to determine if your General Ledger interface will support a localized version of FRx.
FRx (OFSI) System Requirements 10
