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Client Hardware and Network Requirements
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Practical Minimum Client PC Requirements: Low-end workstation (See Notes 8, 11)
- CPU processor running at 1.6 Ghz or higher.
- 2 GB of RAM or greater.
- Monitor with at least a 1024 x 768 resolution.
- Fast Ethernet (100BASE-X) 100 Mbit/s 12.5 MB/s or faster Network connection for LAN installations. (See note 3)
- Hard drive with at least 20 GB of free disk space.
- All Microsoft Supported Windows Professional Operating systems.
- Suitable battery backup power supply (UPS) 650 VA or higher
- Monitor 17” diagonal capable of 1024 x 768 display at 16 bit color or better. (See note 10)
- (Optional) Scanner with USB interface card and cable for Document Imaging. (See note 4)
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Recommended Client PC Requirements: Mid-Range Workstation (See Notes 8, 11)
- CPU Dual Core 2.6Ghz or faster.
- 4 GB of RAM or greater.
- Fast Ethernet (100BASE-X) 100 Mbit/s 12.5 MB/s or faster Network connection for LAN installations. (See note 3)
- Hard drive with at least 160 GB of free disk space.
- All Microsoft Supported Windows Professional Operating systems.
- Suitable battery backup power supply (UPS) 650VA or higher.
- Monitor 17” diagonal capable of 1024 x 768 display at 16 bit color or better. (See note 10)
- (Optional) ISIS Scanner with USB interface card and cable for Document Imaging. (See note 4)
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Recommended Client PC Requirements: Heavily Utilized System (See Notes 8, 11)
- CPU Quad Core 2.6Ghz or faster.
- 8 GB of RAM or greater.
- Fast Ethernet (100BASE-X) 100 Mbit/s 12.5 MB/s or faster Network connection with full duplex for LAN installations. (See note 3)
- Hard drive with at least 200 GB of free disk space.
- All Microsoft Supported Windows Professional Operating systems.
- Suitable battery backup power supply (UPS) 650VA or higher.
- Monitor 17” diagonal capable of 1024 x 768 display at 16 bit color or better. (See note 10)
- (Optional) ISIS Scanner with USB interface card and cable for Document Imaging. (See note 4)
Server Hardware and Network Requirements
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Practical Minimum Server PC Requirements: Low-end Server. (See Note 8)
For 1-6 client workstation connections- CPU Quad Core 2.6Ghz or faster.
- 8 GB of RAM or greater.
- Fast Ethernet (100BASE-X) 100 Mbit/s 1or faster Network connection for LAN installations. (See note 3)
- Hard drive with at least 200 GB of free disk space.
- All Microsoft Supported Windows Server operating systems. (See note 2,3)
- Digital tape backup system or other software capable of unattended backup of critical data stores.
- Suitable battery backup power supply (UPS) 1800 VA or higher.
- Monitor 17” diagonal capable of 1024 x 768 display at 16 bit color or better. (See note 10)
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Recommended Server PC Requirements: Mid-Range Server (See Note 8)
For up to 20 client workstation connections- CPU Xeon E5-1620 or higher.
- 8 GB of RAM or greater.
- Fast Ethernet (1000BASE-X) 1 Gbit/s 12.5 MB/s or faster Network connection for LAN installations. (See note 3)
- Three 500GB or larger hard drives RAID configuration suggested (see note 1)
- All Microsoft Supported Windows Server operating systems. (See note 2,3)
- Digital tape backup system or other software capable of unattended backup of critical data stores.
- Suitable battery backup power supply (UPS) 2000 VA or higher.
- Monitor 17” diagonal capable of 1024 x 768 display at 16 bit color or better. (See note 10)
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Recommended Server PC Requirements: High-End Server (See Note 8)
For over 20 client workstation connections. We recommend an additional terminal server for each 20 remote users with the following specs.- CPU Xeon E5-1620 or higher.
- 16 GB of RAM or greater.
- Fast Ethernet (1000BASE-X) 1 Gbit/s 12.5 MB/s or faster Network connection for LAN installations. (see note 3)
- Four 500GB or larger hard drives RAID 6 suggested. (see note 1)
- All Microsoft Supported Windows Server operating systems. (see note 2,3)
- Digital tape backup system or other software capable of unattended backup of critical data stores.
- Suitable battery backup power supply (UPS) 2000 VA or higher.
- Monitor 17” diagonal capable of 1024 x 768 display at 16 bit color or better. (see note 10)
Notes
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Storage Requirements
- Additional storage capacity may be necessary to store imaged documents.
- Enough hard drive space for 36 months of anticipated scanning volume is recommended.
- 1GB of storage space equals approximately 20,000 scanned documents. Thus, a scanning volume of 500 documents per week, 26,000 per year, would require approximately 3GB to store 36 months of work.
- We do not recommend that Exchange Server be installed on the Profit Tool Database server.
- We do not recommend that disk compression is enabled on the Profit Tools server.
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Server Requirements
- Profit Tools may be installed on all current Windows Operating systems listed by Microsoft as included in Mainstream or Extended Support.
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Networking Requirements
- TCP/IP is required network protocol.
- Computers acting as the Profit Tools database server require a static IP address.
- Wide Area Networks must provide a full T1 (128kbs) or greater IP connection that is Windows compatible with remote users accessing the Profit Tools application via Terminal Services.
- Local Area Networks should be 1GB or faster Ethernet connected through UPS protected hubs or switches.
- Profit Tools supports peer-to-peer networking provided the Profit Tools database server is running Windows Server operating system and both a data backup method and battery backup are in place.
- Clustering on the server has not been certified.
- On small networks (3 or less users) Windows 10 Professional, or newer may be used as a server.
- Citrix is supported and recommended for Published Application scenarios; however, if the remote users do not have a desktop, troubleshooting remote access becomes problematic. Profit Tools may require a special Citrix connection with a desktop to help troubleshoot possible application issues.
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Document Imaging Requirements
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Scanner: ISIS compatible with bin feed of 10ppm or greater, plus flatbed for torn, wrinkled or nonstandard size documents. Multiple units may be necessary for high volume installations and for backup in case of breakdown. For a suggested list of ISIS compatible scanners go to: http://www.1st-inscanners.com/ProfitTools/
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Scanning of documents directly into Profit Tools is not compatible with Thin Clients. If an ISIS compatible scanner is not available, the user can scan documents into a shared folder on the network, then assign the documents within Profit Tools
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Image Storage: Recommend separate hard drive (or RAID array for high volume installations) for scanned documents with automatic file backup system and UPS backup. Enough hard drive space for 36 months of anticipated scanning volume is recommended. (1GB of storage space equals about 20,000 scanned documents. A scanning volume of 500 documents per week, 26,000 per year, would require 3GB to store 36 months of work)
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Profit Tools uses embedded Pegasus software for scanning and image file handling. A Pegasus core license provides viewing and one scanning license. Additional scanning licenses are required if additional scanners are to be used concurrently. Periodic upgrades may be required from Pegasus at additional cost
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Remote Scanning in a Terminal Services environment may require the use of the a third party utility such as RemoteScan™
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Older scanners may not be compatible with newer operating systems. Check with support before upgrading your operating system
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Internet access at 768 Kbit/sec or faster is strongly recommended to enable remote system access for support and upgrade purposes
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Server disaster recovery may be facilitated by using a non-NTFS file system on the boot partition, discuss this with your IT professional
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Home editions of the Microsoft operating systems are not supported due to their inability to fully support the required network sharing and security
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System Requirements
- Servers, Client workstations and 3rd party applications are required to be running current supported versions in a stable and error free manner.
- We do not recommend, or support Servers configured in a Cluster environment.
- On servers it is recommended by Microsoft to set the virtual memory to 1.5 times the physical memory on the server. Also, it is not recommended to have the swap file reside on the RAID cluster.
- Although we recommend Windows Terminal Services for remote connectivity, we highly recommend that the Profit Tools database server is a standalone server with no other applications or services running – including terminal services. Remote desktop settings should be set to at least high color 15-bit or higher
- Microsoft Terminal Server Published Application mode is not recommended due to screen refresh issues with several PT lookup screens that access DB information to populate these dialogues.
- Profit Tools is a 32-bit application, but we are compatible to run on 64-bit Operating Systems.
- Profit Tools requires/suggests the following configuration. Please make sure your IT staff is familiar with these configurations.
- Profit Tools will not operate on compressed files or folders.
- When installing a new server or workstation make sure Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is set on for essential windows programs and services only.
- When installing a new workstation we recommend turning off User Access Controls (UAC).
- Configure anti-virus applications to exclude the Profit Tools folder on the network and the Sybase folder on the local drive of the workstation.
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Printer Requirements
- We recommend printers that will accept/operate with PCL or PostScript drivers.
- It is suggested that network printers be configured as a local port pointing to the UNC (i.e. \\server\network printer share) path to the network printer.
- Also note that some multi-function printers have problems working in a Terminal Server environment, such as the Canon IC Series 800 please check with the manufacturer before purchasing a multi-function printer if it is to be used in a Terminal Server environment.
- We do not recommend printers that will only accept/operate with GDI drivers.
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Monitor Requirements
- We highly recommend that all client monitors be at least 17" and set to 1024x768 to ensure full functionality and screen visibility is available.
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Suggested Client Configurations
- Clients such as those that will be used for simple data entry or lookup will be examples of low-end clients.
- Clients such as those that will be used for simple dispatch would be an example of a medium-range client.
- Clients such as those that will be used for complex dispatch, billing (accounts receivable) or driver’s pay (accounts payable) would be an example of a high-end client.
Additional Operating System Notes
- User Access Control in newer operating systems may need to be off for proper performance. It is not recommended to install into the c:\program files directory in some instances.
- We do not recommend wireless network connectivity if hard wiring is possible.
- Important: In order for the client workstations to effectively communicate with the server via TCP/IP traffic you must have port number 2638 excluded if you have the Windows Firewall or other firewall software enabled on the server .
- It is highly recommended that the database server and the terminal server ARE NOT installed on the same server if the system is supporting more than 3 clients.
- Older scanners or printers may not be compatible with newer operating systems. Check with support before upgrading your operating system.
Additional Setup Notes
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Database Software: Profit Tools uses embedded Sybase Adaptive Server Anywhere (ASA) for database purposes. A Sybase license is required for each user (each Operations license), plus one for the server. One Sybase license is also required for each scheduler workstation.
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A scheduler workstation will be running the Profit Tools scheduler, which controls the automatic process, such as Auto Email Notification, EDI, and Mobile Communications. Periodic upgrades may be required from Sybase at additional cost. Customer will purchase this software and licensing through Profit Tools and not off the shelf software.
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The server should be configured with data backup software capable of performing unattended nightly backups at pre-determined times (see Server Requirements, above).
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Profit Tools strongly recommends the use of antivirus software such as Norton, McAfee, NOD32 etc.
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Profit Tools recommends regular use of spyware removal tools such as Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Defender, AdAware, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, or SpyBot Search and Destroy to remove internet spyware programs from each computer.
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For a total EDI solution 3rd party utilities may be required at an additional cost. FREDI Development tools are required and in some instances WS_FTP PRO may be needed.
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We highly recommend having at least one workstation with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel installed to edit the supported export templates.
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PC*Miler versions that are no longer supported by ALK Technologies may continue to run, but are considered unsupported by Profit Tools and upgrades are highly suggested.
- For billing setup purposes, clients should have an electronic version of their company logo (.BMP or .WMF format). If you do not already have one, please consult a Profit Tools technical representative for assistance.
Automated Email Notification Requirements and other Scheduled Automated Processes
- Software requirements: Windows Professional operating system, Profit Tools, Sybase licensing
- Hardware requirements: One computer on your network will act as the automated scheduler workstation. Ideally, we recommend that this workstation be a dedicated workstation. This workstation can be shared with other automated processes such as EDI and Track & Trace. Automatic processes happen at relatively short intervals, but may require significant processing power at these times and would interfere with a user’s ability to perform other tasks concurrently. If a dedicated workstation is not an option, we recommend using a workstation that receives light or intermittent usage – perhaps a scanner workstation.
- The Auto Email Application uses SMTP and requires .NET 3.5 & 4.x to support SSL or encrypted email.
Profit Tools Recommends Email Providers / Services that meet the Following Conditions:
- Allows external SMTP Relay for SMTP standard email clients
- Does not limit the number of external email relay messages on a volume of any sort.
- If encryption is required, the service allows TLS (implicit SSL is not supported). Examples are the standard ports used by supported email services.
- Port 587 is supported
- Port 467 is generally not supported