matchIT SQL Tech Req’ts
PC specification for matchIT SQL: matchIT SQL has been designed for use on Microsoft Windows based PC systems running Microsoft SQL Server (2005 and later). To get the best performance you need to match the hardware to the volume of data that you need to process. For small databases where performance isn't likely to be an issue we would normally recommend a standard desktop machine. For larger databases you should consider upgrading the hardware according to the recommendations below. matchIT SQL operates through SQL Server so the key technical requirements relate specifically to those requirements that are required to run SQL Server itself. We have identified the main areas which affect the software's performance below.
Processor speed: The processor or CPU frequency (typically measured in GHz) influences the rate at which information can be processed. The higher the CPU speed, the faster the processing. matchIT SQL is a multi-threaded application and will deliver a significant increase in performance if your computer has multiple CPUs and/or cores.
Note: a Front Side Bus (FSB) frequency is often listed in machine specifications. This determines the rate at which information is transferred between the CPU and memory and so the higher the FSB, the better the computer?s performance. However, the effect on matchIT SQL is not as marked as from higher CPU frequency, hard disk speed, or increased RAM.
Hard Disk Speed: The faster the hard disk the better. Depending upon data volumes and available RAM, matchIT SQL and SQL Server can be disk intensive processes, and so the rate with which the data can be read from and written to the hard disk can be a critical factor. The higher the drive?s speed (RPM) and cache (MB), the greater the data transfer rate.
A SCSI interface will further increase the transfer rate from the disk and so is beneficial especially when processing large volumes of information, although ATA is sufficient for the great majority of organizations. Where performance is a priority we recommend using Solid State Drives (SSDs) wherever possible as these are capable of significantly faster data access rates.
Deployment of data and temporary files is covered by a separate document on optimizing matchIT performance.
RAM: Having sufficient RAM will enable matchIT SQL to process data at optimum speeds; having too little will create a bottleneck within the computer that could result in dramatically decreased performance, particularly with large data volumes where SQL Server will be constantly reading data from the disk.
We strongly recommend at least 4GB of RAM for small- and medium-sized jobs, but for larger jobs (in excess of 10 million records) a minimum of 8GB of RAM is preferable.
Network: If you are running matchIT SQL on one computer with your main database located on a different computer, then it will of course run more slowly than if matchIT SQL and the database were located on one computer. Some of the performance drop can be offset if your network is geared to supporting batch I/O intensive applications; most networks, however, are geared to supporting low I/O interactive applications. In general, if you are running matchIT SQL against remote databases then you should use, at a minimum, 1GB Ethernet cards, ideally with fibre optic cabling (although CAT5 is sufficient for the majority of organizations).
Operating System: matchIT SQL is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 operating systems, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or later. We strongly recommend using fully a up-to-date and patched operating system, as this will benefit matchIT SQL in terms of robustness, stability, and security.
System Requirements
Minimum
- Microsoft Windows XP
- 1GB RAM
- 100MB Disk Space
Please also refer to Microsoft SQL Server Hardware requirements:
>> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143506.aspx
>> http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2005/en/us/system-requirements.aspx
Recommended
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 or Microsoft Windows 7
- Intel Xeon 2GHz CPU, or equivalent, with multiple cores
- 4GB RAM (small/medium databases) 16GB RAM (large databases)
- 2 local Fibre Channel, SCSI or SATA Hard Drives