The system requirements for the SOS G5 software depend on how you plan to deploy the product.
Standalone Installations
Single-computer deployment is very similar to the SOS release 2016, a locally installed application and database running on Windows. In that scenario, the system requirements for the new software will be similar to the current requirements for SOS 2010 – SOS 2016, though disk storage requirements will be significantly greater because of the enhanced change-logging, audit trail, accounting features, and report archiving. SOS strongly recommends that you use Windows 10 for security and maximum compatibility with the new SOS software.
If you do not already have a version of Microsoft’s SQL Server installed on your system, installation of SOS G5 will include the installation of SQL Server 2017 Express Edition, a free, entry-level version suitable for databases up to 10 GB in size.
A standalone installation of SOS G5, including SQL Server Express requires the following hardware and software for satisfactory performance:
- Operating System: Windows 10, 64 bit.
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 or newer. If not present, it will be added during installation.
- At least 4 GB of system RAM. More is recommended.
- At least 50 GB of available internal hard drive space formatted NTFS.
- At least one monitor with full HD resolution (1920 x 1080). Two HD monitors are recommended.
Microsoft SQL Server Requirements
All standalone and local network database server installations must provide the appropriate hardware and software environment to run a currently supported version of Microsoft SQL Server, such as SQL Server 2016 or more recent:
- Local storage configured for
NTFS file format. FAT32 is not recommended because it is less secure than NTFS. - Microsoft .NET 4.6.1 or newer must be present on the computer or virtual machine on which SQL Server is to be run. The appropriate version of the .NET framework will automatically be installed by the SQL Server installer if not already present on your system.
- If the system on which you are installing is running Windows Server 2012, please see:
Installing SQL Server on Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8 (https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2681562). - Just the installation of SQL Server itself will require at least 6 GB, not counting optional components and actual data. Be sure that there is ample space available. SOS recommends that you have at least 50 GB of available storage. For best performance SSD (solid state disk) storage is suggested.
- For more details about SQL Server requirements, see this Microsoft document.
Multi-user (network) Installations
The multi-user version of the software can be deployed as a traditional client/server application, as a browser-based web application, or as a hybrid of both browser access and client/server access. Users requiring the convenience of remote access from anywhere can use a popular web browser from any computer or tablet that can connect to your organization’s web server. Other users doing high volume data entry, or who need the best possible performance, will probably prefer running the Windows client installed on their own computer or on a shared network disk. Both browser and Windows clients store data in a common database and have the same features, with just a few restrictions for the browser implementation. The server platform can be anything from Windows 10 Pro or Windows Server 2012 R2 (or newer) running on the local network, to a virtual server hosted on a HIPAA-compliant cloud platform such as Amazon Web Services. Only 64 bit operating systems are capable of running SQL Server.
Microsoft notes that “Running SQL Server on a virtual machine will be slower than running natively because of the overhead of virtualization.” Nevertheless, in many network environments, the small performance hit may be an acceptable compromise for the many benefits of virtualization.
Note that SOS G5 will no longer be using Sybase SQL Anywhere as the back-end database. During
Client-side requirements are quite modest because the majority of the computing is done on the server side. For the most part, client computers that work satisfactorily for the older G4 software should work fine for G5 as well. SOS does recommend, however, screen resolution of at least 1280×1024 to avoid the need for excessive scrolling to access all parts of the web pages and screens. Full HD monitors of 1920 x 1280 resolution are strongly recommended.
