System Requirements

Escape Online 5 was developed using Microsoft .Net architecture. It uses a thin Windows client (a true EXE file!) with an SQL Server backend.

This FYI is designed to describe the hardware and third-party software required to implement the most recent version of Escape Online 5, and to provide best practices for the database setup.

This document was last updated May 26, 2009.

System Requirements for Escape Online 5

Escape Online uses a three-tier architecture model.

Client or presentation tier - Presents data to the user and permits data entry and manipulation. The client tier does not impose any limit on the number of computers it contains, or how fast you can add computers.
Application or business services tier - Hosts the application's components, providing the execution of the business logic.

This tier is comprised of one or more servers. It is not tied to a specific client, so it can be moved and upgraded, as response time and other rules require. However, due to files created and used by individual users, Escape Online users must have access to certain directories on the application server(s).
Data tier - Hosts the database, accessed through the business services. Typically, access to this server is limited to the application servers and the database administrator workstations.

This architecture makes Escape Online more flexible, manageable and scalable. Other advantages include:

The database is hosted on a server that is not connected directly to the Internet.
A large number of users with their own computers can access the database.
Business logic is shared, allowing numerous clients to execute transactions against a single database.
Each tier can be scaled separately, depending upon your requirements.

The following graphically represents the architecture of Escape Online.

Database Server Requirements

The database server is dedicated solely to the Escape Online database. No Escape Online software resides on the database server.

To make sure that Escape Online runs with adequate performance, you should observe the following requirements for the database server:

Type	Requirements
Operating System	Microsoft® Windows Server 2003 or 2008 Standard or Enterprise Server
SQL Server	SQL 2005 with service pack 3.
SQL Server .NET Data Provider	Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.7.
Processor	Intel Xeon at 2 GHz or higher.
RAM	See the section Determining Workload below.
Storage space	Storage requirements for Windows and SQL, plus at least 1 Gb per fiscal year of data, including years from previous system. To optimize disk access and to provide fault-tolerance capabilities to the storage subsystem, it is recommended that you use high-quality SCSI disks and RAID configurations.
Network	Network requirements are based on expected workload and bandwidth utilization. The management of these requirements relies on pure network administration.

TIP: For the best results, we recommend the following:

Drive rotation speed should be 7200-10,000 RPM
Drives should be 18gb or larger
RAID 5 or RAID 1+0, Intelligent Controller with lots of cache
Server should have gigabit network adapter
Server(s) should not be Primary Domain Controllers

Application Server Requirements

The application server houses the Escape Online software. Some implementations require more than one application server.

Type	Requirements
Operating System	Microsoft® Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Server (We do not support 64 bit Windows servers at this time.)
SQL Server .NET Data Provider	Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.7.
Processor	Intel Xeon at 2 GHz or higher.
RAM	See the section Determining Workload below.
Storage space	Storage requirements for Windows, plus 1gb for Escape Online. To optimize disk access and to provide fault-tolerance capabilities to the storage subsystem, it is recommended that you use high-quality SCSI disks and RAID configurations, if possible.
Network	Network requirements are based on expected workload, bandwidth utilization and number of remote clients. The management of these requirements relies on pure network administration.
Add'l Software	The following software is necessary to take full advantage of Escape Online functions. Microsoft .Net 3.5, Service Pack 1

TIP: For the best results, we recommend the following:

Drive rotation speed should be 7200-10,000 RPM
Drives should be 18gb or larger
RAID 5 or RAID 1+0, Intelligent Controller with lots of cache
Server should have gigabit network adapter
Server(s) should not be Primary Domain Controllers

Determining Workload

To make sure that your servers will adequately support the users of your implementation, you should observe the following requirements:

Database Server
# Concurrent Users	Server
# Concurrent Users	Processors	Memory
0-80	2	4 gb
80-150	4	8 gb
150-200	4	8 gb
200-250	4	12 gb
250-350	8	16 gb
350+	8+	24+ gb

Application Server

For every 50 concurrent users, we recommend one dual-processor server with no more than 4 Gb of Ram.

For more than 50 concurrent users, a content switch (layer 4) will be needed to load balance users between the application servers.

Contact your hardware vendor for more information about which content switch will work best with your system.

Note: These requirements are subject to change due to changes in the software.

Client Requirements

TIP: Microsoft says this minimum will allow a user to run Windows programs under XP.

Type	Power User Recommended Requirements	Minimum Requirements
Processor	Intel Core Duo at 2.13 GHz with 2 Mb L2 cache	Intel Pentium 4 or higher, running at 2.8 GHz
RAM	2 Gb DDR2-RAM Non-ECC	512Mb
Operating System	Microsoft Windows XP Professional Microsoft Windows Vista Professional Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate	Same
Storage space	There are no special requirements about storage space, other than the usual requirements for the Windows version installed and 25 Mb for Escape Online application.	Same
Network	Network requirements are based on expected bandwidth utilization.	Same
Monitor	The minimum display is 1024x768.	Same
Add'l Software	The following software is necessary to take full advantage of Escape Online functions. Microsoft .Net 3.5, Service Pack 1 Microsoft Office for exporting Adobe Acrobat Reader for report PDFs Microsoft Internet Explorer for HTML Home Page Adobe Flash Player for additional functionality	Same

Escape Online 5 Server Installation and Setup

Setup of the Escape Online 5 server requires a number of steps, as outlined below:

Purchase the server hardware and Microsoft software described above.
Install the Microsoft software on the server, including Microsoft .Net. (See Best Practices below.)
Set up a terminal services connection on the server that has administrator authorities. This is necessary for the installation process performed by Escape Customer Care.
Schedule the Escape Online 5 software installation. Once you have set up the server, we can install the Escape Online 5 software remotely, via terminal services.

Following installation:

Schedule a site visit for software orientation and training.
Test your new Escape Online 5 system prior to rollout.
Bring users onto the system in a phased fashion.

QA About System Requirement Changes

Q: Why won’t Server 2003 work with OL5 after the 3.5 upgrade?

A: Microsoft has fundamentally changed a certain functionality (gdi+) that we make widespread use of in our server services. These changes were coordinated between .Net 3.5 and Windows Server 2008, but not Windows Server 2003.

Q: How will the requirement for Server 2008 affect the timing of the rollout of .NET 3.5?

A: The development and testing timeline from Escape is still valid. However, we realize that it will take time for the customers to fully implement server 2008 which will likely delay their ability to put 3.5 into production.

Q: Can you run the current version of OL5 (1.1) in Server 2008?

A: Yes, the current version of OL5 will run with Server 2008, although thorough testing has not been done.

Q: If Escape has been working on the development of this for so long, why are we just being notified about this requirement now?

A: The testing phase, started in mid-February, is when we discovered the incompatibility with 2003. We spent a full week trying to come up with a work around before we decided to proceed with Server 2008. We officially made the decision on Friday, February 27th and we communicated to our major customers on Monday, March 2nd.

Q: Do you suggest we run the upgrade from Server 2003 to Server 2008?

A: We suggest you check with Microsoft for best practices on upgrading from 2003 to 2008.

Q: Will we be required to have a separate Windows 2008 active directory?

A: No, currently our application will not utilize 2008 active directory.

Q: Will installing Microsoft Windows 2008 in a Windows 2003 domain extend the 2003 active directory?

A: No. If the Windows 2008 server is added to the domain as a member server the Active Director Schema does not need to be extended to accommodate the enhanced Windows 2008 Domain features.

Q: How does report/attachment file replication work with 3.5 and server 2008?

A: There is centralized storage with 3.5 so there is no need for file replication.

Q: Is the database schema for 1.1 and 3.5 the same?

A: Yes, the databases are identical.

Q: Will the Crystal licensing errors be eliminated by the upgrade to .NET 3.5?

A: Yes. Since Crystal has had so many problems with licensing in the past they have eliminated the concept of licensing in v10.

Q: Will we be required to upgrade our clients too?

A: No, OL5 will still work with Windows XP.

Q: Can we use 64bit server 2008 on the application server?

A: Although the code is not written or compiled to support the features of a 64-bit operating system, testing will be done to determine the full compatibility of the current 32-bit version of Escape Online5 on the 64-bit version of Windows 2008.

Q: Do we need or can we use 64bit server 2008 for the Database server as well?

A: It is not a requirement; it can be installed if so desired.

Q: I was told that we could only use 32 bit due to an issue with Crystal Reports is that not an issue anymore?

A: Further testing will determine the need for a 32-bit OS on the Application server. (see previous question:”

Q: Can we use 64bit server 2008 on the application server?”)

Q: In regards to the application server we have observed that the CPU is the biggest performance constraint and adding memory does not seem to help. Would you concur?

A: Processing is a large part of the data collection and rendering of Online5. This is indeed the largest factor in performance with Online5 and most .NET applications.

Q: In regards to the Database server is the biggest performance constraint: CPU, Memory or Hard drive spindles (Data transfer rate)?

A: In regards to database server and Escape Online5, it is important to have adequate memory, CPU performance, and hard disk I/O. After careful monitoring of large scale implementations of Online5 it has been noted that there are large amounts of data I/O (SQL transactions)on the database server. Obviously the more spindles, the less data has to wait in queue to be processed. You can contact your hardware vendor to better determine what would best meet your needs.

Q: Does Escape make use of multiple CPUs/cores that are available?

A: It’s more that .Net makes use of multiple cores, Escape is a set of services running under .Net.

Q: Does having more cores allow more concurrent functions to occur at the same time?

A: Yes.

Q: Can we setup a Production instance application server to work on a different port yet connect to the same Database?

A: Yes. Any application server can point to any SQL database regardless of connection port.