Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics FRx

Table of Contents Overview... 3 Performance Considerations... 4 Installation Environment Recommendations... 4 FRx Desktop... 4 FRx Professional or Enterprise... 5 Client s... 6 Web Client s... 6 Database s... 7 Application s... 7 Web s... 8 Terminal Services... 9 International Support... 10 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-). 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 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 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). 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 and the Web can be combined on the same server. However a second, separate server should host the Database Management software. FRx Desktop The following table describes the recommended guidelines and requirements for installing and using FRx Desktop. Installation Environment Guidelines Client Web Client Database Application Web Report Designer Report Launcher DrillDown Viewer These applications can be purchased independent of FRx Professional and Enterprise, and used as add-on modules to FRx Desktop. Installation Environment Guidelines Client Web Client Database Application Web Report Manager Report WebPort 4

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 Web Client Database Application Web Report Designer Report Designer Client Report Launcher DrillDown Viewer Report Manager 1 Report WebPort Note 1 : The Report Manager is an add-on module for FRx Professional users. 5

Client s Processor 500 MHz or higher recommended RAM 256 MB required Mail Services 2 GB+ available space recommended 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. 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 2000 Analysis Services Client recommended SQL 7.0 OLAP Client acceptable Web Client s Processor 500 MHz or higher recommended RAM 64 MB required Help Documentation 100+ MB available space acceptable Hard drive size requirements will vary based on the analysis performed. However, very minimal requirements are outlined for the Web Client Windows XP Professional (SP1) recommended Windows 2000 Professional (SP4) acceptable Adobe Reader v6.0 or later required (http://www.adobe.com) Internet Internet Explorer 6.0 6

Database s Processor Dual Processor 1 GHz or higher recommended RAM 1 GB recommended Database 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. Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition recommended Data Access MDAC 2.8 OLAP Cube Output Windows 2000 (SP4) acceptable SQL 2000 (SP3) recommended SQL 7.0 (SP4) acceptable SQL 2000 Analysis Services recommended SQL 7.0 OLAP Services acceptable Application s Processor 1 GHz or higher recommended RAM 512 MB or higher recommended Mail Services 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. Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition, with Internet Information Services recommended Windows 2000 (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 Data Access MDAC 2.8 OLAP Output Office Professional Edition 2003 or Office Professional Edition XP recommended Office Professional Edition 2000 acceptable SQL 2000 Analysis Services Client recommended SQL 7.0 OLAP Services Client acceptable 7

Web s Processor 1 GHz or higher recommended RAM 512 MB or higher recommended Mail Services 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. Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition, with Internet Information Services recommended Windows 2000 (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 Print Support Services Office Standard Edition 2003 or Office Standard Edition XP recommended Office Standard Edition 2000 acceptable BCL easypdf 3.10.021 Data Access MDAC 2.8 OLAP Output SQL 2000 Analysis Services Client recommended SQL 7.0 OLAP Services Client acceptable 8

Terminal Services FRx can also be installed and used on Terminal Services (with or without Citrix MetaFrame). In this setup, the Terminal may be used in place of the client workstation and Web client workstation. Report is strongly recommended when using Terminal Services due to the high processor and memory requirements for generating reports. The GL database, Report 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). Processor Dual 1 GHz or higher recommended RAM 1GB+ available memory recommended Citrix MetaFrame (optional) Mail Services 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. Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition (Application Mode) recommended Windows 2000 (SP4) with Terminal Services (Application mode) acceptable Citrix MetaFrame XP (any edition is acceptable) 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 Data Access MDAC 2.8 OLAP Output Office Professional Edition 2003 or Office Professional Edition XP recommended Office Professional Edition 2000 acceptable SQL 2000 Analysis Services Client recommended SQL 7.0 OLAP Services Client acceptable 9

International Support FRx is translated and certified for international use 2. In addition to standard English (U.S.) certification, translated versions of FRx will be tested and certified using the following settings: Regional Settings FRx Language Windows XP Professional English French (France) French English Spanish (Spain) Spanish English (UK) English Windows 2003 French (France) Spanish (Spain) English French English Spanish English (UK) English Note 2 Check with your salesperson to determine if your General Ledger interface will support a localized version of FRx. 10