CCH Software System Requirements Multi-User Sites 18 th September 2017 Information Fee Protection Software Magazines Professional Development
Disclaimer CCH Software has made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this Hardware Specification. However, CCH Software, its staff and agents will not be liable for any errors or omissions and use of the software is subject to the customer s licence with CCH Software. This Hardware Specification should not be relied upon as a detailed specification of the system or the software. CCH Software may make changes to this Hardware Specification from time to time. Copyright 2011 Wolters Kluwer (UK) Limited (trading as CCH Software) This Hardware Specification may not be copied, altered, edited, disposed of or distributed without the prior consent of CCH Software. The content is confidential Trademark Rights Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 98, 2000, XP, MS-DOS, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Office, are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Novell and NetWare are trademarks of Novell Inc. Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop are registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. Acrobat Reader is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. CCH Software 145 London Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT2 6SR UNITED KINGDOM 2008 MYOB Technology Pty Limited. Distributed under licence by Wolters Kluwer (UK) Limited (trading as CCH Software)
Contact Details Website www.cch.co.uk/softwareproducts London 145 London Road Kingston Upon Thames Telephone: 0844 56 18181 Surrey KT2 6SR Facsimile: 020 8547 2637 United Kingdom Email: cchsoftware@wolterskluwer.co.uk Software Support Telephone: 0844 56 18181 Email: cchsoftwaresupport@wolterskluwer.co.uk Website: www.cch.co.uk/softwaresupport Dublin Wolters Kluwer (Irl) Limited T/A CCH Software First Floor, Unit 7 B Global House Forest Park Mullingar Co. Westmeath Telephone: +353 1 460 4729 Ireland Facsimile: +353 1 686 4786 Software Support Telephone: +353 1 278 0034
Contents Overview 1 Notes & Warnings 2 General Recommendations 2 Virtual Environments and Thin Client Environments 2 Unsupported Environments 2 End-of-Life 2 Approaching End-of-Life 3 Coming Soon 3 Peer-to-Peer 3 System Requirements 4 CCH Central 4 CCH Audit Automation 8 CCH Insolvency 9 CCH SecTAX 9 CCH Trust Accounts 10 II
Overview This document provides a set of system requirements, both hardware and software, for multiuser sites operating the current suite of CCH Software products. The document is aimed at assisting in the platform choices made before installing the software as a new client or when upgrading or replacing existing hardware and/or software in the environment. The document has two distinct sections: Notes & Warnings and System Requirements. Notes & Warnings provides more generalised advice for certain aspects of system design as well as covering software components that have reached end-of-life, are approaching end-of-life or that will be supported at a future date. For the purposes of System Requirements, the existing CCH Software suite is broken down into the following distinct product areas: CCH Central (and its associated modules) CCH Audit Automation CCH Insolvency CCH SecTAX CCH Trust Accounts Guidance is provided for single-server environments, multi-server environments and client devices with the aim of assisting suitably qualified IT staff or staff with respected IT knowledge and experience in deriving a supported platform for CCH Software products. For more complex architectural solutions where multiple CCH Software products are being deployed we would always recommend that additional advice is sought from the CCH Software Installations & Technical Services Team to ensure that all platform objectives in terms of deployment support and performance are met. CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017 1
Notes & Warnings General Recommendations Preferred cabling is CAT 5e, or better, running at least 100 megabit (Mbps) between client devices. The server backbone should be running 1 gigabit (Gpbs) or greater. SAS or SATA hardware-based RAID 5 should be the minimum level of fault tolerance for RAID arrays hosting data. This includes any database server platform. SAS/SSD recommended for optimal performance. Disk space required on client devices at runtime: 70-80 MB per program. Disk space required on client devices at installation because of the use of temporary directories and temporary files: 500MB or above. Virtual Environments and Thin Client Environments Virtual Environments are supported where the virtual environment is invisible to the application layer and it is designed to deliver a simulated physical environment of equivalent functionality and performance. Hence, the operation of the application in the virtual environment will be identical to its operation in a physical environment. Microsoft Windows Server 2008/2008 R2/2012/2012 R2 Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Services is supported, together with Citrix XenApp. Unsupported Environments Home Editions of Windows Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic and Home Premium Windows 8.1 (also known as Core ) Windows 10 Home Exchange Server 2007 2010 End-of-Life The following operating systems and software has reached end-of-life and is consequently no longer supported: Windows 95, Windows NT4, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 8 SQL Server 2000 (including Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine) 2 CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017
SQL Server 2005 (including SQL Server 2005 Express) Microsoft Office 2000, XP and 2003 Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 Approaching End-of-Life The following operating systems and software approaching their end-of-life: Microsoft Office 2007 October 2017 Coming Soon The following operating systems and software will be supported at a future date but are currently unsupported or supported on a best endeavours basis: Windows Server 2016 Expected support date October 2017 SQL Server 2017 Peer-to-Peer Expected support date October 2017 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) configurations are supported with the following conditions and warnings: Connectivity issues are excluded from support either at point of installation or through ongoing use. The CCH Software Support Team and Installations & Technical Services Teams are unable to assist with issues caused by network connectivity failures or misconfiguration. The Workgroup network should be installed, configured and tested by your IT contractor or IT Team before the CCH Software suite is installed. Extensive resources (Processor, RAM and Disk) will be consumed by the CCH Software suite on the machine provisioned as the P2P server. If the server is also to be used as a client computer, then we recommend that both workloads are witnessed at peak times to ensure performance levels are known. A dedicated server may be the preferred option if performance doesn t meet business requirements. The deactivation of anti-virus software and firewall may be required at point of installation. We currently support up to 6 users with P2P configurations. CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017 3
System Requirements CCH Central The below information is also valid when deploying the following modules: CCH Accounts Production CCH Autofill CCH Campaign Management CCH Corporation Tax CCH CGT & Dividend Scheduling CCH Document Management CCH Email Marketing CCH Fee Protection CCH Personal Tax CCH Portal CCH Practice Management CCH Reporting CCH Review & Tag CCH Scan CCH Workflow Hardware requirements single server installations and dedicated database servers The requirements in the following table apply to a single server with a built-in database or dedicated database servers in the environment. Minimum specifications are provided as a guide only and should be used in conjunction with requirements for non-cch software applications to compile a specification capable of supporting the set of applications that will be running concurrently on the system to meet an expected level of performance. Medium to large sites should evaluate additional performance improvements by dedicating Application Servers to host specific CCH Windows Services (Workflow, Portal and CRM). Component Processor Minimum requirement 64-bit, 2 cores for small deployments (fewer than 20 users) 64-bit, 2 cores for medium deployments (between 20 to 50 users) 64-bit, 2-4 cores for large deployments (between 50 to 100 users) 4 CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017
Memory (RAM) 64-bit, 4+ cores for very large deployments (greater than 100 users) 4 GB for small deployments (fewer than 20 users) 4 to 6 GB for medium deployments (between 20 to 50 users) 6 to 10 GB for large deployments (between 51 to 100 users) Hard Disk Network 10+ GB for very large deployments (greater than 100 users) 80 GB for system drive Hard disk space required depends on how much data you have in your deployment 1 Gbps Note: 100 megabits per second (Mbps) minimum depending on network traffic shape and volume Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5.1 and 4.6.1. Any Application Server hosting CCH Windows Services, such as the CCH Document WCF Service, will need to be running Microsoft.NET Framework 4.6.1. Software requirements The requirements in the following section apply to the following installations: Single server with built-in database Dedicated database servers Minimum software requirements This section provides minimum software requirements for each server. Minimum requirements for a single server with built-in database: One of the following Server Operating Systems: 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter The equivalent Windows Server Small Business or Windows Server Essentials platform The Central Suite Installer (CSI) installs the following pre-requisite for a single server with built-in database: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 3 Express Edition Instance Name CCH2008 Minimum requirements for a dedicated database server: CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017 5
One of the following Microsoft SQL Server versions: The 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 4 The 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 3 The 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 3 The 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Service Pack 2 The 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 1 Note: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or above required for modules that make use of the CCH Document Management WCF service and the associated Document database, namely CCH Accounts Production, CCH Corporation Tax, CCH Document Management and CCH Portal. One of the following Server Operating Systems: 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter System requirements client devices The requirements in the following table apply to client devices in the environment. Minimum and recommended specifications are provided as a guide only and should be used in conjunction with requirements for non-cch software applications to compile a specification capable of supporting the set of applications that will be running concurrently on the system to meet an expected level of performance. Sites wishing to utilise a peer-to-peer (P2P) network (otherwise known as one being workgroup based) should use the recommended specification as the minimum specification for the client device chosen as the P2P Server. Component Minimum requirement Recommended requirement (Minimum requirement if P2P Server) Processor Memory (RAM) Dual-core 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) x86 or x64-bit processor 4 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit); 8 gigabytes (GB) (64-bit) Quad-core 3.5 GHz or faster; Intel i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen. Latest generation CPUs 4 GB (32-bit); 8+ GB (64-bit) Hard disk 20 gigabytes (GB) available > 20GB or 20% free space available Display A monitor with a resolution of 1280 x 1024 or higher Default/Normal dots per square inch (DPI) recommended Default/Normal fonts recommended Same as minimum Network 100 Mbps Same as minimum Operating System CCH Central and its associated modules are supported on the following Windows Same as minimum 6 CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017
Browser operating systems: Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (64-bit) Windows 7 Service Pack 1(32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2008 R2 (64- bit) Windows 8.1 (32-bit or 64- bit) Windows 10 (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2012 (64-bit) Windows Server 2012 R2 (64- bit) Note: Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012 and 2012 R2 are only available in 64-bit architecture. Internet Explorer 11; Microsoft Edge; Mozilla Firefox; Apple Safari; or Google Chrome Same as minimum.net version 3.5 and 4.6.1 Same as minimum Additional requirements and considerations Certain functions within CCH Central use integration with Microsoft Office. The currently supported Microsoft Office versions are: Microsoft Office 2007 Microsoft Office 2010 Microsoft Office 2013 Microsoft Office 2016 Office 365 Note: Integration is typically implemented between the following Office applications: Word Excel Outlook Choose the appropriate edition of Office to enable the entire suite of functionality. Same as minimum PDF functionality requires the presence of PDF viewer software such as Acrobat Reader. CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017 7
System requirements dedicated OCR workstation/server The requirements in the following table apply to a dedicated OCR workstation or server for use with CCH Document Management and CCH Autofill. Minimum and recommended specifications are provided as a guide only and should be used in conjunction with requirements for non-cch software applications to compile a specification capable of supporting the set of applications that will be running concurrently on the system to meet an expected level of performance. Component Minimum requirement Recommended requirement Processor Dual-core 2 gigahertz (GHz) x64-bit processor 2 GHz + Dual-Core x64-bit processor or faster Memory (RAM) 4 gigabytes (GB) 6-8 GB + Hard disk 80 GB for system drive 20 GB or 20% free space available on system drive Network 100 Mbps with a fixed IP address 1 Gbps with a fixed IP address Operating System Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2(64-bit) Windows 7 Service Pack 1(32- bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2008 R2 (64- bit) Windows 8.1 (32-bit or 64- bit) Windows 10 (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2012 (64-bit) Windows Server 2012 R2 (64- bit) Note: Business-orientated editions of Microsoft Operating Systems are supported only. Home and Core editions not supported. Note: Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012 and 2012 R2 are only available in 64-bit architecture. Same as minimum.net version 3.5 and 4.6.1 Same as minimum CCH Audit Automation Hardware requirements single server installations and dedicated database servers The hardware requirements for CCH Audit Automation are equivalent to those of CCH Central but without the requirement for Microsoft SQL Server. CCH Audit Automation currently uses the 8 CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017
Borland Database Engine for relational database engine storage and utilises File Server services for concurrent user access of client files. Migration of CCH Automation s database from the Borland Database Engine to Microsoft SQL Server will take place during 2017. Software requirements The software requirements for the CCH Audit Automation database, either single server installation or dedicated database server installation, are equivalent to those of CCH Central but without the requirement for Microsoft SQL Server. Migration of CCH Automation s database from the Borland Database Engine to Microsoft SQL Server will take place during 2017. System requirements client devices The system requirements for CCH Audit Automation client devices are equivalent to those of CCH Central with the exception of the need for the Microsoft.NET Framework. CCH Insolvency Hardware requirements single server installations and dedicated database servers The hardware requirements for CCH Insolvency are equivalent to those of CCH Central. Software requirements The software requirements for the CCH Insolvency database, either single server installation or dedicated database server installation, are equivalent to those of CCH Central. For single server installations, the existing CCH2008 instance can be used for the CCH Insolvency if also using CCH Central or alternatively an instance specifically for CCH Insolvency can be separately installed if not using CCH Central. System requirements client devices The system requirements for CCH Insolvency client devices are equivalent to those of CCH Central with the exception of the need for the Microsoft.NET Framework. CCH SecTAX Hardware requirements single server installations and dedicated database servers The hardware requirements for CCH SecTAX are equivalent to those of CCH Central. CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017 9
Software requirements The software requirements for the CCH SecTAX database, either single server installation or dedicated database server installation, are equivalent to those of CCH Central. For single server installations, the existing CCH2008 instance can be used for the CCH SecTAX database if also using CCH Central or alternatively an instance specifically for CCH SecTAX can be separately installed if not using CCH Central. For existing sites that are using a C-tree database as opposed to a Microsoft SQL Server database, no SQL Server database instance is required but the server chosen to host the C-tree database files must be deployed with the file services role in order to provide multi-user access via a file share. System requirements client devices The system requirements for CCH SecTAX client devices are equivalent to those of CCH Central with the exception of the need for the Microsoft.NET Framework. CCH Trust Accounts Hardware requirements single server installations and dedicated database servers The hardware requirements for CCH Trust Accounts are equivalent to those of CCH Central. Software requirements The software requirements for the CCH Trust Accounts database, either single server installation or dedicated database server installation, are equivalent to those of CCH Central. For single server installations, the existing CCH2008 instance can be used for the CCH Trust Accounts database if also using CCH Central or alternatively an instance specifically for CCH Trust Accounts can be separately installed if not using CCH Central. For existing sites that are using a C-tree database as opposed to a Microsoft SQL Server database, no SQL Server database instance is required but the server chosen to host the C-tree database files must be deployed with the file services role in order to provide multi-user access via a file share. System requirements client devices The system requirements for CCH Trust Accounts client devices are equivalent to those of CCH Central with the exception of the need for the Microsoft.NET Framework. 10 CCH SOFTWARE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MULTI-USER SITES 18 TH SEPTEMBER 2017