Minimum Machine Specification
PC specification for matchIT
matchIT has been designed for use on Windows based PC systems. To get the best results you need to match the hardware to the job in hand. For smaller jobs where performance isn't an issue we would normally recommend a standard desktop machine which will no doubt be well above the minimum requirements (stated below). For larger files you should consider upgrading the hardware according to the recommendations below. We have identified the main areas which affect the software's performance below.
Processor speed
or CPU speed (measured in Hz) controls the rate at which information can be processed. The higher the CPU speed, the faster the processing.
Note: the Bus or Front Side Bus is sometimes mentioned on high specification machines. This hardware increases the speed with which information is transferred between processor, disk and memory and so the higher the capacity and speed of this, the better the performance. However, the effect on matchIT is not as marked as from higher processor speed or hard disk speed.
Hard Disk Speed
The faster the hard disk the better. matchIT is disk intensive and so the rate with which the data can be read and stored from and to the disk is an important factor. The higher the RPM the greater the data transfer rate. Deployment of data and temporary files is covered by a separate document on optimizing matchIT performance.
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).
Note: if employing a Raid Array, matchIT’s data files should normally be configured to use Raid 0 to avoid unnecessary additional I/O.
Memory
Although having more RAM than matchIT needs will not increase the speed of processing, having too little will decrease it dramatically. We strongly recommend at least 256Mb of RAM (for a small/medium job), for larger jobs 512MB of RAM is preferable. matchIT does not currently make use of RAM above 512MB, although 1GB RAM for the PC allows the other processes sufficient memory whilst leaving the optimum amount for matchIT.
Network
If you are running matchIT on a workstation with your main DBF file on a server, it will run much slower unless your network is geared to supporting a batch I/O intensive application like matchIT. Most networks are geared to supporting low I/O interactive applications. In general, if matchIT DBF data is stored on networked drives, you should use e.g. 1GB Ethernet cards, ideally with fibre optic cabling (although CAT5 is sufficient for the great majority of organizations).
Operating System
matchIT is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista operating systems. We usually recommend using the most up to date version of an operating system as this will benefit matchIT in terms of memory usage and robustness.
System Requirements
Minimum
· Windows 2000
· Pentium III (or equivalent)
· 256MB RAM
· 60MB Disk Space
Optimum
· Windows 2000/XP
· Pentium IV (2.4Ghz or higher) or Athlon 64 Bit chip single processor
· 512MB RAM
· 2 local Fibre Channel, SCSI or SATA Hard Drives
· If matchIT DBF data is stored on networked drives, 1GB Ethernet cards.
