Great Plains 7.5 (MSSQL)
Minimum, Midpoint, High End Recommendations

Included are compatible hardware recommendations based on usage.

Overview:

This document contains hardware requirements and recommendations for minimum, midpoint, and high-end client/server installations of Great Plains 7.5 on Microsoft SQL Server. The recommendations are based on experience with many different installations and should be used as a reference in determining hardware needs for each individual configuration. Users may need to increase these recommendations due to environmental factors to achieve individual performance expectations.

On this page:
bulletClient Requirements
bulletSmall Business Server Compatibility
bulletMinimum Server Requirements
bulletMidpoint Server Recommendations
bulletHigh-end Server Recommendations

Client Requirements:

 
Client Requirements

Operating System:

Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows ME, Microsoft NT 4.0 Workstation SP 6a, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP 3 or 4, Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 1a, Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition*

Processor:

Pentium III 350 Mhz (or equivalent)

Hard Disk Space:

210 MB

Ram:

128MB**

Video:

SVGA (800x600) with 16-bit video driver

CD-Rom:

Optional

Network Card:

32-bit, 100 base T or 1000 base T Ethernet

Top

Small Business Server Compatibility:

This includes Small Business Server 2000 SP3 and 2003
Use the following guidelines if you:

bulletUse only Financial Series modules
bulletHave between 0-5 concurrent users
bulletUse Report Writer or Crystal Reports
bulletHaving no more than 500 transactions per day
bulletVery little importing or none at all
bulletMinimum Server requirements (see below) plus server requirements required by Small Business Server
bulletWe recommend a dedicated Microsoft SQL Server for the Great Plains data.

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Minimum Server Requirements:

Use the following guidelines if you:

bulletUse only Financial Series modules
bullet Have between 0-15 concurrent users
bulletUse Report Writer or Crystal Reports
bulletHaving no more than 500 transactions per day
bulletVery little importing or none at all
bulletHardware is dedicated to Microsoft SQL Server only

Microsoft SQL Server Recommendations
Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 SP4
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3, SP3a
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (64-bit)

Item Requirements Notes

Operating System

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server SP6a, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP 3 or SP 4, Microsoft Windows Server 2003

 

Processors

Dual Pentium III 800 Mhz (or equivalent)

Make sure you can upgrade

Disk Configuration

Minimum:

RAID 5 for OS, Apps and SQL data files

Recommended:

RAID 1 for OS and APPS

RAID 5 for database log and data files

Most important component for your Microsoft SQL Server

The more disks you have available, the better Microsoft SQL Server will perform.

RAM

512 MB minimum or greater

Expandable to 1G

CD-ROM

Yes

Required

Network Card

32-bit, 10/100 MB Ethernet Full Duplex

 

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Midpoint Server Recommendations:

Use these guidelines if you:

bulletUse Financials Series modules
bulletUse Distribution Series modules moderately
bulletUse Field Service series modules
bulletModerate use of Manufacturing Series modules
bulletHave between 10 and 30 concurrent users
bulletUse Terminal Server
bulletUse Report Writer or Crystal Reports and FRx
bulletPerform Some OLAP (online analytical processing)
bulletHave no more than 2000 transactions total per day
-Originating in Sales (SOP and/or RM), Payables or General Ledger
bulletUsing some type of import routine
bulletDedicated Microsoft SQL Server only

Microsoft SQL Server Standard or Enterprise Recommendations
Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 SP4
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3, SP3a
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (64-bit)

Item Requirements Notes

Operating System

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP 3 or SP 4, Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP 3 or SP 4, Microsoft Windows Server 2003

 

Processors

Dual Xeon 700 Mhz (or equivalent)

Make sure you can upgrade to Quad processors

Disk Configuration

Required:
RAID 1 for OS and APPS (2 disk)
RAID 1 for database log files (2 disk)
 RAID 5 for data files (4 disk minimum)***

Recommended:
-Separate disks for DB backups and transaction log dumps

The more disks you have available the better SQL Server will perform.

RAID 5 should have at least 4 disks or more.

Use of Ultra SCSI 3 recommended or Fiber Controller

RAM

2G or more

Expandable to 4G****

CD-ROM

Yes

Required

Network Card

Dual 32-bit, 10/100 MB Ethernet, OR Fiber PCI NIC

Ensure switch is large enough to handle Traffic load

Top

High-End Server Recommendations:

Use these guidelines if you:

bulletUse Financials Series modules
bulletUse Distribution Series modules
bulletUse Field Service series modules
bulletUse Manufacturing Series modules
bulletHave between 25 and 75 concurrent users
bulletUse Terminal Server/Metaframe
bulletUse Report Writer or Crystal Reports and FRx Reports heavily
bulletPerform Some OLAP (online analytical processing), cube generation (to different machine)
bulletHave no more than 5000 transactions total per day
-Originating in Sales (SOP and/or RM), Payables or General Ledger
bulletHeavy use of some type of import routine
bulletDedicated Microsoft SQL Server only

Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Recommendations
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3, SP3a
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (64-bit)

Item Requirements Notes

Operating System

Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP 3 or SP 4, Microsoft Windows Server 2003

 

Processors

QUAD Xeon 700 Mhz (or equivalent)

Make sure you can upgrade to 8 processors or higher

Disk Configuration

Required:
RAID 1 for OS and APPS (2 disk)
RAID 1 for database log files (2 disk)
RAID 5 for data files (8 disk minimum)***** or RAID 10

Recommended:
-Separate disks for DB backups and transaction log dumps

The more disks you have available the better SQL Server will perform.

RAID 5 should have at least 8 disks or more.

Use of Ultra SCSI 3 recommended or Fiber Controller

RAM

4G**** or more

Expandable to 8G****

CD-ROM

Yes

Required

Network Card

Single 1000 Base T Ethernet OR Fiber PCI NIC

Ensure switch is large enough to handle Traffic load

 

Additional Notes:

1.  *The Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is only supported on a client connected to the Local Area Network.  The wireless components of Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition are not supported or recommended. 

2.  **Clients with heavy processing use Pentium III 500 MHZ or higher and 256 MB RAM or higher.

3.  ***To attain 2000 transactions a day, you may need to increase the number of disks in your RAID 5 disk volume

4.  **** Should enable the /3GB switch in your boot.ini if Windows Advanced Server and Enterprise Edition of SQL are installed. See Q Article Q283037 for more information

5. *****To attain 5000 transactions a day, you may need to increase the number of disks in your RAID 5 disk volume

6.  For Midpoint and High End Recommendations, it is highly recommended that all client workstations have an NT based Operating System. (NT 4.0, 2000, XP Professional).
 
7.  Office 2000 and Office XP have been tested and are supported with Great Plains 7.5.

8.  Microsoft Business Solutions will support Great Plains 7.5 on Windows Server 2003 with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3 or later.  

9.  Intel Pentium processors are used in platform testing, however, the compatibility is based on the speed of the processor not the type of processor. 

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