Technical Requirements

Server
any off-the-shelf PC hardware will work in most cases
minimum 4 GB of internal memory
Microsoft Windows XP, Windows server 2003 / 2008 (32-bit)
Oracle Database Standard Edition 11
Appropriate back up facility

When desired, the server can be scaled up depending on the number of transactions and note that internal memory is an important factor in scaling up. A dedicated server for MACCS is required. In most cases both production and testing can be executed on the same server, in a separated Oracle scheme.

One Oracle server can provide multiple operations, when needed (single database - multiple schemes). In such case multiple territories can supported from a single database server, see also the sections below. Of course one Oracle server can also accommodate a production and a test environment..

Workstations
any off-the-shelf PC hardware
2 GB internal memory or more
Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Vista, Windows 7
recent Apple equipment is widely used as well
If new screens would be purchased, we advise to apply relatively large screens making live comfortable for the users 
22 inch or larger, which supports at least a resolution of 1600x1024
Oracle Client 11 installed

Regional Approach - Remote access

Citrix is widely applied for remote locations & regional approaches and it is a proven concept which works very well. Also Virtual Private Networks can be used in order to have remote access to MACCS but must be applied carefully for performance reasons. For remote support, an appropriate internet connections is desirable.

The power of a Citrix server is primarily determined by the internal memory and MACCS uses a relatively small footprint: about 120Mb memory for all functionality. In order to service 10 users, about 2 Gb internal memory (including base system memory and other) is needed and about 1.2Gb for each additional 10 users. It is secondarily determined by CPU. No performance issues have been reported ever.

Example situations:

an Indian and Portuguese operation is supported from a Citrix server from London from the same server running Oracle/Maccs
a UK operation serviced by a third party -based on Citrix, about 40 clients, both MACCS and all other applications

Database sizes

The size of the database depends on the territory and the way it is used. It also depends on whether audit trails are applied or not. A general indication:

for transaction data, for a large territory such as Germany, UK we suggest to calculate with 0.5 GB a year
audit trails, roughly 4 times the size of transaction data or calculated by 2 Gb a year

Note that the numbers are only for calculation purposes and are far at the top end. Some examples from practice (only transactional data):

Germany, studio, theatrical, 3 years of operation 3 Gb including historical data
UK, studio, theatrical, 4 years of operation, 2 Gb including historical data
The Netherlands, theatrical, P&A, RM, DVD ST, 8 years of operation 1,5 Gb
UK, Large independent, theatrical + P&A, 7 years of operation 0,5 Gb
Japan, studio, theatrical, 9 months of operation 90Mb

Installation requirements
MACCS international requires a remote connection such as remote desktop, VPN, or another solution in order to perform initial installation of the software and data migrations when require. During the operational use of MACCS this also needed for upgrading and remote support
Upon request MACCS International can supply Oracle and perform the installation, including the client set up, fully remotely. A remote connection is required hereto. At the PC clients a small program called MACCS Loader will be installed in order to automatically upload the latest version of MACCS.

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