Hardware Requirements

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The hardware requirements vary for each Tier, depending on the chosen Architecture, Infrastructure and OS (Operating System). These recommendations are based on the Architecture in Configuration (B) and they are intended for general understanding only.

Minimum Requirements.

Hosting only small data-sets, up to few hundred thousand data cells each. (Please note the number of data-sets is almost irrelevant).
Having less than one hundred Administrators/Power Users/Moderators managing the system.
Expecting a low/moderate Web traffic coming from both Users and M2M (Machine To Machine) queries.

Standard Requirements.

Hosting data-sets of any size, up to few million data cells each. (Please note the number of data-sets is almost irrelevant).
Having hundreds of Administrators/Power Users/Moderators managing the system.
Expecting a moderate/intense Web traffic coming from both Users and M2M (Machine To Machine) queries.

Custom Requirements.

Please raise a new Issue as General Query in GitHub to inquiry about your specific requirements, based on:

Size and number of your data-sets.
Number of Administrators/Power Users/Moderators managing the system.
Expected Web traffic, preferably broken down by Users and M2M (Machine To Machine).

Physical Vs Virtual Machines.

PxStat can run on both Physical Machines (PMs) and Virtual Machines (VMs). Each solution has its own Pros & Cons, please find below some general information:

Management.

VMs are usually easier to maintain than PMs.
VMs can recover from server failure in matter of few clicks, while PMs may require a long time or even days.
PMs must be closely inspected for any deficiency and any additional hardware should be installed and set up before it can be used. On the contrary, VMs are built upon physical hardware which is ready for use, thus VMs can be created, extended and powered up in a few minutes' time.
VMs requires a broader level of expertise and specific skills compared to PMs. VMs requires an additional management layer on top the (traditional) physical one.

Portability.

One of the major advantage of using VMs is portability. VMs can be easily and quickly moved across the virtual environment and even from one infrastructure to another. On the contrary, moving PMs requires more resource-intensive tasks and more time.

Scalability.

VMs provide the option of on-demand scalability, which allows to expand (or shrink) resources easily and in a very short time. On the contrary, PMs require a longer process of installation and configuration of resources.

Capacity.

PMs do not use their resources always to maximum levels, with an average production capacity being estimated at only 25%: thus, a lot of computing resources are left unused, which is not cost-effective. On the other hand, VMs can achieve an optimum capacity, taking care and distributing underutilized resources among other VMs which need them most.

System & Disaster Recovery (DR).

VMs are designed to quickly restore mission-critical data and operations to reduce system downtime and minimize its negative impact on business. Instead, PMs require a longer system downtime to restore business operations.
The DR process in VMs is much simpler. VMs can be easily restored entirely at a DR site, resulting in almost zero downtime. To ensure that the DR process runs smoothly, consider procuring a reliable DR solution.

Security.

Security management is more easily configurable in VMs than PMs. Protection for PMs is built for each individual server, depending on computing capabilities, resources and sensitivity of data.
VMs can be protected on the basis of a universal security model. Security policies and procedures can be developed, documented and implemented from a single point rather than individually applied to all PMs.

Cost.

Building and maintaining PMs can be quite expensive. This is due to constant hardware and software upgrades, frequent system failures, and breakdown of computer components and equipment, which are difficult or even impossible to repair.
VMs are considered a suitable option to distribute resources and optimize costs. However, consider that VMs may require software licenses.

Performance.

Generally speaking PMs are usually more powerful than VMs, but also more inefficient.
Performance can be easily tuned in VMs, achieving optimum results based on the business needs, while PMs are hard to enhance.

Client tier.

The Client tier is based on Web technologies (HTML5, JS, CSS etc...) and the hardware requirements are within the low-level because it serves only static content.

Minimum Requirements.

CPU: 1
RAM: 4 GB
HDD: 50 GB

Standard Requirements.

CPU: 2
RAM: 8 GB
HDD: 50 GB

Server + Cache tier.

The Server tier runs C# code over the Microsoft .NET Framework having hardware requirements of medium-level because it process server-side code. The Cache tier is based on the MemCacheD module and the requirements are mainly around Memory/RAM.

N.B. The amount of RAM depends on the number and size of data-sets to store in Cache.

Minimum Requirements.

CPU: 2
RAM: 8 GB
HDD: 50 GB

Standard Requirements

CPU: 4
RAM: 32 GB
HDD: 50 GB

Database tier.

The Database tier is based on Microsoft SQL Server with hardware requirements of a high-level. Please add into the equation any backup requirements.

N.B. The HDD/SDD volume depends on the number and size of data-sets to store in the database.