PMA.core 3.0.7

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===== System requirements =====


==== Operating system and software prerequisites ====

In principle any version of Windows + Internet Information Server (IIS) will do. We've got the software to
run on IIS Express edition for demonstration purposes. We offer the following formal guidelines:
^ Component      ^ Minimum       ^ Suggested          ^
| Operating System    | Windows 2016 Server     | Windows 2022 Server |
| Web Server| IIS 7.5 | IIS 10.0|
| .Net Framework | 4.7.2 | 4.7.2 |
| RDBMS | Microsoft SQL Server 2019 with **Full-Text Search enabled**| Microsoft SQL Server 2022 with **Full-Text Search** enabled|

=== Additional comments regarding SQLServer ===
SQL Server Express can be used but poses two limitations which have to be taken into account:
  * The maximum database size cannot exceed 10GB. 
  * Only one CPU core is used to execute queries.
  * [[https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/what-microsoft-sql-server-express-editions|Click here for more background]].
==== On-premise installation hardware requirements ====

^ Component      ^ Minimum       ^ Suggested          ^
| CPU cores    | 4     | 16        |
| RAM    | 8GB | 16GB |
| Disk    | 250GB HDD | 500GB SSD |
| Cache disk    | 100GB HDD     | 1TB HDD |
| Network interface    | 100MBps | 1Gigabit|

SQL Server can also be installed in a separate machine. The requirements for the computer hosting only SQL Server are the following:

^ Component      ^ Minimum       ^ Suggested          ^
| CPU cores    | 4     | 8        |
| RAM    | 8GB | 16GB |
| Disk    | 250GB HDD | 500GB SSD |
| Network interface    | 100MBps | 1Gigabit|

=== Security considerations ===
PMA.core does not offer any intrusion detection system. When installing the system on premises, it is highly recommended to review the security policies of the host computer and the network it belongs to and configure it accordingly.

=== Date and time configuration ===
PMA.core relies on the host computer's date and time for all operations that involve the current time, such as logging events. Hence, in order for the system to operate correctly and reliably, it is mandatory to configure the system's time correctly and have it periodically sync with a time server.

==== Installation on an AWS Virtual Machine ====

When installing PMA.core on AWS, it is highly recommended to use RDS to host SQL Server instead of installing it on the VM that PMA.core will be installed.

^ Component ^ Minimum ^ Suggested ^
| PMA.core VM size| t3.large | t3.xlarge 	|
| SQL Server RDS VM size| t3.medium | t3.large |
| Cache disk | 100GB EBS | 1TB EBS |

Additionally, slides can be stored either on local disks attached to the VM or in S3 buckets.
==== Installation on an Azure Virtual Machine ====

When installing PMA.core on Azure, it is highly recommended to use the Azure SQL Server service to host SQL Server instead of installing it on the VM that PMA.core will be installed.

^ Component ^ Minimum ^ Suggested ^
| PMA.core VM size| D2as v5 | D4as v5 |
| Azure SQL Server RDS VM size| A2m v2 | A4 v2 |
| Cache disk | 100GB standard HDD | 1TB standard HDD |

Additionally, slides can be stored either on local disks attached to the VM or in Azure Blob Storage.
When possible, it is recommended to prefer [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/data-lake-storage-introduction|Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2]] over plain Azure Blob Storage, as this type of service performs directory management operations, such as moving and renaming slides and directories, a lot faster.

=== PMA.core cache requirements ===

Regardless of the choice or combination of the storage media used, the system requires some space on
a local or network disk where cache data will be stored and accessed. PMA.core allows you to define
the cache retention policy and informs you about it's size. As a general rule of thumb, the cache
capacity should be around 10% of the total size of the available whole slide images.

==== Client Side =====

During development our software is continuously tested on the Microsoft Windows Operating System
using the following browsers: Internet Explorer 10+ and the latest versions of Google chrome, Safari and
Firefox.

=== Desktop or workstation hardware ===

The minimum requirements in terms of processor speed and memory (for end-users) are hard to
determine. We are pretty sure that any computer under 5 years old will be able to interface with the
platform using a HTML5-capable web-browser without any problems. In case of doubt, we refer to the particular system requirements that apply to the specific flavor and version of web-browser that is being used.

=== Web browser ===

A hosted web application is consulted through a (usually) remote computer on the internal company
network (or Internet). To allow the delivery of content to as many clients as possible, we have very
relaxed requirements in terms of client hardware and software requirements.
Key is that we don't require any additional webbrowser-plugins such as Flash, Silverlight, WebGL, or
Java.Nor do we depend on or do we install any additional browser add-ons (BHO - Browser Helper
Objects) ourselves.

You will need a modern HTML5-capable web-browser. This means that your browser must be configured
to allow JavaScript and accept cookies. Besides that, we've tested our software extensively in a host of
different web browser environments, and found it to operate under all except for Internet Explorer 10
and lower. For the best user experience, we recommend using Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge or any
Chromium based browser such as Google Chrome and Opera. On a Mac, you are welcome to use
Safari, Firefox or, again, any Chromium based browser. 
If a browser is not supported, an error message follows.
{{ ::screenshot_2022-05-04_at_11-37-27_the_pathomation_software_platform_for_digital_microcopy_version_2_system_requirements_-_requirements-2019.pdf.png?400 |}}

Because of content delivery through a web browser, interfacing with our software is not limited to
Windows-only machines (though the web applications themselves run on Microsoft infrastructure). Our
communication implementation is based on REST web services and the standard HTTP protocol, so you
can truly use our software anywhere, any time.

=== Popup-blocking and Ad-blocking ===

Our software uses dialogs as a means to interact with the end-user. These dialogs are implemented
based on "best practice" industry standards (including libraries such as React and jQuery). These
dialogs are not pop-ups, and during testing, no interference with known pop-up blockers was ever
observed.
That being said, it is possible that at some point in the future these pop-up blockers pick up features in
our site and label them as popups, subsequently rendering them ineffective. If this happens, you should
let us know and we will help resolve the issue in collaboration with you popup blocking software vendor.
The same reasoning applies to webbrowser plugins that block advertisements. These oftentimes already
target the kind of technology that we use ourselves to interact through dialogs (such as iframes). There is
a large variety of possible interpretations of such features (in a website), and while we haven't come
across this yet, it is possible that at some point a certain feature of our site gets interpreted as
commercial content. If this happens, you should let us know and we will help resolve the issue in
collaboration with you advertisement blocking software vendor.
If you experience problems on your installation, please let us know and we will find a solution to resolve
your particular issues

==== Configuration hints and scaling considerations ====

=== HTTPS and host names (FQDN) ===

In order for the application to properly work over HTTPS, it is mandatory to configure the web server to use an appropriate host name (FQDN) and a valid certificate. **Self signed certificates will not work**.

=== Improving disk I/O throughput ===

The system's response time can be greatly improved by installing it on a solid state disk. The cache
directory should also be kept on an SSD as well. Thus an optimal setup would be to install the operating
system and the application on an SSD while storing digital slides in regular hard disks (or network
shares). Do not underestimate the importance of the regular disks' performance, where slides are stored,
though. Whenever possible use 6Gbit SATA III disks.

=== Network ===

Multiple NICs may be installed onto the server machine to increase network bandwidth. The system can
utilize multiple IP addresses or host names out of the box, thus special load balancing configurations are
not required.

=== Parallel processing ===

The system is built to process requests in parallel and its performance depends on the available cores
per processor, the performance per core, as well the total number of processors in the system. In
environments with more than 50 simultaneous users, two processors should at least be available in the
system.

=== Azure DataLake Storage Gen2 ===

When possible, it is recommended to prefer [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/data-lake-storage-introduction|Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2]] over plain Azure Blob Storage, as this type of service performs directory management operations, such as moving and renaming slides and directories, a lot faster.
PMA.core 3.0.7

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