System Requirements

Recommended hardware/operating system for ENCORE

These specifications are current as at April 2005, and are guidelines produced after consultation with several of our regular dealers.

STAND-ALONE COMPUTER

Most new computers will have a specification to equal or exceed this recommendation:

Windows® 2000 or XP, current still works on Windows® 98SE/ME
At least 256MB of RAM
17" monitor
A Pentium processor (at least 500MHz)
A sufficiently large hard disk, so this is plenty of space for the ENCORE data file to expand, and for the temporary files used by the Windows® operating system. New computers commonly have 40Gb or larger hard disks as standard. The actual size of ENCORE data will depend on the version of the package, and your business (numbers of customers, suppliers, products, transactions, etc.)
A CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM)
A mouse or equivalent
A backup device suitable for sending your ENCORE data to Anagram Systems should this prove necessary - preferred devices are Iomega ZIP250, ZIP750 or a CD writer, but also accepted are Iomega ZIP100, or LS120 Superdisk. TAPE BACKUPS ARE NOT ACCEPTED due to the many different types/standards of tape and backup software.
Internet Explorer 5 or 6

NETWORKS

A network requires a certain amount of in-house expertise for day to day running, so ensure that someone gets instructions or training from the installer. If problems develop, or reconfiguration of printers and workstations are required, ensure that a dealer/consultant is readily available to give assistance as needed.

1. Peer-to-peer network

For a small number of computers (say up to 4), a 'peer-to-peer' network can be used by directly linking them together using features in the Windows® operating system. Each computer will have a network card added, plus cables to link to a central 'hub'. See specification for Client machines (standard network).

The ENCORE data will be held on one of the computers - if the machines are of different specifications, this should be the one with the highest performance. This machine is effectively a 'server', but also using it for normal day to day work could lead to a crash or freeze, with a chance of data corruption. To minimise this risk, we recommend running Windows® 2000 or XP, rather than Windows® 98SE. As this machine is not a true 'server' (which has specially designed components, extra ventilation and fans) it should not be left on continuously.

Important: If you have a mixture of operating systems then the Encore data needs to be installed on Windows® 2000/XP if present on the network. If the Encore data is put on Windows® 95/98/ME and Windows® 2000/XP are accessing the data, corruptions will occur. This is a know problem due to Windows® 95/98/ME not being designed specifically for the network environment.

2. Standard Server network

For any number of computers, but certainly 5 or more, use an additional central computer (server) running a special network operating system to hold the ENCORE data. The ENCORE programs are installed and run on each client computer. This type of network offers better performance, data integrity, and security than a peer-to-peer network; but needs more in-house expertise (or a readily-available dealer/consultant).

Server (standard network)

It is recommended that that this machine is not used for normal day to day work, which could lead to a crash or freeze, with a likelihood of data corruption. Choose a true 'server' (which has specially designed components, extra ventilation and fans) as it will probably be left on continuously.

A server copy of Windows® 2000/2003 (for the appropriate number of users) is the recommended software. Some dealers recommend that servers do not have a modem link, and that links (for fax, email or other items) are best achieved via a client machine or a 'dedicated server'.

The minimum server specification is:

At least 512Mb of RAM
A Pentium processor (1000MHz upwards)
A sufficiently large hard disk, so this is plenty of space for the ENCORE data file to expand, and for the temporary files used by the Windows® operating system. SCSI disk drives are faster than IDE disk drives, but do cost more. The actual size of ENCORE data will depend on the version of the package, and your business (numbers of customers, suppliers, products, transactions, etc.).

Do not run Microsoft Exchange Server unless absolutely required - in which case increase the amount of RAM significantly, and have plenty of hard disk space (At least 20GB).

Client machines (standard network)

Due to nature of modern programs (i.e. 32bit, colours, pictures, open files, etc) and their impact on network traffic, we advise that all machines on the network should:

Use the same operating system (Windows® 2000 or XP, currently still works on Windows® 98SE/ME)
Use TCP/IP as the network protocol
Be identified by the use of IP addresses
Use the same 100baseT network cards (suggest NetGear)
Have at least 256MB of random access memory
17" monitor
Have a Pentium based processor (at least 500MHz)
Have a minimum 2GB of free space. This is more of a general housekeeping point, but where the amount of hard disc space falls below a reasonable size, file errors can occur purely because of the Windows® operating system needing to write temporary files, not finding the space and producing an error
Be linked using Cat5 cable (100baseT) through a dedicated 100baseT hub (suggest NetGear)
A CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM)
A mouse or equivalent
On at least one machine, a backup device suitable for sending your ENCORE data to Anagram Systems should this prove necessary - preferred devices are Iomega ZIP250, ZIP750 or a CD writer, but also accepted are Iomega ZIP100, or LS120 Superdisk. TAPE BACKUPS ARE NOT ACCEPTED due to the many different types/standards of tape and tape backup software
Internet Explorer 5 or 6

3. Terminal Server network

This is a special network, with a very powerful central computer (server) which not only holds the ENCORE data, but also holds and runs the ENCORE programs on behalf of each client computer. With this type of network, the client machines can be older low specification machines, as they act as little more than 'dumb terminals'. This set-up almost certainly needs a readily-available dealer/consultant unless you have specialist in-house knowledge.

Terminal Server

The specification will depend on the number of client computers to be attached - the more computers, the more memory, and the more powerful the processor(s) required. Windows® 2000/2003 Server with Terminal Server is the operating system. Discuss the configuration with your dealer/consultant.

Include a backup device suitable for sending your ENCORE data to Anagram Systems should this prove necessary - preferred devices are Iomega ZIP250, ZIP750 or a CD writer, but also accepted are Iomega ZIP100, or LS120 Superdisk. TAPE BACKUPS ARE NOT ACCEPTED due to the many different types/standards of tape and backup software.

Client machines for Terminal Server

These can be almost any specification of machine that can run Windows® (95 onwards) - but note that monitors with older machines are likely to be less than the 15" or 17" sizes recommended for new machines. Since the ENCORE programs are actually run on the server, there is comparatively light network traffic - older slower network cards/cables may well suffice. If buying all new network cards/cables etc. see that part of the specification for Client machines (standard network).

PERIPHERALS

There are a number of peripheral devices which you may wish to attach to your system, for which there is a wide range from which to choose. From our own experience, we can make the following suggestions:

General Printing

For general system printing, we would strongly recommend using a laser type printer. This type of printer offers the highest print quality and has is far less likely to give rise to any of the report formatting problems which can arise from using a dot matrix printer in a Windows® environment.

Label Printing (Jewellery/Cash sales)

If you want to print labels for your stock, you should consider using a dedicated thermal label printer. Again, there is a wide range to choose from - we can recommend the Austik 300dpi label printer, for which a range of labels specifically designed for the jewellery trade is available.

Bar Code Readers (Jewellery/Cash sales)

If you are using bar code readers, it is important that they can cope with scanning the labels you are using, which in the jewellery trade are normally very small. We have found the Metrologic Voyager Series to be very suitable.

Keyboards (Jewellery/Cash sales)

If you want to read in card details when entering a counter sale, then any standard QWERTY keyboard with a built-in card swipe should work perfectly well.