PensionSoft Help - Installation

Requirements By Network Component

Database Server Requirements

Hardware Requirements: the Database Server should have at least 16GB of RAM (32GB is recommended) and needs at least 50GB of free hard drive space. In addition, this server should include a multiple-core processor such as Intel Xeon, Intel i7, or AMD Ryzen with a minimum speed of 2.0 GHz.

Storage Space: as a general rule of thumb, the server should have an additional 5GB of storage space for every 100,000 participants. This number will be higher however if users are storing a large number of scanned images in the paperless archive.

Software Requirements: the Database Server should have the following software installed prior to installation:

Supported Operating Systems: the database may be installed on machines running all versions of the following: Windows 7, 8.1, 10, or 11; Windows Server 2012, 2016, 2019, and 2022 (all releases for each are supported).

Please note that for each operating system, the 64-bit version is recommended over the 32-bit version.
.NET Framework 4.7.2 (or higher): to download the latest version, click here.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008-2022: while we recommend using SQL Server 2022, DB Precision will also run on SQL Server 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022. If DB Precision is being installed on a single machine, you can use the Express edition of SQL Server. The latest version of SQL Server Express can be downloaded from Microsoft for free here. You will also need to separately install SQL Server Management Studio which can be downloaded here.

If you are installing on a network with multiple users, it is recommended that you purchase the full version of SQL Server. To learn more about SQL Server, click here.

Network Client Requirements

Hardware Requirements: each client machine where DB Precision is to be installed (this includes Portal Controllers) should have at least 8GB of RAM (16GB is recommended, particularly for Portal Controller machines) and needs at least 75MB of free hard drive space. DB Precision is a multi-threaded application which takes advantage of multiple-core processing. We therefore recommend that each client machine utilize a quad-core processor such as an Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen processor with a minimum speed of 2.0 GHz.

Software Requirements: each client machine should have the following software installed prior to installation of DB Precision:

Supported Operating Systems: the application may be installed on machines running all versions of the following: Windows 7, 8.1, 10, or 11; Windows Server 2012, 2016, 2019, and 2022 (all releases for each are supported).
.NET Framework 4.7.2 (or higher): to download the latest version, click here.
SQL Server Native Client Drivers: SQL Server native client driver files are needed on each machine that runs DB Precision. You should download and install these drivers on each machine running DB Precision. The latest driver installation file (ODBC Driver 18) is backwards compatible with all PensionSoft-supported databases and can be downloaded here.

Please note that these driver files do not need to be installed on the database server housing the DB Precision database as these drivers are already included with the SQL Server Installation.
Microsoft Office 2013-2021 and Office 365: DB Precision integrates with Microsoft Office to generate certain forms and listings. Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word (2013 or higher) should be installed on each machine running DB Precision.

Special Considerations for Internet Controllers

Because the Internet Controller must always be running, you will need to configure the Internet Controller Server to ensure that DB Precision is always running on it. To do this, you have the following options:

AlwaysUp: this third-party application will run DB Precision as a service on the Internet Controller Server.
Windows Task Scheduler and Batch File: uses a task created in Windows Task Scheduler that launches a batch file on the default Windows User login to keep DB Precision running.
Windows Task Scheduler, Powershell, and Batch File: uses a combination of Windows Task Scheduler, Windows PowerShell, and a batch file to run DB Precision on machine startup.

Description	AlwaysUp	Batch	PowerShell
Keeps Controller running continuously	•	•	•
Does not require purchase of third-party app		•	•
Runs without Windows User login	•		•
Does not require IT-only server access	•	•
Provides Word and Excel access to other machine users	•	•

Virtual Desktop and Remote Support

It should be noted that both the database and network client machines can be run within a virtual environment using virtual desktops.

In addition, DB Precision can be accessed remotely on any desktop which is being access using Remote Desktop Services, RemoteApp, as well as other third-party products such as GoToMyPC, LogMeIn, Splashtop, and Teamviewer.