Hardware Prerequisites

Owned by Isabelle Avery (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Feb 09, 2022 by Charlotte Dakin-Norris
4 min read

Introduction

This section covers the necessary hardware and network bandwidth required to support Witness™.

The Witness™ software suite requires a minimum hardware specification to ensure it runs optimally. These requirements are based on a typical client-server configuration which assumes the client system will be running the User Interface application and the server hardware will be running the remaining services.

System Configuration

For demonstration, trial or small installations where only a single hardware system is being used, the entire software suite has to be installed on the same system. For this reason, these systems must be more capable then when using the typical client-server configuration. Please refer to the stand alone system requirements below.

Network Equipment

The radar can generate a large amount of network data. This data does not vary, so the quantity will remain consistent 24x7. The delivery of this data to the software system is critical because the entire solution is based around real time processing and relies on low latency, reliable data. To this end we recommend only high-end enterprise network equipment. The equipment must be designed for 24x7 operation with high throughput and low latency. In addition we only recommend fully managed equipment to enable easier diagnostics of network issues or performance problems. If you are unsure about your selection of network equipment then please do not hesitate to ask us.

Contents

Specifications

The key considerations are as follows:  

  • Disk space and access speed: the speed of the internal database will be affected by hard disk speed. Unlike many database applications, Witness™ will typically write more information to the database, rather than read. This means good disk speed is important.

  • Memory (RAM): the system holds quite a lot of temporary data in memory and also the database access library requires additional RAM. The more load on the system, the greater the memory use.

  • Network Bandwidth: the system deals primarily with target/track data and therefore the bandwidth requirements are not large - the amount of data per track is very small (approximately 112 bytes per track) so the total requirement is entirely dependent on the number of targets being tracked. Obviously, as the number of radars attached to the system increases, so does the overall number of tracks. The amount of data generated by each radar is also dependent on its range, and though certain modes on the radar can significantly reduce network bandwidth, use of these settings is governed by specific requirements for each site. We would recommend a RAID sub-system for speed and redundancy. In addition, the size of the storage will dictate how much data can be stored. The level at which space is consumed is entirely dependent on the number tracks going into the database. We would also recommend at least 512MB RAM per Management Server.

Storage

Storage must be suitable for the quantity of data and the length of time it is being stored. This is based on the number of radars and the number of targets being tracked. For example, if the system is recording all track data for two radars monitoring a busy highway then you can expect the database to grow by up to a 1GB a day. The type of storage system should be suitable for the size and required speed of the database and should include hardware redundancy (RAID). Large database installations may require separate hardware platforms with more specialised storage configurations.

  • Processor: Intel i5 or equivalent @ 3.2GHz or faster.

  • Memory: 8GB RAM minimum, 16GB recommended.

  • Storage: Minimum of 100GB of space.

  • Operating System: Windows 10 x64 Professional.

  • Network connection: 1Gbps Ethernet link.

  • Graphics adapter: 3D accelerated card with support DirectX 11 or above. Minimum of 512MB VRAM. An Intel CPU integrated graphics adapters such as an HD 4000 or above will suffice.

  • Display: Full HD monitor (1920 x 1080) with touch support if required.

  • Processor: Minimum of Core i7 @ 3.6GHz or faster.

  • Memory: Minimum of 16GB RAM, 32GB recommended for servers hosting the system database.

  • Storage: Hardware RAID with battery support. RAID 5 configuration with a minimum of 3x SATA drives @ 500GB each.

  • Operating System: Windows 10 x64 Professional or Windows Server 2016.

  • Network connection: 2x 1Gbps Ethernet links.

Recommend Standalone Specification

(Demo kits, trials and small site installations)

  • Processor: Minimum of Core i7 @ 3.2GHz or faster (Haswell generation or later - 8th Generation CPU recommended).

  • Memory: Minimum of 32GB RAM.

  • Storage: Minimum of 250GB of space (after OS installed).

  • Operating System: Windows 10 x64 Professional.

  • Network connection: 1Gbps Ethernet link.

  • Graphics adapter: 3D accelerated card with support DirectX 11 or above. Minimum of 2GB VRAM. An Intel CPU integrated graphics adapter, such the latest HD graphics will suffice.

  • Display: Full HD screen / monitor (1920 x 1080) with touch support if required.

Storage requirements are dependent on the quantity of data being generated. This is affected by a number of criteria, but the critical factors are the number of radar installed, the number of tracks / targets detected and the length of time the data has to be retained. On a large system which is very busy you might expect the data storage requirements to exceed 20GB per day. On smaller, less active system you would expect it to be around 1GB or less per day. For larger system we would always recommend high quality hardware RAID controllers with enterprise level disk drives.

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