Competent local/on-site information technology support is highly stressed and extremely recommended.

Create and plan a 3 to 5 year replacement cycle for server and workstation computers.  This is a common practice in industries where there exists a heavy reliance on digital technology.

Evaluate the existing technology infrastructure to determine where improvements may be needed.

The advanced requirements and complexities needed for a successful installation of these systems are such that it is recommended that the SOAPware Cloud Solution should be considered, in earnest, prior to committing to the conventional Client/Server model.

Server

• Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2010, Windows Server 2012 (any edition), and Windows Server 2012 R2 server operating systems. (It is not recommended to use a workstation operating system for the server.)

              - If a workstation operating system is substituted it must be Windows 7 Professional 64 bit or better.  Further, it must be adjusted for best performance of Background Services and the Volume Shadow Copy service must be enabled and set to start automatically.  Be aware that RAID 5 is not available in Windows 7 or later.

• Minimum 2.5Ghz Quad-core CPU or better.
• Minimum 8 GB RAM (It is highly recommended to install as much RAM as is feasible or affordable over the minimum requirement)
• 200+ GB free hard drive space on a “fast read” hard drive like SAS or Solid State for SOAPware DataServer installation and database growth formatted in NTFS. User must maintain this free space.
• The operating system should be installed on a separate physical drive.  This can be any bus interface; SATA, SAS or SSD.
• Do not install the operating system and PostgreSQL database application on the same physical drive.
• If RAID is needed, use RAID 0+1 or 10 for the drives where PostgreSQL is installed. PostgreSQL advises not using RAID 5.
• An Uninterrupted Power Supply configured to provide the proper shutdown of the system in a power failure is a critical need.
• Minimum 100mbps wired local area network connection, firewalled at the gateway router with internet access for TCP ports 80, 443 and 5432.

              - If you have any 3rd-party firewall software installed on the server, either disable it or uninstall it. There is really no need for 3rd party firewalls on Windows XP and above, as the built-in firewall provided by Microsoft does an excellent job already. Some badly-written 3rd party firewalls do not uninstall correctly, it may be necessary to run the ‘repair network settings’ utility.

              - http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Running_%26_Installing_PostgreSQL_On_Native_Windows#PostgreSQL_and.2For_the_installer_crashes_at_startup.2C_fails_to_start_or_hangs_on_start

Any anti-virus/anti-malware software must be configured to exclude the PostgreSQL folders.

“If you have any antivirus software installed, you must exclude the data directories that are to be used by PostgreSQL and must exclude postgresql.exe process. If that still does not help, it may be required to completely uninstall the antivirus software from the machine. Antivirus software can interfere with PostgreSQL's operation, because PostgreSQL requires file access commands in Windows to behave exactly as documented by Microsoft, and many antivirus programs contain errors or accidental behavior changes that cause these commands to misbehave subtly. Most programs do not care because they access files in fairly simple ways. Because PostgreSQL is continuously reading from and writing to the same set of files from multiple processes, it tends to trigger programming and design mistakes in antivirus software, particularly problems related to concurrency. Such problems can cause random and unpredictable errors or even data corruption. Antivirus software is also likely to dramatically slow down PostgreSQL's operation. For that reason, you should at least exclude postgres.exe and the data directories so the scanner ignores them.”  http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Running_%26_Installing_PostgreSQL_On_Native_Windows#PostgreSQL_and.2For_the_installer_crashes_at_startup.2C_fails_to_start_or_hangs_on_start

• Do not compress the PostgreSQL drive
• Do not defrag the PostgreSQL drive.  (This is enabled as default in Server 2008 r2.  It must be disabled for the PostgreSQL drive.)
• Do not ScanDisk PostgreSQL drive.
• The server computer must be a server class system, such as Dell PowerEdge or HP Proliant.  These systems are built for continuous use over extremely long periods of time.  They tend to be highly configurable and extremely robust.  Their resource capacity tends to be rather large.
• This computer will be used for the database engine PostgreSQL and to store all the production data.  This system should never be used for anything else other than PostgreSQL.  The demands of the database are so great that using this computer for any other purpose is risking the integrity of the EPHI.  This cannot be stressed enough, DO NOT USE THIS MACHINE FOR ANYTHING BUT POSTGRESQL.  

Workstation

• Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7.
• Minimum 2.5 GHz processor.
• 4 GB RAM or more.
• 10 GB free hard drive space formatted in NTFS. User should maintain this free space.
• Minimum 100mbps wired local area network connection, firewalled at the gateway router with internet access for TCP ports 80 and 5432.
• Constant Internet Connection for SOAPware activation, EPrescribing and other features. (Test against the list of site that need to accessed).
  • The following is a list of SOAPware features that will not function properly if the user does not have an internet connection:
    • Installing/Updating SOAPware
    • Downloading Licenses
    • EPrescribing
    • Medication Eligibility Retrieval
    • Drug Interactions
    • Faxing
    • Patient Portal
    • SOAPware Cloud Library (includes the ability to receive medications, ICD-9, CPT, and HCPCS updates)
    • Submitting Electronic Claims
    • Clinical Knowledge Feature
    • Editing Providers Security Access
    • Help Menu Links to Training, Support and Resources

Any 100mbps wired or 802.11, a, b or n wireless local area network connection should be a secure connection to comply with HIPAA.

If an 802.11x wireless connection is used then that device should only employ a Remote Desktop Connection for SOAPware use.