The following sections describe the system requirements for running Ultrasound.
Video adapter: The Ultrasound console (the user interface component of Ultrasound) is designed for viewing in 1024x768 or higher resolution.
Hard disk space: Hard disk space requirements vary according to the Ultrasound component to be installed:
To reduce the likelihood of FRS errors, it is recommended that all replica members run the current service packs and post-service pack releases for either Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003. The following sections describe the recommended service packs.
Note
The minimum supported operating system for FRS servers monitored by Ultrasound is Windows 2000 Server with SP2 and the hotfix described in article 322141, "Ntfrs.exe Does Not Clean Up the Staging Folders on Members with No Outbound Partners in Windows 2000." Later service pack releases, however, offer significant FRS improvements and bug fixes. Therefore, we recommend that all replica set servers run one of the following:
Install the pre-Service Pack 1 release of Ntfrs.exe as described in article 823230. This release contains a number of improvements and is recommended for all servers running FRS.
The Ultrasound controller can be installed on Windows 2000 SP3 and above, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP.
The server running the Ultrasound console must have the following software installed:
Ultrasound requires a database server to store FRS data. You must install the database server separately before you install the controller. You can download and install Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE), which is available for free on http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=16720, or you can use SQL Server 2000 with SP3a.
MSDE has a 2-GB limit and is appropriate for most small and medium organizations that have less than 100 replica members and that want to keep two weeks’ worth of data. (The default retention period is five days.) Other organizations should consider using SQL Server 2000 with SP3a depending on how much data they want to keep, the number of replica sets they want to monitor, and the number of files in the replica sets. For more information, see Installing MSDE.
The controller, database, and console can all be installed on different computers. Therefore, the following bandwidth between computers is recommended:
Network connection between the controller and database: Highest bandwidth available, such as the bandwidth available between servers in the same data center.
Network connection between the console and database: High bandwidth, such as the bandwidth available between servers in the same site.
Network connection between the reference domain controller, reference replica member, and controller: High bandwidth, such as the bandwidth available between servers in the same site.
Network connection between the controller and each provider: The computer running the controller must be able to directly access each server running the provider. Ultrasound data does not flow through the same connections as does FRS data.
Ultrasound works with any type of FRS topology. Because FRS is a distributed system that runs on multiple servers, it is important that you design a replication topology that works well in your network infrastructure and that can grow with your organization. It is also important that you correctly configure FRS-related settings, such as staging directory and USN journal sizes, to reflect the amount of data that is replicated in each replica set on a server. Follow the guidelines in FRS Best Practices to ensure smooth FRS operation.