Windows Profile and System Requirements

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Bp Premier is tested in a variety of environments including virtualised machines (VM). However, issues may still occur in environments that meet the system requirements but vary from a standard Windows configuration, such as the number of concurrent applications on the same server. Best Practice Software will make all efforts to triage and resolve issues relating to Bp Premier. If issues are found that relate to hardware configuration, Best Practice Software Support will offer guidance to resolve the issue with the client and the client’s chosen IT or Infrastructure provider.

Microsoft Lifecycle Policy

Products on Microsoft's Fixed Lifecycle Policy, which include most versions of Windows run by Bp Premier practices, undergo two phases of Microsoft Support following initial release: 

Mainstream — the period of five years after release, in which feature requests, self-service and paid service support, and security and feature updates are available for users upgrading to the new version.

Extended — a period of time after Mainstream support ends in which self-service options are limited or not kept up to date, feature requests and updates are not available, and security updates are still regularly released. Not all Microsoft products automatically receive Extended Support.

This system requirements document provides guidelines for our practices and their IT service providers to help keep their Windows operating system and SQL Server Database versions covered by Microsoft Mainstream and Extended Support.

Specific limitations that have been identified during testing by Best Practice Software or our practices are listed in the system requirements Limitations section.

New Operating System and Database Versions

As of the Last Updated date, non-sunset versions of Bp Premier have been tested up to Windows Server 2019 and SQL Server 2019.

When new Windows Server and SQL Server versions are released, there will be a delay between the release date and updating of the system requirements while our development team test installing and running Bp Premier on the new version. Limitations identified during testing by Best Practice Software or our Practices are listed in the system requirements Limitations section.

Windows operating system

Best Practice Software provide support for Bp Premier on a version of Windows receiving Mainstream support from Microsoft.

These resources will help you find out the Microsoft Lifecycle status for your version of Windows:

1. This Microsoft Support Lifecycle article provides lifecycle guidance for the following: Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server.
2. Or you can search for your Windows version from the Search Product and Services Lifecycle Information page.
3. If your Windows version has entered the Extended Support phase or is out of support, Best Practice Software recommend that you organise with your IT service provider to upgrade Windows to a version covered by Mainstream Support before you install or upgrade Bp Premier.

By ensuring your Windows version stays in Mainstream Support, you reduce the chance of issues occurring because Windows feature updates or security patches have not been applied.

IMPORTANT   If you or your IT service provider has disabled or deferred Windows Automatic Updates, Best Practice Software strongly recommend that your practice regularly (at least annually) install all outstanding Windows service packs and security updates to keep your operating system functional and secure.

I have an older version of Windows. Will Bp Premier still run?

Many of our practices successfully run Bp Premier on older versions of Windows that may have passed Mainstream or Extended Support while they wait for an opportunity to upgrade their practice computers. From this Microsoft Lifecyle FAQ article:

The issue with running Bp Premier on older versions of Windows is usually not performance or processing power, but that security patches and feature enhancements are no longer provided by Microsoft. Bugs and security gaps can exist in older Windows versions that will not be rectified without upgrading the version.

Installing Bp Premier on a Domain Controller

In line with Microsoft best practices, installing Bp Premier Server on a machine that also acts as a domain controller is not recommended, as this can cause issues with SQL Server and Bp Premier Services. Best Practice Software Support may be unable to assist with issues encountered where a Bp Premier Server is also a Domain Controller.

SQL backups that depend on the SQL Server VSS Writer could fail if Bp Premier is deployed as a server on the domain controller.

Microsoft .NET Framework Compatibility

For Bp Premier to operate successfully, the following versions of Microsoft .NET framework are required:

• Bp Premier version Orchid Service Pack 1 requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7 to operate successfully.
• Bp Premier version Orchid Service Pack 2 requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 to operate successfully.

If you are using an older version of Windows, Best Practice Software recommends that you speak with your IT provider about upgrading your operating system before upgrading Bp Premier.

The following links may assist with the operating system requirements for .NET Framework:

• Which .NET version is installed on my PC?
• Which Windows versions support .NET Framework?

SQL Server Database

Best Practice Software provide support for Bp Premier on a version of SQL Server receiving Mainstream or Extended support from Microsoft. Extended support includes Microsoft extended security updates, which may be available for purchase even after initial Extended Support has ended for some SQL Server products.

These resources will help you find out your version of SQL Server and the Microsoft Lifecycle status for that version:

1. This Microsoft SQL Server Lifecycle article provides lifecycle guidance for SQL Server 2012 and the options for upgrading.
2. Or you can search for your SQL Server version from the Search Product and Services Lifecycle Information page.
3. If your SQL Server version is no longer covered by Microsoft Extended Support, Best Practice Software recommend that you organise with your IT service provider to upgrade to a version covered by Extended Support.

By ensuring your SQL Server version stays in Extended Support, you reduce the chance of issues occurring because feature updates or security patches have not been applied.

SQL Server Express

SQL Server Express is installed by default with new Bp Premier installations. If your BPSPatients database is approaching 10GB in size, or the requirements calculator recommends more than 6 CPU cores for your server, Best Practice Software recommend that you upgrade to SQL Standard or Enterprise for best performance running Bp Premier.

Hardware and Network

Server

The following minimum and recommended requirements can be used by practices with around three doctors. Practices larger than this should review the Requirements for Larger Practices section.

Note that these specifications may change if the server machine is running any other applications and will need to be reviewed by your IT provider.

Item	Minimum requirements	Recommended Requirements
Processor	x64 based Intel or AMD processor equivalent to or better than Intel Core i7 (8th Generation or higher).1	x64 based Intel or AMD processor equivalent to or better than Intel Core i7 (10th Generation or higher).1
RAM	8GB	16GB
Hard Drive	SATA hard drive @ 7,200 RPM minimum	SSD disk drive
Free disk space	Enough disk space to hold your database + 10GB minimum free disk space at all times while running Bp Premier as a server.	Enough disk space to hold your database + 20GB minimum free disk space at all times while running Bp Premier as a server.

1. Due to SQL Server licensing rules, if running SQL Server Express the first four cores must be on one socket, if running SQL standard your cores must be distributed between a maximum of four sockets.

Client

The following minimum and recommended specifications are for running a Bp Premier client installation. These specifications may be affected if the client machine is running a large number of applications.

If you will be using Remote Download functionality on this machine, please consider the Recommended rather than Minimum requirements.

Item	Minimum requirements	Recommended Requirements
Processor	x64 based Intel or AMD processor equivalent to or better than Intel Core i5 (6th Generation or higher)	x64 based Intel or AMD processor equivalent to or better than Intel Core i7 (8th Generation or higher)
RAM	4GB	8GB
Hard Drive	SATA hard drive @ 7,200 RPM minimum	SSD disk drive
Free disk space	10GB minimum free disk space at all times while running Bp Premier.	20GB minimum free disk space at all times while running Bp Premier.

Network Connection

Item	Requirements
Latency	Bp Premier is designed for use between a client and server on a local network. The network connection between the client and server must therefore be of local network latency (<3ms) for Bp Premier to perform optimally.
Bandwidth	A gigabit network connection is recommended between the client and server

Monitor

Minimum 15" monitor, running a resolution of at least 1152 x 768 at 16-bit colour or better and an SVGA compatible graphics card. Best Practice Software recommend using a 17" monitor running a resolution of at least 1280 x 1024 at 32-bit colour and an SVGA compatible graphics card.

Drive Compression

Best Practice Software does not recommend enabling drive compression on hard drives where the SQL database is stored, as this is known to interfere with some database functionality.

The behaviour of SQL Server database file storage on compressed drives is described in more detail in this Microsoft support article.

Language

The language in Windows on the Bp Premier server must be set to English (Australia). Setting other languages may cause issues with the Word Processor and with certain text fields.

See Set language, date, time and region for more information.

Requirements for larger practices

The amount of resources required to run Bp Premier depends on the number of concurrent users. The below calculator lets you calculate the recommended amount of RAM and CPU cores that will be required to run the Bp Premier server at your Practice.

• Concurrent users is the maximum number of users that will be connected to your server at any given time.
• Third-party memory is the total memory required for third-party apps also running on the Bp Premier server. You will have to add up the memory required that is recommended by your third-party vendors. This value requires a minimum of 2GB.

Profile and group policy settings

All users who will be running Bp Premier must have Read and Write access to the following registry directory and all sub-directories

• Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Best Practice Software

All users who will be running Bp Premier must have Read and Write access to the following directories and all sub-directories

• C:\Program Files\Best Practice Software
• C:\ProgramData\Best Practice

Use of profile and temp directory redirection (for example, through FSLogix) on the Windows profiles of users who will be running Bp Premier is not recommended. Such software can cause Windows system calls for renaming files to intermittently fail and cause issues with software running on the machine.

Additionally, redirection of profiles or temp directories for shared user accounts (e.g. if a single reception account is signed on to multiple PCs at the same time) will cause issues for Bp Premier when loading documents. Your Windows environment for Bp Premier users must not be configured this way.

Limitations

Item	Description
Hardware	Bp Premier is only supported on 64-bit computers built on the x86 architecture; it does not support ARM processors, 32-bit processors, or environments other than supported x86 64-bit Windows operating systems running on x86 64-bit hardware.
Apple Macintosh	Apple Macintosh desktop or server operating systems are not supported, including running Bp Premier on a Macintosh computer in a virtualised Windows environment.
Windows 10	Bp Premier Orchid and later can run on Windows 10, but you must have updated to at least build 1607 before you install or upgrade to Bp Premier Orchid.
Windows 10 2015 LTSB	Windows 10 2015 LTSB is not supported for Bp Premier versions Saffron SP2 or later. An issue has been identified with the Bp Premier document viewer on this version of Windows 10.
Windows Home	Bp Premier does not support running on Windows Home editions. You must install a 'professional' edition of Windows, such as Windows Pro or Windows Enterprise. The editions available are different for each Windows desktop version.
Windows Small Business Server 2011	Windows Small Business Server 2011 is not supported.
Windows Server Essentials	Windows Server 2012 Essentials and Foundations are not supported. Windows Server 2012 Essentials, 2012 R2 Essentials, and 2016 Essentials linked to Azure Active Directory (AD) or Office 365 are not supported. AD and Office 365 integration enforce a password policy that conflicts with Bp Premier installation.
Database Server Machine Name	The Database Server's Machine Name cannot exceed 15 characters. When a machine name exceeds 15 characters, several Bp Premier systems may fail to function correctly. It is advised that the machine name be reduced to less than 15 characters before scheduling a database server restart.
Terminal servers	If installing Bp Premier on a terminal server. Best Practice Software recommend using the Install Application on Remote Desktop option within Microsoft Windows to install the application.

Last Updated 24 April 2024.