The Microsoft SQL Server and Windows operating system versions listed in this document support all components required to run Bp Premier. If you are running a version of Windows or SQL Server not listed in these requirements, Best Practice Software recommend that you consult your IT provider to consider upgrading your operating system or database before installing or upgrading Bp Premier.
See End of extended support for more information on versions of Windows and SQL Server no longer supported by Microsoft.
Bp Premier is tested in a variety of environments including virtualised machines (VM) to determine our hardware recommendations. However, issues may still occur in environments that match or exceed 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.
Last updated 02 June 2022
Operating system and database
Bp Premier server and client are supported to run on the following versions of Microsoft Windows, Windows Server, and Microsoft SQL Server.
Please also review Requirements for larger practices and Limitations for more information about supported editions of Windows and SQL Server.
Microsoft Windows (Professional Editions only)
Version | Windows 7 SP1 | Windows 8 | Windows 8.1 | Windows 10 | Windows 11 |
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Jade, SP1 & SP2 |
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Jade SP3 & SP4 |
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Saffron & SP1 |
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Saffron SP2 &SP2 Rev1 |
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Saffron SP3 & SP3 Rev 1 | | | See note 1 | See note 3 | |
Note 1 Saffron SP2, SP2 Rev1, SP3 and SP3 Rev1 can run on Windows 8.1, however, you must install this Windows 8.1 update before installing or upgrading to Saffron SP2, SP2 Rev1, SP3 or SP3 Rev1.
Note 2 Saffron SP 3 has been tested to run on Windows 11. No issues specific to this operating system have been reported by users running current versions of Bp Premier Saffron.
Note 3 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.
Microsoft Windows Server
Version | Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 | Windows Server 2012 | Windows Server 2012 R2 | Windows Server 2016 | Windows Server 2019 | Windows Server 2022 |
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Jade, SP1 & SP2 |
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Jade SP3 & SP4 |
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Saffron, SP1, SP2, SP2 Rev1, SP3, SP3 Rev1 |
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Microsoft SQL Server
Version | SQL Server 2008 R2 | SQLServer 2012 | SQL Server 2014 | SQL Server 2016 | SQL Server 2017 | SQL Server 2019 |
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Jade, SP1 & SP2 |
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Jade SP3 & SP4 |
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Saffron, SP1, SP2, SP2 Rev1, SP3 & SP3 Rev1 |
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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.
Requirements
SQL server edition
SQL Server Express is automatically installed alongside Bp Premier. If your BPSPatients database is approaching 10GB in size, or the requirements calculator recommends more than 6 CPU cores for your server you’ll need to upgrade to SQL Standard as part of the minimum requirements of Bp Premier.
Network Connection
Item | Requirements |
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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.
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.
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.
Server
The following minimum and recommended requirements are given as minimum and recommended baseline requirements for the Bp Premier server and can be used by practices with around 3 doctors. Practices any larger than this should consult the Requirements for Larger Practices section below.
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 |
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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 recommendations are given to run the Bp Premier Client – minimum specifications to run Bp Premier as well as recommended specifications for the best experience have been provided. Note that these specifications may change if the client machine is running a large number of applications and will need to be reviewed by your IT provider.
If you will be using Remote Download functionality on this machine, please consider following the Recommended rather than Minimum requirements.
Item | Minimum requirements | Recommended Requirements |
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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. |
Requirements for larger practices
The amount of resources required to run Bp Premier depends on the number of concurrent users. The below
- 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.
Enter the number of concurrent users at your practice and the third party memory required into the below fields to calculate your practice's system requirements.
Concurrent users:
Third-party memory: GB.
Item | Minimum requirements | Recommended Requirements |
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Processor | x64 based modern Server processor capable of running the supported server editions above with at least 4 cores.1 | x64 based modern Server processor capable of running the supported server editions above with at least 4 cores.1 |
RAM | 8 GB SQL Server limited to 4 GB if running SQL Standard, with 4 GB left available for Windows.2 | 16 GB SQL Server limited to 10 GB if running SQL Standard, with 6 GB left available for Windows.2 |
Hard Drive | SSD disk drive – SATA or better | SSD disk drive – SATA or better |
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 |
SQL Server Standard recommended based on number of users3 | No | No |
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.
2 Click here for instructions on limiting SQL Server memory.
3 As above, if your BPSPatients database is greater than 10GB you will need to run SQL Standard regardless due to licensing requirements.
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
The following limitations apply to installing Bp Premier:
- If you are installing Bp Premier version Saffron or later for the first time, all listed SQL Server versions available from the database installation wizard will support installation on 64-bit computer systems only.
- Apple Macintosh desktop or server operating systems are not supported.
- 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 is not supported. 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.
- 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.
- Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition is supported. However, if you have Express installed and your database size approaches 10GB, Bp Premier will warn that your database is nearing the maximum size for your edition. If you receive this warning, Best Practice Software recommend consulting with your IT service provider to consider upgrading your edition of SQL Server to allow your database to exceed the 10GB limit.
End of extended support
In January 2020, Microsoft ended extended support for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008. At this time, Microsoft plans to end extended support for Windows 8/8.1 and Windows Server 2012 in 2023, and SQL Server 2012 in 2022.
This Microsoft Support article provides more information on the Microsoft product lifecycle and extended support. Search the Bp Premier knowledge base (Help > Online in the software) for 'sql upgrade' for articles on upgrading your version of SQL Server.
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