PC Requirements
ClinicOffice runs happily on Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 (and also Windows Server 2000, 2003 and 2008). It has full support for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
This table shows the recommended and minimum computer specifications…
| RECOMMENDED | MINIMUM | |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | Windows 7 | Windows XP |
| PROCESSOR | Intel Core2Duo 7000 series (or higher) - or - AMD Phenom II (or higher) |
Intel Dual-Core 5000 series - or - AMD Phenom 8000 series |
| MEMORY | 2 Gb (or more) | 1 Gb |
| SCREEN | 1280 x 1024 resolution (or higher) | 1024 x 768 resolution |
| NETWORK | 1000mbit (Gigabit) wired network | 100mbit wired network |
Important Notes
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As a general rule of thumb, any new Intel Core2Duo or Core i3/i5/i7 (or equivalent) will be fine as will most decent computers which were purchased within in the last couple of years. |
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Intel Atom Netbooks (or “Net-top” computers) are NOT adequate for running a database application like ClinicOffice. For more detailed information, please see this article. |
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AVAST! Antivirus can interfere with databases which use Windows File Sharing, hence we advise against the use of AVAST!. AVG or Avira are excellent free alternatives. |
Network Requirements
Whenever possible, we recommend a WIRED Gigabit (1000mbit) network for running ClinicOffice over your network. The second best solution is a WIRED 100mbit network which will also perform well.
Although ClinicOffice will work over a wireless network, we STRONGLY advise against it. ClinicOffice requires constant network availability and a poor wireless connection will introduce stability issues. Furthermore, even the fastest wireless network will still perform MUCH slower than a wired connection.
Running ClinicOffice over your local area network is not the same as opening a Word document or Excel spreadsheet over your network. In those scenarios, the network is only accessed (a) when you open the document and (b) when you save it.
A database application like ClinicOffice requires constant network access and is continually performing database lookups (such as checking for new messages, reminders, scheduled tasks etc.)
Stability Issues
Even with a good connection, wireless networks can still drop out. They will usually reconnect quickly, but this will still cause problems if ClinicOffice was trying to access the database at the time.
The worst case scenario is that you could potentially suffer data loss if your wireless connection drops while ClinicOffice is trying to save a record. ClinicOffice does have safeguards against this, and data loss/corruption is incredibly rare, but it is still something to bear in mind if considering a wireless network.
Performance Issues
A wired Gigabit network runs at a theoretical rate of 1000mbits per second (mbps) while older wired networks run at a rate of 100mbps.
By comparison, the maximum speed of most wireless networks is 56mbps. The true speed however is usually much lower especially when if your network is encrypted (which it should be) or if the signal strength is variable.
In our real world performance tests, wireless networks are usually around 10 times slower at accessing your database than a wired network.
Dedicated Server Specification
A dedicated server computer is not required to run ClinicOffice over a network. However if you are going to have 5 or more users simultaneously accessing your database, then we would recommend a dedicated server running the ClinicOffice Server Edition.
This table shows our recommended and minimum specifications for a dedicated server computer…
| RECOMMENDED | MINIMUM | |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | Windows Server 2003 / 2008 | Windows XP or Windows 7 |
| PROCESSOR | Intel Xeon 3GHz (or higher) - or - AMD Opteron X4 (or higher) |
Intel Core2Duo QUAD series - or - AMD Phenom II |
| MEMORY | 4 Gb (or more) | 2 Gb |
| SCREEN | 1280 x 1024 resolution (or higher) | 1024 x 768 resolution |
| NETWORK | 1000mbit (Gigabit) wired network | 100mbit wired network |
What Technology does ClinicOffice Use?
ClinicOffice 2005 (and previous versions) were written using the excellent Delphi programming language with Elevate Software’s DBISAM serving as the database engine.
With the recent advent of newer hardware technologies (particularly 64-bit processors and operating systems), we decided to move away from the older Windows 32 bit development and move ClinicOffice over to Microsoft’s .NET Framework (pronounced “dot-net framework”).
Hence, ClinicOffice v4 was rewritten from the ground up in a different language called C# for the Microsoft .NET Framework. ClinicOffice v5 is an evolution of v4 and uses the same architecture. We use two database engines: ElevatedDB which is ideal for the Startup and Professional Editions, and PostgreSQL for the Server Edition.
