Hardware technology continually advances along the lines of versatility, intelligence, speed, capacity, and manageability. Not all hardware traits advance at an equal rate but they all continue to change. This makes it difficult to offer specific recommendations on what is best to buy in order to support Active Accounting. No sooner would we give it and a better product will come along. There are a few directions in which we can point however. Additionally the reader should take what is said in this article in general terms even if you don’t always hear those two words used in the sentence.
Active Accounting is a software application that performs a lot of work. Naturally how much of a work load is placed on your Server, Workstation, or Network hardware depends on how large a scale of operations are involved. We might consider how many Active Accounting Workstations are attached to the network and what the average level of use will be. It is safe to say the faster the overall performance the network can sustain under any load level likely to be encountered, will increase the satisfaction of the individual Active Accounting users. Spend what you can afford on higher performance hardware as it will serve to also extend the useful life of your investment, but do not pay the punishing incremental costs demanded of the latest “cutting edge” hardware just appearing on the market.
“Manageable” or intelligent hardware that can give you or your network support vendor feedback on how it alone is performing or even how the network may be performing is worth an additional, reasonable investment. When network performance issues arise it is a whole lot better than staring into the dark and wondering why. Consider continuing this discussion with your network support vendor or consultant.
Displays: Your display system or monitor is very important when it comes to user satisfaction. Primarily, we are referring to the viewable area the display offers and simply put, the larger, the better. UDS has consistently recommended a minimum viewable diagonal measurement of 18 inches or greater. Considering the lower display system costs enjoyed by consumers these days, a larger display would be a worthwhile investment. The ‘right’ display could serve you longer than the ‘right’ computer. The more Active Accounting windows opened at one time the more satisfaction a larger monitor will provide the user. The more space you have for non-overlapping windows the more convenient the AA software is to use. Flat Panel displays: if you have ‘deeper pockets’ or are perhaps impressed by their lower power consumption and heat generation, definitely check them out!
Printers: Laser printers ‘rule’ with MS Windows printing and therefore are the recommended norm for use with Active Applications. Preferred models should have two bin feed capability so that legal size paper can be loaded and ready for use by any Active Accounting reports requiring wide output. At least one of your ‘shareable’ printers should be two bin feed. Most forms including checks printable in Active Accounting are based on an 8.5 inch by 11 inch sheet of paper.
Network Servers: A fast server with a sufficient amount of RAM memory is a better choice for running Active Applications. Don’t “scrimp” on the server investment. RAM memory (chip memory) is cheap, so when in doubt, buy more than you know you need to support the Operating System. Hard Drive space is even cheaper nowadays- don’t go with less than 60 Gigabytes. A 7200RPM hard disk is faster than a 5400RPM hard disk. Speed and reliability of disk access on the Server is a major factor in the performance of Active Accounting over a network.
Workstations: Faster is better and again it is wise to load more RAM memory than that required just to support the Operating System. Large hard disk storage capacity on the workstation is not demanded by the Active Accounting application. This is not to say you should waste time looking for the PC with the smallest hard drive currently available. You won’t save much money doing so and other features like a fast processor, good built-in diagnostics, and available support for the hardware are more important than that.
Backup Device: Consider a removable disk system over a tape drive. Zip Disks, CD-ROM, and CDRW are methods that rate a high opinion here at UDS. We are not saying ‘no’ totally to tape drives, but you should compare closely the speed, capacity and cost of a tape drive to other choices available. If your local network support vendor or consultant convinces you that a particular tape drive is ‘right’ for your operation, then go for it. Ultimately the best backup media is the one that is actually used almost religiously, is easy to use, and works properly. Once in a while restore a file from your backup device just to insure that it works. As with any back device you might use, if you have any doubt about whether it is working properly, have it checked out. Use the Windows Copy/Paste function to create extra backups just for safety's sake while you are having your backup device checked out or replaced. Never go without a backup of your database.
Network Devices: Speed, reliability, manageability, and the capability to sustain the desired level of performance under peak periods of network use are the major factors in evaluating network components. It may require some help and planning from your local network support vendor or consultant to properly evaluate these factors against current hardware offerings on the market. Rule of Thumb: If they can support it and you can afford it, additional network speed will provide increased user satisfaction.
Pointing Device/Scanner:
"Microvision" has a new device they have made available to UDS that changes the cost to benefit ratio significantly.
Are you ready for greater benefit from your system? Are you ready to reduce data entry time? What job is it that you do every day that requires too much time to capture the data? Chances are this device will solve a number of those problems.
Click on this link to see the device: http://www.udsgis.com/flic_bar_code_scanner.htm
It is a laser bar code scanner with two modes of operation. If connected directly to your computer it acts as a laser scanner. If not connected it stores what is scanned until it is connected then dumps it into your computer for processing.
With this device and a little UDS supplied creative programming, you can automate the data capture job that most irritates you. Automate your order entry application or speed the physical inventory process and do it Cheaply. Capture materials as they are issued to a job. Scan a point of sale transaction at the car or in your nursery. Plug it in when back at the register to process the sale.
Because it is a simple scanner it cannot look up information like a Pocket PC or a Tablet PC application can. It can only record the scanned information. It also has no long term memory of what was sent to your PC so information could be lost if you are not careful. The Flic can be used with the POS application just like the Pocket PC I have demonstrated at trade shows for years but the cost is much less.
The routines we develop will have to classify transactions and add a special import routine but we will make sure you have the functions available for the device.