On each Workbench installation there is one server running Microsoft SQL Server which hosts the main Workbench database and related databases. The data in these databases is shared by all the Workbench client PC's that run Workbench.

There is also a set of shared files, including the Workbench Crystal Report files, which normally reside in a shared folder on this same server, although in some configurations they may be installed on a different server from the SQL Server. This shared folder is normally known as the "Workbench Share" or "Workbench Application Share".

It is possible to host the different Workbench components, SQL Server, Workbench Share, and Workbench Client, on the same server, or each component on separate systems.

Windows Server Operating System

The following server operating system are supported.

• Windows Server 2008 R2 (End of Life imminent)
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2019

Microsoft SQL Server

Workbench will work with the following SQL Server versions.

• SQL Server 2008 R2 (End of Life imminent)
• SQL Server 2012
• SQL Server 2014
• SQL Server 2016
• SQL Server 2017

Expression versions are supported if the databases are under 10 GB. It is recommended to install "Express with Advanced Services" which includes SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS).

Database Collation

Workbench will work with any standard collation sequence that:

• has a character set compatible with English
• is case insensitive
• is not binary

The default collation settings on the SQL Server installation are an appropriate configuration.

The default collation on SQL Server 2014 would be appropriate: Latin1_General_CI_AS.

It is not necessary for the collation sequence of the Workbench database to be the same as that of the SQL Server instance in which it is installed.

Hardware Requirements

Although SQL Sever will run on laptops and PCs, for anything more than one or two users, an appropriately specified server box is required:

• 4+ Cores Intel Xeon E5-2600 v1 series (and above) or similar AMD Processor *
• 8GB+ DDR4 RAM (recommended: 16GB+ RAM for SQL Server Standard/Enterprise)
• Hard Disk OS > 64GB (recommended: RAID 1 SSD)
• Hard Disk Data > 240GB (recommended: RAID 1 SSD, or RAID 10 SAS 15k rpm, or 10 Gbps FC adapter to equivalent SAN)
• Gigabit Network Interface
• Redundant Power Supplies

* Cores are specified as Workbench can run on a Virtual Machine.

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services or SSRS is packaged with each version of SQL. It is installed as a separate component from the SQL Server database engine. The version of SQL Server Database Engine and SSRS do not need to be the same.

The following versions are supported:

• SQL Server 2016
• SQL Server 2017

SSRS is often deployed on the same server as SQL Server, but can be on it's own server.

Reporting Mode needs to installed in 'Native' mode and NOT SharePoint mode.

PowerShell

PowerShell v5.0 or above is required.