Hardware Requirements

We started in this business in the days of 4 megahertz 8086 processors, 64K of ram memory, dual floppy disks, and no hard drive. Compact code and data files were a necessity. While we can't run a full system on two floppy disks anymore, we still have that same philosophy.

DHA Software will run on just about any computer that can run Windows. Of course faster machines will run faster, but slower machines will still work, just slower. For someone doing estimating all day, a fast machine is better. For the shipping department where they only type a few words every 5 minutes, just about anything will work.

Windows needs more and more space and power with every new version. Graphics displays require more horsepower. Happily there is a newer faster cpu available every month. Sadly much of that power is consumed by inefficient programming and code bloat by the nice folks who write Windows. Just like it doesn't matter how big your garage is, it will eventually be too small to hold all your stuff.

Interestingly the cost of a computer hasn't changed much at all, but the power of what you get has increased dramatically. While this is all very exciting, it can also be expensive trying to keep up.

Unless you have a real need for power, or just have to have the latest and greatest, you can save money by staying a step or two behind the curve. For example the fastest processor chip today might cost $1000 just for the chip. Last years hottest chip sells for under $100. In 6 months the $1000 chip will go for around $160. It will be just as fast in 6 months as it is today, but much cheaper.

To move up the speed curve, when you buy a new faster machine, put it in the place where the speed will do the most good. Then just play musical computers moving the next fastest machines to replace the slower ones. Everyone gets more speed.

Networks

We run quite nicely on any standard network. Novell, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 2003 all work fine. Older versions of Novell that still use 8 character filenames are getting to be a drag, but that can be easily fixed.

All DHA Software includes a site license for unlimited users on a single network at a single location.