Project Center System Requirements

This page describes the system requirements for running Project Center Ninth Edition clients, the Project Center Server, and the Newforma Info Exchange Server.

Newforma® Project Center clients

CPU: Intel Pentium P4 or later processor

RAM: 1GB (minimum), 2+GB (recommended)

Hard Disk: 135 MB required for installation)

OS: Windows XP Professional SP3, Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit versions of each OS are supported)

Computers running the Newforma Project Center client may optionally use:

• The Project Center Add-in for Microsoft Outlook. This feature is supported in Outlook 2007 SP2 and Outlook 2010 SP1 (32 or 64-bit). The Add-in supports Microsoft Outlook connected to Microsoft Exchange versions 2003 or later. Email servers other than Microsoft Exchange will only support the Add-in if the Outlook client is connected using IMAP or POP. MAPI emulation in non-Microsoft Exchange email servers is not supported. The Add-in is incompatible with the "Click-to-run" version of Office 2010.

1   The NewformaProjectCenterOffice64Setup.exe file only supports Office 2010 64-bit.

• Any email client connected to an IMAP-enabled email server. Project Center can connect directly to many email servers via IMAP to support project email filing operations.

• Excel 2003 or later to make use of reporting and project template functions.

• Autodesk Revit versions 2012 and 3013 are supported for integrating with Revit..

Newforma Project Center Server

CPU: Single quad core Xeon processor or equivalent. The addition of a second quad core processor will allow substantially improved indexing performance.

RAM: 4 GB highly recommended, 8-12 GB (for very large deployments).

Hard Disk: 10,000 RPM SAS drives in a fault-tolerant RAID configuration, with a working capacity of 25 GB (minimum), 150 GB recommended. While exact space requirements will vary between implementations, a typical average project size is 25 MB. For example, a typical customer with 1000 projects would need 25 GB of available disk space.

OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (64-bit only).

Virtual Servers are supported.  However, for best performance, physical hardware is recommended.

The Newforma Project Center Server also requires:

• The hardware running the Project Center Server must be a dedicated server with no other applications, databases, file shares, etc. running in parallel.  

• High throughput connectivity (1 gigabit or equal, recommended) between the Project Center Server and the file server containing primary sources of project information; these servers should be collocated. However, small offices with good internet connectivity to a Newforma Project center Server at a main corporate office (T1 or better with <100ms latency) can often be configured without a local Project Center Server.

• UPS protection sufficient to provide for safe shutdown of the server in the event of a power failure.

• Microsoft Outlook and Exchange customers will require a licensed copy of Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Office installed and an email account configured to support indexing. Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 is required to support indexing of Microsoft Office 2007 and newer file formats. Microsoft Office 2010 is required for customers using a hosted Microsoft Exchange provider.

• Microsoft Excel is required for templates.

• Only the 32-bit versions of Microsoft Office products are supported on the server.

• SMTP installed/configured to allow email relay to the corporate email server.  

• The NETBIOS (computer) name for the Project Center Server must be 15 characters or less in length.

Project Data Capacity:

A single Project Center Server can support up 10,000 projects containing up to 10 terabytes of project data.  To reach this capacity, additional server memory and hard drive space will typically be required. These figures are an average upper limit only. The actual amount of project data that can be supported at your company may vary from this estimate. The limit will be based on available server disk space and server performance characteristics. The best scalability and performance will require dedicated physical server hardware.

Newforma Info Exchange Server

Suggested hardware requirements are similar to the Project Center Server above with the following exceptions:

Hard Disk: 150 GB available (recommended). Disk space requirements will be driven in part by the amount of file transfer data posted on the server.

OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (64-bit only); Microsoft Web Edition.

The server load is dependent upon the size and number of projects that are available on Info Exchange, as well as the simultaneous number of connections to the Info Exchange website. The addition of project email to Info Exchange (an optional project setting) may significantly increase the size of a project. Customers with modest requirements will be able to run Info Exchange on a server shared with other applications. Virtual servers are supported. However, for best performance, dedicated physical hardware is recommended.

The Newforma Info Exchange Server also requires:

• A static IP address accessible by external users on ports 80 and 443.

• An SSL certificate secured from Verisign, GoDaddy.com, or other trusted certification authority.

1   For a list of Passmark CPU ratings see http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

Newforma Punch List

Newforma Punch List is supported on iPad and Android tablets for Project Center. Tablets configured with a 3G/4G wireless data connection will allow synchronization of punchlist data at locations that don't have WiFi available.

Apple iPad tablets require iOS 4.3 or later. Please note that the original iPad 1 doesn't have a camera, so certain features of the Punch List app will be disabled.

Newforma Punch List is also supported on 10" Android tablets with 16 GB memory, running Android OS version 2.2 or later. Additional memory will allow storage of larger amounts of project files, photographs, and videos.  Install the Firefox browser before you install Newforma Punch List. The Newforma Punch List App Starting Guide contains a list of other Android applications that complement Newforma Punch List.

Example server configurations

Example Office Configurations

Newforma is a registered trademark, and Newforma Project Center, Newforma Info Exchange, and Newformant are trademarks of Newforma, Inc. Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Updated 3/15/12