Open topic with navigation

System components

A PowerSchool SMS system consists of a Web Server, an Application Server, a Database Server, a Report Server, personal computers for user access, and the network bandwidth needed to connect all of these. Depending on the scope and demands of the implementation, the servers may be on one computer or spread over several. A system may also require more than one instance of each type of server [>>].

[Table 106], [Table 107], and [Table 108] show system requirements. Since a PowerSchool SMS system can operate with other products, such as PowerTeacher gradebook (web-based grading) and ParentCONNECTxp (web-based view of student information for parents) [>>]) these tables also show the system requirements for those products.

Notes:

=

If you are upgrading a system to PowerSchool SMS 8.4.3 from a version that is prior to version 8.0, refer to Converting to PowerSchool SMS 8.0.

Important information: For districts using PowerTeacher and ParentCONNECTxp: Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) must be installed on PowerTeacher, ParentCONNECTxp, and PowerSchool SMS servers. For instructions, see the ParentCONNECTxp Installation and Setup Guide.

Table 106 : Web/application server requirements

Table 107 : Database server requirements

Table 108 : SQL server requirements

PowerSchool SMS Web server requirements

The Web Server delivers web pages and data to connected users. Each Web Server can support up to 450 concurrent users of a PowerSchool SMS system. Typically, the number of concurrent users on a system is 60% of the number of potential users. Where two to five Web Servers are employed, we recommend balancing the load between the servers using a software or hardware load balancing solution. For six or more Web Servers, we recommend employing a dedicated hardware load balancer on either a router or a switch [Figure 424].

We recommend that each Web Server have the following characteristics:

Or dual AMD Opteron processors, Model 852 or better

Note: Using several dual processor Web Servers is more efficient than using fewer servers with more processors.

We recommend that the drives be configured as RAID1 to provide redundancy in case of failure.

or Windows Server 2012 64-bit

or Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit

or Windows Server 2008 64-bit or 32-bit (If your system runs on Windows Server 2008 32-bit, download and install the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 update package from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980368/en-us.)

PowerSchool SMS Application Server requirements

An Application Server reduces the load on the Web Server(s) by handling select aspects of PowerSchool SMS; for example a district can have one or more Application Servers that run scheduling services, reporting services, active directory integration, or printing. Many of these services are background tasks that are best run on Application Servers.

We recommend that each Application Server have the following characteristics:

Or dual AMD Opteron processors, Model 852 or better

We recommend that the drives be configured as RAID1 to provide redundancy in case of failure.

or Windows Server 2012 64-bit

or Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit

or Windows Server 2008 64-bit or 32-bit (If your system runs on Windows Server 2008 32-bit, download and install the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 update package from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980368/en-us.)

PowerSchool SMS Database Server requirements

Database Server requirements are determined by the number of students the PowerSchool SMS system is expected to handle. The main type, a Transactional Database Server, may be supplemented by a Reporting Database Server. The Reporting Database Server is optional and requires a more senior DBA on site. It is possible to run the reports from the Transactional Database Server if the hardware is powerful enough.

Storage space requirements are determined by the size of the database plus the PowerSchool SMS application software as well as other factors such as the recovery model and the log file management process. Where fail-over clustering or log shipping is in use, we recommend at least two Transactional Database Servers [Figure 424].

Database Server

We recommend that each Database Server have the following characteristics:

or Windows Server 2012 64-bit

or Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit

or Windows Server 2008 64-bit or 32-bit (If your system runs on Windows Server 2008 32-bit, download and install the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 update package from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980368/en-us.)

For 30,000 to 50,000 students:

For 50,000 to 75,000 students:

For 75,000 to 100,000 students:

Reporting Database Server

A dedicated Reporting Database Server has similar requirements to the Transactional Database Servers with the following differences:

User access requirements

A typical PowerSchool SMS system is based on one or more servers running in a central location [Figure 424]. Users connect to the system using a web browser on a personal computer, which connects through a local network, a wide-area network, or the Internet [Figure 423]. The user's personal computer can be Windows-based or Macintosh®. Each has its own requirements [Table 109].

Figure 423: Access to a PowerSchool SMS system

Table 109: Personal computer requirements

Network bandwidth requirements

We recommend a 1 gigabit switch, and that at least 1 MB of network bandwidth be allocated for PowerSchool SMS. This bandwidth can re-utilize existing network connectivity options, but should be in addition to the amount of traffic already in place on the connection. For example, if a 10 MB fiber connection is already in place and only bursting to 4 MB during peak usage, there should be no further bandwidth required. However, if a 10 MB connection is in use and is completely saturated, additional bandwidth should be allocated.

Actual available bandwidth is important to consider, that is, how the connection's capacity is used; for example, in a school district where all traffic, including email and all Internet activity, is routed from each school back to the district office, only some of the connection's bandwidth is available to the PowerSchool SMS system. Moreover, the available bandwidth may vary according to activity; for example, teachers in one school taking class attendance simultaneously consumes more bandwidth than at a school that uses multiple bell schedules.

www.powerschool.com
Tel: 866-434-6276
Email: smssupport@powerschool.com

Copyright 2015-2016 PowerSchool Group LLC and/or its affiliate(s). All rights reserved. All trademarks are either owned or licensed by PowerSchool Group LLC and/or its affiliates.