UO Computing Center Microcomputer Services
The Duck!

BANNER GUI* Access
Recommended Configurations
*Graphical User Interface

April 1998

Sidebar Image - Text only tags at bottom of page


[Back to the Macintosh to Windows Transition Page]

Users of BANNER GUI software (often referred to as "BANNER forms") at the University of Oregon must consider some special requirements when choosing a system configuration. After considerable testing a few recommended configurations have been determined. These recommendations are split into two groups. One for heavy BANNER use, and the other for light use:

  1. Heavy Use: If you use BANNER for long periods of time during the day, or you use BANNER in a situation where you need to retrieve data quickly (e.g., at many of the public stations in Oregon Hall), then you'll need more computing power to do your job effectively.
  2. Light Use: If you access BANNER infrequently during the day and only for minimal transactions, you can probably get by with less computing power. However, remember that your wait time while using BANNER forms will be considerably longer, perhaps even 3-4 times longer, if you use a minimal configuration. Users who are not purchasing new equipment at this time may be interested to see if their current equipment meets the minimum recommendations.

Note that we are only recommending what you will need to run in one of these groups. We do not emphasize recommendations for new machines, except to say that spending a little extra now can purchase a machine which may be useful much longer than if you buy the absolute minimum you need to get by. Note that memory requirements only take into account using BANNER and your operating system. If you wish to run additional programs at the same time, in most cases you will need more memory than is recommended here.

Macintosh users need, at a minimum, System 7.6 while PC users need Windows 95. (Windows NT is currently being evaluated.)

These recommendations are not for new machine purchases. They are examples of machine configurations which can work for BANNER GUI software users at the University of Oregon.

HEAVY USE RECOMMENDATIONS
(Frequent or time-critical use of BANNER forms.)

PC USERS

CPU
Speed
RAM
Hard Drive
Monitor
Network
Pentium
Pentium II
133Mhz
233 Mhz
32MB
32MB
20MB free
20MB free
15 inch
15 inch
10/100 Mbps
10/100 Mbps

MACINTOSH USERS

CPU
Speed
RAM
Hard Drive
Monitor
Network
G3
233Mhz
64MB
200MB free
15 inch
10/100 Mbps


MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
(Infrequent use, situations where results are not time-critical
and users do simple queries.)

PC USERS

CPU
Speed
RAM
Hard Drive
Monitor
Network
486
66Mhz
32MB
20MB free
15 inch
10 Mbp

MACINTOSH USERS

CPU
Speed
RAM
Hard Drive
Monitor
Network
604/604e
603/603e
180Mhz
250Mhz
64MB
200MB free
15 inch
10/100 Mbps

* We noted that the 603e/100 chip was about 25% slower than an equivalent 601 PowerPC chip.

BANNER Forms Load Test Results on the Mac: Macintosh users can go to http://micro.uoregon.edu/mactowin/banner_test.html to see representative test results of BANNER Forms' load times on various Macintosh models and an explanation of differences noted.

One key difference was that Macintoshes running Speed Doubler ran between 20 and 30 percent faster than identical Macintosh models without Speed Doubler.

If you would like to see an in-depth table of upgrade recommendations for Macintosh and Windows-based computers, go to our Macintosh & Windows Upgrade Matrix. For a longer discussion of computer upgrade options see our Macintosh and Windows Upgrade Options page at

MACINTOSH MODELS THAT MEET OR CAN BE
UPGRADED TO MEET HEAVY USE REQUIREMENTS

  • Power Macintosh 6100/7100/8100
  • Performa 61xx models
  • Power Macintosh 6500 models
  • Power Macintosh 7300/7500/7600 models
  • Power Macintosh 8500/8600 models
  • Power Macintosh 9500/9600 models
  • Power Macintosh G3 models

MACINTOSH MODELS THAT MEET OR CAN BE
UPGRADED TO MEET MINIMAL USE REQUIREMENTS

  • All systems mentioned above
  • Power Macintosh 4400/5400/6400 models

MACINTOSH MODELS THAT DO NOT MEET
EITHER SET OF REQUIREMENTS

  • All non-Power Macintosh models
  • Power Macintosh 7200
  • Performa 5200, 5400 and 6200

Additional Questions

If you have further questions about using the BANNER GUI software and your machine, contact Jim Bohle at the UO Computing Center by calling 346-1706, or by sending email to jbohle@oregon.uoregon.edu.

 

 

 

 

Updated 4/9/98

  Navigation Banner

[Home][CC Home][UO Home] [VMS/UNIX][Network Services]
[Windows95][Windows NT] [Windows 3.1][Macintosh] [Internet][Hot Topics] [Training][Questions?]