Patriot Hardware And Software Requirements

This document discusses hardware and systems software requirements for a Patriot monitoring station.

The Patriot Environment

Patriot software will run on:

• Stand-alone Windows PCs,
• Peer to Peer networks of Windows workstations
• Microsoft Windows Server based networks

Patriot comes in three versions. Patriot Lite is single user. Patriot Professional and Enterprise are both multi user and both packages include at least one client license.

The package selected will be determined by the size (or projected size) of the monitoring station. This is usually measured by the number of alarm client records that Patriot will be monitoring and the number of operators required.

Typically, a Patriot Professional system of up to 2000 alarm client records could be licensed for a Patriot 6 Server and one or more Patriot 6 clients in a Peer to Peer Network. The computers (Patriot Server and client workstations) would use a Windows Workstation operating system such as Windows 10 or 11 Professional.

Larger monitoring operations are Server based. The Patriot Server software would run on a Windows Server 2016, 2019 or 2022 with one or more Workstations running Windows 10 or 11 Professional.

The Patriot Software Environment

Patriot will run on Microsoft Windows Workstation or Server platforms. The Workstation operating system must be Windows 10 or 11 Professional, however 64 bit versions are recommended. Earlier and home versions of Windows operating systems are not supported.

Network Servers require Windows Server 2016, 2019 or 2022 and 64 bit versions are required. A Windows CALs (client access licence) will usually be required for each Workstation connected to the server.

Monitoring Stations which will be configured with Patriot Internet Client Access should be implemented on Windows Servers.

SQL Database Software

Patriot uses Microsoft SQL. This provides for a scaleable database with consistent performance irrespective of database size.

Smaller monitoring stations can use MS SQL 2014+ Express. There are limits on performance and database size but they will deliver good results with Patriot 6 where signal volume is not expected to be high. SQL Express is upgradeable to fully licensed SQL packages when required.

Larger server based Patriot systems will require MS SQL Standard version (Enterprise SQL is generally not required). There are two options for SQL Server licensing of Standard version. Per user/device CAL licensing and Per Core based licensing.

CAL licensing model

CAL licensing can be cheaper if the number of users/devices is low. In addition to the MS SQL Server licence, a CAL license is required for each user/device accessing the system. The Patriot Data Service is normally the only application directly accessing SQL, but this does not change the requirement that all users directly or indirectly accessing the database must have a CAL licensed (covered by Microsoft multiplexing rules). This also includes external users through ICA or plink app.

Core based licensing model

Core based licensing allows for an unlimited number of users to access SQL. Each core on the physical or virtual machine running the SQL Services must be licensed. Core based licensing is generally the only practical licensing model to use when allowing external users access via ICA or plink apps due to the number of CALs which would be required.

While the above is a basic guide to SQL server licensing, it is recommended that you review the SQL Server licensing requirements of the particular SQL version you are using to ensure you meet these requirements for your particular situation.

Workstation Hardware

Workstations should include the following basic specification:

Part	Requirements
Operating System	Windows 10 or 11
Processor	64-bit multi-core processor
RAM	8 GB minimum
Hard Disk	SATA/SSD 80GB or greater
Display - Minimum screen resolution	Patriot Lite/Professional 1280x 800 min Patriot Enterprise 1440x900 min (Higher resolution for Enterprise only required if the right panel is used). Please note that these resolutions assume a standard DPI setting. If you are using a custom DPI setting or magnifying the screen text and items, then you will need to use a higher resolution. For example using a 125% magnifier setting, requires a screen resolution of 1600x1200 for Professional, and 1920x1080 for Enterprise.
Network Connectivity	Fast Ethernet 100 Mb/s (Gigabit recommended)
Serial Connections	1 per serially connected receiver and serial GSM Modem if used
USB	For USB GSM Modem if used
Sound	Integrated sound or sound card and speakers
Modem	Internal or external serial - not USB - for analogue phone dialler

If Patriot Server is to be installed on a Workstation mirrored RAID 1 configuration with two drives is recommended for data and system security.

Server Hardware

Server hardware specifications will be dictated by the size of the proposed monitoring operation. Minimum server specifications are:

Part	Requirements
Operating System	Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 64 bit
Processor	64-bit multi-core processor
RAM	Minimum 16 GB. As a rough guide an additional 1GB per 1000 Patriot sites monitored is recommended.
Hard Disk	Minimum 80 GB SAS/SCSI in RAID 1 configuration (Not SATA)
Display	Same resolution requirements as per workstation. Note that the server generally won't be used for monitoring, so a smaller resolution screen may be appropriate.
Network Connectivity	Gigabit/Fast Ethernet
Serial Connections	1 per serial receiver (if any).
USB Ports	Printer, possibly GSM Modem as required.

In larger configurations, more than one server may be used. One might be solely devoted to SQL Server while another could handle the Patriot Server software and other communications hardware. Hard disks may be implemented in RAID 1/5 for improved performance.

Typical Monitoring Station Configurations

These configurations are a guide only and should be finalised in consultation with hardware suppliers and network consultants:

Patriot Lite:

• Patriot Lite Software and optional modules
• One or more alarm receivers
• Additional Hardware such as GSM modem etc
• Workstation as Patriot server and client (should include RAID hard disk configuration)
• MS SQL 2014+ Express (see SQL Database Software above).
• Additional Workstation as backup server (preferably networked)
• Gigabit or Fast Ethernet switch (may be included in broadband router)
• Broadband Internet Router/Firewall for Patriot support and IP signalling
• UPS for Server
• Backup Media USB external drive, NAS
• Anti Virus software.

Small Patriot Professional implementation (Up to 2000 alarm client records)

• Patriot Professional Software, Patriot client licences and optional modules
• One or more alarm receivers
• Additional Hardware such as GSM modem, telephony unit etc
• Workstation as Patriot server (should include RAID hard disk configuration)
• MS SQL 2014+ Express or full SQL Server (see SQL Database Software above).
• Additional Workstations and one for backup server
• Gigabit or Fast Ethernet switch (may be included in broadband router)
• Broadband Internet Router/Firewall for Patriot support and IP signalling
• UPS(s) for Server and optionally, workstations, switch and router
• Backup Media (USB external drive, external HDD, NAS)
• Anti Virus software.

Small to Medium Patriot Professional and Enterprise systems. (~2000 to 10,000 alarm client records)

• Patriot Professional/Enterprise Software, Patriot client licences and optional modules
• One or more alarm receivers
• Additional Hardware such as GSM modems, telephony units etc
• Patriot server suitably resourced and with Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 OS
• Optional Backup Server
• Additional Workstations as required
• MS SQL 2014+ with CALs
• Gigabit or Fast Ethernet switch
• Broadband Internet Router/Firewall for Patriot support and IP signalling
• UPS(s) for Server and optionally, workstations, switch and router
• Backup Media (External HDD, NAS)
• Anti Virus software.

Medium Patriot Enterprise systems. (~10,000 to 50,000 alarm client records)

• Patriot Enterprise Software, Workstation licences and optional modules
• One or more alarm receivers
• Additional Hardware such as GSM modems, telephony units etc
• Patriot server(s) suitably resourced and with Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 OS. Server CPUs with 4 to 8 cores. Server Minimum 32GB of RAM. Disk drive 500GB minimum (depends on amount of archived history required)
• Optional Backup Server(s)
• Additional Workstations as required
• MS SQL 2014+ with CALs
• Gigabit or Fast Ethernet switch
• Broadband Internet Router/Firewall for Patriot support and IP signalling
• UPS(s) for Server and optionally, workstations, switch and router
• Backup Media (External HDD, NAS)
• Anti Virus software.

Medium to Large Patriot Enterprise systems. (~50,000 to 100,000 alarm client records)

• Patriot Enterprise Software, Workstation licences and optional modules
• One or more alarm receivers
• Additional Hardware such as GSM modems, telephony units etc
• Separate Patriot and SQL servers suitably resourced and with Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 OS. SQL Server CPUs with 4 to 8 cores. Patriot Server 4 to 8 Cores. SQL Server Minimum 64GB of RAM. Patriot Server Minimum of 32GB of RAM. SQL Server Disk drive 500GB minimum (depends on amount of archived history required). Patriot Server Disk Drive 128GB minimum.
• Optional Backup Server(s)
• Additional Workstations as required
• MS SQL 2014+ with CALs
• Gigabit or Fast Ethernet switch
• Broadband Internet Router/Firewall for Patriot support and IP signalling
• UPS(s) for Server and optionally, workstations, switch and router
• Backup Media (External HDD, NAS)
• Anti Virus software.

Large Patriot Enterprise Implementations (~100,000 or more alarm client records)

note

Below specs are indicative only. Contact Patriot for more detailed information.

• Patriot Enterprise Software, Workstation licences and optional modules
• One or more alarm receivers
• Additional Hardware such as GSM modems, telephony units etc
• Separate Patriot and SQL servers suitably resourced and with Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 OS. SQL Server CPUs with 8+ cores. Patriot Server 16+ Cores. SQL Server Minimum 128GB of RAM. Patriot Server Minimum of 64GB of RAM. SQL Server Disk drive 500GB minimum (depends on amount of archived history required). Patriot Server Disk Drive 128GB minimum.
• Additional backup server(s) for redundancy and clustering as required.
• Additional Workstations as required
• MS SQL 2014+ with CALs. SQL Standard or SQL Enterprise.
• Gigabit or Fast Ethernet switch
• Broadband Internet Router/Firewall for Patriot support and IP signalling
• UPS(s) for Server and optionally, workstations, switch and router
• Backup Media (External HDD, NAS)
• Anti Virus software.

Backup Provisions

All Patriot packages automatically back up SQL Databases at user definable, pre-set intervals. These backups are placed on folders on the Patriot server.

Patriot Enterprise includes a utility which can be configured to automatically restore backup data from the primary Patriot server to a backup server. Where Patriot Lite or Patriot Professional are deployed, backup data must be transferred to the backup server manually. Patriot Enterprise can also be used with mirrored SQL servers so that two copies of the database are updated continuously.

It is the monitoring station manager's responsibility to periodically transfer backups to secure, off-site storage. Tape, external hard disks and NAS are all suitable media.

A Patriot backup Server is usually a duplicate of the Primary Server. As such it may require additional Microsoft Windows and SQL Server licenses.

Patriot 6 has been tested in virtual server environments.

Power

Servers should be protected by uninterrupted Power supplies (UPS). Ideally, Workstations should be similarly protected along with Ethernet switches and routers.

Connectivity and Support

A broadband Internet connection should be provided for remote support from the Patriot Help Desks. Generally, Patriot support will only require access via Port 80. This simplifies firewall configuration.

Internet connectivity is required for IP alarm panel signalling, the Email module, IP and some CCTV cameras and GPRS/GPS communications. Patriot's Internet Client Access and Internet Dealer Access modules also require that the Server have Internet Access.

All Microsoft operating systems require regular updating to ensure they remain secure and current. Microsoft delivers these updates via the Internet.

Anti virus protection is recommended for Internet connected networks and anti virus software is regularly updated by its vendors via the Internet.

Internet connectivity should be provided via a hardware Firewall appliance.