Technical

Technology Employed

System Requirements

Overview of technical recommendations

Each company has slightly different hardware requirements depending on a number of factors. Factors to keep in mind include: portfolio size, number of users, potential growth and other applications running in the environment.

Newer technologies are more resource intensive than older technologies as they develop and incorporate more features. The new .Net version of MDA Property Manager utilizes areas of the .Net Framework, and as such Windows then requires more resources to run the upgraded features.  In Visual Basic 6 the system did not utilize these additional resources and hence was less demanding.

The speed differences between .Net and Visual Basic 6 need to be seen in the same light as installing a newer version of an operating system. When upgrading to .Net, not just the program is being upgraded but also the core framework that the program runs on.

Hardware upgrades require a large capital outlay that do not necessarily reap immediate benefits. Be aware that making a bad hardware choice can lead to frustrations with the computer and with MDA Property Manager. Saving money when choosing hardware often adversely affects performance.

Points to remember when choosing new hardware:

• For a computer, a 4 year life is a good return on value.

• To keep circulating old computers, a format and re-install from time to time is necessary.

Key areas that will determine the overall speed at which a computer can function are the following:

Desktops / Workstations

Single user client sites (i.e. where a workstation is both the ‘server’ and the user machine):

The ‘server’ machine would need significant processing capacity to run Windows 7 (or Vista or XP), SQL Server Express and other client applications (e.g. MS Office applications).

Workstations connecting to a server:

Servers

Note the following when it comes to servers:

• Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange cannot be on the same machine as they fight for resources, it is recommended they are installed on two separate servers. This is important to understand when installing Microsoft Small Business Server.

• When MDA Property Manager is run in a Terminal Server environment it is recommended that each MDA user has access to 200 – 400 MB of RAM

• Configuration of disk drives makes a difference. Note the following where a database can grow beyond 1 GB:

• By separating the database files (data, log and page files) across the physical drives the data access speed is improved.

• In a Microsoft SQL Server environment utilizing 3 separate hard drives the following is recommended:

                            Disk 1: OS Page file,  Disk 2: SQL Database,  Disk 3: SQL Log file

Server for Client-Server configuration where less than 10 users:

Server for Terminal Server configuration (less than 20 users)

or Database Server for Microsoft SQL Server (i.e. Client-Server configuration):

10-20 users working on a single server will require a larger amount of RAM and multiple hard drives to manage the SQL Server. If a RAID configuration is used, add additional hard drives to the number below.

Server for Terminal Server configuration (20-40 users, where there is a separate SQL Server as per above):

When more than 20 users it is recommended to split the Database and Terminal Servers. Hence, purchase two separate servers to run the following:

• SQL Server (specs per above)

• Terminal Server – for the exclusive use of MDA Property Manager (one per 40 users)

Server Limits / Licensing

SQL Server Limits / Licensing:

 Please note: MDA Property Manager^© requires its own instance of SQL Server.

Server Operating Systems RAM Limits / Licensing:

Windows Server License

The Windows Server 2003 R2 licensing model requires a server license for each copy of the server software installed. Terminal Services functionality is available in Windows Server operating systems.

Windows Server Client Access License

In addition to a server license, Windows Server Client Access Licenses (CALs) are required. A Windows session is defined as a session during which the server software hosts a graphical user interface on a device. For Windows sessions, a Terminal Server Client Access License is required for each user or device.

Current Releases

The latest releases are:

MDA Property Manager© is v5.36.3 - released on 8 April 2010.

MDA Property Analyst© is v6.13.3 - released on 1 December 2007.

New features, maintenance items and bug fixes in the recent releases are detailed in the New Release Notes distributed with each upgrade - or they can be requested from your Account Manager.

Knowledge Base

Our core mission is to encapsulate and automate business processes into our software packages. This has to be supplemented with 'know how' gained from experience.

This is a mammoth task and consumes a significant portion of our R&D spend. We strive to continuously update the following documents:

1. User Reference Manuals for MDA Property Manager© and MDA Property Analyst©. An updated version is distributed with each new release of the packages. 
   
   These manuals comprehensively cover topics from installation, basic and advanced features, how to use MDA to address various business processes/problems, as well as the more obscure issues encountered in the support of the MDA systems.
   
    
2. Technical Reference Manual. This is an internal document used mainly by the programmers. It describes the libraries of source code, programming and interface standards, the development environment, deployment, security and change management, database maintenance etc.
   
   
3. Development Control Database for both packages. All change requests - including bugs, maintenance, new features/wish lists are recorded in these databases. The items are regularly reviewed and prioritised and form the basis for scheduling, instructing and monitoring programmers.
   
   New Release Notes that accompany each release of the packages are automatically generated from these databases.
   
   The database is an essential reference tool for consultants assisting with problem resolution on various versions of the packages.
   
   
4. The Knowledge Base document is a collection of information that does not necessarily belong in the reference manuals, but may be useful for supporting the systems. This document is distributed with the MDA products, is accessible from the Help menus, and contains several hyperlinks to other public documents.

Press / Research

Some of the published articles/papers written by our staff members:

Reflecting on the Past Year and Looking Ahead (an extract form the December 2008 news letter)

Five Different Valuation Methods Analysed

Property Asset Management - Some Practical Examples

A 'Glimpse Under the Hood' of Property Management Systems

Measuring the Efficiency of Property Management Systems

Specialised Property Management Systems vs ERP Systems

To view the above PDF documents you will need Adobe Reader.

Capitalisation Calculator

Some notes on the oft' used and oft' misunderstood concept of Capitalisation - including a tool to demonstrate the effects of capitalisation of different income streams at different rates over different time periods.

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