1 (5) Tekla Structures 17 Hardware Recommendation 2011-02-11 Copyright © Tekla 2011 Tekla Structures 17 Hardware Recommendation Recommendations for Tekla Structures workstations Tekla Structures hardware recommendations are based on the setups that have been used in testing Tekla Structures and proven to be compatible with Tekla Structures. In addition to setups presented in this document, there are plenty of other suitable setups available. You can use this document as a guideline in choosing new hardware, but bear in mind that equipment and labels presented in this document are not the only suitable hardware setup. The main criterion when choosing hardware is reliable performance. If you are considering a new hardware component, e.g. graphics card, test it beforehand to ensure it fulfills the requirements. If you are considering purchasing large number of computers for your Tekla Structures users, test and verify the setup first with one or two computers before purchasing a large batch. Tekla Structures is designed to be used on a desktop or laptop computer. Tekla Structures has not been tested for server installations or for virtualization. Operating system Tekla Structures 17 is supported in the following operating systems: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista SP 2 32-bit Windows XP SP 3 Additional software components Tekla Structures 17 uses Microsoft .NET framework 4.0 and Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable. These software components are installed automatically by Tekla Structures 17 installation package, if needed. However, if you are distributing Tekla Structures 17 in a centralized manner using .msi packages, then you need to download these software components from Microsoft web site and install them separately before distributing Tekla Structures. Hardware Components Every component plays a role in the performance and usability of the computer. The important components for performance are memory, graphics card and processor. From an ergonomic point of view, the important components are monitor(s), graphics card, keyboard and mouse. Memory Memory requirements depend on the size of the model. Large models require more memory. An average setup for lighter projects is 32-bit operating system with 3 to 4 GB of RAM.