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If
you plan to use any of the Reseller Advantage Products
in a multi-user environment, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- DBMS
The first thing you need to know about
using Reseller Advantage is that you need your own DBMS, or Database
Management System, as Reseller Advantage does not ship with one. RA
can run on any ODBC compliant DBMS such as MS SQL Server/MSDE, Oracle,
or Sybase. We do not recommend using RA with Access or dBase. Using
your DBMS, you must create an empty database (no tables or data). See
the Getting Started Manual for more information on setting up a
database.
- Hardware Requirements
-
Server
- Reseller Advantage's database varies in size depending on how many distributors
you source from. Sizes generally range from 300MB to 2GB or more.
Processor and memory requirements depend on the number of users,
but should be no less than Pentium 200MHZ and 132MB, respectively.
-
Clients - Desktop/client machines need 200MB of
free hard drive space. We recommend no less than Pentium 166MHZ
and 32MB of memory.
- Networking and
Communications
If you are planning
to use Reseller Advantage in a multi-user, or client/server environment, someone from
your company must be familiar with your network and security,
specifically with regard to domains, firewalls, internet connections,
and network protocols. Also, in order for us to provide you with
technical support, someone must be able to answer questions about
server and DBMS configurations, specifically what software is
installed, which version and Service Pack.
- Database Security
Reseller Advantage provides security features through it's
applications. There are, however, other ways of accessing the data
than through Reseller Advantage. The responsibility of administering
and maintaining this security will be yours.
- Backups
You or someone from your company should know how and when to perform
backups, and how to verify that the backups are successful.
- Distributor Product Loads
Reseller Advantage does automate the task of downloading price and availability from
Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Merisel, and Pinacor. However, you
must set up an account with each of these vendors, with your own Id
and Password. In addition, you must contact each of them to arrange
for them to make the files available on a nightly or weekly basis. You
will not be able to import products until this is
done. |
