There are a number of considerations when it comes to ensuring you have the best performance possible when using the Medilink system.

This is a general guide only. Please consult with your general IT provider and/or forward this guide to them.

Servers

Hardware

Storage

The faster the drive the better. Ideally a solid state drive rather than a mechanical drive. Medilink's database is very file I/O intensive (moreso than database systems like MSSQL).

Avoid using RAID or partitions or virtual hard drives where the underlying physical drive(s) are shared by multiple others, as you then have no real control over their access and therefore usage. For example, another VM may be running a full scan and thrashing the disk. A better method would be a dedicated SSD for the Medilink data only (even if you are putting a singular VHD on it).

Network

The NIC should be the fastest your network infrastructure allows for, for example, Gigabit is very common these days and is should be considered the minimum. Avoid connecting LAN clients via WiFi (although you can connect terminal server clients this way).

Memory

RAM is largely a secondary issue. There are two main exceptions:

• Excessive use by other applications can cause pagefiling, i.e. disk use, which then does have a huge impact on performance. You should ensure you have adequate RAM plus curtail memory 'hogs' - for example Exchange and MSSQL (which can be limited to a maximum).
• Terminal servers (RDP/Citrix) should have adequate RAM to run multiple instances of the application. A general guide for the Medilink client is 500MB per user (not including other application usage).

Processor

A high end CPU is largely irrelevant for LAN servers. For terminal servers (RDP/Citrix) it should be adequate to run multiple instances of the application (although usage is still relatively light in most cases).

Terminal Server

One of the most ideal configurations is to configure Medilink to run the server and all clients off a single terminal server. This eliminates the network from the performance considerations, which can greatly improve performance.

A terminal server can be relatively expensive up-front although this can be offset by reducing ongoing workstation costs, or mitigated largely by using a cloud based virtual terminal server.

Note, for the purposes of performance, Medilink is only as fast as the slowest client. If you decide on using a Terminal Server you should move *all* clients/workstations to this configuration.

Workstations

Hardware

Workstations can be relatively underspecced by todays standards and still run the Medilink client application perfectly well. The main exception will be the network - it should be rated as the same speed as the server, and again, no WiFi.

Other

Anti-Virus

Anti-virus products should be configured to exclude the local MEDILINK32BNT folder and \\[YOUR_SERVER]\MEDILINK network share from their Real-Time Scanners. Overnight scanning is fine.

We do get occasional false positives due to our remote support software (which is not configured for unattended access), and usage of WIN.INI (which some A/V solutions incorrectly quarantine despite it being a Microsoft file).