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What Operating Systems are recommended for use with Scala?
Hardware FAQ Solution #16, Operating Systems (last modified 10/24/2008):
Note: Scala itself is a Multimedia Operating System (MMOS). For example, Scala has been used at the heart of interactive television solutions on hardware dedicated to running MMOS. But standard, widely availability hardware is necessary for IC-style multimedia networks, so Scala MMOS has been written for standard PC hardware and operating systems. These recommendations apply to the PC operating system.
Recommended Operating Systems.
At this time Scala recommends that Designer 5, Content Manager 5, Broadcast Server 5, and Player 5 to run under Windows2000 Pro Service Pack 4, Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2 or 3, and Windows 2003 Server.Web Edition or R2. As of Release 3.1.0 Vista is supported. Windows Vista Business Service Pack 1 or Windows Vista Ultimate Service Pack 1 (for addition information on Vista see: http://www.scala.com/infochannel-content-manager-5-faq/content-manager-windows-v...).
Because of issues with DirectX and long term testing Windows 2008 Server is not suggested at this time.
Windows XP Embedded
InfoChannel 5 is supported on the Windows XP Embedded Operating System. This is achieved through custom programming. Scala has created such images for its turnkey system from Equus Computers.
XP-X86-64 bit Edition not supported
At this time we have not tested and certified Scala software to run on 64-bit XP, and there is a real potential for significant issues, and very few potential advantages to using this platform at this point.
Firewall Settings:
"On a properly configured PC!" Starting with Windows XP Service Pack 2 Microsoft has introduced some system complexities with regard to Network Configuration. The IT Administrator/Technical User responsible for systems running IC3 should be aware of the proper TCP Firewall settings for their specific network.
Microsoft has published several useful "White Papers" and some helpful WWW-Sites/Pages on this topic:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;windowsxpsp2
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;%5BLN%5D;835935
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=884130
Several "3rd Parties" have also published very helpful Web Pages on this topic:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/
http://www.jsiinc.com/Tipndx/Recent.htm
http://www.winnetmag.com/Departments/Index.cfm?DepartmentID=855&PubID=16
Stability, and Dual Processor support
We rate stability high on our list of required features. We also believe that dual processor machines provide an excellent value versus a single high-speed processor when running Scala.
Follow Video Card's DirectX Recommendation.
Another consideration is the state of the DirectX driver shipped with the video card or with Microsoft's certified drivers. You should follow our video card recommendations and field test any newer/upgraded video card for a week to insure that the drivers are indeed stable prior to deploying the system. Prior to installing a non-OS standard release of DirectX such as DirectX9.0c make positive that the video driver for the graphics card SPECIFICALLY STATES THAT IT IS Microsoft WHQL-Certified for that release of DirectX.
Weekly Reboot.
No matter whether which Windows platform software you use, you MUST do weekly reboots. Please see the section on how to configure your system to schedule weekly reboots and autologin and restart the Scala InfoChannel Player 5 at: http://www.scala.com/infochannel-player-5-faq/auto-login-start.html
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
