Touchstone System Requirements

This topic summarizes the hardware and software needed to integrate the Touchstone APIs into your workflow successfully.

AIR recommends that you have familiarity with Microsoft .NET4 and Visual Studio in order to make use of the Touchstone APIs.

The Touchstone API does not require any additional hardware. Your existing Touchstone implementation environment is all that you need to run the APIs. The first table below provides an overview of the Touchstone system components. The second table below provides an overview of the Touchstone system requirements.

Table: Touchstone API System Components

System Component	Hosts	Use
Your application (Policy management system or Risk management system)	Your custom user interface that integrates with AIR services	Deployed to client desktop to run your application
Application server	Application automation services	Runs back-end application functions
Analysis management server	Microsoft HPC scheduler services Microsoft HPC broker services	Hosts HPC and acts as the "head node" for job management and scheduling
Analysis server	AIR analytical services	Runs single location and batch analyses such as loss analyses, hazard analyses, imports, and exports on the Engine
Database server	System database User data database	Contains system and user databases. Stores persistent data such as policy details and analysis results You can have multiple database servers.
Map server	Hosts and runs map rendering services	Optional Works with AIR databases to map locations and aggregate exposure information Generates Touchstone maps

You can access this environment from any location that is accessible through the internet.

Table: Touchstone API System Requirements

System Component	Operating System	CPU Cores	RAM	Disk Space	Scalability / Redundancy
Client workstation	Windows 7 x 32/64 Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 .NET 4.0	Dual-core	4 GB	50 GB	1,N
Application server	Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 IIS 7.5 or higher .NET 4.0	Quad-core	8 GB	250 GB	1,N Optionally, can be scaled and load-balanced with a network appliance
Analysis Management Server	Windows Server 2008 R2 HPC Pack x64 SP2 SQL Express (installed with HPC Pack)	Quad-core	8 GB	250 GB	Single node. Fail-over redundancy is supported by Server 2008 HPC Enterprise.
Analysis Server	Windows Server 2008 R2 HPC Pack x64 SP2 .NET 4.0	Quad-core	8 GB	250 GB	1,N. Optionally, can be scaled and load-balanced by HPC Scheduler and Brokers.
GIS Server	Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 IIS 7.5 or higher SQL Server 2012 SP2+ or SQL Server 2014	Quad-core	8 GB	1-2 Tb	Single node. Optionally, can be scaled with licenses at extra cost.
Database Server	Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 SQL Server 2012 SP2+ or SQL Server 2014	Quad-core	16 GB	1 Tb	Exposure and Results databases can be proliferated. System can use multiple SQL Server instances, depending on usage, performance, and physical data partitioning requirements.