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System Requirements
SAS® Visual Analytics 7.4

Overview

SAS Visual Analytics is available for both distributed and non-distributed SAS LASR Analytic Server deployments. These system requirements apply to both LASR deployments. The headings below indicate whether components apply to a specific LASR deployment.

The SAS Metadata Server and the SAS Web Infrastructure Platform can be located on machines that use a different operating system family.

Note: If you deploy the middle tier and the server tier on dissimilar operating systems (for example, one on Linux and the other on Windows), the audit and relationship data extraction and reporting features are not supported.

To keep pace with changes to third-party technologies, SAS has adopted a general policy of supporting one or more baseline major versions, subsequent minor updates, and subsequent major versions for each officially supported operating system. Only the supported baseline major versions are listed in this document. The full SAS Support policy governing third-party software can be found at https://support.sas.com/resources/thirdpartysupport/baseline_plus.html.

As part of this policy, SAS strongly encourages customers to install the latest operating-system service packs.

Hardware Requirements

In a Distributed LASR deployment, SAS Visual Analytics requires a minimum of a 4-server, 16-core environment (4 servers X 4 cores) on commodity hardware with Intel Xeon architecture. A minimum of 16 GB of RAM is required per core (256 GB total).

In a Non-distributed LASR deployment, SAS Visual Analytics requires a server with a minimum of 4 cores (commodity hardware with Intel Xeon architecture). A minimum of 16 GB of RAM is required per core (64 GB total).

If the Metadata Server is installed on a separate machine, see the guidelines for the SAS Metadata Server below.

SAS strongly recommends consulting with a SAS Sizing Expert to obtain an official hardware recommendation that is based on your estimated SAS workload and number of users. The hardware guidelines provided here are not intended to substitute for expert advice. To request sizing expertise, send an email to contactcenter@sas.com.

The minimum screen resolution for each client machine that will access the SAS Visual Analytics user interface is 1280 x 1024.


Server-Tier Requirements

SAS Visual Analytics Server

Select a platform:

SAS recommends installing SAS Visual Analytics Server on a dedicated machine.

SAS Visual Analytics Server includes a standard SAS/ACCESS engine of choice, or you can substitute SAS Data Surveyor for SAP.

Teradata and EMC Greenplum must use the SAS Embedded Process to achieve parallel loading. To use the SAS Embedded Process, you must install the appropriate SAS/ACCESS engine on the server tier.

SAS Information Retrieval Studio 1.53 requires Python 2.7.x or later within 2.x for deployment. For more information, see "SAS 9.4 Support for Additional Products."

If ArcGIS for Server is used as your map service, SAS Visual Analytics requires release 10.1 or later.

The SAS High-Performance Computing Management Console subcomponent is deployed only on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux computing grid.

SAS LASR Analytic Server (Distributed LASR) on Linux for x64

SAS Products installed on this machine:
  • SAS High-Performance Computing Management Console 2.9
  • SAS High-Performance Node Installation 3.9
  • SAS Plug-ins for Hadoop 1.02

Disk Space Consumed by Installed Products: 1 MB
Supported Environments:
  • Oracle Linux 6.1 (64-bit version) on the x64 chip family
  • Oracle Linux 7.1 (64-bit version) on the x64 chip family
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 (64-bit version) on the x64 chip family
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1 (64-bit version) on the x64 chip family
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1 (64-bit version) on the x64 chip family
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (64-bit version) on the x64 chip family

Co-located Data Storage

SAS LASR Analytic Server supports Hadoop data storage environments.

Use of a co-located Hadoop File System (HDFS) is optional, but it requires a supported Hadoop environment and SAS Plug-ins for Hadoop (which are included with your license). For information about supported Hadoop distributions, refer to https://support.sas.com/en/documentation/third-party-software-reference/9-4/support-for-hadoop.html. The plug-ins require additional configuration. For more information, see SAS High-Performance Analytics Infrastructure 3.5: Installation and Configuration Guide at http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/hp-analytics-infrastructure/index.html.

The following options are also supported, with procurement and installation by the customer:

  • Cloudera CDH 4.7.0 and later
  • Hortonworks HDP 2.0 and later
  • IBM InfoSphere BigInsights 3.0 and later
  • MapR distribution 4.0 and later
  • Pivotal HD 2.1 and later

Co-located storage for Teradata and Greenplum is no longer supported for new installations. To load data in parallel from these providers, use the SAS Embedded Process. To use the SAS Embedded Process, you must install the appropriate SAS/ACCESS engine on the server tier.

Note: Base SAS, SAS/ACCESS, and SAS Visual Analytics can either be installed on the head node of the commodity hardware (symmetric) or on separate hardware from the commodity hardware (asymmetric). This architecture enables you to install the SAS Visual Analytics, Distributed LASR server-tier Base SAS components on Windows for x64 while working with the Linux for x64 LASR grid.

SAS Metadata Server

Select a platform:

SAS makes the following recommendations for SAS Metadata Server deployments:

  • a 64-bit host system
  • a dedicated machine to simplify tuning, management, and diagnostics
  • multi-core server hardware because SAS Metadata Server is multi-threaded
  • four or more cores for production deployments

The disk I/O performance of any server-class system should be sufficient. Memory requirements are highly dependent on the product mix and usage, but 8 GB of RAM are sufficient for most large deployments. For many deployments, 4 GB of RAM are sufficient and should be considered a minimum, unless the specific deployment is tested and verified to require less memory.


Middle-Tier Requirements

SAS Visual Analytics Mid-Tier

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Web Application Servers

When you install your SAS solution software, SAS Deployment Manager installs and configures the required web application servers and web server.

To install these servers, select one of the supported operating systems for the middle tier.

Note: These servers cannot be installed on the z/OS or 32-bit Windows platforms.


Client-Tier Requirements

SAS Visual Analytics Clients

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SAS Visual Analytics Apps for iOS, Android, and Windows 10

The SAS Visual Analytics Apps are supported on iOS and Android devices, and on PCs and tablets running Microsoft Windows 10. You can download the apps for free from the Apple App Store, Google Play, or the Microsoft Store.

Web Browsers

The list of Web browsers that SAS supports is updated on the Support website as new products are tested and approved.

The “classic” appearance of the SAS Visual Analytics user interface is supported by all of the browsers that are listed on the SAS 9.4 Support site at https://support.sas.com/en/documentation/third-party-software-reference/9-4/support-for-9-4-web-browsers.html.

Note: The classic appearance also requires Adobe Flash Player 11.1 or later.

The SAS Visual Analytics Viewer and the SAS Home page use the “modern” appearance by default. For a list of browsers that are supported for the Home page when the modern appearance is selected, refer to the system requirements for SAS Common Components 2.4 for HTML. For a list of browsers that are supported for the Viewer when the modern appearance is selected, refer to the system requirements for SAS Common Components 5.0 for HTML.

If you do not have access to a browser that is supported for the modern appearance:

  • SAS Visual Analytics Viewer switches over to the classic appearance automatically.
  • SAS recommends setting the Home page for all users in your deployment to the classic appearance. The home.ui.mode property controls the appearance. For instructions, see Configuration Properties for the Home Page in the SAS® 9.4 Intelligence Platform: Web Application Administration Guide.

SAS Visual Analytics mobile apps on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 include native support for touchscreen devices. In addition, SAS Visual Analytics supports the following browsers for touchscreen devices:

  • Google Chrome (Windows 10)
  • Internet Explorer 11+ (Windows 10)
  • Microsoft Edge (Windows 10)
  • Mozilla Firefox (Windows 10)
  • Safari (iOS)

Some features might not work as expected.


Third-Party Software

SAS software may be provided with certain third-party software, including but not limited to open-source software, which is licensed under its applicable third-party software license agreement. A listing of this third-party software can be found at http://support.sas.com/thirdpartylicenses.

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