What machine should I buy to run ListManager?

ListManager is a very fast and powerful program, but the hardware it runs on will influence its speed. If you are running lists with hundreds of thousands of members or otherwise just want the speed to be better, it is recommended that you have a machine for running the ListManager executable that is separate from the machine running the SQL Server software. By splitting the work between two (or more) machines, you can get better speeds through ListManager.

If speed is less import than costs, you can run ListManager and the SQL Server on the same machine. In this case, you will need a relatively new CPU, several hundred megabytes of RAM, and at least a few gigabytes of hard drive space available. See www.lyris.com for more specific recommendations.

The hardware for a client (ListManager) machine doesn’t generally need to be as robust as the hardware for the SQL Server. Generally, the client machine doesn’t need big or fast hard drives, since little data is stored on the client, and the client doesn’t use a large amount of RAM. Therefore it is recommended that you buy a modern single CPU and a few hundred megabytes of RAM (see the Lyris Web site at www.lyris.com for more specific numbers), but otherwise invest money in the server if you want to improve performance.

The SQL Server should have large, fast disks. The more RAM it has the less it needs to get from the hard drive, so more RAM will improve the performance. If your budget allows it, hardware-based RAID controllers are probably the fastest method to control hard drives.

See Memory and Bandwidth Recommendations for more information.